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:agree: Knowledge Rich Ranching is an excellent book.

Highly respected, and yet very few practice what he spoke of. In fact, it seems most do the opposite - propagate the outliers, outcross continually, breed for change rather than consistency.

FH, are you still sourcing bulls from his herd? What's the status of his operation since his passing? I've been curious. I ran across his writings a few years back and it changed my perspective completely on sire selection. He made so much more sense than 95% of what I read about genetics...

Ok I did find one study...but it didn't really say there was a difference, and it was done on feedlot animals fed a high concentrate ration. So not really apples-to-apples in my situation. https://www.animalsciencepublications.org/publications/jas/articles/78/9/2446

Are amino acid complexes the same as chelated? I'm not really up on my terminology. From what I've found, you are correct - the comparisons have been with sulfates and oxides. I take it you have seen research that does compare them with organic forms? What kind of difference was there? I'm...

We have several water sources. Rural water, developed springs, two shallow wells, one deep well (artesian), stock dams and dugouts as secondary sources. Depends where they are. I'd be interested in looking at the studies. Could you provide some links? Thanks. I'm not quite a good enough...

I talked to my mineral guy briefly today, think we're going to try some Intellibond minerals. They are some sort of hyrdroxy trace mineral, which is similar to chelates in terms of bioavailability but not as expensive. I heard a guy talk about them at a mineral workshop this fall. Worth a try.

Thanks for the kind words. I should have posted a few pics of the cows. They averaged BCS 6 when we weaned on Monday. Had we taken the calves off earlier, I think we might have struggled getting them down the alley for preg checking! The cover crop they have been grazing for the last two...

A short video of the steers: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rbTwYMk308Bb7wvx2 They are on the fleshy side I think, nice to look at from the rancher's perspective but maybe too much for a buyer? The heifers need to gain 0.5 lb a day until breeding to meet their minimum breeding weight. We put...

I didn't figure in any shrink. We gathered at 10:30 am, sorted cows from calves, and gave shots before weighing around 4:30pm. Probably could have taken a couple percent off? I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow.

We weaned the calves off our mature cows (4-10 yr olds) today. These were mid-April through late May calves, Angus cows bred to maternal-type Angus bulls (Emulation, Shoshone, Wye breeding mostly). We had a dry start to the summer, had real good rain from late July through Labor Day. Moved...

So we used to pour once and it was enough, now we need to do it twice for the same results...10 yrs from now will it be 3x? I know of several producers near me that have quit pouring all together. They don't miss it. I'm not quite there, but I am done pouring everyone. I have a couple old...

:agree: I'd also look into Akaushi cattle. Quite a few breeders in Texas. It might be a way to add value. I bought some bulls last spring to use as a terminal cross on Angus cows. We'll see next fall how I get along.

I spent most of the day wrenching on the old forage wagon. Ugh. I'm thinking the further I can stay away from bearings, grease zerks, chains, and shear bolts the better off I am. A few extra trips with the home made nifty feeder is sounding better all the time.

I made one as well, out of a floater tire, but it only holds about 700 lb of DDGS. If my math is right, I don't think I could get 3500 lb of DDGS in two tires and still be able to lift them with my bale bed. 1750 lb of DDGS plus the tire is more than I could handle. 1750 lb ddgs / 15 lb/cu...

This thing is coming up on a retirement auction next week. I wonder if I could make it into sort of a "dump box" for my bale bed, have a small hole in the end and let it flow out as I drive along? Then I could set it off when I'm not using it. Might be worth a try?

I saw those when I was researching, but they are on the small side. Has anyone used a Meyerink ear corn feeder? They look to have the capacity I'd need. Except they Really take up the whole back of the pickup.

Looks like a handy outfit. I'm wishing my bale bed was operated by an engine pump rather than electric over hydraulic...then I would convert one of those boxes over to a hydraulic orbit motor and run it off the pickup.

We spent Christmas 2015 in Corpus Christi visiting my sister in law. I noticed a lot of ducks by the ocean...mallards, teal, pintails, etc...same ducks we have during the summer. I got a little jealous. Thinking those birds aren't so dumb after all!

I bought 100 ton of DDGS this summer to use as a protein supplement this winter while grazing cornstalks and dormant range. Now the question becomes, how do I get it to the cows? (It was much cheaper than alfalfa per unit of protein, so I bought it without worrying about delivery) The largest...