Bah Humbug

It should come to no shock to many of you that I am not a huge Christmas fan. I am not sure exactly what the reason is, but I though this year I would really make an effort to enjoy the Christmas season.

When I returned from Agribition it was great to see my roommates again. There was also one added addition to our house.... A Christmas Tree!

 

Now this was not all terrible. I do not really like decorating trees, so it was great to have it done and me not have to be part of it! The only problem that I had with it was that it was up before December 1st.... In my parents house we always have had a real tree, and it usually goes up the week of Christmas. So to see one up this early was a bit weird for me.

The best part of the tree had to be 2 decorations that caught my eye. Our newest roommate Kristen is also and Edmonton Oilers fan so I was thrilled that there was someone else on my team!

We told Brett maybe she could get a Saskatchewan Roughrider ordainment, but there was no way a Vancouver Cancuck ordainment was going on our tree!

Agribition 2010- Part 3

Each year one of my favorite cattle events is the RBC Supreme show at Agribition. This event truly showcases the best of the cattle show throughout the year. It is always fun to try and guess what the dollar value is of the animals in the ring. Without a doubt it is in the millions!

This year in the supreme show there were over 40 bulls and 40 females that competed. In each the bulls and females a top 10 is selected. From those 1 bull and 1 female go on to be selected the Supreme Champion! The winner of this prize wins $10,000, but the money is really a bonus. It is the prestige of winning this title.

The winners this year were of excellent quality. I think that it is the strongest top 10 females I have ever seen. While I did not agree with all of the top 10 bulls, the one that one, I can definitely agree on.

Supreme Champion Bull went to Big Gully Herefords, the Leachman family of Maidstone, SK. He was a Horned Hereford bull that they had raised. The Leachman family have been friends of ours for years, dad having known them from back in his Hereford days, and Crystal going to school with their son Lance at Kansas State University.

The Supreme Champion Female was also an excellent choice. It was a cow/calf pair owned by the Serhienko family of Maymont, SK. The heifer calf on this cow is probably the best heifer calf I have seen in a long time. She is flat out good! Dennis has had lots of contenders in the best, so it was great to see him final win the Supreme title.

The show was really fun to watch yet again this year. Congrats to everyone for qualifying.

Agribition 2010- Part 2

So the whole point of us going to Agribition each year is to promote our cattle. We do this through talking to interested cattlemen that come by the stall, connecting with fellow breeders, and also by putting them in the show, as this gives that cattlemen the best opportunity to look at the cattle and evaluate them for themselves

As kids, and it still holds true today, we were told that the show was a show. It was one person's opinion on the day. Sometimes you agree, and other times not to much, but you take it all in stride.

This year we had a fairly good show. The quality of cattle was the strongest we had even seen in the Simmental barn. It was great to see the largest show in a few years, yet top to bottom a really great group of cattle.

Last week I featured our string of cattle that we would have at the show. We then got pictures of all of them after they had completed showing. Not all of the pictures are the greatest, but it will give you an idea of how they looked there!

RJY First Date 1W- Class Winner

IPU Revolution 172U- 2nd in class and Res. Sr. Bull

CDY Front Runner- Sold out of the stall for $5000.00

Lil Bit of Paradise- 2nd in class

RJY Signature Move 4X- Sold for $6250 to Nova Scotia

SLY Sweet Thing 12X

Anchor D Viper- 3rd in Class

Agribition 2010- Part 1

We got back from Agribition last night after being out there for over a week. As usual the show never disappointed and our crew at High Country had a great time.

Because there was so much that happened, and there is a lot to catch up on, I have broke it down into a few different parts to keep you all informed.

The first part that I am going to talk about is probably the one that most of you are the most interested in... Jon. Crystal's boyfriend came up with her this year to help us out. None of the family had ever met him before, so it was a great opportunity to spend some time with him and get to know him.

I had a few people ask me what I thought of Jon throughout the week. My answer usually consisted of that he is a great guy, really funny, and they seem to really be in love. As long as she is happy and we don't hate the guy, i'm happy!

Jon comes from a Hereford background so we were not to worried about him helping out in the morning if needed. Most mornings this was how he contributed to morning chores.

And mornings that we was not doing that, he would do this in the afternoon....

He even missed out on shaving some ear's out because of all his afternoon napping... Oh well guess that will have to wait until next time!

Revolution

Well we saved the best for last!

Revolution has been a popular topic on my blog the last month, and for good reason. He is the 2010 National Champion Simmental Bull, the 2010 Grand Champion Bull at Farmfair International, was 2nd in the Farmfair Supreme Show, and is now a double qualifier to the RBC Supreme Show at Agribition.

IPU Revolution 172U

 This is a bull that we are really proud to own. He will have some tough competition at Agribition, but it will be great to see him standing there with 2 of his heifer calves in the stall/

Revolution is out of the AI Sire Crockett. This bull was not overly used, but the progeny are really picking up steam fast!

Crockett

Viper

This year we have a bull in our string that really sticks out. Its not because he is a bad animal, but rather that he is red and white and a Fleckvieh!

Our family does not have Flechvieh cattle, however, the people that we own our herd bulls with not only have red and black cattle, but a large herd of Fleckvieh's as well.

The bull that we are showing is Anchor D Viper. He was bought as the high selling bull as the 2010 Anchor D Bull Sale.

Anchor D Viper

 We have already taken Viper to one show this year. He was Res. Jr. Champion bull out in Brandon at our National Simmental Show. We will see how he makes out at Agribition. One thing is for sure, we will have lots of visitors to the stall as there are not many Fleckvieh cattle shown in Canada anymore!

First Date

First Date is a true favorite around our place! Just like Front Runner, she is out of the proven AI sire Black Joker.

Black Joker

Her mother, Dream Date, is our top black donor. Dream Date is out of the million dollar producing cow Ebony's Joy. She truly is the best black Simmental cow in the states. We were luck enough to buy this daughter a few years ago and have had nothing but great results so far.

Dream Date

First Date is just like her mother if not better! We have been asked many times why we have not shown this female heavily before now. To us we wanted to save her until she was a bred heifer and give her the shining moment that she deserved. Earlier this year she was named Res. Jr. Champion at the Drayton Valley Show, and Champion Female at the Mayerthorp Fair. This is defiantly the best female that we have ever raised. She is bred to In Dew Time to have a heifer calf in 2011.

RJY First Date 1W