200 Bulls at Two Spring Bull Sales

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1 PHARO CATTLE COMPANY CHEYENNE WELLS, COLORADO PHONE Buy your bulls from someone who raises cattle the way you ought to. The Commercial Cattleman s Bull Sale Our bull sales have always been geared toward the commercial cattleman. The bulls we sell are produced by moderate sized, easy fleshing cows that are never pampered. We feel it s extremely important for us to demand as much, or more, from our cows as our customers do from theirs. How many other seedstock producers follow this line of thinking? Our yearling bulls are fed for very moderate gains of only 2.5 pounds per day, while running in large traps for exercise and play. They won t be as big or as fat as bulls in other sales, but they will be hard and well conditioned. We expect them to actually gain weight during their first breeding season. That s a feat that most yearling bulls simply cannot do. Our forage-tested bulls are coming 2-year olds that have never been shut up in a corral and have never been fed any grain. This program has a high fallout rate, but the survivors are rock-hard and ready for a heavy workload. Bulls that have been developed in this manner are unique to our program. We do not wash or clip our bulls for the sale and we do not break them to lead. Our customers are more concerned with a bull s soundness and breeding ability than with the way he looks on the end of a halter rope. March/April 2003 NEWSLETTER If you attend one of our bull sales, you will notice that we don t use an auctioneer who specializes in selling fancy purebred cattle. In fact, we don t even have an auctioneer at some of our bull sales. You will also notice that we don t have the usual ringmen in preppy jackets and neckties that you see at most bull sales. We guarantee that every bid taken at one of our sales is legitimate. Over the years commercial ranchers have purchased over 96% of our bulls. Our prices will typically range from $1200 to $5000. A lot of really good bulls have been purchased for less than $2500. We have never had any funnymoney bulls that sell for ridiculously high prices like you see at other major bull sales. Most of those are the result of seedstock producers scratching one another s back in an attempt to increase their sale average and prestige. We refuse to play games like that. If you have any questions about either one of our spring bull sales, please don t hesitate to call us toll free at , or send an to kit@pharocattle.com. Our business is helping you, and we take it very seriously. We would welcome the opportunity to help you with your bull selections. ~ Kit & Deanna Pharo 200 Bulls at Two Spring Bull Sales Saturday, March 29th Harrison, Nebraska Saturday, April 12th Burlington, Colorado ANGUS RED ANGUS COMPOSITE HEREFORD 1

2 Down-Under Comments Pharo Cattle Company has a counterpart in Australia, Bryan Corrigan, who mails out a quarterly newsletter. I want to share a few comments from the editorial page of his Spring 2002 newsletter, because I think they are just as appropriate in North America. Bryan wrote, Anyone can hang up their shingle and be a stud (seedstock producer). Any novice can buy what he perceives to be the best genetics, flush (embryo transplant) the life out of them, run them on ad lib feed throughout the year, and then advise the commercial industry what they should be doing. Many of these businesses have never made a serious dollar from beef production, let alone a profit. They are animal fanciers, not beef producers. Then there is the myriad of semen suppliers flogging their products through websites and mail outs to the unwary. They promise never ending improvement! They take over where the anti-aging creams leave off. Well said, Brian. Our industry seems to have a surplus of seedstock producers and semen suppliers who are too far removed from the hands-on, real world of beef production. A few people miraculously went from never owning a cow to being an expert in less than a year. THE PHARO CATTLE COMPANY NEWSLETTER Published bimonthly by: Pharo Cattle Company County Road Z Cheyenne Wells, CO Editor: Kit Pharo Phone: kit@pharocattle.com Website: Our Mission: To help ranchers put more fun and profit into their business. Call or for a Free Subscription 2 Same House New Address Although you have not moved, you may have a new 911 address. If so, please send it to us. In an attempt to save over $3000 per year on postage, we may start using bar codes to mail our newsletters. If you have a new 911 address, your old address will become undeliverable. Call us at or send an to kit@pharocattle.com. check out our website Copy Cats... I continue to receive notes and s, telling me about other seedstock producers who appear to be saying and doing the same things we have been saying and doing for well over fifteen years. That s great! It s about time other seedstock producers change their focus. As Victor Hugo once said, Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. I believe a few of these converted seedstock producers are very sincere and are on the right track. Others, however, are just in the talking stage. Very few actually have the genetics required to do the things they say they want to do. Unfortunately, it s impossible to change genetics overnight. I have visited with several seedstock producers who try to tell me they are doing the exact same things we are doing. After digging a little deeper or looking at their cattle, it becomes obvious that we are not talking about the same thing. They are headed in the right direction, but they have not reached their destination. For years, Pharo Cattle Company has emphasized the importance of ranching in sync with nature. We have always maintained that profit is more important than production. We have always required our cows to survive strictly on what our ranch produces with minimum, or no, inputs. We have always placed tremendous importance on cow efficiency. We have always developed our bulls on a high-forage or all-forage diet. In other words, we were country when country wasn t cool. We are the real thing.

3 Frame Creep... Over the years cow size on most ranches has gradually gotten bigger and bigger. Many call this phenomenon frame creep (frame size keeps creeping upward). It is costing ranchers more and more to feed and supplement the same number of cows. Their cowherd is losing its efficiency, as well as its profitability. How do we reverse this trend? Frame size has increased as a result of buying and using larger framed bulls. Therefore, frame size can be reduced by using smaller framed bulls. It s as simple and easy as that. Most commercial ranches have cows with a frame score of 5 to 6.5. Most of the bulls they have been using have had a frame score of 5 to 7. If they really want to reduce cow size to 1200 pounds or less, they need to start using bulls that have a frame score less than 5. That sounds easy enough until you try to find bulls with a frame score under 5. Most seedstock producers have absolutely no bulls with a frame score less than 5. They do, however, have lots of bulls with a frame score of 6 and above. Pharo Cattle Company will have many bulls with a frame score of 5 or less in their upcoming bull sales. In fact, our average frame score will be under 5. We challenge you to find another seedstock producer who is as serious about cow efficiency as we are. Distinct Advantage Those in our e-group have a distinct advantage over those of you who do not receive our s. We mail these newsletters every other month, but we send out a PCC nearly every week. Our s are full of information, and thought-provoking ideas and comments. All you need to do to join our e-group is send an to kit@pharocattle.com with your name and address. Don t worry, we will not share your address with others, and we will continue to mail you a hard copy of our newsletter for as long as you want. Colorado Hobo This great Red Angus bull has been redefining industry standards for thickness, fleshing ability and capacity. On top of that, he is a calving ease bull. Several sons will sell in our two spring bull sales. Semen available. GRASS FARMERS Call Brad Young at PRAIRIE STATES SEED (toll free) Are you tired of farming with equipment that rusts, rots and depreciates? Do you have cropland that you would like to convert to pasture? Turnips? Irrigated Pasture? prairie@bloomnet.com 3

4 Black Calving Ease Bulls Looking for some guaranteed calving ease? Pharo Cattle Company will be selling sons of these two great calving ease Angus bulls in our two spring bull sales. They will provide calving ease plus much, much more. I really like the Colorado Hobo son we purchased SUS at your fall sale. As you may recall, I agonized over his 3-star rating for disposition. I forgot who I was buying from. Although he is not as laid back as the two 5-star bulls we bought last spring, he is a teddy bear by the rest of the world s standards. Floyd Huckins Montana Night Man B. Wt. EPD: 1.7 Moderator B. Wt. EPD: 3.7 Semen Available Call Over Thirty A.I. Sires Do you plan to do any A.I. breeding this year? If so, I hope you will take the time to look at the bulls we have to offer. We realize our bulls may not be for everyone. However, if you are serious about reducing frame and cow size, and if you are serious about increasing thickness and fleshing ability, and if you are serious about calving ease and cow efficiency, then our bulls are exactly what you have been looking for. You won t find a set of bulls like this anywhere else. We currently have over thirty Angus, Red Angus, Composite and Tarentaise bulls to choose from. Our semen is competitively priced at $6 to $15 / unit, with quantity discounts available. For more information call us toll free at or go to the Semen Source page of our website 4 Buyer Beware... I just finished looking through a sale catalog promoting a set of high-performance Angus bulls. Based on what I read, these bulls have been selected for size and performance for many years. I suspect their mommas will weigh in at 1400 to 1600 pounds. In today s world, this is not that uncommon. The one thing that really got my attention, though, was the bulls they were recommending for use on first-calf heifers. Their, so called, heifer bulls had birth weight EPDs of +2.4 to This is a range that I would seldom, if ever, consider using on heifers. So why would someone promote them in this way? Probably because that is the best that they have. In the 1970 s the average Angus birth weight EPD was close to zero. Almost every Angus bull purchased during that time period could be safely used on first-calf heifers. Today, the average Angus birth weight EPD is close to Some of the worst calving wrecks I hear about involve Angus bulls. Don t assume that a bull will work on your first-calf heifers just because he is an Angus or just because the breeder says he is a calving ease bull. This can be a very costly assumption. The two forage-tested bulls we bought at the fall sale are doing great. As soon as they got home they were kicked out on grass, with nothing but a little fescue hay when it snowed. Dusty Schaaf Missouri

5 Buy Your Bulls From Someone Who Raises Cattle The Way You Ought To SUS Bids Since several have inquired about our Sight-Unseen (SUS) purchasing program, I am going to do my best to explain it in this newsletter article. Buying bulls SUS requires the customer to have a tremendous amount of confidence and trust in his seedstock producer. It also requires some good communication between the customer and his seedstock producer. If possible, we like to get an early start on helping a customer with his SUS purchases. We need to find out exactly what the customer is wanting or needing. We may find only one or two bulls that meet his requirements, or we may find as many as forty. Once we have identified the bulls that meet the customer's requirements, we try to help him establish the maximum price he would be willing to pay for those bulls. Every bull could possibly have a different maximum price. We promise the customer that his bids will never be used or abused. We also guarantee his bulls will be purchased at the lowest price possible. A customer may be willing to pay as much as $4000 for a particular bull, but if we can get the bull purchased for less than $2000, we will. As long as we are involved in the selection process, we re willing to guarantee satisfaction on all the bulls purchased SUS. Over the years we have sold 25% to 30% of our bulls SUS and we have never yet had to take one back. After visiting with several customers, I think I know why this program has become so popular. Most ranchers don t mind spending money on a good bull that will improve the profitability of their cowherd, but they hate the risk involved with buying bulls. They cannot afford to buy the wrong bull. Working closely with their seedstock producer removes most of that risk. Whether you buy your bulls SUS or not, we strongly urge you to work closely with your seedstock producer. Let him help minimize the risk involved with buying bulls. 5 I Learned My Lesson Well... By Martin Turner To provide real value to commercial producers, seedstock breeders need to do two things. They need to apply enough selection pressure to clearly reveal the difference between superior and inferior animals, and then they must be absolutely ruthless in culling the inferior animals. Unfortunately, the financial incentives are stacked heavily against doing either of these things. Therefore, it's not surprising that most seedstock producers lose their nerve. When you pay big bucks for fancy seedstock, it's hard to treat them rough enough to see who can stand it, and even harder to sell those who can't. Two years ago I bought two high growth EPD bulls from a well known Angus breeder in Iowa. Within a month one of them developed a wart on his penis and had to be sold. The other one got thin, panted a lot and spent most of his time lying in any mud hole he could find. He ignored cows in heat. For the $3500 I paid for them (less $1200 salvage value), I probably got less than half a dozen pregnancies, which works out to about $400 each. Education is expensive, but I learned my lesson well. A Reputation Built on Pride and Quality Kit and Deanna Pharo s new home and office You can design your own custom-built home (toll free)

6 The Baldy Makers Is your cowherd predominantly solid black or solid red in color? Would you like to add some hybrid vigor to your calf crop without using those huge exotic bulls? We suggest you use one of our baldy makers. There will be an excellent selection of thick, easy-fleshing, moderate-sized baldy makers in both of our upcoming spring bull sales. These Hereford bulls will all be heavy on pigmentation. Some can be safely used on first-calf heifers. Producer Meeting... ~ You Are Invited ~ Since I have never given a presentation in the western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming area, I ve been asked to do so the night before our bull sale in Harrison, Nebraska. If you are coming to the sale or if you live in the area, I hope you will make plans to join us for some thought-provoking and challenging discussion. This meeting has been scheduled for Friday, March 28th at 7:00 pm. We will meet in the sale ring at the Broken Arrow Ranch just south of Harrison 1/4 mile on Highway 29. For more information, call the extension office in Harrison at , or Travis Krein at , or Gregg Matney in Lusk, WY at Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss other people. Genetic Progress... In beef production, genetic progress seems to take a long time because the generation interval is so long. It takes two years before the current calf crop is in production. It s nearly impossible to know the true genetic worth of a bull or cow until he or she is at least six years old. Seedstock producers always seem to be looking for a short cut. According to their own promotional material, two of this country s most prominent seedstock producers are attempting to speed up genetic progress by breeding yearling heifers with the highest EPD numbers to yearling bulls with the highest EPD numbers. They take it one step farther by putting these high-epd heifers in an embryo transplant program, making it possible for each heifer to produce 50 to 100 calves per year. That may sound like the logical thing to do, but what do they really know about those elite heifers and bulls, other than they supposedly have high EPD numbers? Have they ever been tested for their ability to survive in the real world? How much supplemental feed do they require to stay in production? Are they structurally correct enough to last for at least six years? Unfortunately, there are no short cuts to true genetic progress. In the past two years, using Pharo bulls, I have not watched a cow or heifer calve no calving problems whatsoever. I will not use bulls from anywhere else. One of those bulls bred 98 cows last year (by himself), and we calved 90% of the calves in three weeks. Tanya King Wyoming 6

7 I am very pleased with the bull we bought last spring. He is a very easy keeper, and he has a good disposition. He was a guaranteed 5-star calving ease bull, so we are anxiously awaiting calving season. Calvin Hoy Wyoming Anchor Anchor has always been one of our most popular Angus sires. Several sons will be selling in our two spring bull sales. They have phenomenal thickness and fleshing ability. Guaranteed Calving Ease When it comes to calving ease, Pharo Cattle Company may be the only seedstock producer willing to put their money where their mouth is. Our 5-star calving ease bulls will all be guaranteed for calving ease. Composite Cow and Calf Slugger at five months of age What Is A Composite? Although we have been breeding and selling composite cattle for close to fifteen years, I realize this is still a relatively new concept for some of you. A composite is nothing more than a synthetic breed comprised of two or more breeds. The strengths that exist within the different breeds are combined to form a new, superior breed. Our composite cattle were specifically designed to provide the right genetic combination to fit our environment, as well as our production goals. They are approximately 25 to 50 percent Tarentaise, 30 to 50 percent Red or Black Angus, and 0 to 20 percent Hereford. They provide the right combination of English and Continental breeding to fit the ranch and the feedlot. They can be either red or black in color. Our composite cows will consistently wean our biggest, stoutest calves, while maintaining their condition and having the highest breed-back rate. They have what it takes to survive tough times. Those who use our Composite bulls do so to retain high levels of hybrid vigor without sorting their cows up to be bred by two or three different breeds of bulls. Many really good Composite bulls will be offered in our upcoming bull sales. Buckaroo Composite Bull Semen Available Call Low Cost Cow/Ca lf Progra m The School The Three Keys Changing BCS Time of Calving Precise Nutrition Dick Diven Agri-Concepts, Inc N. Bandanna Way Tucson, AZ

8 PHARO CATTLE CO. PRSRT STD County Road Z US POSTAGE PAID CHEYENNE WELLS, CO PERMIT NO. 9 Cheyenne Wells, CO PHONE kit@pharocattle.com deanna@pharocattle.com WEBSITE ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Cowboy Logic: A man may be a fool and not know it but not if he s married. If someone gave you a gift and told you it was the most precious and valuable gift that they could ever give you, how long would it take you to open it? Would you walk away and leave it unopened? Those may seem like silly questions to ask, but millions of people continue to walk away and leave the most precious and valuable gift they have ever received unopened. What value does an unopened gift have? Can you use it or enjoy it? Unfortunately, an unopened gift has about the same value as no gift at all. When God created mankind, he gave us a free will. Our lives have always been filled with choices. God did not want to make us like puppets. Although we were clean and pure when we began, we gradually became tarnished and dirty. None of us are without sin or wrongdoing, because we have all made some bad choices. God is a loving God, but he is also a holy and just God. He cannot coexist with sin. It goes against his nature. Since God does not want The Unopened Gift 8 us to be separated from him, he devised a plan to make it possible for us to be made clean and pure again. He implemented that plan about 2000 years ago when he sent his son, Jesus, to die on a cross for the sins of all mankind. In other words, Jesus took the punishment that was due us. That, my friends, was the greatest and most precious gift ever given or ever received. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23, The wages (payment due) of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. In John 3:16 we are told, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. This great gift is for everyone, no matter who you are, or where you have been, or what you have done. Best of all, it is free! How long are you going to leave it unopened? Please don t let your stubborn pride or anything else prevent you from opening this very special gift.