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The Central California Livestock Marketing Center

TURLOCK LIVESTOCK AUCTION YARD

The Spring Roundup Dates! Featuring California’s Finest Calves & Yearlings

Tuesday, April 12th

Early Spring Special Feeder Sale

Tuesday, April 19th

Western Video Market

Special Pair & Bred Cow Sale

Tuesday, May 3rd

Upcoming Auctions

April 13 • May 5 • Mar 26 • June 9

Shasta Livestock Auction • Cottonwood, CA Spring Special Feeder Sale The 2016 Contra Costa, Alameda, San Joaquin, Stanislaus County Cattlemen’s Associations’ Special Showcase Feeder Sales!

Featuring NHTC, Natural, Age and Source Program cattle. No matter what program you are in, we will promote your cattle!

Brunch at 9 a.m. • Sale at 10 a.m.

Saturday, May 14th Saturday, June 4th Saturday June 25th

SELLING SOME OF THE FINEST CALVES & YEARLINGS FROM THESE COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS:

Merced-Mariposa, Santa Clara, Napa-Solano, Madera, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Fresno-Kings, San Benito & Tahoe

Call Today to Consign Your Cattle!

Stock Yards: 209-634-4326 or 209-667-0811•Market Report: (209) 634-4326 Max Olvera: C 209-277-2063 • H 209-632-2544 Steve Faria: C 209-988-7108 • H 209-723-9269 Eddie Nunes: 209-604-6848 • John Luiz: 209-480-5101 Brandon Baba: 209-480-1267 • Chuck Cozzi: 209-652-4479 Bud Cozzi: 209-652-4480 • Jake Bettencourt: 209-262-4019 Tim Sisal: 209-631-6054

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www.turlocklivestock.com

P.O. Box 3030 Turlock, CA 95381

Working hard for the California cattle producer!

The AProduction Sale First of its Kind Opportunity Home of Bar R Shigeshigetani 30T and many of the top Wagyu AI sires in the industry.

Full Blood Bulls, Females, Pairs, Semen & Embryos Selling Percentage & Purebred Polled Bulls & Females from the “30T” line.

60+ Lots Sell

Visit the Beautiful Washington Area, Socialize with Fellow Wagyu Enthusiasts and See Some of the Best Wagyu Genetics in the United States! Book Your Stay Early to Receive a Special Offer: The HILLTOP Lodging, Cuisine & Spirits • 509-332-0928 JERRY & HEIDI REEVES Sale Managed By JDA James Danekas & Associates 916-685-8980 • 916-837-1432 www.jdaonline.com

1751 Halpin Road, Pullman, WA 99163 509-397-2502 • jreeves@colfax.com

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Finally, a sequel even better than the original. GrazonNext ® HL herbicide with a high-load, concentrated formula, delivers broad-spectrum, residual weed control that conquers tough broadleaf weeds like thistles (including Canada thistle), horsenettle, ironweed and ragweeds. With a quicker, sharper burndown and improved environmental proﬁle, you’ll see healthier grass and better grazing land for your cattle.

Visit GrazeBetter.com to learn more.

Label precautions apply to forage treated with GrazonNext HL and to manure from animals that have consumed treated forage within the last three days. Consult the label for full details. ® Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an afﬁliated company of Dow. GrazonNext HL is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine Wiseregistered s t e r n for Csale o or w use m a inn your -state. A p r i read l 2 0 follow 1 6 label directions. ©2015 Dow AgroSciences LLC R38-392-013 (01/15) BR 010-58443 DARPRANG4075 if a product Always and

call to consIGn your cattle to these uPcoMInG Western vIDeo Market sales: May 5 • May 26 • June 9

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Watch anD bID lIve every WeDnesDay:

cattleusa.coM

Join Us Ringside at Galt

SpeCiaL cattLemen’s feeder SaLes Featuring Large runs oF top CaLves & YearLings SaturdaY Sales at 10 a.m. • BrunCh at 9 a.m.

may 21 • June 11

WednesdaY SaLes at 1 p.m.

april 6 • april 27 • may 11 June 1 • June 22 Visit Us Online

For upcoming special sales and market reports, visit www.clmgalt.com

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Representatives

Jake Parnell ........ (916) 662-1298 GeorGe GookIn ..... (209) 482-1648 Mark FIscher ....... (209) 768-6522

(209) 745-1515 office (209) 745-1582 Fax

rex WhIttle.......... (209) 996-6994

12495 stockton blvd. Galt, california 95632

abel JIMenez ........ (209) 401-2515

Joe Gates .............. (707) 694-3063 Jason DaIley ........ (916) 439-7761

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26 ,

F E A T U R E S

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Washington Cattlemen’s Association Ninety years representing the cattlemen of Washington state. by KayDee Gilkey

The Gebber’s Chronicle An in depth look at an amazing man and the family leading in Washington agriculture. by Heather Smith-Thomas

The Scoop on Clift Livestock This young family is making an impact with their Charolais program. by Heather Smith-Thomas

All Aboard for Good Cooking! Unique railcars and history are part of this restaurant’s charm. by Kindra Gordon

Bar R Cattle Company This premier Wagyu breeder resides right here in Washington while his Wagyu genetics can be found all over the World by Jeri Tulley

REGULARS 7

Trails

Index

Riding the Gap

The Bull Board

Spring has arrived! By Sherry Danekas

“Aim for Specific Goals” By Wes Ishmael

47 Wanted

Featuring Blue Drifter Ranch

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The World According to Hooter McCormick “Fall Braketology” by Wes Ishmael

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Thank you for your great advertising support.

COVER

“A Springscape of Washington”

BUSINESS&ADVERTISING

Editor

Sherry Danekas sherry@jdaonline.com

Associate Editor

Mercedes Danekas-Lohse mercedes@jdaonline.com

Advertising

Mercedes Danekas-Lohse (916) 837-1432 (916) 685-8980

Graphic Artist

Circulation

Hannah Ballard hannah@jdaonline.com Morgan Fryer morgan@jdaonline.com

Mailing Address P.O. Box 410, Wilton, CA 95693 Office Phone P (916) 685- 8980 F (916) 685- 8996 National Sales Representative. THE POWELL GROUP, INC. 4162-B Carmichael Court Montgomery, AL 36106 (334) 271-6100 Attn: Davy Taff

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Spring with healthy calves and hearty growth of your fields.

Website www.westerncowman.com

WESTERN COWMAN, is owned and published monthly except May/June and July/August combined by James Danekas & Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 410, Wilton, CA 95693. Subscriptions are $20.00 per year. Presort Standard U.S. Postage Paid: Tucson, Arizona. Address corrections requested. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sherry Danekas, Heather Smith-Thomas, Kindra Gordon, KayDee Gilkey, and Wes Ishmael.

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ore than 90 years ago, a group of cattlemen created a statewide, grassroots organization devoted to promoting agriculture and the beef industry in Washington. Today, the Washington Cattlemen’s Association continues to preserve, protect and promote the state’s beef industry through producer and education and consumer education, legislative participation, regulatory review and legal intervention. Executive Vice President Jack Field as been at the helm of the organization since 2004. With only two full-time employees, the WCA relies on the tenured knowledge and experience of their exec and office manager, Bev Cridlebaugh who began her tenure at WCA three

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months earlier than Field. WCA President Bill Sieverkropp said that the association was very fortunate to have the incredible employees that they have. “We think that we have the best office manager and the best vice president in the industry,” he said. Sieverkropp continued, “Bev, she always has a smile on her face, no matter how long the day has been or what ever her work load may be. Just call the WCA office and there is always this friendly voice on the other end. Every month when we have our monthly board meetings we will always have a good lunch — thanks to Bev. She somewhere comes up with the time to either make us a hot lunch or a sub sandwich, but what ever it is we al-

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ways enjoy it and it is very much appreciated. Every month there is all those mailings that need to go out whether it might be a county meeting notice or helping Jack with the Ketch Pen, and printing up the labels and making sure that the labels are straight. Bev does all of that and still has a smile on her face.” Cridlebaugh said, “The best part of my job is the people I work with. I always enjoy meeting our members and have made many lifelong friends. One frustration is many times I don’t have as much time to visit with our members when they call or stop by to visit the office as I’d like.” Field said, “Bev is the glue at the office. She makes everything work smoothly. Her efficiency and dedi-

By KayDee Gilkey

cation to the association is amazing. In fact her husband Ron and her sisters also have become valuable volunteers in assisting in the many events and meals provided by the WCA. In addition to his executive vp roles, Field is also the association’s lobbyist. During the legislative session in Olympia, he may be at the Capitol three or four days a week. Most would consider renting an apartment or a room in Olympia — not Field, with his herd of cows to feed each day. He makes the 400 mile roundtrip each day. Before he leaves each morning, he gets up and feeds prior to leaving to Olympia. His alarm clock goes off between 2 and 3 a.m. so the cows are fed prior to him leaving for his day’s activities.

A food distribution with Second Harvest Food Bank -- the Beef Council, WCA and AgriBeef all partner in Beef Counts Program to provide protein for food banks acros the state. A

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WCA Executive VP Jack Field

“One of the benefits of running cows and trying to grow my herd while in this role is that I personally understand the challenges of being in the beef business. My board is very flexible and understands when I have to run home in the middle of the day to check on a cow that is calving,” Field said. Sieverkropp said of his executive vice president, “Jack Field — where do I start? If you know him, … ‘Just trust me, it will be easy’ is a common phrase we hear from Jack. He has more energy than most people do and he does not know when to stop or slow down.” “Jack is the driving force behind a lot that goes on in the WCA. He attends different county meetings and annual banquets. Jack is the main drive in having the WCA Bull test and sale, Beef Day on the hill in Olympia and other beef promotions and other events relating to the beef or ag community. Jack does our lobbing during the legislative session he makes three to four trips a week over the mountains to Olympia. He has made some very good relationships with our legislators, their aides and other staff as well. Legislators ask his advice on issues relative to the beef industry,” Sieverkropp said. Field said that the best part of his job is working in an industry that he loves with other beef producers who are willing to give many hours and lots of effort to the county and state associations. “Our WCA members are very 1 0

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well educated on the issues our state beef industry faces and are willing to be actively involved in the legislative process, volunteer on county, regional and state boards representing the industry — all for the betterment of the beef industry,” Field said. The issues are plenty. Unique to coastal states is water quality standards and issues affecting shellfish and coastal shores. “This places a higher burden on livestock and agriculture in our state,” Field said. Land Use and the Growth Management Plan has become a very critical ordinance for the past three decades. Now its in the infancy of phasing it in to existence. “We’re working to approach this regulation in a collaborative fashion — with all interested parties around the table — working towards solutions rather than having it in up in litigation,” Field said. In addition to dealing with the federal listing of Endangered species, there is also the state ESA list as well. “Interestingly enough, there are 101 species that are threatened and endangered on the Washington State ESA list that have absolutely no correlation to the federal listing,” Field said. For example, the Washington has listed both the Greater Sage Grouse and the Gray Squirrel on the State ESA list. However, neither are unique to Washington as they

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are found throughout the West and are also protected under the Federal ESA. Another contentious example is the Gray Wolf. The Federal ESA listing for the wolf is only for the eastern most one-third of the state, the remaining two-thirds of the state there is no federal listing. However, the State ESA has the wolf listed for the entire state. “Not having clear and consistent guidance and procedures throughout the state, makes it very difficult for producers to know what to expect and how to proceed,” Field said. There is a new Wolf Advisory Group with a mediator that is meeting on a regular basis and hopes to have some procedures and processes in place by late spring. There have been other attempts of working with all interested stakeholders, that have not been successful in the past. Field said that the WCA has hopes that this time the Department of Fish and Wildlife will be allowed to do what they have promised in the past concerning lethal takings when necessary. The state’s Beef Checkoff has not been increased since 2002. Over the last year, the WCA invested many hours in surveying producers, talking with stakeholders, and educating legislators as to the benefits of increasing the fee for the state checkoff from $1.00 to $2.50.

“Unfortunately, we need to do some more educating in the legislature as to the benefit of this selfimposed fee. Our checkoff is so important, it needs to be done right. With this year being a short legislative session, we need to be sure all the pieces are in place for us to be successful with passing the increase. So we will begin work soon to prepare to bring the issue back for next year’s session,” explained Field. One annual event at the Capitol for the WCA is Beef Day. It is a popular lunch for both legislators and their aides. When there in February the WCA served nearly 600 pounds of tri-trip to 1,500 people in under two hours. In 1985, then past WCA president Art Schuster created an endowment for the association. He spoke to many associations across the country about how to set it up and how it might be used. Its objective was to be able to provide the association with a passive income stream, aside from its membership dues. The principle amount to be reserved in an endowment and the income to be available to the WCA. Through benefit auctions and

Some of the participants from last November’s convention -- front row second from the right is Mary Burke -- past WCA president who passed away last week. She was an amazing lady

memorial donations, that endowment has grown to approximately $350,000 which does indeed benefit the association. Art’s grandson, Clay Schuster, is the current chair of the Endowment Trust Fund. He shared, “Ultimately, the goal of the ETF is the same as when it was established — to grow the principle large enough for its income to become the sole income of the WCA; so we don’t have to rely on only membership dues. By accomplishing this, the WCA will continue to be the voice of the state’s beef industry for generations to come.” Field mentioned a recent partnership that has really helped boost the ETF fundraising efforts, “Our relationship with Zoetis has been very positive as they have donated a four-wheeler for the past couple years for the annual ETF raffle. Each year at our convention one of our fun social events is the ETF auction which also raises money for the endowment. We usually raise about $12,000 a year through our mem-

bers’ strong support at the auction.” Another stream of income for the WCA also provides purebred producers an avenue to market their bulls is the WCA Bull Test and Sale that happened on March 23rd in Eltopia at the Bonina Facilities. Since the WCA Bull Test and Sale began in 1993, more than $70,000 income has been added to the WCA coffers. “WCA Bull Test and Sale provides an outlet for smaller producers who don’t have enough bulls for a production sale. And it provides our commercial producers with top notch proven bulls for them to purchase. It puts WCA in a great place to provide a service to both members and other producers from around the region,” said Field. Whether it is providing members a marketing opportunity to sale their bulls or testifying in Olympia, the WCA, its staff and leadership, will continue to represent and promote the state’s beef industry with strong commitment and dedication.

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Sunday, May 8th, 2016 at 1:00 P.M. Central Oregon Livestock Auction, Madras, OR

Consignments From Washington, Idaho, Oregon & California!

Offering Registered Angus & Limousin

Catalogs Available At WWW.JDAONLINE.COM FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, Contact the Sale Management: (916) 685-8980 1 2

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Western CowmanWesternCowman 1/2 pg (7” x 4.5”) 4C EARLY DEADLINES A201504-12_Testimonial-GreenMountain April2016

Tim Todd Green Mountain Angus Ranch Ryegate, MT

Videos at YouTube “Multimin USA” Channel

1. REIS LIVESTOCK Tony, Mary, Nathan, Natalie, and Nicole Reis 648 Cowee Ave. Gridley CA 95948 (530) 682-0317 reis@digitalpath.net www.reislivestock.com

3. CSU-FRESNO STATE AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION 2415 East San Ramon Ave., Fresno, CA, 93740-8033 Randy Perry (559) 278-4793 559.278.4101 fax

5. BROKEN BOX RANCH Jerry & Sherry Maltby • P.O. Box 760, Williams, CA 95987 (530) 473-2830 (office) E-mail: bbr@citlink.net www.brokenboxranch.com

2. JORGENSEN CHAROLAIS Fred & Toni Jorgensen 25864 Moller Avenue Orland, CA 95963 (530) 865-7102

4. BIANCHI CHAROLAIS Robert, Chris & Erica Bianchi 6810 Canada Rd., Gilroy, CA 95020 (408) 842-5855 • (408) 804-3133 cell Email: BianchiRanches@aol.com

6. AURELIA CHAROLAIS Wade & Thomas Helms, P.O. Box 779 Salida, CA 95368 (209) 612-1147

7. NICHOLAS LIVESTOCK CO. 6522 Vernon Rd., Nicolaus, CA 95659 Nicoli Nicholas (916) 455-2384 (916) 813-2384 Nicoli Nicholas, Jr. (530) 668-4566 8. AMERICAN-INTERNATIONAL CHAROLAIS WEST REPRESENTATIVE Weston Geppert (605) 933-1387 westongeppert@hotmail.com David Hobbs: Charolais Associate (913) 515-1215

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By Heather Smith-Thomas

Cass Gebbers

his multi-generation farm/ ranch near Brewster in north central Washington grows fruit (apples and cherries) and cattle (black Angus). Cass Gebbers, owner of Gebbers Cattle and president of Gebbers Farms says there were 5 siblings in his generation. “There are 4 of us left and we all work in and around the family business. The 4 of us had 20 kids, which means my parents had 20 grandchildren, and 14 of those are working in the company now,” he says. This is truly a family business. “I am the 4th generation, and my kids are the 5th generation. Only 2 years separate the 5th from the 6th so we already have another generation coming on. There is definitely continuity and we spend a lot of time on our succession planning,” says Cass. A BIT OF HISTORY His great-grandfather Dan Gam-

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ble hiked to central Washington from Nova Scotia in 1885 with a backpack on his back--to work in the mines near Harts Pass during the gold rush--then worked in the silver mines in the Okanogan Valley. Then he started a sawmill in 1894, near Brewster. He also established the Gamble Hotel and steamboat landing on the Columbia River. He planted the first orchards around Brewster soon after the turn of the century, and built an apple warehouse. His sawmills produced the wooden apple boxes. “Soon after the orchards were established, the family was also raising a few cows, and we’ve had cows in the family ever since. My grandmother Martha ran the sawmill and my granddad John graded lumber for her and ran the cattle ranch,” Cass says. “My grandfather was a Hereford guy, and he was Okanogan County Cattleman of the Year in

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1964, which was the year I was born. My dad, Dan Gebbers, was an orchardist. He brought the first Granny Smith apples into the U.S. and the first Lapin cherries, which are now a mainstay variety. The Granny Smith apples actually came from the southern hemisphere— Australia. My dad brought them into the U.S. through the Summerland British Columbia Research Center in 1967 and 1968. We still have that original Granny Smith orchard, and it is still productive,” he says. That variety was unheard of in the U.S. before Cass’s father brought those first ones to northern Washington. These green apples caught on quickly because they offered a way for retailers to break up their shelf space color-wise, and people liked the unique taste profile, with a high acid tartness. “When we brought the Lapin cherries into Washington, Dr. Lapin

His father bought all the grazing permits and cows from the neighbors who wanted to sell. This launched their cattle operation in a much bigger way than it had been earlier. “We ran about 2000 to 2500 pairs, after that. I finished my basketball at college but I never finished school. I came home to run cattle; I knew what I was going to do, before I ever finished school,” he says.

(at the Summerland Research Center near Cass and his cowdog weaning spring calves. Kelowna, B.C.) told us these should work nicely for us, because the Research Cenington State we get a lot of temperater has a very similar climate to what ture variance with really cool nightwe have. He and my dad became time temperatures,” says Cass. friends when he brought in the “My dad brought some of the Granny Smith apples and he told first apple pre-sizer equipment my dad that we needed to try this from France, so he was an innovator new cherry that he’d been developin the orchard business. He passed ing. It was developed for a climate away in 2014 at age 84; he hit his just like we have here in Brewster,” head fighting the fires that year, got says Cass. a concussion, and never recovered. “We planted the first Lapin orHe was first and foremost an orchard out where I was running a chardist, but he also had a soft spot bunch of yearling heifers. When for cattle,” says Cass. we planted those young trees that spring, I had to go hot-wire the catTHE CATTLE tle out of that orchard,” he says. “We always had a cow herd, Gebbers Farms now has 12,000 even though we were raising a lot of acres of apples and cherries. This apples and cherries. My dad never area has a perfect climate for fruit. really knew how to read a cattle mar“We have cold winters and warm ket and said he never cared to. He summers, and a large temperature studied people instead. When the split between the warm daytime strongest 3 or 4 cattlemen in Okantemperatures and cool nights. This ogan County came to visit him—all really helps finish the apples so they within the course of a week, during can ripen properly. If it’s warm all the dairy buyout in the early 1980’s the time, day and night, you don’t get good finish on the apples or Cass and his mother, Helen Gebbers. cherries with good internal quality. Here in the northern part of Wash-

when the cattle market crashed— he called me at college. He said, ‘I know you have a year or two of college basketball eligibility left, but you are in the cattle business. I don’t know anything about markets, but I know that the human nature of this deal tells me that the cattle market has hit rock bottom, because the nicest, toughest guys raising cattle here have all been to visit me and they want to sell out.’ He told me that the cattle market must be at a tipping point and he was ready to get in,” recalls Cass. His father bought all the grazing permits and cows from the neighbors who wanted to sell. This launched their cattle operation in a much bigger way than it had been earlier. “We ran about 2000 to 2500 pairs, after that. I finished my basketball at college but I never finished school. I came home to run cattle; I knew what I was going to do, before I ever finished school,” he says. This was the beginning of more growth for both the cattle and the orchards. “We had a hodgepodge herd of cattle when we bought all those permits and cattle during that dairy buyout. There were neighbors we bought out who had Herefords, Santa Gertrudis, Charolais, and Simmental, but only a few Angus. In about 1987 or 1988 I had run the cows a few years and then I met Jim Danekas at E.G. Foote’s Angus sale in Melba, Idaho. I had run into him at the National Western, prior to that sale. We were looking

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Cass Gebbers family.

Cass’s youngest daughter Andie Lee Gebbers

for Angus bulls to use on our cow herd, and Jim helped me pick out our first group of Angus bulls. We went around to several different sales and Jim encouraged me. He was the guy who got us going in the Angus breed. I had a lot of respect for Jim Danekas, ever since,” says Cass. “When we started buying Angus bulls I didn’t know anything about Angus bulls and that first one I bought at the National Western fell apart on range. The next year at E.T. Foote’s sale, Jim took me aside. He told me, ‘I had no idea what you were doing bidding on that bull; I’d never seen you before in my life and my duty was to sell it to you. Now we’re going to go buy some real Angus bulls!’ We bought about 20 head at Foote’s sale and I remember one bull that was just a little bit beyond my budget. I was pretty young at that time, and Jim says, ‘Would Larry Bird not shoot the three-pointer right now or not? Are you bidding, or aren’t you? This is no different than a three-pointer with the game on the line!’ So he made me raise 1 6

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my hand on that one! Jim was really good at selling bulls. We sure miss Jim out here. Every year he did some local sales here, and we always attended them, whether we needed bulls or not.” The ranch has used nothing but Angus bulls since Jim got them started, and the entire herd is black now. “My kids just bought a permit/ ranch recently that had a herd with a few Angus and Gelbieh crosses so there are some greys and tan cattle in that herd, but our family herd is all black,” Cass says. They also have a small herd (35 to 50 head) of registered Angus cows now, to raise some of their own bulls. “We try to pick cows that will fit our environment. We use the offspring in our herd; we don’t sell bulls. We are very particular in the ones we keep. We cut the first half of them at weaning, and another quarter of them of them later, so we are using only the best quarter of those bulls as cleanup bulls and make sure we are not overlapping the genetics,” he explains. “On the cow side, it was Pat

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Goggins who really make an impact on me about the strength and value of the Angus cow. After several discussions with Pat, we sent Dan Whitley, our foreman, to the Sitz cow and bull sale that fall. When the first group of 10 bred Angus cows came through, Dan bought them,” Cass says. “Pat said, ‘Why don’t you just take them all?’ So Dan took all 288 cows and we were in the Black Angus business and haven’t looked back!” The ranch goal is to market beef locally. “We’ve retained ownership of our cattle with Agri-Beef for about 30 years, finishing cattle at the El Oro Feedlot in Warden, Washington. You wouldn’t find a better family than the Rebholtz family to work with. They are a vertically integrated company at Agri-Beef and they have been huge supporters of our cattle. I have great respect for their family,” Cass says. “I actually got started with Paul, who was Robert Rebholtz’s younger brother, but Paul died tragically in a plane crash. He and I were the

same age and when I was at Gonzaga he was at Santa Clara playing football and we got to know each other. One thing led to another and Paul said we should bring some of our family cattle to feed at their family feedlot. We’ve been feeding them there ever since,” he says. “We need a balanced cow, in our environment. For a time, about 15 years ago, we were outbreeding our environment. It’s pretty dry here, with only 8 to 11 inches of precipitation. We were chasing some strong EPDs and got our cows a little too big, with too much milk. We were experiencing some harder-doing cattle, with not enough breed-back. So we started selecting for more moderate cattle, and dropped the cow size a little. We made those corrections and now we have less than 5% open cows each year, in range conditions. The cows have good milk and weigh about 1350 and the calves weigh more than 600 pounds every year when we wean them,” he says. There is very little irrigated pasture on the ranch. The cattle run in the mountains. “We AI about 800 to 1000 heifers every year and then use clean-up bulls. We keep most of

the AI bred heifers and sell the bull bred heifers. The AI heifers go into our herd and we now have several generations of AI genetics that are reaching the quality we are looking for,” Cass says. “We always want to keep improving our marbling. If I can’t buy a bull that makes an improvement to my herd there is no reason to own him. I can AI to the genetics that make improvements and the cleanup bulls must be at the same standard. We want to increase our marbling and have a good solid ribeye, and the cows must have moderate milk, moderate frame and be easy fleshing, with good fertility. These cows have to breed back in this rough environment and raise a calf that we can finish and be in the top part of the grid,” he says. “We’ve been exceeding the national average of prime and choice. Our cattle are almost all high choice and prime. We rarely get any selects out of a pen, or yield grade 4s, so we are hitting the numbers we want,” says Cass. Recently a group of producers—cattle, sheep and hog farmers—built a processing plant at Odessa, Washington, owned by the

Top Left: Cass and Alycia Gebbers Bottom Left: Dan Whitley - Cattle Foreman

Livestock Processors Cooperative Association (LPCA) through the CPoW organization (Cattle Producers of Washington). “We’ve been supporting that facility and have started our own beef brand. More information about it can be seen on our website (www.gebberscattle. com). We’ve had great success with that and are looking to grow that part of our business, with direct delivery to our customers,” he says. More and more of the younger generation (the Millennials, the biggest generation in the U.S. to date, even bigger than the Baby Boomers) want to know where and how their food is produced. “There is no better way to sell high quality beef than directly to the people who are looking for it,” Cass says. People want to have confidence in their food sources and know where and how it was grown. “My daughter, Corina Gebbers, is handling the beef marketing, with some help from one of our apple salesmen, Rich Hutchins. Every Tuesday we haul a trailer load of finished steers to the processing plant; we have a specific schedule so we can try to have steers finishing on a regular basis throughout the year. Our customers can always count on us to have meat all year and not just seasonally,” he says. | CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

Cass Gebbers and Dan Whitley.

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JUST REDUCED!

CORTINA RIDGE RANCHES 21,659 +/- acres: Two large sections + ranch home in the town of Colusa. 10+ miles of year-round Bear Creek; reservoirs & springs. Runs 1,000 pair year-round, 1,700-2,000 pair for the season. Colusa County $18,500,000

KEENE RANCH 8,940 +/- acres: Cattle and/or equestrian ranch with year round springs, amazing trails, beautiful valleys, & excellent hunting. The ranch consists of 33 parcels and is currently in the Williamson Act. Just 2 hours from downtown Los Angeles. Kern County $11,635,000

CORTINA RANCH WEST 12,893 +/- acres: Western portion of Cortina Ridge Ranches. 10+ miles of year-round Bear Creek; creeks, reservoirs, springs. Runs 1,000-1,200 pair, fenced/cross-fenced, wildlife and in the Williamson Act. Colusa County $10,325,000

MORRO BAY RANCH 2,240 acres: 60+ acres Class 2 soil; several developed springs, creeks, and small reservoirs. Caretakers’ quarters, good domestic well and has run up to 200 pair year-round. 3.5 miles from the ocean w/views of Morro Rock. San Luis Obispo County $10,000,000

ELDER CREEK RANCH 5,918 acres: Very private, lots of year-round live water and wildlife. Ideal for an all-natural cattle operation, hunting retreat or build home. Runs 400-500 pair for the season. Tehama County $7,965,000

CORTINA RANCH EAST 8,550 acres: Eastern portion of Cortina Ridge Ranch. Runs 700-800 pair. set up for cattle operation and loaded with game. Cortina Creek runs through the ranch. In the Williamson Act. Colusa County $7,890,000

BRISCOE CREEK RANCH 8,184 +/- deeded acres: Run cows, horses, or buffalo. 7 year-round ponds, year-round creek with trout, great barn, shop, guest cottage, and caretaker home. Glenn County $6,250,000

12 MILE RANCH 5,878.49 acres: Property extends across Modoc County, CA and Lake County, OR. Runs 250-300 pair, spacious home, large barn, 3-car garage and workshop. Abundant wildlife & trout fishing. Modoc County $4,500,000

HUMPHREY RANCH 2,291 acres: Runs 300 cows, great irrigation well, 2 land owner deer tags, ranch owns all water from creek. Lassen County $3,500,000

WEST VALLEY RANCH 3,342 +/acres: A ranchers dream come true, free water, easy irrigation and capacity to run 225 pair of cows from May to November & trout filled creeks. Modoc County $2,700,000

T & A RANCH 378 +/- acres: 2,100 Sq. Ft. updated home, large barn/shop, 9 horse stalls and tack room. 200ft well produces 250 GPM. Fenced, 2 reservoirs, and wildlife. Modoc County $850,000

MIDDLE LAKE RANCH 335.54 +/acres: 2,070 Sq. Ft. home, water supplied by 2 ag wells. Now in wheat hay, has produced alfalfa. Used for grazing late spring to fall. Modoc County $819,000

JUST REDUCED!

CROOK RANCH 5,101 +/- deeded acres: Runs 300 pair and enrolled in the Williamson Act. Great recreational ranch with hunting, fishing, horse back riding, swimming, and camping all on your very own ranch. Tehama County $3,999,500

SHILLING YOSEMITE RANCH 3,680 +/-acres: Fenced & cross-fenced, yearround water; raise livestock, riding, hiking, hunting, & gold mining. Only 25 miles from Yosemite. Mariposa County $3,999,000

JUST REDUCED!

LITTLE VALLEY RANCH 154 +/acres: Private & close to town. Class 2 & 3 soil, 3bed/ 1ba home, and large barn, ideal for small farm business. Mendocino Co. $899,500

RED MOUNTAIN RANCH 1,030 +/acres: Foothills of the Eastern Sierras. Hunt, run cattle, ride horses. Springs, streams & year-round Fish Creek. Good perimeter fencing & some cross fencing. Fresno County $1,325,000

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SCOOP E TH

erry and Brigid Clift and their 13-year-old daughter Cora raise registered Charolais on their ranch near Ellensburg, Washington. “We are right in the heart of good cattle country. I grew up on a ranch south of Yakima. My dad had a commercial herd and used Charolais bulls; this made a great cross,” says Kerry. “My grandfather, Harlond Clift, played professional baseball in the 1930’s and early 1940’s for the St. Louis Browns. After his baseball career he bought a ranch outside of Yakima and then bought 1500 head of Hereford cows. He had them shipped from Texas by rail cars. In the 1930’s when he was playing baseball he made about $20,000 per year (which was a lot of money during the Depression) and his picture was on the Wheaties box in 1937 after he was in the all-star game. He got into the cattle

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business, so my dad was raised on a ranch, and continued ranching. When I was growing up we had 200 head of commercial cows,” he says. “After I got out of college, about 20 years ago, we started getting into purebred Charolais and gradually built our herd. I really enjoy the seedstock business—the genetic selection and the camaraderie of competition in the show ring. My wife and I run about 60 head of Charolais cows now. We show cattle at our regional show in Yakama and at the NILE in Billings, Montana, and at the Denver Stock Show. Our daughter Cora shows at quite a few jackpot shows and also does the Charolais Junior Nationals. Last year it was held in Minnesota and this year it’s in Missouri,” he says. Cora is very interested in cattle and loves breeding and showing them. “She has 5 cows of her own and I had to limit her to 5 or soon

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there would only be room for her cattle here! We raise timothy hay as well as cattle, but the farming is a sideline business for me. In my everyday job I am the business unit manager of the McGregor Company, which is a big fertilizer, seed and chemical company in Ellensburg. My wife Brigid is the regional archivist for the Washington State Archives here in Ellensburg. We both work fulltime; the cattle and hay growing are a sideline that we enjoy,” he says. The cattle and farming started out as a hobby but ended up being a business in its own right. “I started out in 4-H when I was a kid, then I was in FFA, and so was Brigid. Our daughter is now in 4-H and it’s a family deal. Our vacations are cattle oriented; we don’t go to Hawaii or Mexico or other exotic places. We go to cattle shows!” He started his purebred Cha-

By Heather Smith-Thomas

rolais herd about 17 years ago. “At that time I didn’t have much land; we rented most of it. Then we purchased more land, and now run our cattle on part of our ground as well as some rented ground. We just keep building and hope to eventually have 100 top-quality registered cows,” Kerry says. “We’ve been taking our time to grow, and have purchased some really good bulls in recent years. Three years ago we bought a bull in Denver at the National Sale; he was in the Reserve Grand Pen of Three in the Denver Stock Show. We concentrate on buying quality bulls and also do a lot of AI. In recent years started doing some embryo work.” The bulls produced are sold privately. “We have plans in the future of having a sale but selling the bulls privately has been working very well. We also sell a few show heifers; we’ve done a Breeders

World online sale with the Northwest Charolais Association and last year we had the high-selling heifer in that sale. We also sell a few show heifers to kids,” says Kerry. “Our daughter AIs her cows to club calf bulls to create smoky club calves. Last year she got Grand Champion Steer at our Ellensburg fair with her steer. She has two more steers this year that are smokies. It’s been fun, with these,” he says. Four years ago when Cora started showing at the local level there were only black cattle in the 4-H classes. She told her dad she needed to sell black ones because that’s what everyone was showing. “I told her she didn’t need to do that, and should just be patient. At that time the smoky calves were winning at San Antonio and Houston, and I

told her that here in the West we were just about 4 years behind the fad.” She just needed to make local people aware of the merits and qualities of the smoky calves. “Every year, she’s shown smokies and last year she won. This year, a lot of her friends in her 4-H club are raising smokies!” Kerry enjoys the genetic aspect of the purebred business, and pays close attention to the genetics introduced into the herd. “The bulls that we buy have to be structurally correct to make show cattle, and they also need to have a good temperament. With Cora working around the cattle, I can’t have anything that doesn’t have good temperament.” The customers appreciate this, too. “Not long ago a guy was here looking at cattle, walking through the bulls in the pen near our house. He was walking right through the middle of them and couldn’t believe how calm they were. He’d bought some bulls from someone else in recent years and they were a little on the wild side. He appreciated how calm ours are; they are a lot easier to handle,” says Kerry. “We enjoy the show end of it, especially the Denver Stock Show and the Nile. Those are our two main shows, and then we have our Charolais Regional Show. Our point show has always been in Yakima but it is going to move to the Nile this year. Breeding these cattle is a fun project that keeps on growing, and the demand keeps growing for Charolais cattle, for commercial bulls, and also the club calf breeding project that Cora started. We have a good market for show heifers, too,” he says. Charolais has always been the favorite choice for a terminal cross on commercial cattle, especially crossbred cows, using Charolais as a third breed to create the most in heterosis—producing calves with

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better weaning weights and muscling. “A lot of people in our area run black cows and use Charolais bulls on them,” he says, “Our herd calves early; we try to time our calving season to start about the time we get back from Denver. It was perfect last year because we got back January 22

and the next day we had our first calf! Two years ago we had 4 calves born while we were in Denver so I backed up the bull turn-out and our AI about 5 days to make sure we were home when the cows started calving. We start the end of January and wrap up the calving in mid to late March. We need to have early calves to satisfy our bull buyers; they want bulls that have a little age on them when they turn out with cows the first time. The show cattle also need to be a little older than the average calf. This necessitates breeding the cows a little earlier than we might want to otherwise,” M6 The Force 511 P ET he says. “We can face Clift Livestock would like to introduce to you “M6 The Force ” challenging weather He has proven superstar genetics and amazing credentials and is the full in January-February brother to the famed M6 Bells & Whistles. however; we sometimes get a lot of Watch out for winter and we sure did this year. We at the 2016 do have a barn and shows! along the outside Registered Charolais of the barn we have Kerry, Brigid & Cora Clift (509)968-3451 a feeder system. I Ellensburg, WA www.cliftlivestock.com don’t feed out on

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the ground; I prefer to feed in a manger-type system. On the inside of the barn we have a creep panel where the calves can get inside to get out of bad weather. It works well because the calves come in and lie around the clean, dry area where I store the feeder hay. Last year we had a serious drought but this year we had a lot of winter moisture, so it’s been very muddy—and nice to have shelter and a dry area for the calves,” Kerry says. “It’s always fun to start calving, and also fun to end it.” It’s always exciting to see the new calves, and the fruits of genetic improvement. Kerry is currently looking at possibly buying another good herd bull to keep improving the cattle. “I am very particular about the genetics and sometimes my wife says I am too picky! But I want to be able to sell people a quality product, so being picky is a good thing,” he says. Satisfied customers generally come back for more. “We want to supply the best we can, for our customers. Our website is www.cliftlivestock.com and we also have a Facebook page under Clift Livestock that I keep updated regularly with photos and the things we are doing. We use Facebook and our website for advertisement and it’s worked very well.” Visitors are always welcome. “We recently had the University of Idaho Livestock Judging Team here to practice judging, and we set up a class of replacement heifers and a class of bulls for them to judge,” Kerry says.

WITH TWO LOCATIONS IN SPOKANE – ABOARD UNIQUE RAILCARS - FRANK’S DINER PUTS THE FUN IN FOOD. BY KINDRA GORDON

t is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So, when in Spokane, you’ll want to be sure to enjoy your breakfast at the restaurant voted “best breakfast” for 14 years and counting. The award winning restaurant is Frank’s Diner, located in downtown Spokane – and it’s hard to miss because it is housed in a 1906 railroad car diner. Frank’s Diner now also offers a second location in North Spokane, which is housed in a 1913 railcar. As testament to its award winning status, the food offered by Frank’s Diner is delish – more about that in a minute. But the unique railcar setting also adds to the dining fun and excitement. As history has it, Railcar #1787 was built in 1906 during the “golden days of railroading.” Rail company Barney-Smith and Pullman wanted to be at the top of the elegant rail car business, so in 1906, #1787 was manufactured as an “observation car.” For three years, it didn’t sell. Then, in 1909, it was purchased by the Northern Pacific Railroad and remodeled to suit their needs as a

private car for the president of the railroad. By 1931, railcar #1787 was replaced, leaving it stranded in Seattle at the height of the Depression. As the story goes, two brothers bought it, converted it to a dining car. It operated in Seattle from 1931 to 1991, at which point it lost its lease and was moved to Spokane – and the rest as they say, is history. Today, the diner still lives up to its historic ambiance, and features a center grill cooking 18,000 eggs a month. A long counter gives Frank’s true diner style, and the food, and service are given rave reviews. From giant omelets served with a side of extra thick bacon, ham or sauage to dollar sized hot cakes, it’s no surprise this place is a breakfast favorite. Other specialties include spicy Creole benedict made with lobster, rock crab, poached eggs all smothered in a spicy hollandaise sauce; fried green tomatoes and eggs; and gourmet purple oatmeal, which consists of Snoqualmie Falls oatmeal with Priest Lake huckleberries. Breakfast is served all day. But their burgers, sandwiches and salads are also noteworthy, and you

can even find: “the best hot turkey sandwich ever.” The menu also boasts a grilled meat loaf sandwich, chicken pot pie, and a large assortment of 1/3-pound Vista Cruiser Burgers made with assorted combinations of cheese, dressings, bacon, and barbecue sauce. The restaurant strives to purchase local sustainable products and makes nearly everything from scratch and fresh daily. Today, Frank’s Diner is owned by Landmark Restaurants, a small locally owned restaurant company in Spokane, WA. They also own Spokane’s Onion Bar & Grills, which serve scratch made American Bistro food. Learn more at www.FranksDiners.com.

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By Jeri Tulley

t almost any Wagyu event you will hear about the importance of gathering and recording data to get the Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs). EPDs predict differences expected in the performance of future progeny of two or more bulls within the same breed for traits including marbling, rib eye area, back fat, and carcass weight. Jerry Reeves believes that having these data are the key to having a successful Wagyu herd both personally and as a breed association - and as such, he has been working for years to collect carcass trait data to determine and utilize 2 6

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his best Wagyu bulls. Jerry Reeves grew up on the west side of Oregon in logging and stump ranching country. He participated in 4-H, raising both sheep and cattle. After high school, he went to Oregon State University for both his undergraduate and masters degrees in Animal Science. He then continued his education by earning his doctoral degree from the University of Nebraska. For his post doc studies, Jerry worked at Tulane Medical School with Dr. Andrew Schally, who won the Nobel prize in medicine in 1977 for his work in determining the structure of many hy-

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pothalamic hormones. One of those hormones was GnRH, the releasing hormone that regulates reproduction in all mammals. In 1970, Jerry was hired by the Washington State University (WSU) Department of Animal Sciences. He had a split appointment in research and teaching and was on the faculty for 37 years. It was while working there that Jerry was given the opportunity to evaluate the potential of Wagyu cattle. The state of Washington had an international marketing program with funding to do research on potential products for export, with a

“While in the Tokyo and Osaka marketplaces, Jerry and his teammates witnessed Wagyu cattle carcasses being auctioned off straight from the rail. The average carcass was going for $6,000 with an occasional carcass fetching $16,000. Seeing that the carcasses were marbled so much more than the beef produced in the United States at that time, the team realized that “our choice meat wasn’t going to cut it.”

particular emphasis on products for Pacific Rim countries like Japan, China, and Korea. In 1988, the directors of the marketing program knew that Japan was going to lift its import meat quota in 3 years. They also knew that the Japanese were only able to produce about onethird of the meat that they would consume. Australia and the United States were going to be in competition to be the providers of the other two-thirds. Strategically, the directors needed to put together a team to find out what kind of meat their target consumer wanted and how to approach them. Jerry, Ray Wright,

and Ray Jussuame made up the team WSU sent to Japan. At that time Jerry had never even heard of the Wagyu breed. While in the Tokyo and Osaka marketplaces, Jerry and his teammates witnessed Wagyu cattle carcasses being auctioned off straight from the rail. The average carcass was going for $6,000 with an occasional carcass fetching $16,000. Seeing that the carcasses were marbled so much more than the beef produced in the United States at that time, the team realized that “our choice meat wasn’t going to cut it.” They returned to the States

with the recommendation to bring the Wagyu breed into the US and raise beef to export to the Japanese market. The team’s concept was approved, and the first black Wagyu were brought into the state of Washington by New Era Genetics, now called World K’s, in 1993. Reeves’s ranch, the Bar R Cattle Co., is located in Washington along the breaks of the Snake River approximately 30 miles from the Idaho border. The term “breaks” refers to the cliffs between the river and the top farmland. That upper farmland is called the Palouse and is the same area that the Nez Perce natives bred the Appaloosa horse. The Palouse is considered to be the most productive dryland wheat farming area in the world. Break land is rocky and has few uses except for hunting, recreation, and raising cattle. In some places the ranch is not fenced because there are cliffs, and those drop-offs do lead to an occasional loss. Last year, two heifers were lost to the cliffs. The Reeves’s home is situated at the top of the breaks some 2,000 feet above the river bottom affording them great views in every direction. Their rangeland is located on the opposite side of the Snake River. “For me to feed our cows in the winter months I have to go across the river via Lower Granite dam daily. This is one of four dams on the Snake river environmentalists would like removed to improve the fish runs.” The Reeves started out raising Angus Simmental commercial cattle. “Since we always had kids in 4-H who showed at county fairs, we bred our cattle with a touch more club calf bulls to be phenotypically more impressive than normal commercial cattle.” In 1990, Bar R Cattle Co. registered its first Wagyu half-blood animal, becoming AWA member number 20. It now has the distinction of holding the longest active AWA membership. Back in 1975, four Wagyu bulls were brought into the United States. These four bulls are commonly referred to as “the | CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

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Recovery will be slow, and a lot of work. It was heartbreaking to find those cattle burned up dead, and so many years of range improvement burned up with so many miles of fences ruined. “We just have to start over, but ranchers are resilient,” he says. In this way of life, people have to be tough, and also optimistic.

Wade and Clay Gebbers after gathering cattle.

The 2014 and 2015 fires in their area were very devastating to their ranch and cattle. In 2014 they lost 350 head of cows, calves and cleanup bulls. “Some of them were our AI bulls that we collect semen on. The fire burned them right into the ground. In 2015 we lost another 150 head, so in two years we lost over 500 head. Many of those cows were three-in-one packages—AI cows with an AI calf sucking them and an AI calf in their belly. We will recover from that eventually. The Lord is good, and He makes that grass grow again every spring. Some years are greener and wetter than others, but spring comes again every year,” Cass says. Recovery will be slow, and a lot of work. It was heartbreaking to find those cattle burned up dead, and so many years of range improvement burned up with so many miles of fences ruined. “We just have to start over, but ranchers are resilient,” he says. In this way of life, people have to be tough, and also optimistic. “We calve out 1200 to 1500 cows, a number which varies because of the fires, and breed the heifers. We also run 500 to 2000 grass stockers, depending on the kind of year we have. The ranch has a fall calving 2 8

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Alycia Gebbers

herd of about 300 cows. The heifers start calving in late August and the cows 3 weeks (one cycle) after that. We like to calve the heifers one cycle earlier, their first time. We calve for about 60 days in the fall and then take a break and start AI on the spring calving heifers to calve the first of February and the cows the first of March,” he says. “That’s a little early to calve, in this wintery country, but we do it because our customers who buy the bull-bred heifers want them to calve a little earlier. To get the right calving dates for our customers and our breeding program we have to start a little earlier than I probably would otherwise,” explains Cass.

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The cattle don’t go to the mountains for summer range until after they are AI bred. About half of the cows winter out on pasture. “We don’t put a lot of processed feed into them. The other half of the cows—the younger ones—stay home for winter feeding. We put up some corn silage and hay for them, and bale our neighbors’ straw in the local wheat fields. We haul cull apples out of our warehouse to the Yakima Valley and then that truck reloads with steamrolled corn from the Cargill plant near Yakima and comes back, so it’s loaded both ways.” This makes winter feeding more reasonable for those young cows and supplements the rations in the lot. About 3500 to 4000 head are backgrounded in their feedlot at Brewster. The manure where the cattle are fed is gathered up every spring and mixed with the rotted apples and cherries and some ground-up wood to make compost. “We grind up 100 to 200 log truck loads of wood thinnings out of our forests every year and have a large composting operation. All of that material goes back on the fields and orchards. It not only makes excellent fertilizer but we line it out along the

young trees and it helps condition and protect their roots from winter freezing,” says Cass. The ranch uses all of its resources and nothing goes to waste. The cattle graze on a mosaic of private and public land, involving several land management agencies. The ranch has good relationships with those agencies, which include the local state Department of Natural Resources and the Forest Service. “We are in a Coordinated Resource Management Plan and we were either the first or second ranch in Okanogan County to implement that, in 1988 with the help of Will Keller at NRCS. We coordinate all the private leases, timber company leases, Game Department, Forest Service, DNR and our own deeded land,” Cass says. “We have an awesome rotation system, with more than 100 pastures that the cattle rotate through. Our local federal and state grazing people go to bat for us and we go to bat for them when people are pressuring them about public land grazing. It’s a good scenario here and we have a nice balance. We realize that in order to be sustainable environmentally we have to be sustainable economically. It can’t be backwards. A ranch has to be able to survive economically, to properly take care of the environment. It’s not in our best interests to go out there and abuse our resources be-

cause that will affect us economically.” The ranch’s future depends on taking care of resources today. “Ranchers are true environmentalists. This is how we try to manage the resources that we depend on,” he says. FAMILY COMPANY: TEAM EFFORT “We redeemed the partners out of our orchards in the late 1990’s

and the rest of my family asked me if I would move over from our resources division (timber and cattle) and help with the orchards. So I am now the CEO of our company, but we all still manage it as a family. We don’t do much unless we are all on board with it,” says Cass. “I am spoiled rotten in this job, because I get to wake up every day and work with my family—my siblings, and my own | CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 | kids, and my nieces and nephews. As one of the leaders in our family and our company, I spend a lot of time just building the platform, to make sure there is always opportunity for the next generations to come home and experience what we have been able to experience,” says Cass. “Not all these kids have the same interests and talents. Some of them will be mechanics, some will be government affairs people, some will be plant managers, salesmen, orchardists, cowboys and housewives. My job

is to make sure the platform fits and that there is a place for all of them.” It takes a good team effort, and many talents, to make it all work. “Both of my sons Clay and Wade, and my oldest daughter Corina are recently out of college; they went to Whitworth University and played sports there. They are home now, helping me, and I don’t know how I managed to get all the work done before they got home!” says Cass. “Dan Whitley is our cattle foreman and he has been on our ranch 51 years. I will be 52 this year, so he

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has been here my whole life. He runs a few cows here and has a great herd of registered Angus, and we buy bulls from him to use as cleanup bulls. Dan has taught me the ropes; he was my mentor in the cattle business, and my kids’ mentor. We are very fortunate to have Dan, and some other cowboys who have been here for 15 to 30 years. We don’t have much turnover in our crew. The shortest tenure guy in our cowboy crew has been here 11 years. They are all wonderful people, and we wouldn’t be able to have a ranch without the dedicated hard-working family people who help us. I know they always have my back. I might be tied up in the fruit business or something else, but I know those guys always have my back on the ranch and I wouldn’t trade them for anyone else. They are amazing people.” Every company talks about their company vision and goals. “I just keep ours simple. Honesty, transparency, and humility. I once wrote that on a napkin, and that’s what we govern by, in our company,” says Cass.

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Heidi and Jerry Reeves

old genetics.” Reeves started working with these genetics right away – raising Wagyu cattle and making improvements on them through the use of carcass progeny test data and EPDs. The cattle imported in the 1990’s were superior to the old genetics in carcass traits. “Recently with the aid of DNA, we went through all our animals to identify those with genetic defects common in the Wagyu breed. We selected bulls free of defects to use in our breeding program. We are also collecting efficiency data through GrowSafe bull tests.” GrowSafe’s system records how much feed a bull eats every time it goes to the bunk. It also weighs the animal every time it goes to water. This allows a breeder to select for residual feed intake (RFI), a form of feed efficiency. “The first thing that we test all our bulls for is RFI,” says Reeves. “Then we progeny test. We collect semen, put it into a herd of commercial heifers with a reference sire so there will be connectivity between herds, and breed the calves. Then we follow the resulting calves through to slaughter, which takes 3 or 4 years. Once we get the carcass data back we select the best sires and sell semen from these superior sires. Having that data…that’s the key.” After moving its focus towards Wagyu, Bar R’s primary business

for quite a while was leasing bulls to Angus breeders for heifer calving ease and buying the calves back at a premium. Then the calves would be sold to companies who were finishing them and exporting the product to Japan. Bar R Cattle Co. continued to do this successfully until Mad Cow disease hit in late 2003. “I thought it was going to be the ruination of the Wagyu breed and the United States beef export business,” said Reeves. “All of a sudden the people who finished the cattle couldn’t export the meat, and they had to find restaurants in the US to sell to. Cattle exporters took a big price cut. It took about a year for the US restaurant owners to figure out how good the American Wagyu meat (primarily a F1 product) was. The restaurant market in the US today is better than the Japanese market was before Mad Cow disease.” The other side of Reeves’s business evolved when Gerald (Gerry) Pittenger, owner of Blue Rock Cattle Co., and Jerry partnered to create BR2 Wagyu Genetics LLC, a Limited Liability Company to lease bulls and sell semen and embryos. By partnering they could provide bulls for the commercial herds they were supplying, and by creating an LLC they were mitigating the risk of a lawsuit if a bull got out in a nonopen range state and someone was hurt. The partnership lasted until

Gerry decided to sell for health reasons. Jerry bought his bull battery out and is full owner of BR2 Wagyu Genetics LLC. He explained that “Snake River Farms purchased the right to all the commercial F1 calves BR2 Wagyu Genetics LLC produce and this uniquely allows us to get the carcass data we need for our production system.” Between the two companies, Reeves has cattle in four states: Washington, Montana, Idaho, and South Dakota. When he gets a call in the middle of the night that his cows or bulls are out, he starts with the question, “Which state are we talking about?” Sometimes his bulls will have three different brands on them because of the differing brand laws in each state. Jerry admits that two companies is a little confusing at times but explained it this way, “Bar R Cattle Co. will sell you cows or a bull. BR2 Wagyu Genetics will lease the bull from Bar R and then lease it to co-operators. Semen from these bulls is owned and sold through BR2.” According to Reeves, Bar R Cattle Co. is not big, and he doesn’t want it to get big. He combines his land with leased land to run approximately 120 cows and 90 bulls. They have 24 head of steers in the feedlot, and they slaughter 2 animals per month to send meat to restaurants in San Francisco. “Restaurants just want steaks and hamburgers. There are some good cuts left, and it is a shame to put them into hamburger.” As Jerry was looking for ways to utilize more of the different cuts of meat, Reeves’s son had the creative idea to sell the bones cut into silver dollar thickness and then frozen to pet stores. Doing this makes enough money to pay for transporting the meat from Washington to San Francisco. For the future, Bar R Cattle Co. is trying to develop a purebred line of polled (not horned) Wagyu bred up from Angus cattle. “We think that this is going to be important particularly in Europe and Australia, as Europe is | CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

April 2016 -

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 | outlawing dehorning. Horns on cattle are difficult to work with, and we expect to see more resistance from the public to dehorning. It makes it much simpler if you have an animal born without horns.” Several of the Reeves family members have made working with Wagyu part of their life. In Wagyu World’s most recent issue, Jerry’s son, Fred, and his wife Kim, were featured in the article “Home Raised” with their restaurant, Brickhouse Café and Saloon located in San Francisco. Since its inception in 2001, Brickhouse Café has been directly sourcing its Wagyu beef from Bar R Cattle Co. Christine, Jerry’s oldest daughter, is a stay at home mom who keeps the books for the ranch. She handles all of the transportation, marketing, and money issues. She also owns her own business called American Wagyu Beef, based in Hawaii. When American beef exports were brought to a halt, Christine worked closely with large Japanese beef companies who were raising Wagyu beef in the United States solely to export to Japan. Currently American Wagyu Beef sells a limited supply of hand selected natural Wagyu from the family farm to restaurants and families along the west coast who prefer a ranch-to-table experience.

Arlie Reeves

Jerry working on fence in tough country.

She hopes to help countries that are experiencing issues by working with local governments to set new policy and reestablish themselves on the world market with agriculture. Reeves’s youngest daughter, Josie, is currently pursing her AA degree at Spokane Falls Community College. “Each of the kids has come back after leaving home with more interest in the cattle now than when they left. Now they really like it when they come home. They round up cattle and brand and help with

the books. They help with fence building and all that stuff.” Jerry says his wife Heidi is “our number one hired hand and my support through the whole thing. She is my main sounding block for major decisions.” Heidi has a Masters degree in Animal Sciences and is a Numerator for the USDA presently evaluating wheat crops in Whitman county. She also works part time in the Department of Animal Sciences lab at WSU taking care of mice and rats. “She takes care of all the chores when I am traveling, and she takes care of me,” chuckles Jerry. The Reeves family and Bar R Cattle Company cordially invite you to come visit the state they live in and love and see the kind of cattle that can be produced through a life-long passion for using genetic data to better the breed at their first production sale being held May 21, 2016, at their ranch. They hope to see you there.

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Arlie, the middle daughter, is in charge of the website and all things technical. She is pursuing her graduate degree at Northeastern in ADVERSE REACTIONS: Inappetence, decreased water consumption, or diarrhea may occur transiently. Boston. Her degree will be in poManufactured by: Norbrook Laboratories Limited, Newry, BT35 6PU, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. litical science with an emphasis on The Norbrook logos and Norfenicol ® are registered trademarks post conflict restoration of countries of Norbrook Laboratories Limited. with an emphasis in agriculture. 3 2 W e s t e r n C o w m a n - A p r i l 2 0 1 6

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April 2016 -

Western Cowman

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By Wes Ishmael

Consistently hitting the wrong target typically yields the same results of never hitting the right one. We all know that. Yet, the outcome of inaccurate aim inherent in both examples is common in the cattle business. “It is easy for ranchers to focus on various production attributes and get caught up maximizing technical measures of production such as weaning weights, conception rates or stocking rates,” says Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, in a January issue of Cow-Calf Corner. Similarly, Kris Ringwall, beef cattle specialist at North Dakota State University explains, “Historically, the beef industry is challenged with selection of traits that rest within the concept that more is always better. “Regardless of trait, we want more growth, more muscle, greater average daily gain, greater feed efficiency, more marbling, more rib eye, greater percent pregnant, greater percent weaned, greater longevity, greater, more, greater, more and on and on.” Such easily identified targets are frequently hit, especially with the selection tools and technology available today. But the byproduct of such success may overwhelm the intent. Indirectly, for instance, focusing on growth can increase mature cow size. Selecting for more milk, growth and marbling can increase maintenance costs at the same mature size. The list goes on. The same goes for produc3 4

Western Cowman

tion measures rather than specific traits. “Maximizing narrow production measures will not be economical,” Peel says. “For example, attempting to maximize conception rates will result in increasing cost to achieve the last increments of additional conception. The correct approach is to optimize by increasing conception rates until the value of the last percent of additional conception is equal to the cost of achieving that level of conception. In a more adverse environment, that optimal level of conception is likely to be lower than it would be in more moderate situations. The need to optimize rather than maximize applies to other production measures such as weaning weights, stocking rates, and the rest. The biggest weaning weights or highest calving percentages may provide coffee shop bragging rights but it is usually a costly gloat.”

Keep in mind, the report included some significant prior-year revisions by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). “Perhaps the biggest surprises were in the beef replacement heifer numbers,” Peel explained in early February. “The 2016 level was up 3.3%, smaller than expected, but the 2015 number was revised up by roughly 300,000 head indicating that the 2015 beef heifer total was up 9.6% over 2014, compared to the previously reported 4.1% year-over-year increase. As a result, the revised numbers have the 2015 beef replacement heifer total at 6.09 million head and the 2016 total at 6.29 million head. The 9.6% increase in beef replacement heifers from 2014 to 2015 is the largest year-over-year increase in replacement heifers since 1974. Beef replacement heifers are now reported at more than 20% of the beef cow herd for both 2015 and 2016; the highest levels since 1969.” “As a result of increased production in 2016, prices for cattle are projected to fall from last year’s levels, explained Robert Johansson, USDA chief economist, at this year’s Agricultural Outlook Forum. As an example, USDA forecasts fed steers prices this year to be 7% les than last year at $137/ cwt.

Margins Grow Thinner That’s especially true in light of current cyclical trends for cattle numbers and prices. The annual Cattle report from USDA, issued at the end of January, confirmed aggressive expansion of the U.S. beef cowherd. There were 30.3 million beef cows in the U.S. January 1, which is 4% more than a year earlier. Beef replacement heifers (6.29 million head) are 3% more than a Understanding Targets year earlier. The inventory of toRelative to the System tal of all cattle and calves January Instead of aiming to maximize 1 (92.0 million head) is 3% more specific traits or measure, both than a year earlier. Peel and Ringwall suggest taking

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the systems approach whereby each input and output—and the measures representing them—are evaluated relative to specific overall goals for the system. Of course, that means having specific system goals. In the case of cow-calf production, for example, where land is the primary resource, Peel believes the most important measure—the one area that should be maximized—is net return per acre. “Maximizing net returns per acre highlights that the ultimate objective of cow-calf producers is to market forage to the highest value,” Peel says. “Maximizing net returns per acre is accomplished by optimizing the array of production parameters that contribute to cow-calf production. Additionally, a focus on net returns per acre means that ranchers should think beyond narrowly defined weaned calf production and evaluate the potential for retained calves or complementary stocker enterprises in conjunction with cow-calf production to boost net returns per acre. The level of production, the method of production and the mix of production enterprises are all subject to change as input and output market values change” Incidentally, even though net returns per cow value outputs and inputs, while combining various production measures into a single value, Peel says it is a limited measure. “Putting values on inputs and outputs translates technical efficiency measures into economic efficiency and highlights that changes in values also affect optimal decisions,” Peel explains. “For example, either lower calf prices or higher input costs should lead

to marginal decisions to use fewer inputs and adjust output despite the fact that technical efficiency of inputs has not changed. Spun differently, Ringwall points to the value of recognizing and establishing specific breeding systems to accomplish overall operational goals. He’s quick to point out that some producers are doing this, writing a proverbial guidebook for the rest of us. Keep in mind, when Ringwall refers to breeding systems in this context, he’s not talking about terminal crossing or crossbreeding at all. He’s talking about identifying, evaluating and maintaining cattle in the herd—be they new bulls or replacement females—for their contribution to achieving the goals

of the system in total. Whether a herd is straight-bred or adheres to a specific crossbreeding plan, it’s not what a particular breed or composite is supposed to bring to the equation, it’s what the individual is supposed to bring. “Within breed or across breed, breeding systems need to become a reality to actually design and manage profitable beef cattle,” Ringwall believes. “Breeders are struggling, breed associations are struggling and commercial producers are struggling, which is odd because more information is available today than has ever been available. However, copious amounts of data are relatively useless without goals, objectives and specific identified outcomes.”

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April 2016 -

Western Cowman

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Blue Drifter Ranch has been raising Angus cattle in Ellensburg, Washington for over 25 years. The ranch is a partnership between Eric Celigoy, his mother Gail Hill and longtime best friend Charlie Stewart. They have two ranches one is in Issaquah and the main ranch in Ellensburg; they run a total of 75 cows with the emphasis of quality over quantity. They have a strong AI program and AI every cow once before turning them out with their herd bulls that come from the most reputable Angus programs throughout the country. Their last two bulls have come from Prairie View Farms, in Illinois, who consistently

breed champions at every show in the country, and the Silveiras Bros. Angus program that is always at the forefront at shows and sales. They market about twenty five bulls a year through a joint production sale with Beus Cattle Company called the “Blue Collar” bull sale. The sale is every second Tuesday in March at the Toppenish Sale Yard. They will sell a handpicked set of show prospects each year privately to juniors as well as groups of bred heifers and cows. The junior program is handled by Eric and he alone is responsible for getting many juniors over the years started in the right direction and very successful paths. The ranch

tries to attend a few shows each year to help promote their program and consistently meet new breeders; they take the cattle to the Western National Angus Futurity, National Western Stock Show, Washington and Oregon State fairs and the NILE in Montana. There is no better perch then on the Blue Drifter Show box for conversation at these events. A sound, successful program backed by the best folks is the Blue Drifter Ranch in Ellensburg, Washington.

ANGUS

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925/634-0933

2001 CBCIA Seedstock Producer of the Year

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Robert & Kathleen Buchanan P.O. Box 12822 Everett, WA 98206 425-350-1455 rollin_carlson@msn.com Cattle with eye appeal, backed by Profitable Numbers Look for Us!

Rancher’s Choice Bull Sale - Feb 25, 2017 in Eltopia, WA Females for sale at the Ranch and select sales annually

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13490 Algoma Road Klamath Falls, OR 97601 (541) 883-8471 Email: buchananangus@hughes.net Website: www.buchananangus.com

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Brian & Joan, Managers Bulls, Project Calves and Females Available

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4574 Bennett Road  Kuna, ID 83634 (208) 465-4516

Kay Siller 1453 Bogue Road Yuba City, CA 95993 530/674-7136 • 530/755-7357 kzangus@neteze.com

ANGUS BULLS November 19, 2016 Producers Livestock Auction Jerome, Idaho

Tehama Angus Ranch “Generations of Performance” 23820 Tehama Ave. • Gerber, CA 96035 Ranch: 530-385-1570 • Kevin: 530-624-6564 Mike: 530-736-3428 • Bryce: 530-526-9404 • Bill: 530-384-2788 tehamaranch@gmail.com • www.tehamaangus.com

TLC Angus

Willis & Cindy Kinder • Laura Hooper • Roderick Atwood 2225 S. 1200 E., Bliss, ID 83314 • 208.358.2322 Email: tlcangus@hotmail.com

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Doug, Jackie & Jake Kohntopp 1078 Hwy 25, Jerome, ID 83338 • 208.324.5342 Email: j.kohntopp@yahoo.com

Jim Coleman, Owner Doug Worthington, Manager 2702 Scenic Bend • Modesto, CA 95355 209/521-0537 • www.vintageangusranch.com

April 2016 -

Western Cowman

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BR ANGUS

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Bulls available at the ranch Carolyn Belden 1483 Lone Tree Rd. Oroville, CA 95695 530-534-0585

Registered Brangus Bulls and Females Greg Romans Cell: (541) 212-1790 Vale, OR • 541/473-3822

150 Bulls • Westfall, Oregon Ask us about our Bull Buyer Incentive Program with Agri Beef

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Western Cowman

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Over 42 Years Experience! Make your next event a JDA sanctioned event. Brown Alliance X7795 Reg# 1384813 Doug, Betty, Dave Dunn

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12495 STOCKTON BLVD., GALT, CA 95632 (209) 745-1515 Office • (209) 745-1582 Fax Web: www.clmgalt.com

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6001 Albers Road - P.O. Box 2138 Oakdale, CA 95361 AUCTION SALE EVERY MONDAY & THURSDAY

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CONTEST RULES

1. Contestants must be from the following states only: California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. 2. Contestants must be paid subscribers to the Western Cowman magazine. 3. Photos are to be 8 x 10-inches, color or black and white prints, mounted on 11 14-inch black poster board. Photos not securley mounted will be disqualified. Make certain your name, address and phone number is attached to the back. 4. Photos must depict our western ranching lifestyle. Photos can’t be altered or image-enhanced in any way. 5. Categories will be divided up after all entries are recieved. 6. The Junior category is for shutterbugs 15 years of age or younger. 7. A maximum of 25 photos per contestant can be entered. Entries cannot have appeared in another contest. 8. Photos become the property of Westerm Cowman for use in the publication and future promotions. 9. Winning entries will be published in the November 2016 issue of the Western Cowman magazine. 10. Entry deadline is September 7th, 2016 11. Cash awards will be given to first place award winners. Photo chosen as the “Editor’s Choice” will appear on the November 2016 Western Cowman cover. * Special Category: “The Cowgirls” * Entry Deadline: September 7th, 2016

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Western Cowman

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Trent Stewart Auctioneer

(541) 325-3662 tsauctions@gmail.com

Like Us On Facebook

(209) 847-1033

Follow the Western Cowman to stay current on what’s new!

CONTACT INFO:

1/8 mile south of HWY 152 on HWY 33. 16575 S. HWY 33 Dos Palos Y, CA 93620 Office .............................. (209) 387 4113 Joel E. Cozzi .................. (209) 769 4660 Joel A. (Joey) Cozzi ..... (209) 769 4662

FIELD REPRESENTATIVES: Doug Gallaway ............. Mike Vieira ..................... Bill Enos ......................... Garrett Jones ................

(209) 617 5435 (209) 761 6267 (209) 761 1322 (209) 710 7904

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Doug Gallaway ............. (209) 617 5435 Garrett Jones ................ (209) 710 7904

SPECIAL SPRING FEEDER SALE THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016 AT 1 PM WATCH FOR ADDITIONAL SPECIAL FEEDER SALE DATES IN JUNE! WEEKLY SALE SCHEDULE

Reputation quality feeder cattle from local producers. Many repeat consignments of calves & yearlings.

MONDAYS: DAIRY • FEEDERS • SLAUGHTER BULLS & COWS THURSDAYS: FEEDERS • SLAUGHTER BULLS & COWS

www.dpyauction.com 5J EZ Angus .......................................................... 36 All West/Select Sires .............................................. 41 American Angus Hall of Fame............................... 45 American-International......................................... 13 American Livestock Mortality Insurance.............. 39 Aurelia Charolais................................................... 13 Bar CK Cattle Company........................................ 38 Bar R Cattle Company............................................ 3 Bianchi Ranches.............................................. 13, 30 Bovine Elite............................................................ 39 Broken Arrow Angus Ranch................................. 36 Broken Box Ranch................................................ 13 Buchanan Angus.................................................... 36 California Livestock Market.............................. 5, 39 California Outdoor Properties.............................. 18 Cattle Vision........................................................... 19 C.D. “Butch” Booker............................................. 40 CSU-Fresno State Agriculture Foundation........... 13 Crystalyx................................................................ 35 Dal Porto Livestock .............................................. 36 Dar J EZ Weigh...................................................... 30 Dos Palos Y Auction Yard...................................... 41 Double Eagle Ranch.............................................. 38 DOW Agro............................................................... 4 DOW Ranches....................................................... 38 Escalon Livestock Market...................................... 39 Fallon Livestock Exchange, Inc............................. 39 Farmers Insurance................................................. 40 Genoa Livestock..................................................... 38 Hajny Land & Livestock........................................ 36 Hang’n A Cattle Company.................................... 25 Hoffman AI Breeders...................................... 33, 39 James F. Bessler Inc. ............................................. 39 JDA Internship...................................................... 19 JDA Sales Management......................................... 38 Jorgensen Charolais............................................... 13 JR Ranch................................................................ 37 KC Angus............................................................... 37

Kerndt Livestock Products.................................... 39 Kessler Angus........................................................ 37 Lewis Livestock...................................................... 36 Mark Holt.............................................................. 40 Multimin................................................................ 13 Nelson Angus Ranch............................................. 37 Newman Stockyards.............................................. 41 Nicholas Livestock Company................................ 13 Norbrook................................................... 29, 32, 33 NW Breeders Female Sale..................................... 12 ORIgen.................................................................. 47 P Bar Ranch........................................................... 38 Pheasant Trek........................................................ 37 Prestige Angus....................................................... 37 Price Cattle Company............................................ 38 Pristine Springs Angus.......................................... 37 Producers Livestock............................................... 43 Rancher Lives Matter............................................ 44 Reis Livestock........................................................ 13 Reynolds Brothers................................................. 37 Romans Brangus................................................... 38 Romans Ranches Charolais................................... 38 San Juan Ranch..................................................... 38 Scales Northwest.................................................... 19 Schohr Herefords.................................................. 39 Siller Ponderosa Angus ......................................... 37 Snyder Livestock Company, Inc. .......................... 38 Tehama Angus Ranch ........................................... 37 TLC - Sugar Top Angus........................................ 37 Trent Stewart......................................................... 40 Turlock Livestock Auction....................................... 2 Universal Semen Sales.......................................... 39 Vintage Angus Ranch............................................ 37 Wagyu World......................................................... 38 Western Cowman Cookbook........................... 24, 39 Wyman Creek Brangus.......................................... 38

April 2016 -

Western Cowman

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By Wes Ishmael

March Madness

o one in Apache Flats needed a T.V., computer or radio to know when college basketball’s March Madness was at hand. All they had to do was look at pockets. Every member of the Apache Cattlemen’s Association (ACA) would have a tattered copy of Monday’s Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. It might be blooming forth from a shirt pocket or peering out from the back of Levis or Wranglers, but it was there, like clockwork every year after selection Sunday. Except for Delmar Jacobs, you could also see it in the faces and actions of ACA members making their rounds in and out of town: the forgotten stubble of a sleepless night, the furtive whispers of strategy and and ink-stained fingers of possibility. This was more than an annual basketball pool—winner take all—it was the basis for one of the organization’s primary fundraisers. Participating ACA members filled out their tournament brackets on Monday night at Jackson’s War Wagon Saloon. Brackets had to be notarized by Maude Higgins and then deposited in the official bracket box. Maude had worked in area banks for four decades. She maintained her notary license for this one occasion. Maude would knit quietly at the back of room, also serving as a contest monitor. No talking was allowed, no exceptions. Izzy Franklin found that out

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a few years back when he wondered out loud where Old Dominion was located. Maude rapped his knuckles with her knitting needles, ripped his bracket from under his nose and pointed to the door. Then she leveled an icy gaze at anyone else who dared to look up. Jackson—the saloon proprietor and part-time CPA—served as the official contest auditor and scorekeeper. He’d make copies of the official brackets, which would be auctioned off the next evening during the annual ACA Calf Fry and Round-ball Calcutta. They even brought in Phinneas “Slick” Watson every year. Depending on your particular leanings, Slick was one of the most famous or notorious auctioneers in the country. The Calcutta paid five places. Side bets were encouraged. The ACA member submitting the winning bracket received a host of prizes donated by local businesses. That’s how Hooter acquired a second-hand power washer a decade ago. The annual pool had come to shape the organization’s personality over the years—the creativity and willingness to take a chance; the belief that ingenuity and homework could alter odds; the focus on the bigger picture and cooperation. Consequently, for participating ACA members, the contest was about lots more than personal prizes or even raising money for their organization. There was the unsubstantiated, unsaid notion that whoever ran the 64-team gauntlet most successfully, amassing the most points by selecting most accurately, was the one who most embodied the ethos of the organization. That’s why Delmar Jacobs was so infuriating. Delmar didn’t care a whit about the tournament, didn’t understand

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basketball or know anything about any of the college teams. As such, he’d won the pool for five years straight by simply flipping a coin. To be fair, there wasn’t much simple about the process. Depending on how deep into the shine he was, or the strength of the particular batch, flipping the coin and catching it became more a game of chance than which way it landed. Then, Delmar would forget which team was supposed to be heads or tails and have to start the whole process again. By rule, no one could help Delmar with the coin flipping. By rule, no one could leave Jackson’s War Wagon Saloon until all the brackets were completed, notarized and deposited in the official box…unless you got yourself disqualified in the meantime. So, those participating looked forward to the event a whole like someone awaiting a tooth pulling— excited by the prospects but dreading the process. Picking Poison As was the pre-selection custom, most of those participating gathered at Lonnie Johnson’s feed store before walking across the street to Jackson’s. “We might think about having a fall Calcutta, too,” Charlie said to no one in particular. “We could do it based on the presidential election, not the electoral votes but the popular vote by party.” “Ain’t nobody to vote for,” growled Hooter. “Now you know that’s not true Peetie said. “There’s going to be a Republican candidate, a Democratic candidate, the prospects of a new third party and its candidate, along with all of other usual suspects, including the candidate of the Prohibition Part, at least in some states.” “Prohibition was a while back,” Izzy

said. “But, they still have a party,” Peetie said. “Really?” “Yup.” Hooter interjected. “What I’m saying is that if all the judge has to pick from are fat, bad-footed steers, the champion is going to end up being badfooted and fat.” “So, you’re equating the presidential election to a steer show?” asked Lonnie. He’d pulled a pristine copy of the newspaper from inside his bibs to have one last look at the brackets. “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Hooter. “When all you’ve got to choose from is counterfeits, that’s what you end up with.” “You may have a point Cuz,” said Charlie. “Lord, I never thought I’d think this, much less say it, but there’s reason to hope Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination.” “Exactly my point,” Hooter said. “When you have to dig that deep to find the least of the worst on one side, you got problems. And, when you’d even entertain such a thought because one way or the other the Republicans seem bent on splitting the vote in their party, you’ve got even bigger problems. Never seen so much mud slinging in my life.” There was silence for a while. Delmar shifted in his chair. “Has any…anybody seen one of those brack… brack….braaaaaack…one of those lists of teams,” he slurred. Izzy rolled his eyes and tossed his copy to Delmar, who looked at it for a second before beginning to snore. “Well, history says we’ve had presidential elections with lots more nonsense than this one,” said Peetie. “Name one.” “The election of 1828 between incumbent John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson,” Peetie said. “It was the election before, also pitting those same two men against one another, when party partisanship really got started as we know it today. In 1828, each party attacked the character of the other’s candidate. Adams supporters brought up all kinds of things about Jackson, everything from killing a man in a duel, to ordering the execution of deserters, to marrying someone while she was still married to someone else.

“Jackson’s supporters pointed out that Adams was a lifetime politician and accused him of everything from being a high-class pimp to misappropriating government funds,” Peetie Continued. “And they still had a bone to pick over the previous election when the winner was decided by the House of Representatives.” More silence. Delmar raised his hand and the newspaper and asked, “When did three teams start playing each game?”

Izzy snatched the paper from him. “It ain’t the candidates you have to worry about, boys, it’s the folks voting for them,” Peetie said. Lonnie headed to the door, calling over his shoulder, “Might as well get on it with it, no telling how long it’s going to take.” All eyes turned to Delmar. He lifted a heavy cotton bag. “Don’t worry, I got a ho…ho…hooooo…lot of pennies.”

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Monday, June 6th, 2016

* Lunch provided for all consigners, buyers and families

Expecting a Large Number of Quality Feeders (559) 674-4674 Madera, California WWW.PRODUCERSLIVESTOCK.COM April 2016 -

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America’s #1 Sale Management Firm as acclaimed by Angus breeders from coast to coast and border to border.

JOIN US AT THESE EXCITING 2015 SALES!

WORLD ANGUS HEADQUARTERS

Box 660, Smithville, MO 64089-0660 Phone: 816.532.0811 • Fax: 816.532.0851

E-mail: angushall@earthlink.nett 2016 American Angus Hall of Fame calendars are now available, free of charge and by request. Call the Hall today.

BREAKING NEWS!

We are in the process of scheduling 2016 sales. We would be delighted to work with and for you.

CALL US TODAY!

Cattle for sale? If you have a herd of cattle for sale, whether it is a complete herd or a group

APRIL 1

SpringLake Angus & Guests Angus Sale, Creighton, NE

Angus Opportunity 27th Anniversary Sale, at Buckner & Jeffries Angus Farm, Canmer, KY

Grassy Valley Performance-Tested Angus Bull & Female Sale, Greeneville, TN

Reisig Cattle 6th Annual Angus Sale, Hardin, MT

Leary Brothers Angus Sale, Caledonia, MN

Brockmere Farms 22nd Annual Angus Bull & Female Sale, Brookfield, MO, sale at New Cambria, MO

Top Line Farms Online Show Heifer Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Tremont, IL)

Womack Cattle Enterprise Angus Online Production Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Pembroke, KY)

DHT Online Embryo Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Ava, MO)

Finley Brothers / 5K Cattle Co. Online Angus Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Anderson, MO)

Krebs Ranch Online Angus Show Heifer & Embryo Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Gordon, NE)

2J Angus Annual Bull & Female Sale, Dunlap, IA

Maplecrest Farms Online Show Heifer Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Hillsboro, OH)

R&C Angus/Deppe Angus Online Show Heifer/IV Slot Sale, hosted by Angus Live

Moffitt Angus Farm Online Show Heifer Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Colfax, IA)

(Monticello, IA)

of cattle, call us TODAY. We will be glad

Christensen Angus Production Sale, Okarche, OK

to come to your farm or ranch at NO

Joe Hammell’s Freeburg Ridge Angus Performance-Tested Bull Sale, Caledonia, MN

OBLIGATION to advise you on the best

Blubaugh Angus Ranch Pride of the Pasture Sale, Tonakaw, OK

way to merchandise them.

Lemmon Cattle Enterprises Angus Sale, Woodbury, GA

Champion Hill Angus Production Sale, Bidwell, OH

Northern Indiana Angus Breeders Sale, Logansport, IN

Comite Hills/Bluebonnet Angus Online Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Ethel/Abita Springs, LA)

Gamble Angus Online Production Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Clinton, TN)

Linthicum Angus Performance-Tested Bull, Female & Commercial Female Sale, Welch, OK

Conley Cattle Online Embryo & Semen Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Sulphur, OK)

Mark Davis Family Online Angus Production Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Shelbyville, TN)

All-American Futurity Online Embryo Fundraiser, hosted by Angus Live (Louisville, KY)

Cherry Knoll Farm Online Show Heifer Sale, hosted by Angus Live (West Grove, PA)

Wilson Cattle Co. Online Show Heifer Sale, hosted by Angus Live (Cloverdale, IN)

Georgia Genetics Annual Production Sale, hosted by Britt Angus, Hartwell, GA

WANTED TO BUY:

Angus Journals – August 1919 through December 1939 Airyland Dispersal Catalog, March 17, 1947, in Montana

Jeremy Haag 816/516-1309

Wisconsin Angus Breeders Futurity Sale, at Jackson County Fairgrounds, Black River Falls, WI

Ponca Creek Cattle Angus Sale, Bonesteel, SD

McKean Brothers Performance-Tested Angus Bull & Female Sale, Mercer, PA

Performance Legends Angus Female Sale, at Shuffler Farm, Union Grove, NC

Quintin Smith Family & Guests Angus Sale, Lebanon, TN

Hallstrand Performance Angus Bull & Female Sale, Prentice, WI

Kurt Schaff 816/520-6447

Tom Burke 816/853-2697

WANTED: Any old sale catalogs you’d like to have a safe and happy home for! We are also looking for Breeder’s Gazettes, all issues from 1881 through 1913, and Eastern Breeder Magazines. CONTACT American Angus Hall of Fame (816) 532-0811.

April 2016 -

Western Cowman

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Range Riding Carne en su Jugo A delicious soup that pulls together quickly for a hearty meal at the end of a long day. Ingredients 12 slices of thick-cut bacon 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped 2 lbs beef, Top Round or London Broil 6 cups beef broth or stock 1 bunch of cilantro 2 cups black beans, cooked (or use a 15 oz. can) *** 1 chipotle chile (optional) Preparation Begin by frying the bacon in a large, deep pot. Cook it over medium heat until it is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and let it drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag. To the remaining bacon grease in the pot, add onions. Saute the onions over medium heat until they are translucent, about ten minutes. While the onions are cooking, slice the beef lengthwise into thin strips, then cut the strips into bite-size pieces. Add the beef to the pot with the onions, and cook until it is no longer pink. Add the garlic in and cook the beef and onions with the garlic for one more minute. Add the broth to the pot. Remove the leaves of the cilantro and chop the leaves up and add them as well. Discard the stems of the cilantro. Add the beans to the pot and cover it. Simmer over low heat for about an hour. Crumble or chop the bacon into very small pieces and add to the pot. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until bacon has softened. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with your favorite garnishes. Garnishes: Garnish with more cilantro, chile sauce, onions, more bacon or any other toppings you like. Serve with flour tortillas. *** For extra smokiness and heat, take a chipotle chile (a whole one for more heat, or a half one for medium heat) and blend it with 2 cups of the broth before adding it back into the soup with the cilantro.

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Occupy Starbucks Written by: Roy Jerden

They invade the cafe at first light Then with latte and laptop held tight They seize tables for four To let go nevermore So all others drink coffee upright With a bored intellectual stare That one hankers to be Molière If he’s writing a play For a hit on Broadway Then its plot must involve Solitaire One’s quite the scientific young chap For which typing is no handicap He must write his thesis By psychokinesis Cause the keyboard gets hardly a tap That one with the big apple fritter Is researching a mental transmitter He’s receiving the thoughts Of strange cosmonauts Transferred through Facebook and Twitter Perhaps you will think I’m pretentious And more than a little contentious But it’s just a disgrace To monopolize space And I think that’s the general consensus

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