Keeney`s Corner…

  Limited, but timely rains, have kept our grass green and growing…and moderate framed cows looking good. To put the word moderate into a feedlot performance perspective, Bruce Layne, Fountain Run, sold finished steers by one of our Char-Grey bulls this spring. The steers weighed 1387 lbs @14 1/2 months, and had a feed cost of $.32/lb of gain in the Kansas feedlot. Yes, Bruce has a good set of Hereford and BWF cows these calves were from…profit begins by building a cowherd. It is obvious to me that the only reason more crossbred bulls are not being used is simply tradition…tradition is still the most powerful force in the beef breeding business.

  We’ve come to rely exclusively on our own bulls, and Shoshone Angus bulls for all our maternal replacements. There are other herds that might be better, but we don’t have time to sort the consequences of experimentation; wading through a maze of purebred hype and excess feed is beyond our patience. We accept our limitations and move forward with the cattle we know most about. The Angus breed is full of terminal carcass bulls these days; we’ll let those following the ultrasound machines breed those cattle, and just buy whatever we need…the results so far have been very mixed as the percentage of CAB acceptance has fallen instead of increased over the last several years.

  We are off to Montana at the end of July for a week`s visit with Larry Leonhardt and the Shoshone herd; this annual pilgrimage is  better than all the animal breeding courses combined…Larry is a man of vision, perseverance, and results.

  Our third fall bull sale will be Oct 28; we’ll have 20 plus yearling Angus bulls grown on silage; and a couple of older Hoodoo Charolais bulls. We will sell some bred Angus heifers sired by our bulls, and perhaps a few open heifers ready to breed in the fall. More details in future ads.

  We welcome your visit anytime.