The End of The Revolution

The last few months have kind of been a bit disappointing around the farm. This winter we were really excited about our calf crop as we got some great embryo calves, and finally got some bull calves out of our Sr. herdsire Revolution. After not getting any bull calves the first year, this was pretty exciting to us, and they really have been looking great so far.

We own Revolution with our good friends at Beechinor Bros Simmentals. This is the 2nd herd sire that we have bought with them and it has always worked out great. Being able to buy high caliber bulls is expensive so to be able to buy them with other breeders sure makes it easier and we have been able to advance our program much faster then normal.

This spring Beechinor's had Revolution at their farm as it was their year to run him at their farm. We were using semen that we had drawn at a stud to breed cows to so that we could still use his genetics. The boys called us one day saying that he was lame and that they were treating him until he got better. A few weeks went by and he was still not better. They pulled him from the pasture and continued to treat him. They even had the vet out to look at him and see what was wrong, but she could not find out what was wrong.

More weeks went by and the boys, and the vet still could not find out what was wrong. After a bunch of tests, some x-rays, and lots of babying they found out what the problem was. The injured foot was one of his back feet, and somehow a tendon got hurt or poked and started to degenerate. The options were either to try and do surgery to fix it, but that was expensive and no idea if it would actually fix that problem. The other option was to draw as much semen as we needed and then ship him to be killed. He would not be able to breed anymore, and so his purpose had been served and was no longer of use.

After doing some thinking we took him down to stud and drew some more semen and he is getting shipped here soon as well. It will be up to his progeny to carry on his legacy and we have ample amounts of semen to use in our herd. He will always be remembered and we had a lot of good times the last few years with him. Winning National Champion Bull and getting many complements on him and his calves has been the real crowning achievement. We will miss the big guy and hope to be able to find someone to replace him.

IPU Revolution 172U- 2008-2011

AB Simmental Tour 2011

This weekend we went on the Alberta Simmental Tour. The tour was held in the Rimbey/Bentley area this year, and it was a beautiful day to get outside, look at some cattle, and visit with old and new friends.

The tour started at Lockhart Valley Simmentals. We toured their herd of cattle, seeing a pen of replacement heifers, as well as a set of cow/calf pairs with bull calves. Tina and Lee, the owners raise traditional, red and black cattle. It was great to see a mix of what the Simmental breed can do.

Next we headed over to Darryl & Anissa Friessen's farm. Here we see a set of their commercial cow/calf pairs. They are just commercial breeders, but use a lot of Simmental genetics in their herd, including AI'ing their females to purebred Simmental bulls to get  the best genetics possible.

The final stop was at Beechinor Bros Simmentals. We have become very good friends with this family over the years, as we have bought 2 herd sires with them. The Beechinor's are great people, and showed us a set of yearlings, cows with heifer calves, and cows with bull calves. It is neat to go through their cattle, as they have many of the same genetics as us, because of the 2 bulls we have bought. Beechinor's also raise traditions, reds and blacks, so again it was a great cross section of the breed.

In the final field that we toured I found an old friend of mine. In 2005 during the World Simmental Congress we sold the pick of our herd in the sale. Beechinor's were the buyer of this lot, and ended up picking a 2yr old of mine that I had bought as a heifer calf. Paradise was not the most friendly show cow, but she sure has done well for herself both at Beechinor's and having a few daughters at our farm.

Paradise at 7yrs old.

It was a great day, and the rain held off for the most part. We will be sure to take part in it again next year, as it is a great way to really see what the breed and breeders have to offer.

New Arrivals

This fall we were lucky enough to win a new stock trailer at Farmfair International. Our trailer we had was in good shape and serving us well, but it was pretty cool to win a prize like that.

We finally got the trailer last week after it spent the winter at our friends and bull co-owners Beechinors.

This trailer is a foot wider then the old one, and brand new! It will be nice to be able to pull this down the road over the next few years!

Misfit

Every year it seems like we have a cow or two that will lose her calf at birth. This year, it was one of my cows. Rather then have her go dry (not milking) for a year, we grafted a calf from our friends Beechinors onto her.

This calf they had been bottle feeding for a few weeks, and so she is really quiet. She sticks our pretty bad in the pen because of her color. Funny thing is that bottle calves, usually are not the best quality. This one though, is actually pretty good!

We will see how she turns out, but for now she is our friendly misfit!

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

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!