Shorthorn university good

Show-Me Shorthorn University 2011 The state of Missouri was host for the 6th annual Shorthorn University. This year Shorthorn Breeders and enthusiasts from 10 states including – Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Colorado, Washington and Missouri were in attendance for a weekend of Shorthorn fellowship and touring. Attendees were able to experience the variability of Missouri weather in June as Friday was hot and humid and the next day overcast and almost cold at times. The American International Charolais Association (AICA) were gracious hosts for the first stop of Shorthorn University. The group was welcomed by J. Neil Orth, Executive Vice President of the AICA. Orth gave a brief history of the association and explained the three registration options for members of the AICA. Dr. Robert Williams, Director of Breed Improvement and Foreign Marketing for AICA gave a very informative and interesting presentation on the mechanics of how EPDs are calculated. Throughout the presentation Dr. Williams stressed the importance of reporting every calf and making sure contemporary groups are broken correctly. The group was able to see several examples and how proper contemporary grouping plays a key part in obtaining accurate EPDs. One of the best examples was showing the group that you can’t feed an EPD into animal through creep feeding. The American Angus Hall of Fame, Smithville, MO is the longest running Angus sale management company in the breed. The Hall of Fame has been in operation for 72 years. The office is also home to the World Angus Headquarters. To say the office is home to largest collection of Angus memorabilia in the world might be an understatement. One cannot even begin to describe the shear size and scope of the memorabilia collection housed in the office. Walking in the door you are greeted by walls of photos and head mounts of influential bulls and cows from the breed. Every room is literally covered from the floor to the ceiling with various pictures of Angus champions, influential breeders, sale reports and newspaper clippings from around the world. The Bertz Family, Meadow Lane Farms, has been raising Shorthorns in their Mayview, MO pastures since 1945. Meadow Lane Farms now spans four generations of the Bertz family, who exhibit cattle at the state and national level. Today, the operation ran by Harold and Melissa Bertz still operates on land that has been in the family for over 160 years. The current cowherd numbers 100 head of purebred Shorthorn and Durham Reds and 20 Simmental and SimAngus cows. The primary focus of the operation is on the production of performance based, solid red, polled, cattle developed for commercial bull customers. The family hosts “Tools of The Trade, Genetics for the Working Cattlemen,” a private treaty bull and female sale the third Saturday in October each year. The attention to detail and the Bertz families’ dedication to data collection were evident as each participant was given a comprehensive booklet containing pedigree and performance information as well as the current EPD profile of each individual in the herd
on arrival. Harold and Melissa were great hosts sharing with the group their marketing
plan. The Bertz’s upon closer examination found that most of the cattle were selling
within a 30 mile radius of farm and now concentrate most of their advertising efforts
locally.
Harold and Melissa have been avid supporters of the Durham Red program and it is easy
to see why after viewing an impressive pen of fall bred heifers mostly bred to ML Cabela
0761. In the bred heifer group some of the favorites were the result of mating a Durham
Red bull to a Durham Red cow. The F1 cross is impressive, but for those who haven’t
seen the resulting F2 cross it takes practicality and functionality one step farther as the
females were even deeper, soggier and stouter. One can’t help, but walk out of this group
of females and feel excited about the impact a Durham Red female can have on the
industry.
A stop through the fall herd bull prospects had attendees analyzing and writing down
their picks of individuals that will highlight the firms fall private treaty sale. Also on
display were the replacement heifers and the Meadow Lane cowherd containing several
Pacer Performance Dams.
The Fahrmeier family is no stranger to the Shorthorn breed, with sons Brandon, Brad and
Brett actively involved in the AJSA during their junior show careers. More recently the
family has turned their focus to Fahrmeier Family Vineyards and their fruit and vegetable
operation, operated under the name of Fahrmeier Farms.
Lorin Fahrmeier provided an excellent tour of the families facilities. Fruit and vegetables
are produced on 100 acres of farm ground and marketed at a nearby farmer’s market and
local Hy-Vee stores. Tomatoes, peppers and strawberries are just a few of the items
grown on this diverse farm. The vineyard is the most recent addition to the Fahrmeier
families growing enterprise as they produce up to 64,000 pounds of wine grapes annually
that are turned into wine in a converted farrowing house.
A 1930s era barn originally built for milking now houses the wine tasting room. Walls
adorned with banners and plaques from previous champion Shorthorn heifers and steers
provided an excellent setting to end the first day. The Lafayette County Cattlemen’s
Association prepared an excellent meal of ribeye’s and fresh fruit and vegetables from
local Lafayette county farmers. Attendees were able to taste some of the families’ 14
varieties of wine. Watching the group load the bus for the hotel it appeared most found a
variety or two they liked!
Learning began early the next morning as Jared Decker, PhD student in genomics at the
University of Missouri-Columbia gave an informative presentation on “Across Breed
Whole Genomic Selection.” The presentation covered the evolution of DNA technology
and the future implementation of this cutting edge technology. The lab Jared works in is
responsible for analyzing the Shorthorn DNA samples that were submitted this spring.
The take home message from the presentation was that more accurate and breed specific DNA tests will be commercially available in the future. Sydenstricker Genetics (SydGen), Mexico, MO has been in the Angus seedstock business since 1952. This nationally known program has produced noted sires such as SAF Fame, SAF Focus of ER and most recently SydGen CC&7. SydGen currently runs 800 head of purebred cows calving in both the spring and fall. The Sydenstricker program focuses heavily on the commercial side of the industry with a heavy emphasis on performance and dollar traits. The tour was led by manager and recently retired BIF President Ben Eggers and his wife Darla. A quick stop to view the January bull calf pair’s showed some promising herd sire prospects. Also, on display was an impressive set of big bodied fall bull calves that averaged 790 pounds at weaning. Individuals from both groups will be marketed either through the firms annual fall production or the spring customer appreciation sale. The herd sires had just been pulled from cleaning up spring calving cows but were still an exciting sight to see. Some of the bulls were Sydgen Trust 6228, SydGen Turbo 6684 as well as the number 2 marbling EPD bull in the Angus breed Gardens Prime Star G223. All bulls were exceptional in dollar traits and near the top of the breed for docility EPD. Eggers’ then led a great question and answer session where many topics about the Sydenstricker program were covered. The question was asked how the program retains their customers and how the operation continues to grow? Ben proudly stated, “The biggest reason why customers keep coming back is the customer service we are able to offer them as well as an outlet to market their cattle.” Customers can choose to market their cattle sired by SydGen bulls and females through two customer appreciation sales each year featuring bulls and bred heifers. Another interesting comment from Eggers’ was that cattle are only allowed into the show barn after they have been ultrasounded and have a yearling weight recorded within their birth contemporary group. Other topics included ideal cow size, bull wintering program, customer buying trends and a look at the SydGen record keeping system. Driving to the next stop Patrick Wall, ASA Director of Genetic Improvement and Eastern Field Representative went over the ASA’s new All-American Junior Breeder program. Attendees were then given the All-American Junior Breeder exam to see how they fared. Circle A Ranch’s motto is, “Quality Beef is Our Business,” their dedication to quality beef and belief in Circle A genetics was definitely on display at Circle A North in Huntsville, MO. Circle A was founded in 1991 by the Gust family and has 4 locations across Missouri and Iowa encompassing 30,000 acres and includes more than 9,000 commercial females and 700 registered Angus females. The ranch is the largest contributor of carcass data to the American Angus Association, and after 15 years of collecting carcass data and retaining ownership the ranch knew how profitable their genetics were in the feedlot. This led to the formation of Circle A Feeders a 5,000 head state of the art feeding facility all under one roof. Sitting on an old airplane runway this facility is over half a mile long and contains 50 pens for feeding cattle. The feedlot is filled with the ranch’s own calves and cattle acquired through Circle A Feeders calf-buy back program. The program was designed to capture added value and increase returns for Circle A’s customers. Circle A buys their customers cattle for top of the market price in their region. Customers can also receive up to $45 per head in additional premiums. Calves out of Circle A bulls receive $25; $10 if they are out of a Circle A cow and $10 if they are age and source verified. Nick Hammett, Commercial Marketing Director for Circle A told the group about the formation of the Angus Sire Alliance in 1996. The alliance was formed, to measure the costs and returns of a sire’s progeny in a real world commercial setting based on actual profitability. In its early stages the alliance collected feedlot, carcass and ultrasound data and in 1998 began collecting individual feed efficiency data using Calan gates. At the same time half sisters to steers on feed were retained within the herd and performance was tracked in a commercial setting. This allowed the ranch to develop in herd EPDs for heifer pregnancy rate, cow stayability, tenderness, feed intake, average daily gain and overall profitability. In 2003 ABS Global and Circle A began an exclusive agreement to test ABS’s most promising young sires. Progeny are fed through Circle A Feeders and individual feed intake data is collected using the GrowSafe system. Once again making the tour was Congressman Franck Lucas and his wife, Lynda. Congressmen Lucas is the Chairman for the House Committee on Agriculture and gave an informative and thoughtful discussion on some of issues in Washington, D.C. Jim and Stephanie Sneed of Ashland Farm Shorthorns, Sedalia, MO strive to maintain a consistent herd of easy fleshing, moderate framed cattle that were first introduced to the farm in 1854. The Sneed’s have sent calves to Iowa the past two years for the ASA’s Great State Feedout and Jim shared his experiences with the program. Current herdsires running with cows were MM Mohawk BLT 07 a son of DF Biltmore and Waukaru Imperial 9014 a son of Waukaru Coppertop. Some of the groups favorite individuals were Jim’s three-way Shorthorn, Hereford, Red Angus cross cows. These soggy, good uddered females showed just how valuable adding Shorthorn into a crossbreeding rotation can be. Later in the evening some attendees were able to learn about Jim and Stephanie’s pollen harvesting business. The business harvests pollen from different plants and is sold directly to pharmaceutical companies to be used in allergy shots. Right across the road sits Sneed Shorthorns, owned by longtime Shorthorn University attendee Rob Sneed. The Sneed cattle have been at the forefront of calving ease Shorthorn genetics developed in a foraged based system. The herd currently numbers 300 registered and commercial Shorthorn cows. The first pasture attendees were able to view were part of Rob’s commercial fall calving herd. The commercial females are comprised of mostly Shorthorn genetics. The fall calving cows have their work cut out for them at Sneed Shorthorns as their calves are not weaned until July. One might think the cows might be tough to look at nursing a calf that old however this was not the case as big strapping calves were nursing big fleshy cows. Rob retains ownership on all of his calves and finishes them out on the farm using only homegrown shelled corn and hay. The resulting calves typically grade at least 90% low choice or better. One sort had already been performed on the pen, but it looked like more calves were ready to head to town. Longevity and maternal function were definitely on display throughout the evening going through pasture after pasture of impressive easy fleshing females at Sneed Shorthorns. Maybe, one of the best examples was in the last pasture as a someone asked Rob about a particular cow who looked no older than 5 or 6 years old, but to the surprise of the group she was a hard working female who was actually 15 years old! The group ended the night with an excellent fish fry provided by Sneed Shorthorns. The final day of the tour kicked off bright and early at Show Me Farms in Columbia, MO. Show Me Farms began in 1992 as owner’s Don and Mary Lou Mayse decided to “retire” and buy a farm south of Columbia. The initial herd of 10 head of Shorthorns has grown into 150 purebred mother cows. Don’s background is in the meat business and the operation quickly evolved into a beef business and is now marketed under the name of Show-Me Farms “Born Tender Omega Beef.” Steers and heifers are finished on the farm using corn, oats, flax seed and other natural grains. All cattle are age and source verified from birth to processing and an animal ID number is placed on every cut of meat. The cattle are harvested weekly at a local plant and the meat is cut and packaged by Don and Jerome. It is easy to see why the operation has been successful with the quality control they have in place to ensure their customers have an enjoyable eating experience. Through extensive testing over the years they have been able to identify genetic lines that produce the highest quality carcasses. Each calf is tenderness tested using the Warner-Bratzler shear test performed by the University of Missouri. If a calf shear tests to high all of the cuts are ground and sold as ground beef. The most unique part of the operation is their use of ground flax seed in their finishing ration. Many physicians and nutritionists have recommended increasing consumption of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Recent research indicated that Omega 3 Fatty Acids could be enhanced dramatically in beef cattle by including it in their diet. Owner Don Mayse has worked extensively with Kansas State University to test the Show-Me Farms beef once flax was included into the diet and the beef showed almost a 600% increase in essential High Omega 3 Fatty Acids. This means that a serving of Show-ME Farms Beef contains more Omega 3’s than a serving of salmon and less saturated fat than chicken! Beef can be purchased at the Show Me Farms Market or every Saturday at the Columbia Farmer’s Market. Beef is also available through Columbia Hy-Vee stores and at several Columbia area restaurants. Owner’s Don and Mary Lou Mayse along with manager Jerome Grethen provided a tasty breakfast of breakfast burritos containing Shorthorn sausage. With current herd sire Sho-Me Goldstone 7C15V ET an impressive son of HD Bloodstone watching in the background. According to manager, Jerome Grethen, “Goldstone is working for both the production of females and providing high quality carcass cattle for the meat business.” Don Mayse stated, “We tried other breeds of cattle including Angus and crossbreds and those cattle didn’t measure up to the Shorthorns for their carcass quality.” After the stop one can’t help but leave excited about Shorthorn genetics. The final stop of the tour was at Crestmead Farm, Pilot Grove, MO. The Crestmead herd was started in 1888 and today is owned by Bob and Bill Betteridge. The current focus of the operation is to use solid red, polled bulls for the production of bulls and females for commercial cattlemen. Currently the Betteridge family runs 60 head of predominately solid red cows sired by GFS Red Cloud 7026 and Key Ridge Explorer. The group already had the chance to see the impact of ML Cabela earlier on the tour at Meadow Lane farms and now had the chance to see this moderate framed easy fleshing bull in his working clothes as he is owned jointly by the Betteridge and Bertz families. The tour concluded with lunch at the historic Crestmead Plantation built in 1859. This Missouri plantation once encompassed 4,600 acres of land. The residence was bought by the Betteridge family in 1903 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A big thank you, to all of the participants, hosts and sponsors who made this year’s tour a success!

Source: http://www.shorthorn.us/Images/News/july%202011/SU.pdf