I attended the big Denver event this year. It was great to see so many old friends and meet many new people. I had a real good visit with my Canadian friends and had the pleasure of meeting the new General Manager of the Canadian Hereford Assn., Gordon Stevenson. We do miss the numbers of great Canadian cattle that were once in attendance at Denver. Of course the "Border Situation" was fully discussed and everyone is waiting for the new decisions that will be made in the next couple of months.

Some of the people I saw and visited with are friends that I have not seen in many years and it was a pleasure to see them again. Marc Hotchkiss and Art Handel met me at the huge airport that is about 25 miles from Denver. I walked about a mile from where I deplaned, to the baggage area. I landed at the old Denver airport for years in our plane, but when I found myself in the middle of about twenty big airliners one day I thought maybe this is enough. They don’t like us little guys in the middle of the "big boys." It takes about one hour from the airport to get to the stock show and the parking at the National Western. We don’t have $10 parking lots in Twin Bridges or Reva so that was a little bit of a shock to me. It was good Art and Marc were doing the driving and locating, because Denver is a big city with a lot of traffic. We wave at each other a lot in Montana and so do the people in South Dakota. When Art moved in a little close to a delivery truck the driver waved at me with his finger up. They don’t wave like that much in Montana. This guy must have been lonesome too, because he was talking to himself!

We went to the "Yards," (These old stockyards have been closed for a long time now but at one time were a major shipping point in Colorado. Now they are just used mostly for the stock show), first because the pen show was in progress. We wandered through out the pens, visiting and looking at the bulls. I have judged some part of the Denver Stock Show six times and I have never seen so many good bulls in the "Yards." Of course the winning pens were all powerful but in each pen there were some great individual bulls. Those that priced their bulls realistically were moving their pens on, but it was a little slower in those pens where prices were much higher. A lot of people were really looking and analyzing the "big ticket" bulls and before it was over several bulls brought the "big bucks."

On the Hill (you have to walk up a hill from the old stock yards to the buildings where the open show cattle are housed and therefore the term "on the hill" for you bull shippers who have never been to the NW Stock Show.), you could look for hours at some of the best cattle you have ever seen. Winners from all over the U.S. are here to compete for the big awards. This year over 600 head of Hereford cattle were entered. It is a little difficult maneuvering through the isles as all the fitters have their trim chutes with cattle in them and I swear that it seems like there are two people working on each animal with combs, brushes, sprays, and of course the clippers. Everyone now has generators, their own floodlights, and hundreds of feet of extension cord. It is not like the old days when each person wanted to show you their cattle and talk about their merits. Now few seem to want to talk to you and I don’t know where most of the owners are but I am guessing out in the show ring talking to the crowd. If you ask to get a bull up you are risking frowns, rejection and excuses from the caretakers. Just look at them in the ring I guess. Times have really changed. But what a great set of cattle were shown, both polled and horned. Even the last place cattle were fine critters but just had to give way to some powerful beasts. The top end were so good that in my opinion, different judges could well move the placings around somewhat. A great Hereford event!

During our hours of visiting one of the top discussions was about EPDs. All of the breeders that visited about the subject have a hard time trying to understand the basis of adjusting the actual birth weight. Everyone agreed that a newborn calf weighs what he or she weighs. We lay people cannot figure out how you can adjust an actual birth weight and have it mean anything to a cowman that personally calves his cattle. I can understand that in many cases a big calf can come easy and a smaller calf can come hard but to adjust an actual birth weight is something beyond some of us. The new stuff takes a lot of studying. I have a lot of respect for those people that I know that put this new data together but one thing that strikes me from the start, "Is the commercial rancher going to take the time to learn all the data behind these new EPDs to try to use them or will they just look at the $ sign and buy the figure?" If the commercial person will just look at the sign it will be easy. I would like to listen in on the various breeders "pitch" to explain the thinking behind the process. So when a breeder is explaining to someone about BMI$, BII$, CEZ$, and CHB$, listen carefully and see what you can learn. That’s what I am going to do this spring to see how it is being accepted. It will be interesting to me and I am sure, to all of us.

We are now presenting 15 factors in our EPD readout. Probably 90% of our cattle will have some factor or factors that will not be real good. Are we creating an area of confusion that gives each potential bull buyer something to back out on? I have asked several good breeders that sell a lot of range bulls, for good money, to a high percentage of repeat bull buyers, what criteria the rancher uses to buy the bulls. The answer from all of them, "The best, biggest bulls in the pen." Most are not into the pedigrees, other than the family or area the cattle came from, most don’t ask many EPD questions but most do ask about calving ease and actual birth weight info. More are asking about carcass data but in a general way, usually not specific. It seems like from the info I get is that the prospective bull buyer comes to your place because they believe you as a breeder have done your homework and have set the good characteristics into your herd. You have created this impression through advertising, reputation and experience. Don’t let this customer down because he will not be back if he cannot rely on you.

In my last article I mentioned the names of the Montana firms that have been in the business over 50 years, to the best of our knowledge. I missed several, Dutton Herefords of Gold Creek; Slagsvold Herefords of Lindsay; Frasers of Reed Point; and Sparks of Plevna.

Duttons have been in the business 63+ years now. Started by C.D. and David Dutton and now carried on by son Dean and Dean’s son Cory.

Slagsvolds have been in the business 83 years. Lars Slagsvold started in the business in 1922. The ranch, which remains at the same location, is now carried on by Lars’ grandson Kenny Lars Slagsvold.

Fraser Herefords was started in the early 1900s at Grey Cliff. The original ranch was purchased by Sid’s uncle in 1893 and he lived there until 1903. At that time Sid’s parents bought the ranch. They had already homesteaded on land north of the Yellowstone River which was the beginning of Fraser Hereford Ranch. In 1938 Sid and Marie Fraser in partnership with Sid’s brother started their own herd. Sid and Marie’s son Bill with wife Katie started their own herd in 1957 by Reed Point.

Sparks Herefords of Plevna was started in 1943 by Frank Sparks and is operated today by son Tom Sparks.

Please excuse my oversight, Duttons and Slagsvolds.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Patricia Nelson. We worked with Pat and husband John at the Top Cut sale in Missoula for many years. Nelsons always brought some of the top cattle that were sold in the sale. Pat worked hard with John on their polled cattle with good results. She was a kind person and very knowledgeable, but was reserved until she saw a reason to enter into conversations. Pat was only one of two women to serve on the Top Cut Board of Directors. Top Cut at one time was the largest Hereford event between Denver and Calgary. A wonderful woman who will be missed by all of us. The Nelsons were honored in December among the group of Montanans raising Herefords for 50 years or more. — BB —

"Where can I find good Hereford bulls with carcass data?"

"Where can I find Hereford heifers?"

"Where can I get more information on Ridgefield Farms?"

"Where can I, where can I...", are great words to hear when you’re on the supply side of a "supply and demand" market. I’ve been getting these questions over the phone, in person and via email with more and more frequency this last month. One of the calls I remember is the one when I was in Denver. I got a call on my cell phone from a commercial producer with 400 head of black cows. They had not used Hereford bulls in 20 years but wanted to start this year by purchasing 6 head, then 6 more next year and 6 the next. I had on the tip of my tongue upcoming sales and producers with bulls for sale in his area.

We are seeing an increased demand in Herefords, have your homework done and answers prepared so those people with questions are satisfied with your response.

Art Handel and I had a meeting Wednesday in South Dakota and with the severe cold weather, warnings of wind and snow, decided to postpone our trip to Denver for the NWSS until early Thursday morning. We left Rapid City about 4:30 the next morning and arrived in Denver in time to pick up Byron Bayers at DIA, eat lunch and get to the stock show around noon.

It was great to be in the Yards again visiting old friends and making new ones. The cattle looked good and breeder optimism was running high. Byron hadn’t been to the Stock Show for several years and it was great to see him meet old friends and comment on the overall quality of the cattle.

We ran into several of our Canadian friends and they introduced Gordon Stephenson, their new General Manager of the Canadian Hereford Association, to us. It is always nice to visit with our fellow international producers and see what cattle they have coming on for the next year. I’ve been on most of these people’s places and appreciate the qualities they have bred into their herds and the hospitality they have always shown us.

I asked several people what they thought of the new schedule, Pen Shows on Thursday, Female Show on Friday and Bull Show and Mile High Sale on Saturday. They loved it and so do I. It seems most people got more of their analyzing of cattle done with this schedule. Hopefully, we’ll see it again next year.

Ridgefield Farms — I don’t remember the last time I was asked so many questions in such a short amount of time about one specific topic.

Ridgefield Farms in Huron, SD has been extremely busy this last month working on having the plant up and ready for receiving cattle by November of this year. They have signed an equipment agreement with an international firm that is considered one of the elites in the food processing industry. This will put in place in the Huron plant a fully integrated beef processing operation that will be a showcase operation for years to come.

I’ve got to tell you about one store’s experience with the Ridgefield Farms Premium Hereford Beef (PHB) product. It is a small grocery store in Huron that has sold PHB product for the last few months with great success. This last week ground chuck (hamburger) was made available in 5 lb. and 2 lb. packages. They have had such a run on this quality product they can’t keep enough on hand. In visiting with one of the store owners this morning they have had 500 lbs. already spoken for! (They got the ground chuck in today and sold 600 lbs, just today!)

This just goes to show the demand for good beef. To most of us, it isn’t amazing that people will pay for good beef. It is amazing that more attention to quality hasn’t been addressed in the past.

Ridgefield Farms accounts are rapidly growing within the state and outside the state as well. Time allowing us, in the next issue we will give our readers a first-hand look at retail accounts and restaurants that are delighted with the RF PHB product.

At the Black Hills Stock Show this year, Jan. 28 - Feb. 6, in Rapid City, South Dakota, Ridgefield Farms will have information and samples at the SD Beef Industry Council Booth. There will also be specials on PHB meat at the Grocery Mart in Sturgis, SD and a special on the menu at Minervas Restaurant, Ramkota Inn, in Rapid City, SD.

If anyone has questions on supplying cattle or have cattle that would fit the PHB program, let me know.

Sale Season — Production and consignment sales are back in full swing after the holidays.

After the jam-packed and successful Mile High Sale at Denver, Art Handel and I headed for the Van Newkirk sale, Oshkosh, Nebraska the next day. We found a room in Ogallala, NE, got settled in and went to the restaurant/lounge next door. I always liked establishments like this with a bucketful of peanuts on each table and a convenient place for the hulls, the floor! We had just ordered and were enjoying our peanuts when four more people came in and were seated next to us. The waitress asked if they would like some coffee and the lady asked for hot tea with an accent not common to this area! Art and I had heard that some people from the United Kingdom might be at the Van Newkirk sale and I couldn’t resist, I asked if they were here for the sale and if they were from the U.K. They were on both accounts. We asked them to join us at a larger table and we spent about two hours enjoying the company of these really nice people; Tom, Catherine and John Kemp of Auckvale Herefords and Wigdon Walls Farm, Durham, U.K. and Richard Mann, Hill Farm of Warwickshire, U.K. I’m sure Art and I asked more questions than we answered. It is really interesting to ask our international breeders their thoughts on U.S. production and their customs and operations in their own country.

We saw our new U.K. friends the next day at Van Newkirk and visited with them after the sale. They really enjoyed the sale, had no trouble following the auctioneer, and were impressed with U.S. Hereford cattle. I believe their itinerary before returning to Denver and then home was to North Platte Feeders, Upstream Ranch, back to Wyoming to Berry Herefords and then on to Holmes Herefords.

It’s time to get geared up for the next month. February promises to be extremely busy with production and consignment sales (3 days with no events not including Sundays.) But that is the way we like it. Be sure to visit with us this next month while we’re on the road.

Till then, Marc Hotchkiss.

Dear South Dakota Hereford Assoc.,

Thank you for sponsoring the Hereford bull class at Western Junior Livestock Show in Rapid City, SD. I will use the money on some feed or save it for college.

Sincerely,
Jodi Stangle
Nebraska

***

Dear SD Hereford Assoc.,

Thank you for the one-hundred dollar check I received for my overall Feeder Calf Champion at the Meade County Fair. I had a nice Hereford calf.

Thank you for supporting 4-H.

Sincerely,
Michael Snyder
South Dakota

***

Marc & Jill,

Thank you South Dakota Hereford Association for the $100 I won on my Hereford steer, Twister, for Champion Overall Breeds at the Perkins County Fair. I was proud of my steer and the money was a really nice prize.

Thank you,
Brice Carmichael
South Dakota

***

Dear Jill & Marc,

Thank you to the SD Hereford Association for the honor of being chosen South Dakota Hereford Association Commercial Producer of the Year - 2004.

We are very proud of it and will always treasure the plaque.

Keep up the good work with Hereford America.

Sincerely,
Orville & Minnie Haiwick
Highmore, SD

***

October 10, 2004

Hi Jill & Marc,

Things are looking good around this area, with the nice reins we’ve had the past 5 to 6 weeks.

Tame grasses are green and also native grasses have greened up good.

Calves are fat and sassy, our Hereford calves are heavier than the baldy calves, hard to believe, huh! Haven’t sold calves yet. We’ll sell in a couple of weeks.

I’m very happy to see that the Hereford breed is making great strides. One sees a lot of BWF calves being sold, something is happening. In these times of high cost of operating, producers will have to have cows with high efficiency.

Keep up the good work.

Sincerely, your friends,
Paul & Betty
North Dakota

***

Marc & Jill,

We had great response from our ad in your paper! We really appreciate all your hard work.

Marsha Middleswarth
Torrington, WY

***

Byron,

Enclosed, please find our renewal for the paper.

Richard and I would like to thank you for the coverage you gave the NILE plus the front page for the winner of the Supreme Pen Show.

We appreciate everyone that came and participated to help make the Pen Show a great success.

Thank you for a great editorial.

Respectfully,
Sidwell Ranch
Richard & Becky Sidwell
Columbus, MT

***

Dear Jill & Marc,

Please find enclosed a 2-year subscription for our daughter Kelly. She is the fourth generation of the Nash family to have registered Herefords. Her great grandfather Walter Nash started the herd in 1914. We were proud to be one of the herds recognized by the AHA in Kansas City. That is one of the nicest things they have done of recent years. It made a lot of breeders feel good.

We were also very proud that Jane was honored as American Hereford Women’s "Woman of the Year."

Appreciated your support of the Kansas Hereford Tour and all your efforts.

Best Regards,
Mike Deewall
Coldwater, Kansas

***

Hereford America,

At 80 years of age I am no longer in the cattle trade, but still look forward to your fine paper.

All things considered, Herefords remain the proud breed, the answer breed.

Thank you for the great part you take in keeping the world informed.

Sincerely,
Don Ault
Reedsburg, WI

***

Byron,

Was good to see you in Billings, Montana. I didn’t remember when I sent money last. If it should be more for my subscription, just let me know.

Bob Brooks,
Minot, North Dakota

***

Hi,

Although retired years ago, still enjoy Hereford America. Glad to see the sale prices improve.

Sincerely,
Russell Kleppe
Steele, ND

***

Dear Hereford America,

My family and I recently attended the national Western Stock Show in Denver. While "out west," we visited with several children that showed in the catch-a-calf contest.

Many of those children had not shown cattle before, and many that have shown, have shown black cattle. The children we visited with and their parents were very nice and many were interested in Hereford cattle. We were so impressed with the professionalism of the catch-a-calf contest and the participants in that contest. The staff at the stock show should be commended on a wonderful program. But, the children in that contest should get recognized for their efforts as well. When we visited with the kids, their interest in cattle, and excitement about what they were doing was inspiring. We heard many people say it was so nice to see other than black in the show ring. We know there is a place in this country for all sorts of cattle but it was sure nice to see the white faces while out there.

Sincerely,
The Glendy Family
Oconto, NE

A new year is upon us and we hope that 2005 will bring us peace, prosperity and further advancement in the Hereford industry.

Pauline and I had the opportunity to visit daughter Kathy and her husband, Randy in MS. for Thanksgiving. We took the big bird this trip as the weather was not good. We were routed through Dallas and the weather was so bad that the field was closed for a short while as the thunderstorms passed. That meant that we had to travel through them on our way to Memphis. We were running about two hours late and the young pilot was anxious to get on his way knowing it would be a demanding trip. It was the roughest airline flight that I have ever made and I have been at this for over a half century. Pauline held on to me most of the way but our

pilot maneuvered his way through the band of T-storms extremely well. When we arrived in Memphis I went up to the Captain and told him, "As a pilot of 50 years I really appreciated the way your crew handled the difficult weather and turbulence." He put his hand out to shake my hand and said, "I really appreciate that coming from you" and both pilots gave us a big smile." Nice young men doing a difficult job, don’t forget your crew when they get you to your destination after a rough trip.

Kathy offered to drive us to TN to visit Billy Ashe of Ashwood Farms near Selmer, TN. Billy is the current President of the TN Polled Hereford Assn and a very learned person in the cattle industry. A graduate of Oklahoma State and a friend of the late Wayne Haygood, who went to OSU at the same time. Billy runs a registered Angus herd as well as a registered polled Hereford herd and several calls while we were there indicated that his bull business was active. Billy is building his good polled herd, as well as his Angus herd, on genetics that are rich in carcass characteristics. Kathy drove us from Oxford to Selmer, and what a beautiful country drive that is, for us mountain natives, to view. Billy lives in an area that was an important location for one of the Civil War battles and only a few miles from Shiloh National Park. I could not believe the water everywhere we went. It has been raining heavily in the south all fall and I believe these people can get more rain in a day that we get in MT in a couple of months. Near a lot of the highways were actually lakes of water flooding the areas. Billy took us to lunch at the famous Henco Furniture House, owned by Tom Hendrix, who we were fortunate to meet. This firm is reputed to sell nearly one million dollars worth of furniture a month. The store is acres big and has a beautiful selection that would make anyone interested. A wonderful, full day trip and we arrived back at Kathy and Randy’s after dark.

Remi Monforton, an ex Hereford breeder, and I attended the Largent sale at Kaycee, WY. Largent’s are one of the few herds in the U.S. that are still active in the business after 102 years. The sixth generation of the Largent family was in attendance at the sale. I missed Dave, who passed away last year, and it seemed like a big gap at the sale without him. Freda, who now lives in NM, was not able to be at the sale either so we missed this gracious lady too. Largent’s have been working hard on the carcass characteristics for several years and the ranchers are taking notice. 105 bulls averaged over $2,400 and they all went to commercial breeders with no big toppers. This is one ranch location people don’t come to for the free lunch, they come for business. This is a cowboy ranch location, high desert, chilling wind, a ways from town, and the scenery is different. This is one of the hardest working families that I have ever known, they deserve a good sale.

December brought on our Montana Hereford Association annual meeting which is held at the same time and location as the MT Stockgrowers Association convention. This year Phil Friend, President and CEO of Ridgefield Farms, was invited to speak on the new packing plant that is being built in Huron, SD, and which will feature Premium Hereford Beef. Phil flew in from Huron with several of his staff and picked up Marc and Jill Hotchkiss in Buffalo, SD on their way to Billings. Phil also provided the Premium Hereford Beef for the banquet that night. Phil, during his talk, showed pictures of the progress of the plant and gave the crowd details of the planning. A very interested crowd listened intently to the presentation.

The MT Hereford Assn. paid tribute to all the Hereford breeders in MT that have been in the business over 50 years. Fourteen were honored but I am sure some were missed as the AHA missed some very important breeders in their recognition at the annual meeting this year. Honored by the MHA this year were Anchor (Hinderager’s), Bayers, Brooks, Cooper, Feddes, Fort Keogh, Holden, Isbell, Landers, Nelson Polled, Schock, Sidwell, and Story. Those that were missed should notify Hereford America so we can mention your firm. We did not make the list up but we can correct an oversight. Our ranch was one of those honored and this makes the 86th year of our operation.

It seems like many ranchers are also good football fans and in all of our area of the country teams from the cattle countries have done well. Montana played for the Division 1AA championship, Wyoming won their bowl game, Oklahoma plays for the big championship, Boise State is undefeated as is Utah, and both in bowl games, Texas and Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas EP, OK State, and New Mexico, are all in bowl games. I am sure the Nebraska fans will look forward to their return to power. Colorado is in the big show and our smaller Carroll College was national champion in their division. I have missed some of your favorite teams playing but the point is that most ranchers like football and follow their teams. I am one of them, being an old Grizzly who played way back in the 40’s, I can relive the dreams.

I hope to see many of you readers in Denver this January for the big National Western. So long until then. BB

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a nice Christmas and holiday season.

Congratulations are in order for several of our friends.

First, Mike Stahly from Cavour, SD, was selected as the new president of SD Cattlemens. He and his wife Judy, son Doug and daughter-in-law Chris have a commercial cattle operation by Cavour which is just east of Huron, SD. Mike is a past president of the SD Hereford Association and is a current board member of Ridgefield Farms-SD. He is a very deserving and capable individual. Congratulations, Mike!

Congratulations also go out to Steve and Amy Nuhsbaumer of Zell, SD on the birth of their baby girl Charley in November. Amy is our commercial ad salesmen and the Nuhsbaumers also raise Herefords in eastern South Dakota. Steve is a director on the SD Hereford Association board. Congratulations! (See their clever ad on page B-15.)

What a year it has been for the Hereford industry especially in the Midwest.

In our general area, including about 4 other states, we have seen increased demand for Hereford cattle and I expect it to continue growing. Some breeders are completely sold out of bulls and we have seen some really good bull sales this fall. The Canadian sales have been good too with some high dollar cattle selling to breeders in the U.S. While a lot of this optimism for the breed is fueled by record-level cattle prices in the U.S., I believe the new Ridgefield Farms packing plant in Huron, SD, has helped our industry already.

For those of you who haven’t followed Ridgefield Farms Premium Hereford Beef or are new to our newspaper, they are a company with a branded Hereford beef product line that is really doing well. The company has been in operation for about five years and is doing very well with their product.

While the product is similar to Certified Hereford Beef don’t confuse the two companies. One of the big differences, and there are several, is that Ridgefield’s clientele is primarily the high-end restaurant trade. The other big difference is Ridgefield is building a beef processing facility in Huron, SD. Yes, building! Not only has this increased the awareness of the Hereford breed, its benefits in a crossbreeding program and the absolutely fabulous beef our breed produces, it is giving cattle producers in South Dakota and the surrounding states another avenue to market their beef. If you or anyone you know would like back issues of our paper in which we ran news features on this project please contact us. We would be glad to send the articles to you. You can also access information on the company at www.rfsd.com

Everywhere we go people are asking us questions about the new packing plant. I’d like to address some of the more frequently asked questions here. First of all, construction is on schedule. At the present time all of the site preparation has been finished and closed up for the winter. Concrete will be poured in early spring.

Another frequently asked question is about out of state cattle. They will be taking out of state cattle. I think there is some confusion on this point due to the SD Certified Program which I will address later. At 600+ head per day Ridgefield will be procuring cattle from outside the state of South Dakota. The breed requirements for their Premium Hereford Beef line, which is estimated to make up 40% of their daily harvest, is at least 50% Hereford with the remainder being another English breed such as Angus, Red Angus, South Devon or Shorthorn.

The proposed South Dakota Certified program which is a state-endorsed program is primarily a marketing system for beef from South Dakota. In a nutshell the program puts its South Dakota Certified label on beef from cattle that are born, raised, fed and processed in the state of South Dakota. In theory the premise of the cattle being raised in the state is supposed to be an appealing concept to many people in metropolitan areas. In other words it is a marketing tool. Any beef processor in the state meeting these requirements can use the SD Certified label which would fit in nicely with the Ridgefield program. At the present time the state has no breed requirements for this program, however, Herefords and baldies are still the breeds of choice within the Ridgefield system. It remains to be seen how that will shake out. The SD Certified program is in its infancy so many details are bound to change by the time it is implemented. One sticking point at this time is the use of RFID (radio frequency ID) tags. Written in as a requirement in the SD Certified program, the state legislature failed to approve the measure so I’m not sure where that will end up. But don’t confuse Ridgefield with the SD Certified Program. They are separate.

Anyway, I’ve diverged...back to Ridgefield.

Oh Canada — not again. Is it my imagination or have the last two years ended with some form of North American BSE event and subsequent announcement from the USDA in regard to the US/Canada border? At press time we received the news of the border reopening in March, followed just hours later by an announcement of a possible new Canadian BSE case. We have compiled several news articles on these subjects. In all of this it baffles me that they would let cattle for slaughter cross the border but not breeding cattle. In my logic it should be the other way around if the issue really is BSE-related. But as usual, money and politics are the governing powers and the big 3 seem to be getting their way once again. We’ll see how it shakes out.

Happy New Year everyone!

— JBH