The Young Guns

Summer has gone by so quickly.  We hardly had any spring and so it seemed like we crammed in as much as we could in 8 weeks.  One of our main activities for the farm this summer was to be guest consigners to the Pasture Treasures Sale hosted by the Skeel's Family of Anchor D Simmentals at Rimbey. 

The sale is held in the middle of August at their farm.  The day includes viewing of the cattle, barbecue, sale and barn dance to end the evening.
We consigned 5 cows with heifer calves at side.  These were cows that had been very productive for us and still had a future.  By selling them we can now keep a few more of our replacements heifers.  Rob always says "you can't keep them all."
The sale was a great success with our 5 lots averaging $8320 or $4360 per head.  The most exciting part of the sale for us was that 6 of the 10 head were sold to junior members.  For one buyer it was his first Purebred Simmental.

Sarah Van Sickle purchased this cow calf pair. Sarah is the Vice-President of the national YCS board.
                                    

Caleb Richardson added two cows to his herd.  He attended the Alberta and National YCS shows this summer. Caleb is also a director on the AYCSA board.

 

Kale Chessor bought the first LRX Blaze55Z daughter to sell to use as his next 4H project.

                                                                                                             Will Bradford purchased his first purebred Simmental. 

 We are very excited for all of these young cattle enthusiasts.  It is fun to see them buying cattle and adding to their herds.  Thank you for making selections from our herd.  We would also like to thank BS Ranch - Shawna & Bob Harakal, Mader Ranches and Earl & Shirley Hagstrom for supporting our program.

The "A" List

It kinda snuck up on us but the other day Rob and I realized that we have been breeding Simmental cattle  together for 30 years.  I grew up on a Simmental farm, my parents and Aunt and Uncle operated Highwood Land & Cattle.  They began crossing their Hereford commercial cows to Simmental in the late 60's.  As things would go it was taking way to long to advance the herd to purebred status.  They were presented with the opportunity to buy 100 purebred cows from one of the founding herds in North America, SBL at Cardston, AB. The home of Parisian the first Simmental bull imported to Canada.

 Many of those cows carried the tattoo year letter "A" and were born in 1969.

Fast forward 22 years and Rob and I are now developing our own herd of Simmentals.  The first Simmental that was given to our daughter Stacy, was a red & white heifer named RJY Miss Stacy 16A.  She produced our first black Simmental and the first heifer that Stacy showed at her first junior Simmental show - RJY Black Lace 1C.



 

RJY Black Lace 1C - first daughter of 16A

RJY Cajun - was at the side of 16A
when named Champion Female at Drayton Valley Show

 The 16A cow family planted a seed, one that would take a young girl that loved her Stacy Cow and is now developing her own herd of Simmentals. 

RJY Black Lace 1C - the first black Simmental
to show at a Junior Show in Alberta

Fast forward to 2013 and we are now on our 3rd cycle of  "A" calves.  When we began looking at the calving list, we realized that if things went according to plan, Stacy could have 16A again..... and she did.  This time SLY 16A is a red blaze faced heifer calf.

SLY 16A - Born January 14, 2013

I`m not sure if Rob and I will be calving cows 22 years from now, but maybe we can go and visit Stacy and Dan and see the 4th go round on the A list.

A Helping Hand

On Sunday Rob and I decided to drive out to Bashaw to watch the AYCS Junior Simmental Show.  This is a trip that we used to take frequently when the girls were home and showing cattle in the junior shows.  It was usually the highlight of our summer.  To see kids and cattle having the time of their lives together.  We formed many life long friendships through these shows.  As we were driving out we realized that it was 20 year ago that we took the girls to their first YCS ( Young Canadian Simmental Show).  Wow where did the time go.  The show was on the smaller size this year, but many new families participating and the quality was very good.  We had the opportunity to visit with some of the kids, their families and enjoyed a great afternoon. 

As we were leaving Bashaw I mentioned we should drive by our friends Dawn & Lee Wilson's farm - Miller Wilson Angus and see if they were home for a quick visit. 

As we drove into their beautiful farm, we seen this, a truck and stock trailer with a flat tire.

  

 Here was Jill Wildman of Towaw Cattle Co. trying to get the tire off herself.  Jill weighs about 90 lbs soaking wet, but she was doing a really good job. 

Some of the lug nuts were stuck and Kirk forgot to put the tire iron and jack in Jill's truck.  Rob was able to find the needed items to get the flat off and replace it with the spare. 

Jill's phone had also gone dead, so she made calls on ours to the family that were expecting her home by then to let them know of her delay.  She had been picking up a herd bull they share with Ter-Ron Farms to display at the Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society's Annual Tour this weekend.

We didn't get our visit in with any of the Wilson's as they were all out in the hay field, but had a great visit with Jill.  It gives us comfort knowing that know matter where we may be traveling or our daughters that if they needed a helping hand they could call on a cattle breeder, or farmer and they would get the help they needed.

Shopping Time

This week at the annual Canadian Simmental Meetings members will have the opportunity to do a little shopping while they are in Edmonton.  Although they could go to West Edmonton Mall - the largest mall in the world, I think that they will find some unique items to purchase by just coming to the the Annual meeting on Friday November 11at 1:30 pm

During the annual meeting participants or those that cannot attend but would like to send an order will have the opportunity to bid on items in the Garth Sweet Foundation Auction. 

The proceeds from this auction go to 3 areas within our breed: Research, Scholarships and the Youth program.

There are some interesting items that have been donated by breeders and supporters of the Simmental breed.  Anyone like a helicopter trip over Niagara Falls, tickets to the Blue Jays, Montreal Canadians or Edmonton Oilers, artwork and 2 surprise lots a brown  cash cow and a black cash cow!  For a look at the complete offering, check out the catalog  If you are not able to attend but would like to support this great cause, contact one of the committee members in the front of the catalog.  Happy shopping.

Annual Meetings

Going to a meeting usually isn't at the top of everyone's list of things they want to do.  Often they feel like it isn't a good use of their time.  But meeting can play an important role in the business that you do.  Even if that business is Agriculture.

Annual meetings like the Canadian Simmental Association Annual meeting that is going to be held in Edmonton on November 11, 2011 at 9:00 am is a great place to spend a few hours.  At this AGM you will have the opportunity to:

• Network with fellow breeders
• Meet the staff that work hard for us in the office
• Learn of our associations financial position
• Learn of the work that has been done in the last year to advance our breed
• Give direction for the breed for the next year
• Elect 3 new board members that will represent you

This year the Alberta Simmental Association Board of Directors
has asked me to run for the Canadian Simmental Board.  I have been asked "why would you want to do that?"  In short, I want to give back to an association that has been very good to my family and a breed that plays a significant role in the beef industry.  If elected the areas that I would like to work on are:

• Promotion
• Working with and enhancing the great work that the Provincial associations are going
• Young Canadian Simmental - our Youth program. (YCS)

I was a founding board member of the YCS and feel that with a strong youth program, we strengthen our parent association.  Currently all of the directors on the Alberta Simmental Association were former members of the YCS program.

It would be great to see you out at the AGM on November 11, but if you can't attend you can either fax a proxy vote ( by November 1) to the CSA office or send an originally signed proxy with a member to the meeting.  I understand that there will be an election for the 3 director positions.  Let's get involved in our association.  Hope to see you there.

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.

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