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| Winter 2006 | This has been an extremely dry year. We normally put up 2500 to 3000 rolls of hay and as much as 3300 tons of rye grass silage. This year 150 rolls of hay and no silage was put up. However, we did get to fertilize early with no growth. This is the driest year for 7P Ranch going back to 1972. There were 1300 rolls of hay and about 10 tons of silage left over from last year. We have to figure out what we can feed about 1000 head of females and 200 bulls.
We planted (drilled with no till drill 900 acres)both cereal rye Maton and more shallow - Tam 90 and waited until it came up in November and we fertilized. Guess what - no rain. We have fed the Brahmans silage with 2-3 lbs. of corn gluten/day. We also have Sweet Pro Lick out which furnishes most minerals, some energy and protein. Cattle do well. We are still trying to figure the cost more closely.
The bulls are fed some Alfalfa, hay and Accuration - a self limiting feed by Purina. Year old hay is offered. The dry cows get old hay in 5 lbs. Alfalfa daily with Sweet Pro blocks. The cow/calf pairs are fed year old hay and Accuration with limited intake-cost about 40 cents/day.
If our prayers for rain are answered we should make it. We will run our pairs and virgin heifers and bulls on this until summer. The Accuration will be left out but with lush pasture they eat very little.
We have bought FRV 120 Alfalfa hay from Oklahoma in large square bails for about $120/ton - 6 cents/lb. and it is all eaten. We have not purchased coastal hay because the price locally has been about the same as Alfalfa and we lose very little with Alfalfa and with coastal, we all know how much is waisted.
Our commercial heifers have been on pasture this summer until it went south and then on year old hay and Accuration. We synchronized our Braford F1's, Simbrahs and Brangus types (about 250 head)and bred them AI the week of June 20th with calving ease Angus bulls. About 60% settled and the rest cleaned up with calving ease Angus bulls.
We have about 350 Brahmans and use Dudley Brothers Hereford bulls on them with an occasional black Simmental bull.
Our Annual Spring Simmental Bull and Commercial Heifer Sale will take place on the ranch on February 18th. 7P will be selling 85 bulls and 281 bred commercial heifers. Our neighbor North Star will sell about 200 Brangus type females, 1/2 exposed to calving ease Angus AI and cleaned up with calving ease Angus bulls.
Broken Board Ranch, our dear long-time friends are again offering an excellent group of 61 heavy bred Brahman cross heifers, bred to red and black Angus bulls. Total offering about 450/500 head.
Bulls sale at 12:30 pm and heifers will follow. Coffee, hot chocolate and donuts will be available for breakfast and BBQ lunch will be served at 11:30 before the sale.
If you have always heard that it is cheaper to buy replacement females than to raise them - well, let me assure you it has never been so true as it is this year. It is said that you usually have $1000 in a two year old heifer in a good year. I don't want to know about this year.
Today is January 22 and it is raining so maybe things are looking up.
Joe |
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