Welcome to the Keeney Angus

Customer Appreciation Day

  Written by Mike Keeney

    Like every Angus breeder, we have a history and a story to tell. Ours is not a short story since we have had Angus cattle for 43 years, but since neither glory or great wealth has been achieved, our story is certainly a small story. Like many cattle breeders and farmers, our longevity is based more on living within our means than any great genetic cache. Yet now and then the story of the ordinary breeder needs to be told; for the ordinary breeder with the small story multiplied a thousand times over is the true lifeblood of a breed and a breed association.

   All the Keeneys I know or knew born before me were farmers; my grandfather was known as a top watermelon grower; his third grade education forced him to drop the cents and just concentrate on the dollars; he succeeded. At 15 years of age, I planned on being the exception to the farmer rule. Two purebred Angus heifers later in my ownership and I was hooked on breeding and showing cattle. With good grades in school, it was always a given in my mind that I would be the first Keeney of our clan to go to college. Animal Science became my major; but working under Dale Lovell at the university beef show barn was my education and entertainment. My moment of glory was being high individual in two livestock judging contests; passing Organic Chemistry to graduate in 1968 was my biggest challenge.

   I came back to the University of Kentucky full-time in 1969 in Dale’s old job working with purebred show cattle and helping in the cattle research programs when Dale took the position as beef unit manager.. Highlights of my four year stint was traveling to the Wye herd to see the “big” cows there; purchasing Wye bulls for our home herd with a dear friend Dr. Laurie Thomas; visiting with other breeders, and showing some state champion bulls produced in the UK herd. Dr. Neil Bradley was in charge of the beef unit; he expected excellence and demanded that the taxpayer’s property be  well-kept. When I left the university four years later, Dr. Bradley became one of my staunchest supporters in my independent cattle thoughts. He used our bulls, we helped him buy and sell his cows, and he was always there for advice and friendship no matter the circumstances. Dr. Bradley passed away a few years ago; I miss the friendship I could always count on.

   After a three year stint managing a foreign breed in what seemed to be a foreign land {far Western KY}, my wife and I and two small children in 1976 returned to the home place where my father was raising the 80 head of Angus cows and the famous Kentucky product, tobacco, on 250 acres of good land paid for with my parents hard work and good management. I questioned if there would be enough work and money for both Dad and I. I was right about the money, but wrong about the work. My wife soon joined my mother in the factory work that has supported many farmers in this area. It was hard work, but good wages and benefits; those jobs have been lost to the global economy for several years now. We saved a little money as farming requires you to do; rented some ground; purchased an additional 450 acres over time, and the cowherd grew to the current 275 cows. My path was made easy by the work and saving of my parents.

    In 1977 a young, established dentist that had grown up in our community called wanting to buy some Angus heifers; we ended up at the William S. Dale  farm  in Lexington, and bought 10 yearling heifers sired by a Wye bull for $300/hd; Joe Dunkum was in the cattle business. Thus began a relaxed business relationship, but much more importantly, a friendship that still thrives today. Some of the most pleasant experiences my wife and I have had has been shared with Joe and Linda Dunkum; from weighing calves to watching Phantom of the Opera to sitting on the porch in Red Lodge, MT. watching the sun set. William Dale owned the best  cattle farm {1200 acres} between Somerset and Lexington and was a friend and supporter; it was quite an honor for me to be asked to give a little talk at his fiftieth anniversary  of owning registered Angus cattle.

   In the mid 80`s, I had realized how totally useless the 7 to 10 plus frame size popular Angus cattle of the era were; I felt like I was cornered by the completeness of the absurdity. There were two options; go along with the crowd, or come out of the corner fighting. I chose to fight, and Keeney’s Corner was born; an occasional, no holds barred philosophy of practical cattle raising and breeding. It irritated some {thankfully}; and pleased others. Joe Dunkum, though a mild-mannered Christian gentleman, was particularly amused and volunteered to pay for the column. In return, I sold and promoted Joe’s cattle as if they were my own. Today Keeney’s Corner is totally a Keeney project, and appears monthly in the KBCA Cow Country News. Our latest diatribe has evolved around the ridiculousness of the KY  AG Development Board defining what constitutes a "good EPD" based on different breed percentiles. Over the years, outside my immediate family, the person most responsible for my continued interest in purebred cattle and any success therein, has been Joe Dunkum. From clerking our little, low-cost bull sale to bringing the best old Shoshone cows to Kentucky, Joe and Linda have always been there leading the way or lending a helping hand.

   I need to backtrack to 1979 for this segment.  A friend had told me that Shoshone Titan was being bred widely across the country ; and other breeders I knew had already used Shoshone Viking, Titan’s full brother.. I called Larry Leonhardt, ordered semen , and was added to his mailing list. Receiving the yearly Shoshone bull sale catalog was a unique experience; it had pages and pages of cattle breeding philosophy,  no stories about how great the cattle were, along with a few pictures and pedigrees done in a very rudimentary fashion. What I read made sense to me, because it was common sense. I tried in vain to buy a Shoshone bull in 1983 and 84 because I had my sights set on one of the “best” and they brought too much money. I have learned since that if a breeder only has a couple of bulls good enough for  your herd; you likely don’t need either of them; use your own. Finally in 1985, I purchased a bull that would become known in good humor as Little Larry. This was the performance era; I had yet to learn the difference between performance and profit. I had been warned that this bull wasn’t big; wasn’t clipped, and wasn’t fat; still I was in shock at the little bull. Shoshone Edict was his name; he suffered the transition from Wyoming to Kentucky poorly because of his hair coat. I really didn’t complain because I surmise when you buy sight-unseen, you live with the consequences, but I suppose my disappointment was obvious to Larry. But undaunted, and before calves were even born by Edict, when the 1986 Shoshone catalog came, I was intent on buying a better bull. After studying the catalog from cover to cover, I called Larry to discuss my picks. “No, I’m not selling you another bull sight unseen; you need to come see the cattle and better understand my objectives”, he said. I was amazed at someone so adamant about NOT selling me a bull. So in the summer of 1986 I made my first trip to Shoshone Angus; saw an older bull I liked, and when I tried to buy him, Larry said, “Just use him as long as you like; send me a check when you sell him.”  Shoshone Prato left many good low-input, problem -free daughters here. I went back for another visit in 1987 because I wanted to see the calf with the 38% inbreeding co-efficient, Shoshone Echo 1702, derived from my favorite lineage of cows at Shoshone. On this trip I saw Shoshone Encore 6310, and bought him in 1988. He is the bull that taught us the great value of a problem free existence; good feet, slick hair, great temperament, good udders and teats, with excellent growth during that era.

Along the way years later, we convinced Dennis Voss of Horse Butte Ranch to use the Encore semen we gave him; Dennis flushed a good Encore daughter to Encore, and the bull 1126 and other full sibs were born. 1126 is playing a role in the Shoshone herd today, and in our continuation of the Encore lineage in our herd.

   In 1983 Larry wrote his Tru-Line proposition and invitation to other breeders to cooperate with him in the development of pre-tested, complimentary lines of cattle to be used in the commercial industry with greater predictability and economic return. There were no takers for various reasons; among them expediency, but the Tru-Line proposal is as valid and as needed today in an industry reeked with genetic disarray. Everyone objected that such a project would take too long; but now almost 25 years have passed with the industry no closer to harnessing hybrid power with predictability. But as with Joe Dunkum, our greatest appreciation of Larry Leonhardt is his human values of persistence, patience, and absence of ego; in the end, even breeding cattle is a reflection of human personality and character.

   In the early nineties I received a call from a soft voiced farmer inquiring about bulls; saying he enjoyed Keeney’s Corner and had a lot of thought in common with it; more efficient cows that fit a grass environment with additional demands for growth being supplied by terminal bulls. I treated the call rather nonchalant until Glenn Hampton said he would be needing eight bulls. That might be a small number in Montana, but in KY that is a bull buyer! Glen came with friends to look, and bought his eight bulls pre-weaning; beginning a relationship that has seen Glen buy 60 bulls from Keeney Angus over the last fifteen years. The Hampton farm herd of 600 cows is the most impressive commercial herd we have ever visited in KY. The best maternal cows and open heifers are bred to Keeney Angus bulls; the remainder to terminal Charolais bulls. The Hampton herd utilizes a systems approach to produce as much beef per nutritional input as anyone I know. The Hampton bull business, while an economic boost to Keeney Angus, has been a greater ego boost; for we know the 8000 acre grain and cattle establishment can afford bulls wherever they choose to buy them.

   With our bulls selling earlier, to give everyone the same chance at the purchase, we decided to have our first sale in 1993. It was well attended, and Terry Partin, a long time customer of our best bulls, bought the high selling bull for what we considered a good price, $2425. Joan Hamilton and Larry Hodge, bought our best heifers. Keenan Turner, now retired Pulaski County Extension Agent, has helped with every sale, and still does. We use no sale manager; with the intention of keeping every transaction a personal one between us and our customer. Our sale is low key and low budget; I see no reason to change. In the Fall of 2004, we added a successful fall sale, and hope it too continues on a stable course.

   An outgrowth of Keeney`s Corner and our increased visibility has enabled us to connect our customers with other commercial cattlemen seeking replacement heifers willing to pay premiums for well managed heifers with appropriate development.

  

So where to from here?

    Not too far; with age, one who has never been rich, either understands or rationalizes, that there is little need of riches. A goal becomes to live and breed cattle as fiercely independent as possible; even if one is poorer in the process; for what we see others, and ourselves needing in genetics, is not what people always want. The best cows here suit us just fine; the objective is to make more good cows, more often. Following the foolish purebred movements is not satisfying to me, even if it is monetarily rewarding…for such rewards are fleeting and not sustainable. …so we will breed cattle as if we will live forever, thankful for many blessings, aware that the next breath could be one’s last.

We have named a few extraordinary people who we appreciate very much; but it is the also the un-named ordinary commercial customer multiplied a thousand times, who patronizes us, the ordinary breeder, that perpetuates and inspires us, and I say thank you very much.

  

So….have we learned anything?

Some random thoughts

   We have learned not to make rules; rules make for great advertisements, but seldom for better cattle. If we made rules, we might find later that our rules were incorrect, and we would need to break them. We don’t have cattle breeding figured out well enough to make rules; but we have it figured well enough to know that those who make rules, don’t have cattle breeding  figured out that great either.

   We do apply certain principles; the first is to adjust management practices and genetics to changing environmental and economic conditions that will result in the greatest commercial profit over a sustainable period of time.

   We believe that purebred breeding stock should be maintained and selected from an environment commensurate with the good commercial producers of an area; otherwise selection data and application is tainted.

   A cow’s production potential should usually match the low cost resources of the farm; grass is the cheapest sustainable nutrient. The higher output cow will require higher levels and higher quality feed; the cow that thrives on less will of necessity be a lower production cow. This does not mean however, that a lower production cow may not be more profitable when production is measured against costs.

     We hold one genetic principle to be irrefutable; that the more traits one selects for, the slower the change in any one trait.       

     Since the role of the cow is reproduction and the role of the steer is meat; there will always be genetic antagonisms between the two.  We believe the industry would be better served to divide breeding objectives into maternal and terminal lines; rather than the impossible task of “having it all” in one animal; or even a breed.

     Biological type has more influence on performance within an environment than breed; there is a place for different biological types so long as they are used in the proper place.

     Maternal genetic selection is a local process; perhaps as local as the farm itself…meaning the best adapted heifers/cows will be produced by you with maternal genetics on your farm.

      We have never changed fertility that much through genetic selection; fleshing ease is not an assurance of fertility; it only assures one that a cow’s failure to rebreed was not because of body condition.   

     There is no credit in treating cows poorly and having them look and do poorly, though on occasion we have; there is genius at work when cows treated harshly look good…or sometimes an alternator of the truth telling the story.

      Pelvic measurement and IBR vaccination may make a healthy heifer; but it doesn’t make a maternal replacement heifer; genetics does.

     The sire summary is the first place I would look for suitable terminal sires; but when I want to buy a bull to make cows, I want to visit with a breeder that knows his cattle more personally than via a computer screen.

     There is quicker economic return in KY by improving forage quality and production than can be created with genetic change in cattle. Improved forages do not require a change in cow type to be more profitable; it may be better to simply increase numbers of the same cow type on the same area of land.

   We are not a linebred herd; but we will continue to linebreed certain lines if for no other reason than experimentation. We have linebred enough to understand the difficulty and to be irritated when animals are promoted as being tightly linebred when they are anything but. We will buy a linebred bull over an outcrossed bull of equal quality every time; and have used linebred bulls of less quality several times with improved results over “crafty crossed” bulls that looked and had “performed” better.

    I believe it is a waste of time to use linebreeding while attempting to increase the level of a trait; if you want more, go buy it where it is proven to be. However, I have been disappointed over the years in the ability of bulls I have bought to deliver more growth; perhaps our environment limits the expression of the true genetic level.

    We know what we want a cow to look like; but we have little assurance that our preferred type is the most profitable; but we have strong conviction that our type offers greater convenience. We are not lazy, but there is no profit in creating more problems that demand more labor and management. Neither are we interested in working harder taking measurements to prevent problems we do not have.

      The new dollar indexes are an advanced tool over EPD’s; contrary to some opinions, EPD’s are not flawed; they are just often misconstrued and promoted  into sending a flawed message. 

      Milk is a terribly expensive method of raising a calf.

      Dollar differences in the selling value of purebred breeding stock is primarily determined by feed and promotion; genetic difference rates a distant third; service fourth.         

      All of the aforementioned thoughts are opinions based purely on personal observation, not scientific fact and are subject to change by my observation or by those presenting either science or a better argument from their observation. An open mind and respect for a contrary opinion is the door to greater knowledge and understanding.