February 27, 2019
Hello all:
The ICE cattle bull and bred heifer sale is scheduled for Friday, March 8 at 11 am at our headquarters near Guide Rock, NE. We are planning to have the sale come whatever weather but with what we’ve experienced lately I know God can hurl something weather-wise that can stop anything http://kscj.com/2019/02/24/winter-blizzard-leads-to-major-crashes-on-nebraska-interstate-80/. Prayers to all affected by this situation.
Ichthys Cattle Enterprise Website: https://www.icecattle.com/
Please ask questions about the sale if you have them!
Been thinking about: It seems like it was cold in the winter when I was a kid, it even seems like it snowed once in awhile. Pretty sure I made some snowmen and slid on the pond ice. What I’m absolutely certain of is that I was not responsible for a few hundred head of cattle of all sorts of classes, throughout a cold and snowy winter.
As you are likely aware, we completely base our nutritional system on grazing. We don’t ever want to feed our cattle. Overwhelmingly, the only inputs our seedstock cattle ever get are grazing forage, water, salt and mineral. This is true not only of our cows but of our bulls and heifers developed for seedstock. We think this is very unique in the industry. Though hay is a legitimate forage source in a forage based system…it’s expensive…and it doesn’t require cattle to hustle for their existence. We believe grazing is the best way to sort cattle for what should be seedstock and what should be eaten. When grazing, the primary work consists of moving cattle to the forage, often by opening a gate. Though I in no way think it is immoral to feed cattle something other than forage (we fatten the majority of our slaughter beef using a corn mixture) I think bulls and bred heifers should be exclusively developed on forage (specifically grazing forage due not only to cost but to test feet/legs/etc.). I have been challenged to find others who only use the 4 ingredients we do. My friend, James Coffelt, follows this philosophy, he raises good black angus cattle in Ohio. https://www.farmprogress.com/livestock/ohio-cattleman-finds-success-unconventional-management-strategies
What is the point? Here is where pictures are worth far more than words. Our cattle have gone (and are going) through the toughest winter I can remember…exclusively on grazing forage, water, salt and mineral. I’m even starting to feel sorry for the momma cows who only have snow buried corn stalks to eat. Today I took a picture of a momma cow out searching for food. She looks very content and, in my opinion, in good condition (of course her brain might have evil thoughts toward me).
