Livestock Ads

There are a million different livestock ads out there right now. Some done by professionals, others done by individuals. Some are better than others, some are more colorful and some just get to the point. We receive several livestock and agriculture magazine, some are resigtered ranches and many others are commercial. I feel that we are well blended, been down the show cattle road, grew up on a commercial ranch, and Ryan is very much on the commericial side of how to run cows and make a profit.

There are commercial ranchers that turn their nose to registered, fed-up, well-groomed cattle, not expecting them to handle environmental conditions as well as others. I believe the two side work really well together. But in a magazine we received lately an ad stated 'No over fed fat fluffy show bulls. Bulls fed to work in the hot summer sun.' Wow talk about a dig at registered show cattle operations. While there is some truth in this statement - this ranch must focus on hardy cattle with just as good of a look as the clipped kind. But I hope that not all ranchers feel that show cattle are just fat and fluffy.

I have several retired show heifers in the pasture, all were fat, fluffy, clipped, over-fed (in some's opinion) at one time. They never skipped a beat and have calved every year. Now they aren't fluffy, clipped or over-fed, but I think both kinds of cattle should be interchangeable. I think the goal of show cattle should be production and how they perform in the pasture, and I think commercial cattle or registered herds that aren't shown should still produce a good looking, well balanced herd. Or I think this is what we are striving to do. Raise registered cattle on a budget as well as mix in our good looking commercial herd to produce great heifers!