Justintime’s Blog

We have had a rather  backwards summer so far. Normally by this time of year, we have lots of hot days, but this year has been rather cool. I am not complaining, as it has certainly helped hold the pastures and crops and assisted in them not burning up. Very hot weather is OK when there is lots of moisture, but we have been “riding on the edge” since spring. Late spring frosts really hurt the alfalfa, but the grasses seemed to survive it much better. Hay crops here are going to be poor, however, I think we should be thankful as a large part of Western Canada has no hay crop this year. I really don’t know where the feed is going to come from this year as it is such a huge area that is suffering in record drought. I can think of nothing in this business that is as depressing and as devastating as drought.  I have been there and know the feeling very well, and my heart goes out to anyone in this situation.  Fortunately, there have been some significant showers recently in some of the driest regions so hopefully they will continue to come, so some green feed can be grown to help get the cow herds through the winter.

I have often thought that all I have actually ever done in my life is either go through winter… or get ready for the next one. I really think there is a great deal of truth in this statement. I actually usually enjoy our winter, as I can spend my day feeding and caring for the cows and I don’t usually have a multitude of other tasks that need to attend to. The key word in that last sentence is ” usually”. Last winter was the first time in my life, when I actually wondered if there was ” life after cows”. Last winter for us here in this part of Western Canada was simply a long very cold one. Day after day of very cold windy weather and more snow than we have seen in probably 30 years. We were needing some snow to help replenish our water supplies in our pastures and dugouts,  but I really did not need to see the snow blowing by my face every day. The snow was almost worn out by the time spring finally arrived, as it would blow it North west one day, and then blow it back the next. It was a struggle to even get to hay bales most days as you had to dig through snow banks sometimes daily to get to them.

Calving in weather that is -45 with the wind chill is really a young man’s game. There were days where I wondered if I could even walk to the house in the evening, when my work was done for the day, from fighting through snow all day. I did survive and I was really impressed with how the cattle came through it. Right now, I don’t think my cows have ever looked as good on pasture. Green grass can do more for a cow, in a few short weeks than any other feed I can think of. It is really quite amazing.

The cooler spring and summer weather we have experienced so far, has also resulted in less insect problems for the cattle. This has been a great benefit as flies and mosquitos can be a real problem here at times.

Weather predictors are still calling for us to have a hotter than normal summer here. I just looked at our 15 day forecast and there is no daily highs of over the low 80s so that will get us through to the last half of July. That is usually when our grasses start to slow down their growth and start to ready themselves for winter. I have already started.Form here on, for the next few months, my main focuses will be baling hay and straw, fixing water fountains and getting pens ready for winter, cleaning out the rest of the pens, fixing buildings and wind break fence. I used to tell my dad that there must be an unwritten rule on our farm, that made it illegal to pound nails without mitts on. When I was younger, it seems we were always trying to finish building pens or fixing corrals when it was freezing cold . Mind you, there was usually lots of reasons we were doing this in the cold weather. These reasons were about 300+ cows and another 1000 head in the feedlot. I really do not know why my dad and I have not had all our knees and hips replaced by now, as we have both spent almost every working day, walking and working with cattle. The last few years we have greatly reduced our work load, and it almost seems like we have very few cattle around, yet when I count up them all, it still usually adds up to over 350 head.

Today is my dad’s birthday. He is now 85, going on 45. He called me this morning, and said that he would not be out until later this afternoon, as he has to go to Regina for a Doctor’s appointment. I told him he didn’t have to come out at all as I would be cutting hay. He said, well, I can do that and you can go work with the cattle. That may be the hardest thing either of us will ever have to deal with, that being, that work has become such a huge part of our lives, that we really don’t know how to actually enjoy a day off. I know this is one of the hardest things my dad has to deal with, and he finds it extremely hard to relax if he isn’t doing something on the farm. I hope I can deal with this better than he has, as it is a real struggle for him.

Both my dad and I have spent a considerable amount of time involved in livestock organizations, locally, provincially, and nationally. A few weeks ago, I was driving to a meeting in Regina, and I thought to myself that it was actually nice to have a day off . My next thought was that I really needed to ” get a life” when a day sitting at a board table was considered to be a day off! Since that day, I actually have started to think a bit more seriously about ” life after cows”. So far, about all I have decided is that I will probably will own cows until the day I die, but I am also starting to think that it might be OK to have someone else doing most of the day to day work, and I can show up for the pictures, and also help in the marketing end of the business. That should be easier on my hips and knees!

Fortunately, I can not think of anything I would have rather done with my life. I have some regrets, as I am sure many people do, but all in all, when I count my blessings, I know that I have been very fortunate. I have met so many wonderful people in this business, and understand completely that the beef business is as much a people business as it is anything else. I have been fortunate to have done the only thing I ever really wanted to do, and that is raise purebred cattle. I cannot remember a time, even when I was a young child, when this was not my first choice for a career. The only pay cheques that I received , other than the ones I paid to myself, were a few for teaching some beef short courses for a few weeks when I got out of college and also a few for preparing cattle for a few shows and sales. There are some real benefits to having a regular paycheck coming in to support this habit, but there is much to be said for being your own boss as well.

We had several family members back here for a couple of family events over the weekend. Last night, my brother in law asked me if I wanted to go golfing with him and a few others this morning. He said they had a tee time of 6 am and it was going to cost $75 each,for the round, but that included the golf cart as well. He made it sound like that was a real deal. I gratefully declined his offer, however, I really would have enjoyed their company. At 6 am this morning, I had a lame herd sire to get in, and I had to get a cow and calf in from another pasture for a fellow who was coming today to pick them up. I had more than my 18 holes of exercise, it did not cost me $75 to do it , and I didn’t have a golf cart to ride on. As I was bringing my herd bull in this morning, I could not help but think that Mark Twain was right when he said that ” golf was the ruination of a good walk!

I knew it had been awhile since I had written anything new on my blog, but I was surprised to see that it had been 3 months. It just doesn’t seen that long ago, but, after thinking back, I guess it is right. When I thought back over the last three months, I would have to say that the February to May time period is definitely my busiest time of the year. All times are busy times around this place, when you are running a few hundred head of cattle, with calving, ET, cattle sales, delivering sale cattle, breeding, tagging new babies, vaccinations, sorting pairs for breeding pastures, getting income tax ready ( YUK!), making shipping arrangements for semen and embryos, publishing two issues of a breed magazine, etc, etc, etc …. and doing 99% of this by myself.

Our first online embryo, pregnancy and flush sale was held in February. This was a real gamble on my part, as I just made the decision to do this two weeks before it was held. The only advertising that was done, due to the time constraints, was a couple of eBlasts and a few personal emails. We had bidders registered from 7 Canadian provinces, 18 US states, and Scotland, England, Australia and New Zealand. I knew we would not sell all the embryos and flushes offered, but I was pleasantly surprised at how many we did sell. When the sale was over we had grossed just over $35,000 in sales. Within two hours of the sale concluding, we had sold another $12,000 of embryos and flushes. When all the sales were added together, our total sale costs were right around 2%. I can’t think of any place I can market cattle at that rate. For our first effort, I am really pleased. We will definitely be trying some more of these, and may even try a few live lots in the early fall.

ET has become a big part of our breeding program. It has opened the world as a marketplace, which is something I really did not comprehend when I started this. The transplant center we use is 550 miles from our farm, but we use them because they are professional and have world wide embryo experience.  We had 15 donors out there for almost the last year, so you can imagine what our ET bills have amounted to. Every time I opened an invoice, I think my marketing skills were honed a little to the good. I have always felt that ET is a great technology, but it is definitely not for everyone. I have seen some people get themselves in some financial messes  by getting over extended and thinking that they will be able to sell enough embryos to pay the bills. It can happen this way, but it is not guaranteed to happen this way. You still  need to have something that people want and/or need.

Our April bull sale was also a good event for us. We had a packed house and sold 50 Shorthorn bulls for a $2848 average with a top of $5400.We had 25 of the bulls, of our own, in the sale and they averaged $3100, with a $5000 top, going to Texas.  It was nice to see commercial bull buyers chasing, and in many cases, out bidding the purebred breeders. One commercial outfit dropped $32,000 on 9 bulls, with two bulls at $4850 and $4500. What was very good to see, was that there was a real demand for quality. We could have sold several more top end, so called breeder bulls, had we had them. In any event, it was definitely something to build on, for the future.

I hear so many Shorthorn breeders say that they cannot sell bulls.  It used to be the same way here. I will say that it has taken many years of dedicated hard work to develop a market for our bulls, and we are now seeing the rewards of that work. Up until two years ago, we marketed almost all our bulls by private treaty off the farm. I thought we were doing real good as we could sell 15 to 20 bulls each year at $2000 to $2500 average. I never have never believed in selling cheap bulls, no matter how badly I needed the money. If a person prices a bull at a few hundred over market price, then they should be sold on the commercial market. I see some breeders selling yearling bulls at $1500 or less, and they are not doing themselves or anyone else any good. Under pricing breeding stock can have a very negative affect on the mind set of your buyers. Over pricing can also have adverse affects, but I truly believe underpricing is worse.

Just over two and a half years ago, a new Shorthorn breeder in my area, asked me how I marketed my bulls. I explained what I was doing to him. He had been running an Angus bull test and sale for several years with about 70 black bulls selling each year. It had been a successful sale with averaged consistently in the $3000 - $3500 range. He asked me, if I thought we could do the same thing with our Shorthorn bulls. After a few moments of thought, I said,” well, there is one way to find out, and that is to try it”. That fall we put our first pen of bulls together. We have now had two sales and it has been fun to watch these bulls develop. My friend has now sold his Angus herd, but he is still running the Angus test and sale. Each month, it has been a competition to see which pen has gained the best. One thing I have really noticed is that there are some real breed differences in their growth patterns. The two breeds are fed in seperate pens on the same feed. In both years, there were some swings from month to month on which breed gained the most, but in both years, the Shorthorn pen has been the most efficient … that is, they have gained the most pounds on the least pounds of feed. We have had our rations balanced by nutritionists for what we call optimum growth … not maximum growth. This has been well received by our buyers, as the bulls are athletic and sound. We test them for as many things as we can think of, so any potential buyer has as much information as possible to consider. I sometimes feel that some of this information can be overwhelming to some people. But no matter what information is provided, I find that our bull buyers still rely on their eyes, for the most part.I find the ultrasound data really interesting, especially when this breed is considered to be a maternal breed. It is first and foremost a maternal breed and always will be, but the data also proves they can be more than that as well. One of our bulls , born May 17th, had a 16.3 inch ribeye, and also had excellent IMF numbers. He is also backed  by lots of milk on his dam’s side so I am thinking he could improve carcass traits without losing milk and other maternal traits.

Well, I will have to continue my thoughts and mixed up ravings at a later time. My wife says we need to head to the airport. She is heading to Reno NV today …. and not taking  me!  Well, I was invited to go, but I need to stay here and set up 40 or 50 recips and get some cows away to summer pastures. My wife started a blog site about three years ago for older( well… I could get slapped for calling her ” older”…. I maybe should call them ” Mature”) women who have horses, and it has grown to be a sizable group. Last summer, a group of these women met in Maryland and met for the first time. They came from all over the US and Canada as well as Sweden and Australia. This year they have decided to go to a four day horse clinic in Reno.  Chris was not going to go, as she could not find an airfare that was cheap enough. I told her, that since she started this group, that she should keep looking and maybe something would show up. Sure enough, a few weeks ago, she was able to find some flights that worked and she was able to use airmiles to get there and back. These airmiles can sure get handy. She used airmiles for her Maryland trip last year and now this trip. I have used airmiles for a few trips, and am planning on using them again next year for both of us to go to Scotland again. Better run… she is standing here with her  bags in her hand….. more later!

I am tired. I am tired in more ways than I care to think about. I am going to blame the US for most of the reasons for me being exhausted. Two days ago, Environment Canada said that a system carrying a lot of snow and strong winds would be passing to the south of us and hitting Montana and North Dakota. In the summer time, I always tune into the radio station from Plentywood, Montana, as it is usually more accurate on it’s weather reports than our Canadian reports are. I don’t know why I don’t listen to Plentywood in the winter.  I am going to blame the US for this simply because they are always blaming Canada for any cold and stormy weather that hits them. Not all the nasty stuff starts up here as this storm indicated. Somewhere along it’s trip, this storm got lost and it snuck across the 49th parellel. When I got up yesterday morning, we had a full blown blizzard happening and it continued right through until tonight. What a mess! Fortunately, it was quite warm through the storm but now that it is starting to clear, the temp is falling like a rock. What is really annoying is that if you go 10 miles north or west of here, there was no snow.

I spent most of yesterday just trying to get feed to all the cattle. It is hard to even get to the bales as there are places where we have 10 foot snow drifts. I dug a hole through a couple big drifts and got some bales through, but with the high winds, it was almost filled in before I got out again.By last night, I had everything fed well, and well bedded, so the cows had their bellies full and they had a warm place to lie for the night. There is so much snow piled everywhere that it is even hard to find places to bed them down. I can only imagine what kind of a mess we will have when this melts.

I had planned on hauling a bunch of my commercial cows to a sale today… didn’t happen. It will take me at least another couple days to dig some gates out and get it so I can at least move cattle around. After debating about selling about 60 - 70 cows out of the commercial herd for almost 3 years I had finally made my decision, only to have a snow storm change my plans. … gotta love it when this happens!
This is one of the coldest winters we have had, with the most snow I can remember in over 30 years. So much for global warming! I have mixed emotions as this snow is going to ensure that our water sources in all the pastures fill, and that our pastures and hay gets a good start. That is the good news. Now, all I have to figure out is how do we get from here until grass time. Boy, I hate mud! But then my grandfather used to tell me that you needed to have enough mud in the spring,to seriously start thinking about selling the cattle, in order to have a really good year in these parts. I’m not so sure about that. It seems to me in these parts, we are never more than two weeks from a drought! I really should be paid extra to put up with this crap!

Calving is just getting under way. I am just hoping I can get dug out before any calve out in a snow bank somewhere’s. Lucky for me, I happened to see a young cow standing off by herself in one of the pens just before dark. I checked the breeding dates and saw that she was not due for about 10-12 days. I took another look at her, and decided I better try to get her into the barn. We run our cows across the road, in the feedlot, from the main farm until they get close to calving, then load them into the trailer and bring them into the main yard. It was dark when I finally got her into the barn after wading through snow drifts that were almost to my waist at times. Two hours later, I did a barn check and was greeted with two red polled bull calves, both up and getting their first meal. Right about then, I was thinking that I was fortunate that I saw her…. and I was thinking all the work in getting her into the barn seemed rather minor. There really is something about new life that makes the world seem different… and just a little better.

Hi everyone!

Thanks for stopping by to see my blog. This is a totally new thing for me, so I am not even sure what I am going to blog about. Guess I will take it one day at a time, and hopefully come up with a few thoughts that may be of interest to someone… other than just me. I already know that I will not be on here each and every day, but I will try to add something on a semi regular basis. As most of you know, when you have cows, some days get wild and crazy especially when to try to manage your cows, your other work interests, your family, your other commumity interests, and hopefully a little R&R in between someplace. There are many times of year when the R&R comes in very short spurts of time. Quite frankly, when I think back over my adult life, I really have never taken a real holiday like normal people do. I have done a lot of travelling throughout my life, but on every occasion, cows were involved at some point along the way. I tell my wife this is only so I can use the trip as a ” business expense” on my income tax. Some how I don’t think she is really buying that explanation. We are fortunate in that neither of us is into the beach, golf or other recreational scenes. I get more than enough recreation working with cows. My idea of a great way to relax is to just go on a pasture check and spend a little time seeing how the calves are progressing,or visit another breeder and spend some time looking at their cattle, and visiting with them. To my wife, Chris, a great way to relax is to load her horses in one of our stock trailers, and head away to a play day with her friends. In that way we are the same… but different. Some people would suggest that both of us should get a life. Some days I would agree, but on most days, I am perfectly happy doing what we do.  More to come…. I better get some cows fed……