CALF_News_October_November_2019

26 CALF News • October | November 2019 • www.calfnews.net never bought any replacements. We’ve raised them all.” Soon after she began running the ranch, they started crossing Hereford females with Angus bulls. The baldies worked well on the ranch’s native grasses. “Our native grasses are primarily buf- falo grass, various bluestems and Gama grasses, and spindle top,” Stevens says. “Our stocking rate is from 20 to 25 acres per cow.” Due to the sometimes-rough terrain and semi-arid climate, they have experi- mented with Longhorn and Corriente bulls to measure calving ease and calf performance. They have also tried Bran- gus and Charolais bulls, but the Angus- Hereford crosses have proven to perform the best. “We use only Angus and Hereford bulls that are usually bred to Angus- Hereford cross cows,” Stevens says.“I like the hybrid vigor.” Females are bred to calve in warmer months – March, April and May.“We had always calved from December through February,” Stevens says.“In 2007, we decided to go with the later months to miss most of the winter weather. It’s not natural to calve before there is grass if you can keep from it. Also, we brand in May and it’s easier to brand a 300-pound calf.” Preconditioning Supplemental feed for the calves normally consists of wheat hay acquired from a neighboring farm and mineral tubs. Vaccination and other precondi- tioning measures depend on when and how calves are marketed. “Many calves are marketed through the Superior Livestock Auction net- work,” says Cody White, ranch manager. “The calves we’re placing on rented wheat pasture are on a program that includes a Vision® 7 blackleg along with Scour Boss®, Pyramid® 5 with Pre- sponse®, Cydectin® injectable wormers, and a MultiMin® shot.” The calves include about 500 heifers and 100 steers.“We expect to see them gain from 3 to 3.5 pounds on wheat and a backgrounding ration,”White says. “Calves will be placed at 585 to 620 pounds and marketed at 850 to 900 pounds. They will be Certified Natural and GAP 4 cattle. We are also placing some replacements heifers on wheat.” Stevens says she’s eager to see how the calves perform on feed. And next year, she plans to retain ownerships of a similar number of calves. “We fed some in the Ranch-to-Rail program through Texas A&M, but this is a much bigger step,” Stevens says.“I’m a little nervous.” She notes that addi- tional steers and heifers will be marketed via contracts over the Superior auction. For a ranch that is a traditional cow- calf operation, with interests in horses and hunting leases as well, being appre- hensive about taking the extra step in the production cycle isn’t unusual. Feedyards often place cattle for ranchers feeding for the first time. Retained ownership isn’t for everyone but, like Stevens, many producers feed a set of calves to learn more about their genetics and how they perform at the feedyard and packer.When calf prices are low, like they have been this summer and heading into fall, placing them on feed allows for more time to market calves. Fat prices at $100 per cwt. or lower were not attractive in early fall. Neither were feeder cattle prices at $135. But there is time for a market rally by the time cattle put on another 200-300 pounds. Drought, fire recovery Both drought and fire are something every West Texas ranch must be pre- pared for because rains can skip a season and measurable rains can be more than a year apart. All or most counties have fire bans most years. In 2011, drought helped spawn vicious wildfires over parts of the Panhandle. Many ranches were scarred, including the Sneed-Pool. WHERE SHEWANTS TO BE Continued from page 25 ABOVE: Herefords have always been a fixture at Sneed-Pool Cattle Co. RIGHT: Wells are now more than 300 feet deep, meaning windmills must work harder than ever. Continued on page 27 