For Sale In October - Pharo Cattle Company

Sept./ Oct. 2001
PHARO CATTLE COMPANY
CHEYENNE WELLS, COLORADO
NEWSLETTER
PHONE 1-800-311-0995
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Buy your bulls from someone who raises cattle the way you ought to.
Forage-Tested Bulls <—> For Sale In October
The number of bulls enrolled in our forage
program continues to grow every year because
our producers recognize the value of this type of
test. We know the bulls that can survive this
test will be as tough and environmentally adapted
as any other bulls in North America. For more
information about our forage-test program I
encourage you to read the article on page 3.
About the sale. Because of the enormous
expenses involved, we will not publish an official
sale catalog. Basic information and data on the
sale bulls will be made available on our newlycreated website, www.pharocattle.com, or by
calling us toll-free at 1-800-311-0995.
As mentioned earlier, this sale will feature
a unique “cowboy auction”. Every bull will have
a posted base price to start the bidding. When it
is time to sell a particular bull, we will ask those
who are interested in that bull, at the base price, to
raise their buyer’s number. If there is only one
number in the air, the bull will be sold to that
number at the base price. If there is more than
one number in the air, we will gradually increase
the price until only one number remains.
Because of our increasing numbers, we
have decided to hold our 1st Annual Fall Bull
Sale.
This sale will be held at the ranch on
Tuesday, October 23, 2001. The bulls will be on
display at 10:00 a.m., and we will begin a very
unique, slow-paced auction at 1:00 p.m. Our
ranch headquarters are located 30 miles south of
Burlington and 8 miles north of Cheyenne Wells
on Highway 385 in eastern Colorado.
Sight-unseen bidding. You don’t have
to be present at the sale to participate. Since
many of our customers live hundreds of miles
away, we are making sight-unseen bidding an
option for them to use.
These bids will be
handled with extreme confidentiality by trustworthy representatives who will be present at
the sale.
You have our guarantee that your
bids will never be used or abused. Furthermore,
if you allow us to help select the bulls that best
fit your needs, we will guarantee satisfaction
on all your sight-unseen purchases.
From the top two-thirds. This sale will
feature 50 to 60 forage-tested bulls selected from
the top two-thirds of our Angus, Red Angus,
Composite and Hereford breed groups. At this
point, we don’t plan to offer any Tarentaise bulls
in this sale. These will be virgin bulls between
16 and 18 months of age. Although they won’t
be nearly as big or as fat as other bulls their age,
you can rest assured they have earned every bit
of their condition the hard way. This is a nononsense set of range bulls that have never been
pampered, or shut up in a corral, or fed a bite
of grain.
~ Kit & Deanna Pharo
These bulls were produced by moderate
sized, easy-fleshing cows that have been bred and
selected for fertility and adaptability for many
years.
The philosophies behind our bulls are
posted on page 5. We truly believe, as seedstock
producers, we need to be tougher on our cows
than our customers are on theirs. That’s why our
motto says, “Buy your bulls from someone
who raises cattle the way you ought to.” As
most of you already know, we are not your
typical seedstock producer and we do not sell
typical bulls.
No-Nonsense, Range Bulls For Sale
1
Feed Truck Genetics
By: Lee Hawes
JULIE’S WORKSHOPS
Oct. 16-19
Low Cost Cow/Calf Program
with Dick Diven in Limon, Colo.
Phone 1-800-575-0864
Nov. 27
Dr. Temple Grandin, consultant for
livestock handling techniques and
facilities. Hands-on demonstration
in Cheyenne Wells, Colo.
Jan. 26
Dr. Val Farmer, psychologist and
regular guest on Agri-Talk. How to
build, strengthen and maintain family
relationships. Cheyenne Wells, Colo.
A few years back, I received a call from
a friend who knew I had, in the past, used some
bulls from a very well known Angus breeder. It
seems he had purchased a bull a couple of years
earlier from the same breeder. He said, “This
bull had an impressive 800 pound weaning
weight, but his calves have trouble weighing 450
pounds at weaning. What’s going on?” I might
add, he paid a lot of money for that bull.
I told him that I had experienced the same
problem with the bulls I had purchased. Instead
of producing bigger calves, my calves actually
seemed to be getting lighter each year. I finally
concluded that these cattle must have been
designed and bred for the feedlot.
My ranch is forage based instead of grain
based, and that’s where the problem lies. Cattle
can go from a forage-based operation and still
finish in a grain-based operation, but it’s next to
impossible to take a grain-based feedlot animal
out to the ranch and expect him to work. This is
what I call “feed truck genetics”. It’s great if
your ranch happens to be a feedlot.
Contact Julie Elliott
Phone — 719-767-5647 (ext. 3)
Email — [email protected]
Baldy Makers…
Are you looking for some moderate sized
Hereford bulls with natural thickness and lots of
pigmentation? Make plans to attend our Fall
Bull Sale on October 23rd. You’re gonna’ like
our forage-tested Hereford bulls.
2
What Is A Forage-Tested Bull?
What is a forage-tested bull? This is a
bull that has been tested for his ability to gain
weight on an all forage (grass/hay) diet. Most
bulls are gain tested on a high concentrate (grain)
ration similar to the ones used to fatten cattle in a
feedlot. It is common knowledge that these hot
feedlot rations will negatively affect a bull’s
reproductive system, digestive system and liver
function, as well as the soundness of his feet and
legs. We believe the only animals that should be
treated in this way are those intended for
slaughter.
Bulls that perform best in a forage test
should sire cattle that are also more efficient
foragers. Therefore, this is a very important trait
for ranchers who produce their own replacement
females to select for. Dylan Biggs, a good friend
of ours in Canada, says, “The idea of grass tested
genetics is gradually gaining more and more
acceptance. Since there aren’t many cowherds
that spend their producing years in a feedlot,
maternal seedstock genetics should be tested for
their ability to perform on grass, not grain.” He
goes on to say, “There is nothing like this kind of
test to separate the men from the boys. Grain
can do a marvelous job of sprucing up some very
mediocre bulls.”
Pharo Cattle Company first began
marketing forage-tested bulls in 1998.
Our
reasons for doing so were twofold. First, we
believed in the basic concept of forage testing our
maternal genetics. Second, it provided a way for
us to market our May and June born bull calves.
Calving in sync with nature has always been very
important to us, but it was nearly impossible to
sell breeding bulls that were only ten months old.
Now we are selling some 18-month old bulls in
the fall, as well as some coming two-year old
bulls in the spring.
At weaning our bull calves are turned
back out on growing forages. Our forage-tested
bulls will never be shut up in a corral and they
will never receive any grain. They are roughed
through their first winter on dry grass with a very
limited amount of alfalfa hay, used only as a
protein supplement. Their average winter gain
will seldom exceed .6 pounds per head per day.
Many are referring to this first winter as the
“ultimate stress test” because so many bulls fall
out of the program during this time period.
In May we start the remaining bulls on a
grass forage test that will last 100 to 120 days.
They will typically average 2.5 pounds per head
per day during this test period. At the end of this
forage test the less efficient and unadapted bulls
are culled, as well as those with structural
problems and questionable dispositions. Many of
the graduates will be offered for sale in our fall
bull sale, while the rest are roughed through
another winter on native pasture in preparation for
our spring bull sale. Although this program has
an extremely high fall out rate, we still believe it
is the best way to performance test our genetics.
The Advantages.
There are several
advantages to using these forage-tested bulls.
Since they are older and more mature they are
able to handle a heavier workload. Since they are
in range condition, in contrast to being overweight, they will be able to maintain or gain
weight during their first breeding season. Losing
weight during the breeding season, as most young
bulls do, can be very detrimental. Since these
forage-tested bulls have never been confined to
small pens or forced to eat feedlot rations they
will be much healthier and should last much
longer. Bull longevity is a very important, yet
often overlooked, economic trait. Since these
bulls have been tested for their ability to survive
and perform in an all forage environment they
should pass that genetic potential on to their
offspring.
~ Kit
Forage-Tested Bull Sale
Tuesday, October 23 rd at the Ranch
————————————————————–
Angus, Red Angus, Composites & Herefords
LOW COST COW/CALF PROGRAM
The School
The Three Keys
Changing BCS
Time of Calving
Precise Nutrition
Dick Diven 800.575.0864
www.lowcostcowcalf.com
Agri-Concepts, Inc.
12850 N. Bandanna Way
Tucson, AZ 85737-8906
3
The Bankrupt Cow
By: Ron Torell, Nevada Extension Specialist
Ask yourself, “Have the feed resources on
my ranch changed to compensate for my cattle’s
increased nutrient requirements brought on by
genetic selection?" The answer is probably “no”.
Perhaps your supplementation and inputs have
increased to fill the void. Or perhaps you have
changed your management such as weaning early
to preserve body condition. However, if you’ve
not made any adjustments, you are probably
experiencing a large number of bankrupt or open
cows. Granted, there are ranches that can support
these high nutrient-demanding cows. Are you
sure you are one of them?
Part of the blame has to be put on the
registered breeders. Few registered cows have to
make a living under the same conditions as
commercial cows. Yes, many registered cows
get champagne and caviar.
Perhaps you should reevaluate your EPD
criteria and truly match your cows to their
environment. Your future might very well depend
on it. Bragging rights have bankrupted a lot of
ranches. Don’t let it happen to you.
Living beyond one's means eventually
leads to bankruptcy. Many young cows are
destined to file for Chapter 11. Why? They were
genetically bred to survive on a champagne and
caviar diet but are forced to live on a greasewood
flat. The end result is open or bankrupt cows.
EPDs have done an excellent job of
identifying sires that excel in growth. However,
there are no free rides in this world. This added
growth comes at the expense of higher nutrient
demanding cows. The universal advice seems to
be “match the cow to the environment.” A
balanced EPD package is always the most
economical. Yet go to the bull sales and see
what type of bulls bring the big bucks. The
commercial cowman is sending a message to
the registered producer that he wants the big
growth numbers. He’s willing to pay for growth
and is not concerned with too much frame or
milk. Average is hard to sell at a bull sale.
Take a look at how the Angus bull EPDs
for the various traits have changed since 1982
(Table 1). Data for other breeds shows similar
trends. Milk has gone from a +0 in 1982 to a +15
in 2001. During that same time weaning weight
EPDs have gone from a +5.0 to a +31, yearling
weight EPDs have moved from a +9 to +57 and
birth weight EPDs have moved from a +0.7 to a
+2.7. Is this progress or digression? It depends
on if you are caught up in the big numbers trap
and have cows going bankrupt.
Industry Leader in Beef Mineral Nutrition
Table 1
Milk
1982 — + 0
2001 — +15
Change — +15
B.Wt.
+0.7
+2.7
+2.0
W.Wt.
+5
+31
+26
Y.Wt.
+9
+57
+48
As Kit Pharo has said, “Milk is not a
maternal trait. It is a growth trait.” In fact, milk
is the highest nutrient demanding growth trait
there is. The cow requires energy and protein to
produce milk. The higher the milking ability, the
more energy and protein the cow is going to have
to find. If high energy and protein feeds are
not available in sufficient quantities to meet her
demands, the demands will be met at the expense
of body condition and reproduction.
Coarse, Color-Coded
Weatherized
Highly Palatable
Balanced for your needs
4
Weather Forecast…
Philosophies Behind Our Bulls
Every fall people tout the signs of nature
such as cockleburs, wooly bear and locusts as
indicating there will be a premature end to the
growing season. I’ve noticed these signs only
work on years that it freezes early.
1. Honesty and integrity will not be
compromised.
2. We will manage the natural resources
placed under our control in a sustainable manner.
Why Buy Bulls In The Fall?
3. The breed of cattle is not nearly as
important as the breeding program
and the philosophies behind the cattle.
Many have expressed an interest in a fall
bull sale. Here are a few of their reasons:
♦
4. Cows are run in a real-world environment, as tough or tougher than the
environment most commercial cows
are run in.
♦
♦
5. Let the environment sort out the good
ones, while showing absolutely no
sympathy for open, late or dry cows.
♦
6. Never make an excuse for a cow. She
must produce and wean a calf every
year to remain in the herd.
♦
7. By limiting feed resources we try to
apply sufficient pressure on the cowherd to force out the unadapted and
infertile animals – at least 10 percent
each year.
♦
♦
♦
♦
We’re not calving, so it’s much easier to get
away in the fall.
If I know I need some bulls, I like to get them
purchased while it’s still fresh on my mind.
Some years I need to purchase something for
income tax purposes. I just as well purchase
something I’m going to need.
The longer I have bulls on my ranch the more
adapted they become and the more likely they
are to hold up during the breeding season.
Often we can purchase bulls for less in the fall
than we can in the spring.
On these older, forage-tested bulls it doesn’t
take much to get them through the winter.
I’m under much less pressure to purchase
bulls at a fall sale.
The bulls will be in the condition I want them
in at the start of the breeding season.
I have a fall calving herd, so I can use these
bulls immediately.
What about you? How would a fall bull
sale work for you? Make plans to attend our
Forage-Tested Bull Sale on October 23rd. We
will be offering 50 to 60 Angus, Red Angus,
Composite and Hereford bulls. See page 1 for
more details.
These older, forage-tested bulls are rockhard and won’t require much extra feed and care
this winter. They have never been pampered or
fed. You can expect them to gain weight while
breeding cows next summer.
Call us at 1-800-311-0995, or email us at
[email protected], or check out our new
website at www.pharocattle.com if you want
more information on the bulls we are selling in
this special fall sale. We will only be mailing
information to those who request it.
~ Kit Pharo
8. In addition to growth and performance,
we select for other vital economic traits
like fertility, fleshing ability, calving
ease, moderate cow size, structural
correctness, disposition, and longevity.
9. Replacement heifers are developed and
maintained on a low-cost, forage based
diet with minimum supplements. We
only want the most efficient and most
adapted heifers to make it into the
cowherd.
10. A bull calf must be born unassisted,
from a fault-free cow that has never
missed, to make it into one of our bull
sales.
5
Enough Is Enough...
Improve Your Land, Your Life & Your Bottom Line.
Ranching For Profit School
This is just a tidbit that adds support to the
observations Lee Hawes shared in his article on
page 2, entitled Feed Truck Genetics. It also
relates quite well to what Ron Torell says in his
article entitled The Bankrupt Cow on page 4.
A Wyoming customer recently told me
he had purchased some moderate-growth, calving
ease bulls from Pharo Cattle Company to use on
his heifers. He was still using some big-framed,
high-growth bulls from another breeder on his
cows. To his surprise, the calves being raised by
his first-calf heifers were outgrowing the calves
being raised by his cows.
We all know cattle cannot perform beyond
what their environment will allow. I am starting
to believe that when we genetically match cattle
to fit their environment they are capable of
outperforming cattle with more growth potential
than their environment will support. What do
you think?
Many ranchers have mistakenly been led
to believe that higher growth EPDs will automatically create bigger weaning weights. That’s
not so.
You cannot generate bigger weaning
weights with nothing more than computer
numbers and thin air. An increase in weaning
weight will always require an increase in feed
and/or other inputs. I’m sorry, but there are still
no free lunches.
~ Kit Pharo
“Ranching for Profit gave me the tools to build a
profitable business in an unprofitable industry.”
Josh Hoy, Kansas
North Platte, NE Sept. 16—22, 2001
Colorado Springs, CO Dec. 9—15, 2001
707-429-2292
Call for our free brochure & complete schedule.
www.ranchmanagement.com
What Is A Composite ?
A composite is nothing more than a
synthetic breed comprised of two or more breeds.
The strengths that exist within different breeds are
combined to form a new, superior breed.
Our composite cattle were specifically
designed to provide the right genetic combination
to fit our environment, as well as our production
goals. They are approximately 30 to 50 percent
Tarentaise, 30 to 50 percent Red or Black Angus,
and 0 to 20 percent Hereford. They can be either
red or black in color.
Our composite cows will consistently
wean our biggest calves, while maintaining their
condition and having a high breed-back rate. In
general, our composite bulls will outperform the
purebred bulls in our forage test.
We will be offering several really good
Composite bulls in our Fall Sale on October 23.
Book Review...
Here’s a book that could
challenge and expand your faith
in God. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
by Jim Cymbala. Allow me to
share a short excerpt.
“If we do not yearn and
pray and expect God to stretch
out his hand and do the supernatural, it will not happen. That
is the simple truth of the matter.
We must give Him room to
operate. If we go on week after
week, filling the time with
religious lectures and nothing
more, God has little opportunity
in which to move.”
6
Thank-You…
Dependence Upon God…
I would like to take this opportunity to
thank the many people who have responded to
our concern for the rising cost of mailing out our
newsletters.
Your generosity has been very
humbling.
Also, thanks to those who have switched
to receiving the newsletter via e-mail.
Every
little bit helps. Many have called or written to
correct addresses and to take duplicates off our
mailing list. Thanks.
We really appreciate everything you have
done to help us out, and we hope we won’t ever
let you down. Thank you for your continued
support.
~ Deanna
For most of us in America, dependence
upon God is much easier said than done. We
have been blessed so much that we literally want
for nothing. In case you need help putting this in
perspective, a newspaper boy in New York City
is considered to be among the top five percent of
the wealthiest people in the world. Where do
you fit in?
Not only do we want for nothing, but we
have mistakenly been led to believe that we are
responsible for our wealth and good fortune. We
give ourselves the credit for God’s blessings. It’s
very hard to have dependence upon God when we
don’t even recognize his blessings.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord
with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding.”
I’m convinced that we haven’t even begun
to scratch the surface of what God can do for us
and through us, if we would only fully trust in
him. In his book, The Prayer of Jabez, Bruce
Wilkinson says, “Dependence upon God makes
heroes of ordinary people…” I know it’s not
always easy, but I challenge you to trust in God
and see what He has in store for you.
~ Kit
Forage -Tested Bull Sale
Tuesday, October 23rd
Call: 1-800-311-0995
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Can’t make it to the sale?
Ask about our
Sight-Unseen Purchase program.
Buyer Beware…
When selecting a breeding bull, feet and
leg structure is every bit as important as testicular
development and body conformation. It’s more
important than pedigree and EPDs.
The bull, whose front feet are pictured to
the right, was sold at a major bull sale last spring.
He was a featured bull with the seller retaining
1/2 interest. He had a good pedigree and good
EPD numbers.
The bulls at this sale were displayed in
deep straw and sold in deep wood chips.
It
would have been nearly impossible for the
purchaser to notice the long curled toes and the
crooked front feet before or during the sale.
Whose responsibility is it to check for
structural defects like this? Is it the buyer’s or
the seller’s? Pharo Cattle Company inspects the
feet and legs of every bull before they are put on
test, and again before they sell.
Those with
structural problems are immediately culled.
I hate to keep picking on other seedstock
producers but some of them need picked on. It’s
time for seedstock producers to start taking their
responsibilities seriously. There is more to a bull
than pedigree and EPDs.
~ Kit
7
PHARO CATTLE CO.
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT NO. 9
Cheyenne Wells, CO
44017 County Road Z
CHEYENNE WELLS, CO. 80810
PHONE 1-800-311-0995
E-MAIL [email protected]
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Cowboy Logic: “Life is like a roll of toilet paper.
The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.”
The Hidden Cost of Big Calves
Under construction: www.pharocattle.com
Everyone knows big birth weights can be
disastrous in a first-calf heifer program because
of increased labor and death losses. However,
there is a hidden cost associated with bigger birth
weights few ranchers have considered.
Birth weight is highly correlated to a calf’s
gestation period. Studies have shown big calves
have longer gestation periods. We’ve personally
seen instances where big 90-pound calves have
gestation periods that are 20 to 25 days longer
than 70-pound calves. I have heard of gestation
periods, in other herds, that are as much as 10
days longer yet. So what’s the problem?
The hidden cost associated with those
longer gestation periods is in the cow’s ability, or
inability, to breed back. It’s nearly impossible
for a cow with a big calf and a long gestation
period to have a calf every 12 months because
there simply aren’t enough days in the year.
Although birth weights in most herds have
steadily increased for the past forty years, Pharo
Cattle Company still specializes in cattle that do
their growing on the outside of the cow.
BAR 6
7
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Feed & Grain Dispenser
BAR SIX MFG. INC.
Protection, KS
8
1-800-549-4456