Simmentals At Sinker Creek

Transcription

1 Simmentals At Sinker Creek A 149-year-old cattle ranch in a remote section of southwest Idaho capitalizes on Simmental genetics. Nettleton and his son, Chad, check the replacement heifers. By Dan Rieder Joyce Livestock Company, located near the small town of Murphy, Idaho, was founded back in 1865, right after the Civil War, and 11 years before Custer and the 7th Cavalry met their demise at the Battle of the Little Big Horn 600 miles to the east in Montana Territory. My great-grandfather was Matthew Joyce, says current owner/operator Paul Nettleton. He had owned a barge business on the Mississippi and that business dried up during the Civil War, so they headed west for a new life in California. They had to stop at Lovelock, Nevada, for my great-grandmother to have a baby. While they were there, they heard about a mining boom in Silver City, so they did a right turn, headed north and homesteaded this place on the banks of Sinker Creek. Joyce was not a miner, but he recognized an opportunity to produce food and fiber for the miners and local store own- ers. He had some dairy cows, a few horses, did some farming and raised fruits and vegetables, Nettleton continued. When the mining boom busted around 1875, he switched over to beef cattle and my family has been in the beef business ever since. My grandmother was Matthew s daughter. The Cattle History The first beef cattle to graze the Joyce pastures were dual purpose Durham, which were forerunners of the modern Shorthorn breed. The breed acquired its name because it originated in Durham County, Scotland. Great Grandfather Joyce didn t want anything to do with those Longhorns that were being trailed out of Texas in those days. He just didn t like them, Nettleton reported. He wanted an improved breed, one that was strong on both milk and meat production. Around the turn of that century, Herefords entered the mix and remained the primary breed for several decades. The first cattle I can remember were straight Horned Herefords, which most ranchers ran then, he said. My dad, Hubert, although most people call him Hugh, never liked horned cattle he thought that dehorning was just too tough on them, so he worked to develop a Polled 10 SIMTALK

2 Hereford herd. At first, the polled animals were not as good quality-wise, but eventually they caught up. When I was a youngster, my dad told me by the time you re big enough to run cattle nobody will be running horned cattle. Until the day he died, he couldn t understand why anyone would intentionally breed horned cattle. When Nettleton was in high school, beef producers had begun to realize the significance of crossbreeding. That was when the black baldy movement took off. My dad never really liked Angus he thought they were too tough to keep fenced in. But, he had a feeling that his Polled Herefords needed more frame, so he bought a big, old half-blood Simmental, a gentle giant, the last bull he ever bought, he recalled. We were really happy with that big boy, not only was he easy to handle, he produced crackerjack calves. You could tell every calf he sired, he said. We realized that he might cause some calving problems so we used him only on mature cows and they didn t have any problems at all having his calves. We utilized low birth-weight Hereford bulls on our heifers. From the 1970s to the present time, the Joyce Livestock Company cowherd has relied heavily on Simmental genetics, retaining that red hide color, in a blend with Herefords. Starting Young In his early 20s, Nettleton was thrust into a position of taking over the ranch. My dad was 48 when he married and 51 when I was born. After high school, I was planning on going to college, but as the only son, I was needed at home. By then, he was in his 70s and was still able to advise me, but couldn t do much physically because he d had a couple of strokes, he said. Paul with his grandson, Jarrett, the sixth generation to occupy Joyce Livestock Company. I had to hit the ground running. I was doing the hiring and the firing. I was buying bulls and equipment and making all kind of decisions, he continued. Nettleton soon began a search for a steady source of Simmental genetics, studying trade and cattlemen s publications. I came across the name of Wes Fields of Gooding. Wes was an acquaintance of my dad who knew Wes reputation and told me that I couldn t go wrong with him. In the late 1970s, we bought our first batch of eight Simmental bulls from him. My plan was to use Simmental and Polled Hereford bulls in equal numbers. The result was that we added frame and extra weight to our cattle. A few years later, Fields decided to retire and sold off his registered Simmentals. I asked Wes if he knew anybody around the area where I could continue to acquire good Simmental genetics. He told me to go see Bob Lanting, down at Twin Falls. I contacted Bob and have been buying bulls from him ever since, he comments. Bob has been a heck of a guy to work with and I appreciate his cattle expertise. Last year, I was so busy I wasn t able to get over to his place to pick out my bulls, so I told him to just pick them out for me. He knows what I like, picked them out, delivered them and I couldn t have been more pleased with what he brought me. It s great to have a trusting relationship like that. The Next Generation With an eye on dialing back his own work load, Nettleton is in the process of turning more and more of the ranch operation over to his son, Chad, 34. He also has three daughters, two who have married and moved away. One daughter, Tiffany, lives on the place and handles some of the ranch bookwork. Joyce Livestock Company includes 11,000 acres of deeded land, located on the edge of Idaho s high desert country. Boise, the Idaho State Capital, lies 40 miles to the north. We re between the Snake River Plain and the Owyhee (pronounced Oh- Wye-hee) Mountains. The ranch adjoins a tract of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) summer range, which makes for easy handling. We just open the gates in the spring, and the cows instinctively head out into the mountains. Then in the fall, most of them come in on their own when the temperatures cool down and the snow flies. Although most of his current 525-head herd is red, he does have a few blacks. We share the summer range with a couple of Angus breeders, and although most of our cows are bred before they go out, a few do get bred by the neighbor s bulls. We seem to be kind of a rainbow herd, but the buyers almost fight over our calves, he explained. CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 SIMTALK 11

3 $13, Heterozygous Black Rarely does a sire exceed all expectations once he is proven. Trinity progeny have been tested extensively in our system and we have yet to evaluate a trait that he hasn t done well in. No bull is perfect, but Trinity is absolutely our pick for one of the best balanced, well proven, low birth, high $Profit bulls in the industry. He sires very attractive progeny that have the look of a British animal with the heterosis and performance of a hybrid. Trinity is a legitimate four star calving ease bull, yet gives up nothing at weaning time as he even supersedes his sire Shear Force s outstanding birth to yearling spread! Given his 3/4SM-1/4AN breed make up, both seed stock producers and commercial cattlemen with a heavily Angus-influenced cow herd should seriously consider using this proven herd sire. Trinity is siring some of the most profitable herd sires in the industry, and has produced some of the most sound and productive females in the Leachman system. His top ASA percentile rankings are: 1% CE, 1% Brth, 3% MCE, 15% Milk, 10% MWW, 25% Doc, 10% YG, 25% BF, 2% REA, 20% Shr, 1% API and 10% TI; PLUS he is feed efficient (top 6% Intake) and highly profitable (top 1% $Profit)! Trinity Sons Sire: Hook s Shear Force 38K Direct Maternal Carcass $ Index EPD ACC % Bon View New Design 878 Dam: Hook s Pearl 22-P ESJ4 ASA#: /4 SM 1/4 AN Leachman Prophet J030Z Highest selling SimAngus bull in history at $76,000. Semen available. Semen: $35/unit Volume discounts as low as $20! Owners: Leachman Cattle of Colorado, Hook Farms and Grubl Ranch. Leachman Testify D003Z May very well replace his sire as the most elite, high $Profit, calving ease bull in the industry. Semen available. B/R New Design 036 Sire: G A R Presdestined G A R EXT 4206 S S Objective T510 0T26 Dam: G A R Objective 2345 GAR 1407 New Design 2413 Homozygous Black ASA#: PB Angus Out of three full sibs from Gardiners that went to AI Studs in 2011, the Leachman system finds this brother to be the most well rounded and profitable choice. Further Progress has been used heavily within our system, as well as in Gardiner s herd. His combination of calving ease, moderate mature size and radical carcass merit, has earned him the very highest API figure in the Simmental Association s multi-breed analysis at 238.6! His most desirable traits and unique pedigree accommodates many Simmental and SimAngus breeding strategies very well. $12, Semen: $20/unit Volume discounts available. Direct Maternal Carcass $ Index To learn more about this Angus herd sire, request a catalog, or to order semen, call Sam EPD ACC % Owners: Leachman Cattle of Colorado, Gardiner Angus Ranch Inc, Top Line Cattle and Watts Cattle Co. Watch for high $Profit sons and daughters of these elite sires in the Leachman Spring Sale on March 24, Call BULL to order semen today!

4 Porterhouse is one of our favorite proven SimAngus TM herd sires. With heavy use in both the Leachman system, and our Test Herd Program, we are confident in his ability to produce deep bodied, easy fleshing, highly feed efficient cattle that will moderate mature weight and increase profit both on the ranch and in the feed lot. Porterhouse has proven to be one of the top maternal sires in the system. If you have been searching for a homozygous black and polled descendent of Shear Force that will increase efficiency and profitability, look no further. Porterhouse s top ASA percentile rankings are: 1% CE, 1% Brth, 15% MCE, 10% Milk, 25% Doc, 15% YG, 20% Marb, 25% BF, 25% REA, 2% Shr and 2% API. $13, Homozygous Black Porterhouse Sons Sire: Hooks Shear Force 38K Direct Maternal Carcass $ Index EPD ACC % LCC Focal Point 3933K Dam: T M L Lady 60K M LCC TML 1407 Lady 60K ASA#: /2 SM 1/2 AN Leachman Yosemite X730Y Four star calving ease sire that is top 1% Profit, Intake & $Ranch. Semen available. Semen: $25/unit Volume discounts available. Owners: Leachman Cattle of Colorado, Grubl Ranch and Bob Shugert. Porterhouse steer at Decatur County Feed Yard graded Prime. Forceful is so well balanced that he ranks in the top 25% in 10 of the 16 ASA traits. On top of that he ranks in the top 1% on $Profit and top 7% on intake. He was the high selling bull in Leachman s 2010 Loma Sale, and for those of you that ranch in high altitudes, he scored a 41 on his PAP test at 8,000 feet. Like his black counterparts, this Red, F1 SimAngus TM sire, purposefully blends the best Simmental and Angus genetics in the industry. It doesn t get much better than Shear Force x New Design You will be hard pressed to find this combination in a red package anywhere else. Forceful s top ASA percentile rankings are: 2% CE, 3% Brth, 25% MCE, 5% Milk, 20% YG, 4% Marb, 15% REA, 10% Shr, 2% API and 15% TI. $13, Heterozygous Polled Non-Diluter Sire: Hooks Shear Force 38K Bon View New Design 1407 Dam: PG K S R T ASA#: /2 SM 1/2 AN Hooks Shear Force 38K (Sire) Bon View New Design 1407 (Maternal Grandsire) A rare, but unique combination in a Red sire s pedigree. Direct Maternal Carcass $ Index Semen: $20/unit Volume discounts available. EPD ACC % Owners: Leachman Cattle of Colorado, Bob Shugert and Blaine Evans. Watch for high $Profit sons and daughters of these elite sires in the Leachman Spring Sale on March 24, Call BULL to order semen today!

5 Simmentals At Sinker Creek CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 Our numbers are down a little because we ve had serious drought recently and we experienced a large range fire that destroyed two-thirds of our winter range, reducing our carrying capacity. We usually run 600 cows or a few more and we breed 100% by natural service, he said. After pulling off replacements, cull heifer calves are sold in the fall, before the winter feeding season begins. Steer calves are held over, mostly on winter range, and then sold as long yearlings. The ranch enjoys a generous water right out of Sinker Creek. In most years, utilizing irrigation and three center pivots, they re able to produce a surplus of hay, selling some of it as a cash crop after enough is in place to winter the cowherd. One of my neighbors share crops with us, raising potatoes, corn, sugar beets, grain and hay under those pivots. We re known as Sinker Creek Outfitters we don t do hunting or long trail rides. We do lead a few overnight rides, but most of them are just day trips. People are kind of spoiled, they want to get back to the hotel and have a hot shower at night and we understand that, he lamented. In a way, we re following in my great-grandfather s footsteps, providing a service to the mining town. It s not a real lucrative business. We have a string of 10 very gentle horses, and of course, you have to have liability insurance in case somebody falls off, and the state requires us to have a guide license, so those items alone eat up about half of our overhead. We pride ourselves on the fact that Silver City is not a tourist trap, it s a real town and some folks use it for a vacation getaway, he concluded. ST Mining Silver City Although Silver City no longer produces ore, the former boomtown still exists and is widely promoted as a vacation destination. Since it is located within Nettleton s summer cattle range, he takes advantage of the opportunity to post a cowboy wrangler in the area. That cowboy has two jobs: 1) keeping an eye on the cattle, and, 2) leading trail rides for vacationers seeking to experience the life of a cowboy. Visitors, mounted and ready to hit the trail. Father and son, with the picturesque Owyhee Mountains as a backdrop. 14 SIMTALK