Page 4 - Southern Reds, Red Angus and South Poll - Bulls, Heifers – April 21, 2023

Southern Reds

Philosophy of our Program

1. Maternal Efficiency 4. Feet & Legs
Our first priority as cow-calf producers is maternal efficiency. Foot structure and soundness should be a priority to every pro-
We believe that profit starts with a cow that can raise an accept- gram. By rotating cattle weekly and running cattle in steep canyon
able calf in very tough environments with very little inputs. Our country, cattle with poor soundness fall behind quickly in our
cowherds are run year-round with very little supplemental hay program. Our cattle often walk a mile or more to water daily and
and zero feed. In better grass years, we can run without any hay have to endure muddy spring rainy seasons. One reason we never
for our cows. For this reason, our cattle seem to stay moderate feed our bulls is because it makes them more prone to growing
framed, weighing 1100-1250 lbs. Cattle are rotated on stockpiled long hooves and never trim feet. We also believe that breeding for
grass weekly and only first calf heifers are ever wormed or vacci- moderate frame doesn’t mean the cattle have to be refined. We
nated. We believe that for our bulls to add value to your commer- think it is vital to keep bone substance when breeding moderate
cial program, our cows have to be run in tougher conditions than frame and you will see this in our bulls.
the commercial programs that we work with. Fertility is the largest 5. Udders
component to efficiency – we demand our cows breed up in a 60- We breed for high quality udders as everyone should. If we have to
day window despite weather conditions or they turn into beef. It watch a cow for nursing problems, she is immediately culled. We
has been very rewarding to see our fertility increase each year as also cull for cattle that are too inefficient and don’t provide enough
we cull out the cattle that aren’t superior in our environment.
nutrients to grow a high-quality calf. We breed for cattle that have
2. Balance high butterfat as it leads to fleshing ability and tenderness in the
We breed for balanced traits in our environment – We do not chase beef.
EPDs, and we do not utilize extremes in our environment. We want 6. Slick Hides
to breed type-on-type to add consistency and uniformity – what We have made it a priority in our program to make our cattle
we believe is the largest issue in the beef industry today. For these as slick as possible. We want to see truly slick hides or thin hair
reasons, you will see that certain EPDs on our animals are often coats even in winter. Often times, our calves will carry hair their
not impressive as we have found them to not be accurate to our first winter but by the second winter they become a slicker hide.
environment and the way we raise cattle. There are trade-offs to We believe this is related to the heat in our environment and the
everything in cattle traits and the only way to have balanced con- adaptability in our cattle. Each bull crop seems to be slicker than
sistent cattle is to stay away from extremes. It is also the only way the one before. Bulls that aren’t fed simply won’t perform in our
to make cattle more adaptable to other environments.
heat with too much hair, and so they fall away quickly.
3. Volume & Capacity 7. Meat Quality
Cattle simply will not survive in our program without true volume We have found that our cattle excel in marbling and efficiency in
and rib shape. The guts, or grass factory, of the cow are what truly both feedlot programs and grass-fed programs. We believe this is a
turn grass into beef. Without ample volume, cattle in our environ- result of breeding high butter-fat cattle that can perform on even
ment cannot digest enough low-quality dormant forage or enough low-quality forage. Even though we don’t keep them on high ener-
high moisture spring grass to be able to maintain and prosper con- gy forage all year, our heifers that don’t get bred on time become
sistently. This is also a priority for adaption to other environments.
grass-finished beef and they consistently grade high-choice in a
22-28-month window. Customers utilizing feedlots have consistent-
ly reported high Choice and Prime grades with good yield grades.
It is a priority to us to maintain this level of performance on the rail
as we balance with efficiency on grass.

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