Keeney Angus Bull & Heifer Sale

April 5, 2008; 12.30 pm,

at the farm, Nancy, KY

Selling 35 yearling bulls

30 open heifers; 10 bred heifers  

The future has begun

I’ve always enjoyed reading Wendell Berry’s discussions about the future of agriculture without cheap oil. I’d always thought that someday my grandkids would witness Mr. Berry’s predictions, but lo and behold; Mr. Berry is witnessing it himself; and I’m living it…and it’s not so bad.

  This past year’s record freeze and drought has served a good purpose for us; it has shocked us from our complacency; and the management practices we have initiated this winter because of drought will be necessary from now on because of input price . With a cow that grazes grass in winter as well as summer; recycling her own nutrients back to the land; the price of fertilizer, fuel, and hay becomes insignificant.

  There is a genetic component of this management scenario; and we have been breeding for this adaptive cow; moderate in all aspects for over 25 years now. Oh, lots of breeders talk our philosophy of matching the cow to a grass environment, but their actions belie their words. Our maternal herd sires are a product of our own herd; not the clipped, creep fed, AI touted, spread epd bulls with 90 lbs of yearling wt and 30 lbs of milk that require more maintenance energy than an ethanol plant.

Retirement

I’ll be 62 come Feb; and under our management, it seems like the cattle business has become a retirement hobby…but it is really encouraging to know that me doing less, and the cows doing more, is the most profitable business model. Traditions die hard; but eventually the crowd that promotes the way to profitability is by producing more lbs from one animal will face the economic law of diminishing returns relative to higher input costs…and they and their cattle doomed to the traditional purebred hobby of trading animals between each other.

Sale Date Change

  We are tired of wondering if March will come in like a lion; so our sale date is moving to the first Saturday in April. We see little point in doing things in winter that can be done easier in spring. We once thought we needed to sell ahead of the competition; but we realize now that we have no competition in KY for the product we best produce…practical Angus females and the bulls that sire them. Our bulls will be minimum priced at $1500; most bring between $1500 and $2000.

  Our bulls are on silage and by-product protein. Once again, we are encouraged by how our maternal bulls on lower energy rations with Epd ranges of 30 to 50 lb yearling wt epd actually outweigh and out gain bulls sired by terminal 100lb yw epd bulls.

  The forty heifers that sell are all sired by maternal bulls. These are not stockyard accumulated heifers; or the heifer by-products of terminal meat selection; they are bred to make productive cows in profitable commercial pastures. They will be well developed; ready to graze your spring time grass.

   We welcome your visit anytime; whether to talk genetics or the cattle practices that contributes to profit per acre of grass that we believe easily competes with the profits of $4/bu corn. Give us a call anytime and we hope to see you on our new sale date April 5, 2007.

The Prototype

She is not rare or valuable; we make them too often to call them anything but ordinary. She is sired by young bulls from programs of constant forward direction utilizing the best of yesterday in a more prepotent current state rather than a reminiscent memory of some rare exception of the past. She has no close up New Zealand or pure Scotch genetics; we aren' t offering our bulls to foreign countries or environments. She isn't`t the most of anything except problem free. We finally learned that fleshing ease and fertility are two totally unrelated things. Fleshing ease is the most over-promoted trait in the cow business and fertility is the most over-looked. Her pedigree isn`t important; you would not be personally acquainted with a single ancestor in the pedigree; we are. She is the result of a program of realization of what can be; and what can`t be. Not every two year old we raise looks like this; nor do they need to; to do the same job. Not every heifer we sell will look like this; nor will they need to; to be as profitable. Some models are window dressing; some are work and wear. People buying window dressing at designer prices are most often the most disappointed.

We own and sell bulls that create the same old cow over and over. The one below is typical of the 2008 offering.

Nothing has changed except our date. We are selling the same type cattle as always; practical, common sense, problem free, Angus cattle that excel in grass and lower input environments. Raised without creep feed; developed on silage with soundness and longevity at the forefront.

Call 606-636-6500 or email

mwkeeney1@alltel.net

We are calving later; grazing longer; working less; spending less; selling bulls cheaper;making more money and enjoying life more utilizing the same “average” Angus genetics we have bred for 25 years. We use our own bulls to produce adapted cows in a lower input, fescue environment where the highly promoted AI stud bull’s daughters perform like ducks out of water.

Can our steers cut the mustard? Check these results from the Iowa State Feedlot Futurity

finalwt  adg  carcasswt  fat   rea   yg   % Ch   price/Cwt

KA Messenger 427…tail end steers

1158    3.12   701        .48  11.8  3.03   75     $148.49

Steers from mainstream popular AI bloodlines from a KY hobby farm

1294    3.41   797        .51  12.4  3.27   50     $144.91

The last Messenger sons will sell April 5; his influence will live on here through his sons and daughters.

The future requiring a minimizing of fuel and fertilizer has begun; using our genetics and the sun, soil, and rainfall; we’ve never been more encouraged about our future. If you have farmed too long with a mentality of more production; maybe it is time to visit with us about the genetics and management of more profit with greater predictability. We are not a hobby herd; cattle are our only business; and every year we are better at it. Call to discuss your future as a Keeney Angus customer. It is about enhancing our future by securing your future with genetics bred for the long haul. Call 606-636-6500 for information and a catalog