Hello All:

The grain is in the elevator, time to think about spreading manure and cattle operations. 2023, on many fronts, has been the most challenging year of my life. Regarding the farm and cattle, it has been possibly our 2nd driest year ever. 2000 and 2012 were as dry or drier, 2002 was our driest year ever.

Nonetheless: God is good! With concern toward forage availability, we planted several acres of a sorghum sudan/pearl millet mix from Green Cover Seed to supplement grazing for the bull development program. We planted half a pivot to sorghum sudan to produce hay (hay is still nearly a 4-letter word!). I really disappreciate working with hay, would SO MUCH rather graze, but I do see hay as an insurance policy for when winter grazing isn’t possible (ice storms and corn stalks don’t mix too well). A few years ago, we had minus 30 degree temps that were preceded by an ice storm which made stalk grazing impossible. I was thankful to have the hay we did, we made it through winter with ONE bale of hay left. I wasn’t prepared, though it had never happened before, and I don’t know how we could anticipate that. I now advocate having some hay on hand for completely unexpected emergencies. I still advocate aiming to graze year-round.

Though 2023 was dry we did get some rain. The sorghum sudan/pearl millet mix yielded enough to get 3 grazings out of it. The irrigated sorghum sudan provided 3 good cuttings and a 4^th regrowth we intend to graze. We have been able to graze some of the droughted out corn. With everything considered we ended up having an abundance of forage in a very dry year…but God!

We will soon be in sale preparation mode. That mode never really ends but over Christmas break when Ashley is home, we intend to evaluate bulls and preg. check the heifers and the cow herd. Once we know what animals will be in the sale, we’ll record videos and get to work on the sale catalog. Our current plan is to have our sale on Saturday, March 9 at 11 am. We should be offering around 60 bulls and 60 bred heifers in the sale.

We recently had an email inquiry asking about what we do with our culls. I copied and pasted my reply below:

Your question is one of the most important questions that any seedstock buyer should ask of their seedstock provider. If a seedstock provider simply sells their culls for weigh up at an auction barn, especially if they leave the bulls intact, they are losing out on a tremendous revenue stream, AND, perhaps more importantly, they are highly motivated to keep as many seedstock animals as possible in the program, including ones that shouldn’t be.

At Ichthys Cattle Enterprise (ICE cattle) we also have ICE meats (icemeats.com) that we use to market all our culls. We cull extremely hard…and we still don’t have enough beef to meet our demand. We have started buying calves from our customers to meet the demand. It doesn’t make much difference to us if our animals sell as seedstock or as beef because our current seedstock sale averages are less than our beef average. Now, if we can get the word out, I think our seedstock animals have the potential to become a much higher revenue product, but building a reputation takes time. Regardless, our motivation on the seedstock side is in the right place, we are happy to cull an animal that is not a top sort animal due to some defect. We (or our beef customers) eat our problems, we don’t sell them as seedstock to create more.

This got me to thinking about seedstock producer motivations. What should you be looking for in a seedstock provider?

1. A cattleman should look for a seedstock provider who has goals and values that align with their own. Does a producer need a terminal cross? They should stay far away from ICE cattle. Does a producer value gentle and highly efficient momma cows? Do they need animals that will do well on grass/forage only? Now our values align!

1. A cattleman (as shown in the question and answer I just shared) should ask their seedstock producer what they do with their culls. Do they just weigh them up or do they add value in some way? How much value do they add? At ICE Cattle we are currently motivated to cull animals for beef production. How many seedstock operations can say that? The seedstock business should be easy in regards to culling animals. But we make it hard because our motivation is antagonistic to producing the best bulls possible.

1. A cattleman should obviously ask about genetics, but should not fail to ask about development. Genetics are important but they need to be sorted through a tough development program that actually sorts cattle, not that just makes bad cattle look good. If Tom Brady had 10 sons they would not all be All-Pro quarterbacks, for a variety of reasons. Bull genetics must be SORTED and they don’t get sorted with a feed truck. Feed can cover up all sorts of problems…but they eventually reveal themselves. I just can’t wrap my head around why anyone would buy bulls developed in a feedlot instead of on grass. Our bulls continue to develop after they leave our place and get better and better looking as years go by. Many (most?) grain fattened bulls fall apart in a relatively short time. We have animals fall out because of eyes, hair coat, feet, lameness, doability, looking too “feminine” and many other reasons. However, EVERY animal that falls out tastes great coming off the grill! ICE Cattle puts pressure on their animals so any problems that arise go into a freezer, not someone else’s herd.

Bottom Line: In anything you purchase you should consider the quality of the product and the motivations of the seller. Do they have your interests in mind during every step of the production process? Are they motivated to cut corners? Do they understand their success is based on your success? Of all the things farm/ranch purchased I’m having a hard time thinking of a more personal, unique and customized product, with a higher potential to disappoint, than the bull you buy for your herd. Iron has different paint colors and people certainly have their preferences. Is the emblem on the front of your pickup important? Lots to customize there I suppose. Seeds, chemicals, diesel, oil, fluids, fertilizer, netwrap…I certainly have my preferences. Maybe a dog, a dog may be more personal but I’m not sure a dog choice is highly correlated to profitability. A bull will be determining the genetic makeup of half the offspring of the females they are bred to. Over time the bulls you use, along with your culling management decisions, determine what your herd is. Ichthys Cattle Enterprise exists to help farmers and ranchers build herds with gentle dispositions, calving ease, the ability to flesh on grass while producing cattle with an efficient, moderate frame.

Customer Quote: “Keep up the good work.  I sure hope to make your sale next year. I see no need for looking any further for bulls because yours have served us well. Thanks for taking good care of us on the bulls this year. I know they will work.”