We AI'd to Betzvold Viking back in 1988. Those calves were born
in that horrible Alberta Clipper that came into western Montana in
late February when those calves dropped. We had a wooden
barn and never froze an ear on those calves.
I had seen some Betzvold Viking calves at Bill Ohrmann's place
in the Flint Creek Valley and had to use that bull. Those were
the best looking Angus calves I had ever seen. We kept all the
heifers for replacements.
I'm telling you, those cows got BIG. REALLY BIG. And hard
doing...and the ones that got older all got stifled. I think it was
because their requirements were so high and we weren't on a
good mineral program when they were young...their bones just didn't hold up.
Anyway, now I know Betzvold Viking was a performance bull.
He topped some big "on test" sale in Iowa. I wouldn't use that
bull for anything now.
And to think, we bought some cows that were AI'd to Nichols Landmark.
It was dry that year and we didn't keep those heifers. I always
wondered how they would have turned out.
Talking about old bulls, remember AAR Maverick? He got such a
bad rap for milk, but I saw some of his daughters in later years and
they were magnificent cows.