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Photo By Madyline Braught

Diamond D Angus

I am the third generation DeBoo raising functional Angus cows. It all started with my grandfather and grandmother (Charlie and Mary) in the 1950’s.

At that time, Charles was the only registered Angus breeder in the Golden Triangle area of Montana. In the early days, he owned a bull called Pattern of Wye. Pattern of Wye was instrumental in shaping the future for DDA. In 1972, my grandfather’s life was cut short after hip replacement surgery. He died less than 24 hours later. My dad and mom (Don and Janet) were married in 1957 and started raising cows on shares with my grandparents, on a small ranch 10 miles southwest of Valier. My Mom and Dad raised 7 kids on this small operation. Needless to say, everyone needed to learn how to work and be very thrifty and efficient. That also included the cows.

In 1962, my Mom and Dad bought their first registered Angus heifers. They continued raising commercial cattle at that time. Due to the

influence from Pattern of Wye, my Dad learned that all cows were not created equally. In the 1960’s, most cattle were very short and blocky; they would have been a frame score of 1 or maybe in the negative figures. The Wye cattle were the larger framed cattle for the time period. The industry trend changed in the late 60’s and early 70’s to larger framed cattle and the Wye cattle became very popular. There were a lot of very functional cattle at that time. The trend continued to go larger and larger framed in the late 70’s and 80’s. My parents tried to follow the trend until the early 1980’s.

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I am very thankful that at that time my parents knew what a really good functional Angus cow was like. It did not take them long to understand the direction

the industry was headed and this was not the path they wanted to be on. Due to the influence of the Pattern of Wye bull in the early 70’s and the direction the whole industry was headed, Diamond D Angus knew they didn’t want to follow this route. They decided with the knowledge of the old Pattern Bull, they would once again go to the Wye herd for their genetics. My parents spent many years selling bulls private treaty to repeat commercial buyers. After working 6 years as a mechanic for John Deere, I (Mark) moved back to the ranch in 1988. We had our 1st production sale in the spring of 1989 in an old barn. Looking at it today, I still wonder how we did it. At that time, we were selling about 50 bulls at the sale. Perhaps our competition was averaging more per bull than we were, for it was the start of the big EPD race. We continued to line breed for functional, maternal and efficient traits. This was not a popular or easy path to be on at the time. I am 100% convinced it was the proper path to take.

In 2006, we had our first fall production sale where we sold long yearling forage developed bulls. I would challenge any registered breeder to forage test your

bulls if you really want to know what they are made of. This has proven to be a very good change for DDA. In recent years, we are selling our genetics all over the US, Canada, and Argentina. We now sell about 130 bulls every fall and about 100 bred females at our production sale. We welcome the opportunity to show you our herd.

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Whatcha Got Cookin?

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Third Trimester Nutrition for Beef Cattle

With Bil ly Whitehurst

WHY IT MATTERS

Inadequate nutrition can cause issues ranging from increased calving difficulty, weakercalves, sicklier calves, poor breed back and in some cases abortion.Giving cattle a diet that far exceeds the cows nutrition wastes money and creates high-inputcattle which reduces genetic pressure on the herd to cull poor performers.Research indicates, calves with decreased nutrition in utero  may still struggle with healthand growth issues throughout life.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR CATTLE NUTRITION

Don’t waste money & don’t short change the cow: Working with a nutritionist to test feeds and formulate a costeffective ration is one of the best money saving actions you can take. Don’t try to use nutrition to overcome bad genetics.  Supplementation and nutrition management is intended toensure we meet the cows needs so they can work for us, not to continue buying more inputs to keep the cows in theherd. Do your part to provide the cow’s needs but make her do her part to meet yours as well.

STRATEGIES TO MEET NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS

Protein is the limiting macro nutrient. If supplementation isneeded, use the cheapest source of protein possible.Generally speaking it takes 4-5 days to make major changesin the rumen microbe population while on range, so if theyhave protein in front of them for 3-4 days of the week and gowithout for 3-4 days they still meet the need.Pasture management: tighter grouping and more frequentmoves improves grazing uniformity and the overallnutritional plain will be kept as high as possible, as the cowsconsume the lower quality along with the better forages. This can decrease the need for protein supplementationresulting in saved money and better range conditions on ayear to year basis.Mineral nutrition: The cost of a mineral program isgenerally around $25-$30 per head per year and the benefitstouch many areas of production to include cow and calfimmunity, reproduction, growth and intake.

NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS

Protein requirements of a cow in 3rd trimester increase by ~20% over 2nd trimester.

Total intake needs (dry matter basis) increase from 1.7% of the cow’s body weight in 2nd

trimester to 2% in the 3rd trimester.

TDN requirements increase from 50% to 54% of the cow’s body weight.

A 1300 lb cow should beable to sustain her bodycondition in the secondtrimester with 22 lbs of

7.1% CP hay, and in thirdtrimester with 25 lbs of a

7.9% CP hay.  Mixingalfalfa with barley strawwill in most cases get you

to the same end.

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Open Cows with Dr. Casey Solomon, DVMIn drought years, we often see a high proportion of young cows in the open pen. First calf heifers are still growing and working hard to raise a calf. Trying to re-breed is sometimes just beyond the energy she is able to get from the environment. If there is forage left in the fall to winter graze, or if a producer is able to come by extra hay at a reasonable cost, rebreeding these young females the following year is often rewarding. That being said, I am always careful to caution, this practice will not contribute to the reproductive mo-mentum of your herd. It is strictly a financial decision. The best females in your herd are the cows that are able to rebreed despite all she has going against her!

In my line of work, young open cows (first or second calf females) are also eligible to become 90 day preg-nant recipient cows. We place embryos in for fall or spring calves depending on the order and they go to their new home when confirmed 90 days pregnant with the embryo calf. Prior to embryo transfer these cows are tested negative for BLV, BVD, Johnes and Neospora. They receive an annual vaccine booster and MultiMin and receive an embryo after either a natural heat or a synch protocol. They provide an added value to an open cow, especially if the order is placed for fall transfer and they can be turned around rapidly. If a spring breeding is ordered, the profit margin is more narrow, due to winter feed costs. Each female receives 2-3 opportunities for an embryo. If she does not con-ceive within these constraints, she goes to town as an open cow (these non-productive cows also contribute to narrowing the profit margin of this option). Wishing you a good winter, an even better calving sea-son and a big correction in the cattle markets in 2020!

Casey Solomon, DVMMilk River ReproductionPeterson Grain and Cattle Registered AngusMRR59501@gmail.com

Thank you to KRose for inviting me to be a guest writer in their newsletter. My name is Casey Solomon. I am a mom to a beautiful daughter, a wife to a commercial cattle rancher, a daughter to a registered Angus produc-er, and a veterinarian specializing in large animal repro-duction.

This time of year is always challenging for those of us in the cattle industry. We are trying to button up the year’s projects – dodging mother nature’s curveballs. We are trying to get cattle gathered, calves marketed, replace-ments sorted, and cows pregnancy checked and out on winter forage. 2019 has proven to be one of the most challenging fall seasons in my 7 year career as a veteri-narian. Down markets leave everyone questioning what the right answer is when marketing our cattle.

Open cows in the fall are a source of confusion for many producers (including myself). It never feels like there is a “right answer” for this group of cows. I am here to write down a few things we have done or seen, maybe one or two will spark an idea and give you more op-tions!

Traditionally, the best markets for open or cull cows is late summer. Pregnancy testing your cows 30 days after pulling bulls is a great option to capitalize on these bet-ter markets. Open cows can be very accurately identi-fied using ultrasound in this time frame. Additionally, calves can be preconditioned at this time, which is also beneficial when marketing calves for the fall. The obvious difficulty with marketing cows this early is – what do we do with their calves? This question may make this option unavailable to many producers, but I’ve seen good outcomes with early weaning and creep feed.

Retaining ownership until markets rebound in the early portion of the new year is the most common practice to regain value that I see in my area. However, the prof-it margin is pretty narrow with this practice, feed costs have to be pretty cheap and cattle often have to gain some condition prior to marketing.

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Upcoming EventsSPRING 2020

Montana Department of Transportation DBELearn how to use digital marketing strategies to grow your customer list and

build your business in Rural America.

Sign up at www.krosemarketing.com/upcoming-events-classes

Enis, MTFebruary 11

Miles City, MTFebruary 26

Great Falls, MTMarch 18

Dillon, MTFebruary 5

Belgrade, MTFebruary 25

Browning, MTMarch 17

Fort Benton, MTMarch 19

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Upcoming Sales View Catalogs on www.krosecattle.com

Diamond Peak Cattle CoFebruary 21

Bull Sale La Junta, CO

Kretschman AngusFebruary 29

Annual Production Sale Buffalo, WY

Sletten Angus February 10

Annual Bull Sale Faith, SD

Hofmann Simmental FarmsFebruary 22-29

Annual Production Sale Clay Center, KS

Home On The Range SPRING 2020

KRose Cattle Company PO Box 508

Three Forks, MT 59752 E: karoline@krosecompany.com

C: 406-577-6310

Clear Creek AngusMarch 2

Annual Production Sale Chinook, MT

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