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.

A Girl's Best Friend

I am sure that we all grew up hearing the phrase "a girls best friend is a diamond."  While I wouldn't ever turn something sparkly down, diamonds are not what I am referring to today.

Just over eleven years ago  Miss Westway 669K was born at Westway Farms.  That December Tom and Carol Hadway offered her for sale in the Checkers Sale.  Stacy purchased her for her YCS and 4H project.  Although her registered name was Miss Westway 669K the Hadway kids had affectionately named her "Ruffles".

Ruffles as Simmental Champion
Provincial 4H Heifer Show 2001

Ruffles exceeded our expectations.  She showed very well for Stacy claiming many championships in 4H at the district, regional and provincial levels.  She then went on to be a great momma cow.  Her first 4 calves were bulls.  They all made the bull pen and were usually the first ones to sell for some of the highest prices.

SLY Top Notch - herdsire for Darrell Moranda

SLY Dirty Money 119W
Granddaughter of Ruffles that sold to Colt's Cattle Co

She then started to give Stacy some females, again all of them were of high enough quality to stay in our herd or be offered through a breeding sale.

Ruffles paid for Stacy to go to college, bought her 2 cars (that's another story), and was a consistent source of agriculture income for her.  But more importantly Ruffles was Stacy's best friend.  I believe that they were soul mates.  Ruffles could be any where in the pasture and if Stacy called her name, she would come over for a scratch.  Stacy could get her to do things that no one else could.  I know that over the years they have had many heart to heart talks.

Miss Westway 669K - Ruffles

This morning was a sad one.  Ruffles got on the trailer for the last time.  She slipped her calf late in the fall and is open.  Although Rob had promised Stacy that she could stay on the farm forever, we all know that tough decisions have to be made.  It's not realistic to feed open cows - even if they are your best friend. Stacy made the hard decision yesterday and last night I gave Ruffles a good combing and I took out her ear tag.  Stacy will have that and so many memories of her.  Her daughters continue to make a big contribution to our herd and we will have fond memories of her.  She really has been a girl's best friend.

Thanks Ruffles for being a part of our family.  We will miss you.

Year in Review

2010 is almost come and gone.  Another decade finished.  If someone would have told us a year ago that we would be writing a blog in 2010 we probably would not have believed them.  Sometimes the year goes so fast or we are looking forward to events in the next year that we sometimes forget the things that were memorable in the current year.  So let have a look back at 2010.

January

• First calves of IPU Revolution 172U arrive......we are very pleased.
• Old man winter makes sure we remember what winter can be like

• Rob gets a new calving shed

February

• Simmental bull sales are going strong
• Tickets to Australia are booked

• We say good bye to good friend "Auger"  His family honors us by giving us his show stick.

March

• We get to listen to Crystal speak at Lethbridge College on Agriculture Advocacy and Social Media in Agriculture
• Rob's dad has a massive stroke....family is in shock

April

• April Showers and more rain.  Thank you Mother Nature.
• Bulls are all out working

May

• April showers bring Grass and lots of it. 

• Lots of 4H shows to judge
• We say good bye to Rob's dad - "Howard Young"

June

• Champion Bull and Res. Champion Female at Drayton Valley Show, great night for a BBQ and tunes by Ty Wilson

• Cows and calves are out to pasture, no grasshoppers this year.


• Excellent Alberta Simmental Tour through Central Alberta

July

• Fun times showing steers at Calgary Stampede.  Res. Champion Charolais

• Honored by the AYCS (Jr. Simmental Association) as the Friends of YCS
• Great visit with Buddy and Francis Leachman while watching Lance judge at Synergy

August

• Great long weekend at the Saunders reunion on Vancouver Island
• a few games of golf
• Starting fall work so we can be away for a few weeks

September

• World Simmental Congress in Melbourne Australia

• Sale cattle selected for National sale, Agribiton and Checkers
• Spending some time with Crystal down under

October

• Res. Senior Bull at Olds Fall Fair.....thanks Stacy for taking care of things

• Wine tasting in Australia along with snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and Kangaroo hunting
• Great visits with friends at National Trust Sale

November

• National Champion Bull at Brandon - IPU Revolution 172U
• Grand Champion Bull at Farmfair - IPU Revolution 172U

• Won a Featherlite Stock Trailer for being a contender in Super Saturday at Farmfair - Thanks Warren from Allan Dale Trailers, Red Deer. Ab
• Res Sr Bull - Agribition along with a class winner - RJY Joy's Firstdate 1W.
• Meeting "the Boy"  Crystals friend Jon.

December

• Being a part of the $8400+ average Checkers Sale
• Adding "Elegant Force" to the herd and having her arrive all the way from Kentucky.

• Spending time with friends and family at Christmas





Investing in our Future

As Purebred breeders we are often asked to sponsor or support our local 4H and junior beef programs.  This is something that we love to support as much as our budget will allow. 

Rob was very involved in the Alberta Junior Hereford Association and attended many National Bonanza Shows across Canada.  I was a founding member on the National Junior Simmental Board - YCS.  Both of the girls have followed with their junior careers starting at ages 5 & 7 with their first YCS Show in Bashaw.  They showed the first Black Simmental Heifers ever at an Alberta YCS Show.  Black Beauty was Reserve Champion Female and the sponsor of the award refused to stand in the photo because she was not a traditional Simmental.  Wow have we ever come a long way.  Through the Young Canadian Simmental Program - YCS our family has traveled across Canada and the US for National Shows. 

Through these shows the girls were given the opportunity to see much of North America and form many friendships.  They also took on a leadership role, being on the provincial board of Directors and Stacy being the National President. 

Now many might just see these programs as something for the "kids" of the breed to do.  But the value that we see in the Junior Livestock Programs, is that of developing young leaders in agriculture.  The current board of directors of the Alberta Simmental Association are all alumni of AYCS.  They all are active purebred breeders.  There have been many years when the sales of Simmental heifer calves have been increased because the kids are all looking for a heifer to show.  Here are some of the youth events that we have been proud to support in the past year.

• Drayton Valley and District 4-H Show
• Focus on 4-H - Regional 4-H Show
• Canada's Richest Youth Show - Simmental Division
• Alberta Young Canadian Simmental Show - Res. Junior High Point
• Canadian Simmental Foundation Auction
• National YCS Calender Program

The next time that you are approached to support a Junior Agriculture Program, please give it some consideration.  You never know when your support will make the difference in that young persons life.  In the next few weeks there are some great shows happening.  Might be a good time to stop by and see what amazing things these kids are doing.

• Provincial 4H Beef Heifer Show
• AYCS Summer Show
• Summer Synergy

A Cattleman's Lottery

Over the years all of us in our family have shown steers.  Mostly at the local 4H level.  We have had our share of success, a club champion here and there and a few District or Regional Champions. 

We certainly wouldn't profess to be professional steer jocks.  When the fall arrives and the club calf sales start, Rob gets a craving to have a steer to haul to the jackpot shows.  The first year that both of the girls were out of 4H we attended the steer sale of Dustin Lamb & Raymond Gonnett.  Before I knew it we were the owners of a little red steer. Now this normally would not be a problem, but what were we going to do with one steer to feed.  A partnership was formed with Dustin, with him feeding the steer through the winter and us arriving at the jackpot shows to lend him a hand.  What a great arrangement. Lil Red won Reserve Champion at the Canada's Richest Youth Show and was a class winner at the Calgary Stampede in the Simmental Division. 

This year we purchased with Balzac Meats from the Calgary Stampede Board the Champion steer from 4H on Parade. "Chewy" was shown at the Drayton Valley show in June and took home Champion steer. 

We're off to the Calgary Stampede on Thursday for the Steer Classic.  Maybe this will the year to take the big prize home. 

Doing So Much.....With So Little.

A couple of weekends ago we attended the Alberta Simmental Association Annual meeting and tour.  The weather could not have been better for looking at cattle and catching up with cattle friends.  After lunch on Saturday the Alberta Simmental Association held their AGM.  The board members have been doing some great work for us breeders.  The number of Simmental calves marketed through the Simmental feeder calf sales in the fall is up, Simmental influenced projects shown at 4-H are one of the highest for all breeds,

Our YCS Junior Simmental is one of the strongest in Western Canada, 

they are looking at new ways to promote and identify where the breeders live in the province and have indicated to the Canadian Simmental Association that they would like to host the Canadian Simmental  AGM and National Show in 2011.

The one thing that came out of the meeting is the fee structure that is currently in place.  When the association was originally formed 40+ years ago, you could purchase a life membership for $100 and never have to contribute financially to the association again......yet reap all of the benefits of the work of the director's and the promotion that they do for us.  There was lots of discussion on the fairness of this and how funds could be generated in order to give the ASA the opportunity to fund the many projects that they are wanting to do.  Sometimes I think that we feel that there are too many input costs to raising cattle and when the discussion of more fees come up we are hesitant.  But at the same time we will stop for a meal on the way home from the meeting and spend more than the administration fee they were asking us to endorse.  It doesn't take a large amount of money from each participant to give you what you need to support some very worthwhile projects.  We at High Country would gladly support an administration fee of $50 -100 /year to help promote Simmental cattle in our province.  We hope that the board will look into establishing this for 2011.

We would also like to thank all of our hosts this weekend that invited us to their farms.  It was a really great weekend.