Good Bye Summer

On this first official day of fall I thought I would look back to what we did during the summer.  2011 was the summer were we didn't plan anything.  Some how though it all went by very quickly. 

June started off with taking a quick trip to Iowa to visit Crystal and to meet Jon's family.

Randy & Rob fishing on Sunday morning.

We also took a few animals to the Drayton Valley Livestock Show.  It's a good thing this show happens early on as this is the only way that we get those first few calves halter broke.


July the weather did not cooperate and our swath grazing was very delayed being planted and then got washed away with 4 inches of rain, two days after planting.  Sure not the success if was last year, so the cows have already been turned into it.

  We did fit in a couple of days to the Ponoka Stampede and the Calgary Stampede for the rodeos, chuckwagon races and the CS Steer Show.

In August we were honored to attend the wedding of Stefon and Becca Beechinor.  The wedding was held in their hip roof barn that is on their farm and over 100 years old. 

Becca & Stefon

 



                      Then we headed to BC to judge the Vanderhoof 4H Show and the Open show that hosted the Angus Gold Show.  Some really good cattle and met some great people. (even some from Kansas!)

Tom and his Kansas helpers brought out
a great string. 

Supreme Champion Female

The trip continued with us doing some golfing in Williams Lake prior to judging the Williams Lake 4H Show.  Again an awesome group of kids and cattle to work with over the two days.  We were able to meet the leaders of the only First Nations 4H Club in Canada.  These ladies are doing a wonderful job with these kids.  We also visited the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame.  It was interesting to see all of the old brands in the area. 

Then at the show that night some of the cattle were carrying those brands.  Lots of Agriculture history and good cattlemen in that part of the county. 

The Before picture

We also fit in a few of those jobs on the to do list.  Painting all of our steel fences was on my list.  The weather cooperated in August and September so I was able to get most of them done.  Rob has started to work on the show and sale cattle.  It was a good summer to get caught up on a few things and to enjoy being at home.  Visitors are welcome at High County any time of the year.

Fall Run

Things have been really busy here at High Country.  There are the usual every day tasks of running a farm and working off farm as well.  Then there are the seasonal tasks that come into play. 

We were also busy this past weekend with Jon and Crystal home for their engagement party.  It was a great time to get friends and family together to meet Jon and celebrate with them.  We did take some time on Sunday to show him around our place, teach Stacy's friend Dan more about agriculture and to determine which calves we would sell this week.

We have marketed our steer and cull heifer calves a few different ways.   Sometimes we go to the pre-sort sales, or the Simmental influenced feeder calf sales.  But this year we sold privately.  Last Friday we were quoted a price for both the steers and heifers in a weight range.  We loaded them straight from pasture, delivered them an hour away and took a 3% shrink directly off of the truck.

Our steer calves netted us $958 and our heifers $826.  The steers were in the 700 lb range and the heifers 600 lb range.  This is what calves were selling for at the local auction mart the same day.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
929 head
CALF MARKET VERY STRONG

Steers Heifers 900 + $111.00 - $124.00 800 - 900 $122.00 - $134.25 700 - 800 $131.00 - $145.00 600 - 700 $135.00 - $146.50 500 - 600 $145.00 - $155.50 400 - 500 $155.00 - $162.50 300 - 400 $172.00 - $178.00 900 + $110.00 - $117.50 800 - 900 $115.00 - $123.60 700 - 800 $118.50 - $128.00 600 - 700 $120.00 - $129.75 500 - 600 $127.00 - $135.00 400 - 500 $140.00 - $147.00 300 - 400 $160.00 - $166.00

D1 Cows Bulls Bred Cows $60.00 - $72.00 $70.00 - $84.00 $0.00 - $0.00

We also shipped a few open cows that day.  Unfortunately Crystal had to say good bye to one of her old girls - Lil Signature 2N.  She hurt her hip on the ice last winter but still managed to wean off a 750lb bull calf in early August.  2N topped the market that day at $.72 / lb.  bringing in a check for over $1300.00

We have also been working on show cattle, deciding on consignments for the fall sales, updating pictures of the donors and preparing for winter.  Watch in the next couple of weeks for some exciting announcements on what we will be consigning to the NAILE sale and also to Checkers.  Until then enjoy these wonderful fall days we are having.

The Value of Junior Beef Programs

There is always the discussion with Senior agriculture boards on the value of a junior beef program.  How do you measure the value that you are getting for the dollars invested?  We're  not sure that we have the answer to this but we do know the value that it has played in our family.

Rob started his junior beef experiences with the Junior Hereford Association.  He often will recall his trips to the National Hereford Bonanza.  In the 70's and 80's the CJHA was one of the most envied associations.  They lead the pack for the others.

In 1980 the Canadian Simmental Association formed the YCS - Young Canadian Simmental Association.  I had the opportunity to be on the founding board. 

When our daughters became old enough (ages 5 & 7) they couldn't wait to join the AYCS.  Throughout the years this organization gave them the opportunity to fall in love with Simmental cattle and travel across Canada to the National shows.  They also had the opportunity to attend 2 National shows in the US.

Again what value does this bring to the beef industry?  In our opinion it develops the leaders of tomorrow.  For the past few years all of the directors of the Alberta Simmental Association have been past active members of the junior association. 

One year we roughly kept track of the amount of money that juniors bid or spent on cattle at the fall sales that we attended.  Although we weren't  at all the sales, we figured that over $100,000 was generated by junior members interested in Simmental cattle.  Many of them  have gone on to become successful purebred breeders and users of Simmental genetics in there commercial herds.

This past summer our daughter Crystal had the opportunity to speak at the first American Junior Simmental Association Summit. The Summit was held not only for a leadership building opportunity but also as a networking opportunity. 

So whether we are building leaders in our industry, generating revenue for our genetics or just giving youth some great lifetime experiences and memories, we believe that the return is unlimited for the investment made.  We hope that you will take the opportunity to support these associations in the near future.