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Buy small cattle and make them big
By Doug Rich John Paul Pendergrass and his father, John Frank, are carrying on a family tradition that started when the family moved to Arkansas in 1870. Together they own and operate the Pendergrass Cattle Company in Charleston, Ark. "I know they always had cattle and always had steer cattle," John Frank said. "Dad and Granddad bought cattle from all over the country." John Frank, who was born in 1936, can remember driving cattle five miles to Branch, Ark., putting them on rail cars, and shipping them to Kansas City. "They bought small cattle and made them big and that is not too much different from what we do today." Big change "The big change has been the cattle," John Paul said. "Even when I was a kid in the 1960s and we bought an animal weighing 500 to 600 pounds, the first thing we knew we were grazing a 2-year-old calf. Today we are looking at cattle coming in here that are 8 months old weighing 500 pounds." Where the Pendergrass Cattle Company buys cattle has changed significantly in the last four to five years. At that time most of their cattle came from sale barns within a 100-mile radius of their ranch; now only about 10 percent of their cattle come from sale barns. John Paul said death loss, cattle doing poorly, high medication costs, and low production all played a part in their decision to change how they buy cattle. Today they source calves from a variety of outlets including video auctions, the Internet, buying directly from ranchers, and special stocker calf sales. Pendergrass Cattle Company buys cattle from all across the southeastern U.S. from east Texas to Florida. "Don't know why it took us so long to figure it out," John Frank said. In the spring they bring in a lot of Brahman cross cattle. "I really like grazing those cattle during the hot, humid time of the year," John Paul said. "The drawback is if we graze them all the way through August, they will not get out of the feedlot until the snow flies." John Paul said those calves don't take the cold weather as well as other cattle, but they are productive on their ranch in Arkansas. "Most of the cattle that come in here are less than three-eighths, which is a typical Brangus animal," John Paul said. Hot weather During the heat of the summer Pendergrass buys fewer cattle and spreads them out over several pens in the starter yard so they all have access to shade. Every pen has a 14-foot by 60-foot shade structure, and they are careful about checking the water tanks at least four times a day. "We try to minimize the damage that can be done by dealing with 100 degrees and 75-percent humidity," said John Paul. "If you don't do things just right, you have an explosion on your hands." When a new group comes in, they sort for size, peeling off the highs and lows and penning them separately. All of the calves, regardless of size, are processed the same with modified live vaccine, parasite control, and a numbered ear tag. Then they figure out what to do with the cattle. Sometimes plans change and opportunities come up. "We don't always have a real plan for those cattle on arrival that is etched in stone," John Paul said. "We just can't do that. We have to maintain a certain amount of flexibility just in case pasture conditions change or do not develop." The calves are started on hay to get them accustomed to coming up to the bunks before they are switched to a ration that Pendergrass mixes on the ranch. The ration includes dry rolled corn, wheat mids, soy hulls, cottonseed hulls, distillers dried grains, and occasionally corn gluten. Once the calves start on the ration, they are given all they can eat until they are turned out on grass. A majority of the calves are not weaned when they arrive at the ranch. They will stay in the starter pens for two to four weeks until they are weaned and then go out on grass. Most of the grass pastures on the ranch are a mix of Bermuda grass, fescue, and clover. Pendergrass Cattle Company has the capacity to graze 1,000 cattle at one time. "We can have a pretty good fall grazing season if we get some rain in August," John Paul said. "If we go the whole month of August without any rain, we have a pretty good setback." Once the cattle are on grass, they still receive supplemental feed. John Paul said this is done for two reasons. First, it forces them to get out and see the cattle every day. Just because the cattle are on grass does not mean they won't have any more health problems. Second, supplementing stretches their pasture out. "Unless we have severe drought we never run out of grass," John Frank said. "We can take a pasture and run two groups of cattle a year through it, but if everything falls in place just right, we can run three groups through by supplementing their feed on grass." In addition to grass on the ranch Pendergrass has access to fall and spring grazing on rye grass or wheat. John Frank said records show that his family purchased their first piece of land in western Arkansas in 1870. Cotton was the primary cash crop in those days. There was a cotton gin just across the road from their ranch headquarters not far from where John Paul's house is located today. After World War II the region was dominated by small dairy farms, encouraged by government loans given to returning servicemen. John Frank said this is when the country really changed over from crops production to grass production. The dairy farms gave way to the poultry industry in more recent times, but the Pendergrass family has always been in the cattle business. Their basic business plan has not changed much over the years. Buy cattle, put 200 to 300 pounds on them, and then think about selling them or retaining ownership through a feed yard. "Turn them into cash, that is what I like to do," John Frank said. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.
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