The best thing to break me out of the winter doldrums is the prospect of buying a new bull. It gets me thinking about the future. It gets me thinking about the past. It gets me thinking about part of my family.

My grandfather was fond of saying, “A good bull is half the herd. A poor bull is all of it.” He and his brother were aggressive in selecting bulls for their herd, and they instilled the same in my father and his brother. Yet in going through old photo albums this winter, I find no pictures of any of them with a prized purchase.

The bull was only as good as his calf crop, after all. I suppose the herd is only as good as it’s ability to raise a better set of calves next time. Most my life we strived to do it with a commercial cow herd.

Fascination with those in the purebred business, led us to start doing it with a purebred set of cows 13 years ago. The little herd has steadily grown over that time, though still small. Currently, in a herd of 165 females, 69 are registered.

Along the way I’ve learned a lot. My father, a place I worked, and other producers in the business have all been instrumental in shaping my view of how to try and raise a good bull. Often I go back to what a breeder in Wisconsin, with an incredibly successful program, once told me: “The hardest part of the purebred business is seeing your own cattle honestly.”

Commercial or purebred producer alike would be familiar with that good-looking weaned heifer. For some what captures their interest is her look, for others it is her pedigree, and for yet others it is how she performed. All three perspectives, different, are alike in their inability to predict whether or not she will be a good cow.

That is something not decided on pedigree, or look, or numbers. It is determined by what she raises, and its desirability to those you sell it to. It is the same for her as it is for that bull.

To start a herd, we wanted good cows. Instead of buying young, unproven females, we picked old cows with a production record, that looked the part, and had succeeded in the herds they came from.

In 2009 Craig Conover, a prominent auctioneer, recommended we come up to a dispersal of cows owned by Ray Petersek from Colome, South Dakota. We did. Instead of taking the popular option of picking heifers or young bred cows that day, we picked from the older ones with good ratios and great calves.

We had enough money for four cows. All together they had weaned 23 claves with a 105 weaning ratio. They were good uddered and well-structured. They also made the transition to Iowa fescue look easy.

In 2011 we added more cows to the herd, keeping the ratio of our own cows honest. At the Summitcrest Dispersal we picked up another 5 head. They had produced 19 calves with an average ratio of 107 at weaning.

Then in 2017 we added more, still staying true to our original principles. We purchased 11 cows to go into our purebred herd from Mogck and Sons Angus. These cows had a combined 66 head of progeny with an average weaning ratio of 104. Among their progeny were 20 sons that had sold for an average of $8100.

Buying these older cows has brought no foot or udder problems, and created a group of females that eat grass, raise bulls, and get bred. It’s doubtful any of them will raise an $8000 bull for us. That’s fine. Honestly what we are really wanting is daughters at some point from all of them.

10 bulls, some from the Mogck cows first calf crop here, along with some bulls from the cows before, will be available March 9th on the farm. We only keep what looks like a bull. You are welcomed to have a look at them any time. The base is price is minimal, for the simple reason that if you feel like you underpaid for what you got, you’ll come back.

The bulls average in the top 20% of the breed for $Beef and $Weaning, estimates of profitability both on the rail and at weaning. They also average in the top 20% of the breed for pound at weaning, and top 25% for pounds at yearling and in feed efficiency.

You’ll fine some of the rest of the data here:

2019 Bulls

If you are interested, feel free to message or call: 515-681-4619. Thanks, and here’s to spring and the potential that lies ahead.

Dan