There
are many proven sires in the Angus breed that have the
traits we are looking for in our operation. Proven is the
main point.
Just
as there are differences between brothers and sisters in
your family (with the same parents), as there are also
differences in full brothers and sisters in the cattle
business. Anytime you start expecting genetics to behave
exactly every time, you are going to be surprised. Good
surprises some times, bad others.
Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) are the best guide we
have to identify potentially superior cattle whether it be
for weaning weights, birth weights or other characteristics
important to our operations. But it is the progeny that
really proves the merits of the parents which is why we use
the sires with the proven track records. We may throw in
the occasional up and coming star, but we will not bet our
farm on something we hopes happens.
Who
doesn’t want to own one of the sires that has semen sales
that makes them a pocket full of money. We just don’t want
to be the ones to find out that his actual performance
doesn’t match his initial EPDs based solely on his parents.
So,
we are using females with the best pedigrees we can afford,
mating them to the best bulls (semen) we can afford and
producing the kind of useful cattle the market can afford.
We realized from the beginning that we had to produce what
the commercial cattle producer needed and could afford.
We
also work with several different feed yards, order buyers
and auction sites to make them aware of the good calves our
customers are producing.
So,
whether you retain ownership through the feed yard or sell
your calves right off the cow, there is a buyer that will
reward you for producing cattle that make them money. A
win-win situation.
Pullen Angus has good cattle at good prices. We hope you
give us a chance to prove ourselves to you.
Our
Operation
We are
primarily a native grass operation with a few acres of Marshall
Ryegrass we use to develop our heifers and retain our calf crop
until they will bring us the most dollars before heading to the
feed yard.
While we
are an Angus operation, not all of our calves (bulls or heifers)
turn out to be the kind we would want to sell to other
producers. As a result, we have feeder steers and heifers that
we prefer to sell at 750-800 pounds. That usually means the
most net dollars for us. And, we only get to sell them once
whether they bring $400 as small calves or $800 as yearling.
We are
also a low stress handling operation. We minimizing the use of
hot shots, screaming, etc.
We do not
implant our calves nor do we inject anything into the muscle or
under the skin behind the shoulder. Meat quality is important
to us. We consider ourselves to be food producers as well as
cattle producers. We treat these animals as though our grand
children will be receiving nourishment from them.
Our
Selection Program
Through cooperation with other Angus breeders, we have been able
to assemble some of the most proven genetics in the Angus
business. With cows with dollar beef values over $40 and beef
values over $50, we have done planned mating to produce bulls
and females that should compliment most herds.
In addition, we used females that
looked functionally good in addition to having good numbers.
I have had my share of bad
udders, bad attitudes and other undesirable characteristics that
take the fun and enjoyment out of being in the cattle business.
Our conversations with the feed
yards also made us aware of the need to have cattle with good
rib eye numbers.
Small rib eyes mean small muscled
calves. We have headed our program in the heavier muscled
direction. And that is what it is all about for the producers
selling cattle. Amount of muscle + quality of the muscle = A
good return for us.
We have been overwhelmed by all
the numbers available to cattle breeders and buyers. Most of our
buyers get as lost as we often do when trying to decide the
value of and the worth of an animal relative to these numbers
when compared to another animal. We came to the conclusion that
if we use the good ones, we should produce the good ones.
It is hard to find a dollar
figure when comparing. Will our bulls make you more money that
bulls bought else where? Some yes, some no, some the same. If
you are using good genetics, it is still up to the owner to
promote these genetics to potential buyers. If just run your
cattle across the scales at the local sale barn, the buyers will
assume that they are just like the others and pay accordingly.
On the other hand, if you, or you and your neighbors are using
good proven bulls, buyers will be more apt to want your cattle
because you have taken some of the unknown out of the genetics.
We all like things to be somewhat
predictable especially when dealing in matters that make or cost
of money.
So, there you have it. We just
try to raise predictably efficient cattle in an economical way. |
