Here are some pictures of heifer calves we selling on Feb 24 at Heartland

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO VIEW

Tag      Weight       Marbling     Backfat mm    REA in^2      Weight adj REA      % Lean

                                                                                                                 in^2 per 100         Meat Yield

1X         1050           4.40                1.89               10.58               1.05                       65.42

2X         1250           4.70                3.59             12.25                 1.02                      65.03

5X         1180           6.20                3.14              12.59                  1.11                      65.77

6X         1040          4.75                4.04              11.12                 1.11                       63.66

7X         1110           4.75               3.59                11.31                  1.06                     64.27

8X          1020          4.65               2.24                 10.17                1.04                      64.72

11X        1035          4.80               3.19                 9.75                   0.98                     63.41

12X        1045          4.90               2.69               10.31                 1.03                      64.38

13X        1110           4.20              2.69               11.29                 1.06                     65.17

14X        1050          4.10             2.24                10.56                1.05                     65.04

15X        1150           4.85             2.69                 11.66                 1.06                     65.47

17X        980             5.35             2.75                 9.69                   1.03                     63.08

19X         1000          4.50            2.32                 9.37                   0.98                     64.00

37X         1150          4.55             2.75                 9.92                   0.90                    64.00

007X      905            5.10            2.69                 10.12                 1.16                      64.22

We will not wean the second group of cavles till probably mid november and they will just go on maintaince raiton to go to grass again next spring. Then we will market that group of calves as two year olds.

FRL 13W   Click for pedigree

I hope in the next few weeks to get around to a lot more guys places that have supported us through the years. I have been to probably fifteen guys already. In the spring try and attend anyones branding I can to lend a hand. So for the most part I get lots of my stops in then. If it works out to get back again then I will do so but things seem always to be so crazy. So hope a phone call is understood. Yesterday was at Bryce and Wyatt Burnetts as they are shut down with combining right now with all the rain we are having. Think in last twenty four hours 2.7 inches and still counting. So got to Burnetts and we took the quads and went for a great Angus cow tour. The consistency in the breeding program always impresses me so much. They have a goal of producing calving ease Angus bulls with that added growth and they do as good a job as anyone I have seen. The Calves consisted of Duff Encores, BC Lookout's, Dunlouise Cortachy Boy, Fahrens, and Final Answer calves. The top calves in my mind were the encores as there no throw aways there. They calved out 25 first calvers this year so the herd of sixty is very young. Those two year old got whopping big calves on there sides and the sweetest udders.

Also watch for this fall a heifer calf that they are bringing out that is a real sweet heart. If you seen the mom you would even have more appreciation. She will show at pen show in swift the end of the month and at Agribition.

 This spring the Burnetts bought one of my favorite bulls out of the sale(pictured at top). He is a calving ease bull with lots of length, nuts, and hair. I really hope that he is an impact herd sire and can do good things for them moving forward. Thanks again guys for you support.

 First pic is Granddam of FRL 5X

Second pic is dam of FRL 11X

Third pic is FRL 823U as a bred and sister to FRL 5X

Well today we weaned what we feel are the top prospects on the place to take out this fall. I think we we have the strongest set of bull calves to date. The calves have some extra frame with tons of masculinity already. They are as big nutted and as correct as ever and make me very excited. Heifer calves look good as well there is not as large of a selection. But the ones that are here have lots of depth and hair. This is always one of my favorite times. It's when I get to see how all my breeding plans come together. Also get to see how the new herd bulls compare with the older sires.

Here is a list of the calves we are hoping to take out this fall.

FRL 5X-

This bull calf is as good a bull calf as we have raised to date. I am so excited for what the future of this calf may hold. Before 5X was even born I was hoping for him to be a bull calf and hoping just maybe he could maybe replace his sire. We unfortunatly lost his sire. It's not often when you hope fpr something like this and it turns our maybe even better. 5X's dam is the best young cow on the place! With her first three calves born being at the top of the calf crops. Her first daughter FRL 626s is actually part of the show string this year along side her daughter FRL 002. Rigid will be the highlight bull for our sprig 2011 bull sale and truly think he is worht the stop at the ranch or the stall to have a look at. We will be implmenting him into our herd next spring big time.

FRL 14X-

Another really strong Muldonado son. This calf is big hipped with tons of herd bull presence. His dam has one of the top udders on the whole ranch. We have admired the KBJ Rouge 11 203H progeny for years and every one more we add just improves our herd. 14X is really a strong footed calf with a wide base and lots of heal.

FRL 11X-

When we purchased Centennial this was the real exciting part. How good his daughters were going to be. In just a few years of production these daughters are really starting to push there way to the top. They are proving Cent as not only a bull that adds nuts and character and early maturity to his bulls calves but as a female making machine. This calf has lots of hair and carries the qualities I would excpect combining these two sires. His dam is a really moderate, milky, and strong footed young cow that has only begun to show her potential. 11X no doubt has a place in this industry and looking forward to watching what he becomes.

Hefier calves

FRL 006X-

Our first set of calves out of Horizon a Beletta 0219 son that we raised. Looks to me that he is going to be the real deal. This heifer calf is packed with jam. She is so thick and cowy. I have no doubts she is going to make a cow. She was shown this summer in Swift and was Champion heifer calf. Her pedigree reads great with lots of maternal giants and hope she can offer something to someone elses program. We will be selling this heifer in the fall at the Touch Of Class sale. 

FRL 014X-

This sweet little girl is cool. She is daughter out of the $22000 Duration bull that we sold to Eastondale and Johnsons. Also combined again with the Rougue breeding that has worked awesome in our program. This heifer calf is very sweet fronted with lenght of body to no end. We have only used Duration a little bit ourselves but everytime we do we are so happy with the result. All our heifers were ai'ed to him this year and I think this heifer shows why.

FRL 016X- 

This one my personal favorite. She is maybe not what you invision when you think show heifer. But man will she be a cow. She has so much capacity and rib. She comes out of a cow that is bred so royally and puts it all together structually too. 016X just one more reason we are so sad to have lost the Muldonado bull.

Pair

FRL 823U    FRL 002X

This cow is a sister to the FRL 5X bull calf we showing. She is what I want every cow to be like on the place and is doing an awesome job on her first calf who is a standout. her daughter 002X has such great odds of becoming something so good in my mind. There is three generation of dams now that have worked here and been at the top of our program. 002 is going to be offered for sale this fall as well. Selling at the Touch Of Class sale in Dec. She is really really hard to let go of as we are trying to put as many 203H daughters together as possible, and she out of a great cow family. I do want to sell only the good ones though so do take a look here.  There is longevity and money making momma's backing this one.

Owned with Matt Jones

Wow! What a difference from last year. We put up atleast four times as much feed as we did last year. Making right around Three thousand hay and Green feed bales, as well as putting up a thousand tons of silage. This will be the first year since we moved here that we did not have a below average hay crop so was very much needed. I can not say it was all fun though as the haybine was testet heavily. I have never and will probably never spend as much time unplugging as I did this year. It was unreal to see the Swaths barely squishing through the back of the haybine. I think the best dyrying down time we had this year was probably seven days with some hay laying a long time. As many are saying the hay is not testing up to the quality of normal with lack of protien, so will probably look to add some pellets this year of a protien supp for young cattle on the place.

Pictured is our best field this year. Off 75 acres we took around 402 bales weighing about 1450lbs. Giving us around 5.36 blaes/acre

We had our local Ranch Rodeo the other day. It's a great event which brings out tons of local support to see there family members in action. This year I was on a team with Scott Schroeder, Harry Friesen. and Brad Funk. We did not fair so well but still really enjoyed ourselves.

Pictures by Laura Peterson

Well this is always a fun 4 day event where we get to see lots of friends. The numbers were down some this year but still a very good set of cattle all the way through. It Started with the purbred shows were Champion Angus bull was won by Southland Angus and Female. The next day was Jack pot day where Champion heifer was won by Six Mile Red Angus and Champion Steer was won by us. The most exciting part for me though is 4-H steer show were all the kids from our club finally have the chance to put all there hard work up to the test. Our club had the best go yet in our only four years of exsistance. In the Champion Angus class we had six steers which we thought was great! Overall our club had Champion by my brother Mason and reserve was Matt Dierkson out of 130 steers thought it was pretty good feat.

Trevor Dierkson a good friend and bull customer had five steers in the show that come from his place and they were Grand and reserve while the other three finished with two firsts in class and one fourth. He was very excited! As were we for him as that says a lot for the hard work and dedication he put into building such a great herd.

First Picture is of Mason Steer

Second picture is of all the Steers coming from Trevor Dierksons Ranch.