We just got back from a very short two day tour in north central Nebraska. I wanted to visit a couple of people there and we were glad we did. The first stop was the William Zutavern Cattle Co. in Dunning.
They have a commercial angus herd, but you wouldn't know it by going to a Summitcrest sale in Broken Bow. They will buy some of the top bulls away from other Angus Breeders, and they will buy in quality and quantity. We looked at their first calf heifers, second calf heifers, and the heifers they bred for next year. They will breed about 800 heifers a year, after culling the bottom 1/3 to bottom 1/2. Of the 800 they basically gate cut and keep 400 selling the other 400. This is to build and maintain their reputation for quality cattle. They AI these cattle to their bulls of choice, then turn them out with clean up bulls for 55 days. Their clean up bulls are superior (in price and quality) to almost anyones herd sires. The bred heifers we saw would rival a set of bred heifers from virtually any breeding program. (A comment we originally herd from others who had viewed their cattle) Additionally, they were the original owners of Summitcrest High Prime, a bull finding its way in to many breeders pedigrees. We found Mr. Zutavern to be a heck of a good guy, very generous with his time, very sound in his advice, which was more than I could list here. I would encourage anyone to look him up, it would be time well spent, and a special treat to see his cattle, or purchase them.
Our second stop was in Ainsworth, to visit with Bob Sears of the Ainsworth Feed Yard. It was Mr. Sears, whom by all accounts, pioneered the use of GeneStar here in the US, and continues to work with it hoping to get an eventual premium for calves that have the specific, identifiable genes that will guarantee their performance for a given trait. He also help pioneer other work, such as the supplementation of Vitamin E to improve the color of cut meat, and feeds his cattle three times a day to boost gain. Additionally he has started an Angus purebred and commercial herd focusing on introducing and concentrating the genes identified using GeneStar. Mr. Sears had some interesting comments on where he sees the cattle industry heading in the future. He wants to see Animal ID as a feedyard operator so he can trace a group of calves back to the owner and hopefully the breeder(s) he purchased bulls from, giving him a better understanding of how a given set of calves will perform for him. He is at the forefront of what is possible in the industry.
Besides seeing some great cattle, we got to see some great country. Proving there is no truth at all to the quote attributed to Custer's scout:
"General Custer, I have got some good news and some bad news." Custer replied, "I am a hardened soldier, and can take whatever you have to tell me, tell me the bad news first." "Well," the scout said "across the river, over in those trees, are so many Indians we will never make it out of here alive." "What could possibly be the good news?" Custer asked. "Well," the scout replied "the way I figure it, we won't have to ride back across Nebraska."
They have a commercial angus herd, but you wouldn't know it by going to a Summitcrest sale in Broken Bow. They will buy some of the top bulls away from other Angus Breeders, and they will buy in quality and quantity. We looked at their first calf heifers, second calf heifers, and the heifers they bred for next year. They will breed about 800 heifers a year, after culling the bottom 1/3 to bottom 1/2. Of the 800 they basically gate cut and keep 400 selling the other 400. This is to build and maintain their reputation for quality cattle. They AI these cattle to their bulls of choice, then turn them out with clean up bulls for 55 days. Their clean up bulls are superior (in price and quality) to almost anyones herd sires. The bred heifers we saw would rival a set of bred heifers from virtually any breeding program. (A comment we originally herd from others who had viewed their cattle) Additionally, they were the original owners of Summitcrest High Prime, a bull finding its way in to many breeders pedigrees. We found Mr. Zutavern to be a heck of a good guy, very generous with his time, very sound in his advice, which was more than I could list here. I would encourage anyone to look him up, it would be time well spent, and a special treat to see his cattle, or purchase them.
Our second stop was in Ainsworth, to visit with Bob Sears of the Ainsworth Feed Yard. It was Mr. Sears, whom by all accounts, pioneered the use of GeneStar here in the US, and continues to work with it hoping to get an eventual premium for calves that have the specific, identifiable genes that will guarantee their performance for a given trait. He also help pioneer other work, such as the supplementation of Vitamin E to improve the color of cut meat, and feeds his cattle three times a day to boost gain. Additionally he has started an Angus purebred and commercial herd focusing on introducing and concentrating the genes identified using GeneStar. Mr. Sears had some interesting comments on where he sees the cattle industry heading in the future. He wants to see Animal ID as a feedyard operator so he can trace a group of calves back to the owner and hopefully the breeder(s) he purchased bulls from, giving him a better understanding of how a given set of calves will perform for him. He is at the forefront of what is possible in the industry.
Besides seeing some great cattle, we got to see some great country. Proving there is no truth at all to the quote attributed to Custer's scout:
"General Custer, I have got some good news and some bad news." Custer replied, "I am a hardened soldier, and can take whatever you have to tell me, tell me the bad news first." "Well," the scout said "across the river, over in those trees, are so many Indians we will never make it out of here alive." "What could possibly be the good news?" Custer asked. "Well," the scout replied "the way I figure it, we won't have to ride back across Nebraska."
