It has been a long, cold winter and I now understand why so many retired folks spend their winters somewhere other than Ohio!  Winter is still firmly in control at Select Sires with several inches of snow on the ground today. I traveled to more ranches in more states and put on more miles this sale season than any other in my first five years with Select Sires. In that process, I feel strongly that we acquired another tremendous set of bulls for the beef lineup, but like my friend Mark Gardiner always says, “We’ll know in two years if they are any good!”

Of course bulls are just one side of this business, the other is people. I am privileged to interact with many of the great cattle breeders in my travels and I always learn something from each encounter. One of the most memorable happened just a few weeks ago while visiting with Mr. Clarence VanDyke of Manhattan, MT. Clarence is 82 years old and is just as quick and agile as most people 30 years his youth with a mind that is even sharper. During my visit to VDAR with Beef Specialist Jay Nansel, Clarence hopped in and out of the truck several times to walk through pens of bulls with us, to point out the dams of some of the best bulls and of course make sure we saw a favorite cow or two.  He does not use a computer, any Facebook, Twitter or smart phone.  He does keep a flip phone handy and stayed in contact with his wife during our visit to the ranch. One thing I learned from Clarence is there is absolutely nothing that can replace experience. No financial status, college degree, family name or job title can replace what Clarence VanDyke knows about Angus cattle. He is a marvel to spend time with and I so enjoyed soaking up his insight on a number of topics. His family puts tremendous pressure on the phenotypic keeping quality of the Angus female. They like moderate statured, deep bodied cows with excellent udders, good dispositions and fertility. We drove through the first calf cows and saw snug udders with small teats that looked like champion dairy cows. The cows were moderate in stature, extremely docile and in excellent body condition nursing healthy, vigorous calves. For a good lesson in cow sense and just life in general, the next time you are near Manhattan, Montana, be sure to pay a visit to Clarence VanDyke. If Montana is too far away, spend some time with anyone who has lived through decades of calving cows, drought, flood, too much government, low cattle prices and high feed prices. Hopefully the experience will be as valuable to you as visiting Clarence VanDyke was to me. It will definitely put life into proper perspective.  Thank you, Clarence for your lifetime of experience in the cattle business and thank you for sharing some of it with me. 

As many of you know, Select Sires and Gardiner Angus Ranch have enjoyed a strong partnership for many years. We are proud to continue that tradition of excellence with two more outstanding young sires joining our lineup.

GAR Fruition (AAA# 17123488) will sell as Lot 1 in the GAR spring sale, April 6^th, 2013.  We have been looking for a Summitcrest Complete son with all the bells and whistles and Fruition fills the bill. At 9 for CED, Fruition betters his sire and virtually all other Complete sons available for calving ease and moderate birth weight. We feel this is one of the most attractive features of the bull. However, with the GAR tradition of outstanding carcass merit, Fruition posts an impressive set of post weaning traits, represented by a $Beef value just over $96!  With both his $Weaning and $Beef values in the upper 1% of the population and significant scrotal development, we believe Fruition brings a lot of desirables to a breeding plan and should be attractive to both purebred and commercial cattlemen.

GAR Anticipation (AAA# 17057287) will also join our lineup in 2013 as an elite calving ease prospect with plenty of growth and carcass power to go with it.  Anticipation distanced himself from strong contemporaries by winning the contest for birth-to-yearling spread among the 2011 fall-born bulls at GAR. In addition, he is in the upper 1% of the breed for $Beef at well over $92!  Anticipation is a big volumed, excellent structured individual with a clean sheath and good disposition.

Both bulls have genomically enhanced EPDs from both DNA tests and are currently on collection at Rocky Mountain Sire Service near Denver, CO. By calling in advance, customers are always welcome to stop by and view these and other Select Sires bulls in residence there. We expect semen to be available on both bulls in plenty of time for the spring 2013 breeding season.

Thanks for reading and have a peaceful and meaningful Christmas! AA 

Strong relationships with people seem to be at the center of almost every achievement I have enjoyed in both my personal and professional life. The same can be said for the partnerships Select Sires enjoys with universities on research and training efforts to ensure the highest degree of success for producers. One of the latest achievements on this front is a renewed commitment to the University of Tennessee’s Middle Tennessee Research and Education Center (MTREC) with facility improvements and program support funded by Southeast Select Sires, Spring Hill, TN. The relationship evolved from personal friendships and a strong working relationship among Kevin Thompson, MTREC director and both Tim Riley, general manager of Southeast Select Sires and Tim Barnes, marketing coordinator for Southeast Select Sires. Dr. Justin Rhinehart, UT Beef Cattle Extension Specialist was also involved in structuring the training program that will be conducted at MTREC.

The reproductive training program is a producer focused initiative focused on enhancing the productivity and profitability of cattle producers in the state of Tennessee through improved reproductive management of their herds such as estrus synchronization and artificial insemination (AI). The University of Tennessee plans to host four trainings per year but the facility will be available to Southeast Select Sires to host additional trainings on their own and to host groups outside of the state and international visitors. In addition to working with producers within the state of TN, Tim Riley stated “we think it’s more important to leverage what is known around the world” as part of this new partnership. MTREC will maintain an open herd of about 24 cows specifically for this program and they are installing indoor stations. These two aspects will make the AI trainings very effective by giving the participants ample practice time in several cows and in a comfortable environment. There will also be several hours of classroom and lab training that will support successful application of a complete reproductive management program in the participants’ own herds. Any producer can be involved by contacting MTREC or by contacting Southeast Select Sires. Dates and cost for training will be posted as soon as the facility is completed.

The UT bull test is also housed at the MTREC campus and their annual open house is Thursday, December 6^th, 2012 starting at 9:30a.m. CST and will include speakers on a variety of relevant industry topics, sale bull viewing and a complimentary lunch. I am humbled to have been asked to be on the program to discuss some of the beef bull evaluation and selection strategies we use at Select Sires with a goal of providing some insight that producers can use when purchasing from a bull test or other types of seedstock sales. For more information on the bull test open house, please visit https://ag.tennessee.edu/news/Pages/NR-2012-10-BullTest.aspx. Hope to see you there!

Lastly, thank you for making 2012 a banner year for the Select Sires’ beef program. Because of the loyalty and support of our customer owners, we achieved an all-time record for units of beef semen sold at Select Sires. Thank you for trusting in us to provide you with the best genetics and service in the business. The best is yet to come! AA

One important responsibility of our beef team in Ohio is to recognize opportunities and adopt new technologies to prepare for what might be around the corner in the beef industry. With those considerations in mind, we are very excited to share with you the news of a new beef industry partnership forged recently between Select Sires and Allied Genetic Resources (Allied) of Normal, Illinois. Select Sires believes in and endorses the use of crossbreeding in the commercial beef industry as the benefits of heterosis, particularly maternal heterosis, are clear. With a goal of fortifying our offering and continuing to focus on the success of commercial beef producers, Allied is a logical partner to enhance our lineup with powerful Simmental and SimAngus genetics.

Started by Marty Ropp in 2010, Allied is a member-owned business that currently includes 55 Simmental and SimAngus seedstock producers. We could occupy several pages explaining why we believe Allied is a good partner for Select Sires but instead, we have listed some facts about the company…

• Breeder/Owners in 20 States
• Market 5,000 commercial bulls annually
• 15,000 seedstock cows representing more than 50% of all the yearling weights turned into American Simmental and the vast majority of the large contemporary groups for birth and weaning weights
• 3,200 Cows in Cooperator Herds
• 4,000 commercial cows in owner herds
• Three-year commercial bull customer base is around 3,300 producers (representing 500,000-600,000 cows)
• Members purchase nearly 70 candidate sires annually in addition to retention of superior sires they produced.
• Own and/or produced about 70% of the Simmental and SimAngus stud bulls available commercially.

The Allied/Select Sires relationship will encompass two levels of Simmental-influenced sires. Known as Profit Track sires, this group will include two to four bulls per year that are identified within the Allied network as the most elite young sires offered in the breed. Once identified, Select Sires will have an advantageous position to place these sires into our lineup. The second route of entry for elite Allied sires will be through an agreement where CSS qualified semen is collected at one of our three cooperator facilities and evaluated and distributed through Select Sires headquarters in Ohio. Known as Future Track sires, this group will consist of up to twelve Simmental-influenced bulls at any one time. Through these two avenues, Select Sires expects to garner a genetic advantage through highly promotable Simmental and SimAngus sires that appeal to commercial producers and increased industry leadership in crossbreeding programs.

We are very pleased and excited to announce the first bulls that will be coming to Select Sires through this relationship. The first Profit Track sire will be SDS In Force 112Y (ASA 2593861), a 5/8 SM 3/8 AN sired by Hooks Shear Force out of a Mytty In Focus dam bred by South Dakota State University. At 22 for CE, -3.6 for BW and API and TI at 190 and 95, respectively, In Force should be very competitive for the commercial heifer AI market. In addition, we have two of the finest partners on this bull, Cow Camp Ranch, KS and Gibbs Farms, AL. The first Future Track Sire will be GW Redestined 642X (ASA 2566964), a 3/4 SM 1/4 AN that is a complete outcross for red genetics. Extremely high for API and TI, Redestined is a Predestined 701T out of a TOSU Orlando daughter that ranks in the top 1% of the breed for marbling and top 4% for ribeye. Like In Force, we are excited to have a respected breeder and great partner on this bull, the Jim Butcher family of Gateway Simmentals, MT. Look for these and other Allied sires in the 2013 Select Sires Beef Directory and on our website with semen available approximately January 1st, 2013. 

Marty Ropp of Allied had several choices when considering a large AI organization to partner with. He approached Select Sires first because of our reputation for integrity in all we do and tradition of placing the commercial customer first. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with our customers as the ultimate beneficiary.  If you would like to contact Allied Genetic Resources, please email Marty Ropp at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Also, please visit Allied’s website at www.alliedgeneticresources.com.

One of the most important aspects of making bulls successful in the A.I. business is getting them sampled in a large number of herds and environments as quickly and accurately as possible to determine their true genetic merit. At Select Sires, Brian House coordinates our young sire sampling program where, through our relationship with several outstanding cooperator herds, cows and heifers are bred to young sires in the lineup and also some proven sires. Breeding to both young, unproven sires and proven sires in the same herds helps us determine the true genetic value of the young sires being tested. This process also increases the accuracy of the EPD values as we submit progeny data to the breed associations for tabulation. At Select Sires, we are proud to carry on the legacy and vision of the late Roy Wallace as we continue to be the industry leader in genetic merit for the economically important traits.

Several of our up-and-coming Angus sires added progeny data during the first half of 2012 and their EPD values have been adjusted accordingly. Brian is very diligent in monitoring these EPD movements and he recently created the summary that I have pasted in below. It is very satisfying to see so many of our young sires improving as they solidify their genetic merit because high accuracy EPDs are the only way we can truly say our bulls are better than the competition.

7AN285 Game On

Moved from +4 to +8 for CED and moved from +72 to nearly +81 for $B

7AN299 Answer 71

CW, Marb and REA have all improved—and his $B has gone up from +55 to +59

7AN302 Mentor

$B has moved from +60 to +69—CW, Marb and REA all higher

7AN303 New Day 454

$B has moved up from +75 to nearly +83-- CW, Marb and REA all higher (REA now at 1.07)

7AN306 War Party

YW has moved from +121 to +126 and $B has gone up from +78 to +80

7AN311 Limelight

CED moved from +9 to +11 and BW moved from +1.4 to +0.6

7AN313 Twenty/Twenty

WW has gone from +50 to +57 and YW has moved up from +100 to +106

7AN315 Image Maker

Has moved from +107 YW to +115 YW

7AN319 Thunder

CED moved from +12 to +13, BW moved from -1.1 to -1.4 and $B moved from +57 to nearly +63

7AN320 Prophet

CW has moved from +16 to +24 and $B has moved from +75 to nearly +83

7AN321 Changeup

Moved from +64 $B to +70 $B

7AN322 Progress

Moved from +1.28 for Marb to +1.44 and moved from +77 $B to +80 (has been as high as +84)

7AN335 Hemisphere

WW has moved from +59 to +65 and YW has moved from +109 to +121

7AN336 Vindicator

CED moved from +6 to +9 and BW moved from -1.1 to -2.8

June 3^rd and 4^th my wife Emily and I and several other members of the Select Sires family had the bittersweet experience of attending the dispersal of the historic Wehrmann Angus herd at New Market, VA. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed our time reminiscing with Richard McClung, managing partner of Wehrmann Angus, listening to him tell stories about the great cattle that were created at this beautiful place. Em and I arrived on Sunday afternoon before the Monday sale and after looking through the sale lots and visiting with guests we went fishing at the big pond behind Nick Wehrmann’s home where Brian House and I had fished over ten years ago when I was a Select Sires intern. By the way, I caught nothing and Emily caught a nice largemouth bass.

One of the special experiences of this trip was visiting the cattle cemetery where several Angus legends rest. The first to be buried there was Rita 5H11 of 1B14 Rito 9J9, dam of the great Select Sires power bull, Rito 9FB3 of Rita 5H11 “Fullback." In November 2011, two Angus greats were laid to rest side-by-side…GAR Precision 2536 and Rito 6I6. “2536” is the dam of another Select Sires power bull, GAR Gridmaker and the influential matron that appears in the pedigrees of most Wehrmann cattle produced in the last dozen years. Beside her lay the all-time high volume semen selling beef bull at Select Sires, Rito 6I6. This bull became known as one of the great cowmakers of his time and his presence in a pedigree, particularly on the dam side, garners the attention of good stockmen and adds value to cattle as much today as ever before. Adding to his superiority, 6I6 became known as one of the early trait leaders for docility. The dirt over their graves is still settling and the grass is yet to cover the broken earth (photo attached). Standing there I could feel the presence of my friend and mentor Roy Wallace, who had great influence in the Wehrmann breeding program over the years.

On sale day Richard was understandably melancholy and greeting him on sale morning was the hardest part for all of us. Once the sale started, the fruits of disciplined breeding and stacked pedigrees paid off. Impressive prices were fetched for all ages and classes of cattle and the volume of cattle being sold had little ill effect on bidding activity. On behalf of the entire Select Sires family, I want to thank Wehrmann Angus and Richard McClung for a great ride and a great relationship. And thank you to everyone who has purchased Select Sires semen produced from Wehrmann bulls over the years.

Wishing you a prosperous summer, Aaron Arnett 

I spent a couple days in SD this week with Beef Specialist Tim Olson. Tim and his wife Chandi who is a veterinarian, breed thousands of heifers every spring and provide a tremendous service to their customers throughout the heifer development process with Select Sires genetics being just one of the many services they provide.

Tim and I made several herd visits including Blair Brothers, owners of 7AN245 US Premium Beef. We saw daughters in production from a variety of age groups. Although he has the pedigree of a great carcass sire, I can assure you he is one of the great cowmakers of modern history in the Angus breed. The daughters were moderate in stature, easy fleshing and expansive in the rib cage design with picture perfect udders, even on the aged cows. Use USPB to build a cow herd. The younger sire groups represented at Blair's were New Day 454, Prophet, Progress, and War Party. The 454 and Progress yearling heifers were standouts for quality in this herd. This was also my first opportunity to see milking 454 daughters in large numbers. I am pleased to report that they all had snug, level udders with small, uniform teats. Attached are photos of a typical 454 udder at Blair Brothers.

Another visit of note was to Cory Fortune, Rafter U Cross Ranch, one of the owners of 7AN350 Confidence. We saw about 30 4-6-week-old vigorous Confidence babies enjoying spring pastures with some impressive dams. Confidence is genuinely heifer safe and he really stamps a fancy look to the calves. They were consistently long and clean fronted, level in their lines and jet black. Confidence is currently our #2 selling beef sire for 2012! Can you guess who is #1?

A third stop that was very enjoyable was at Slovek Ranch, Bill and Bo Slovek. Bill sits on the Select Sires MidAmerica board of directors and generates commercial bulls using multiple sire breeds on their several hundred cows. Tim and I evaluated calves sired by 17 different Select Sires' bulls representing 4 breeds. This is the only place in the country I am aware of where there are so many Select Sires' sire groups in large quantity. This was my first opportunity to see large groups of Twenty Twenty and Rimrock yearling heifers. The Twenty Twenty cattle are going to make solid Angus cows that are the right size and shape to perform well in about any environment. The Rimrock yearlings were exceptionally stout and thick. Several would perform well with halters on...phenotypically superb! This was also my first opportunity to see Capiche daughters with calves. Attached is a great example of how Capiche makes his daughters...moderate sized, big volumed with textbook udders. Brian House and Luke Bowman are planning to head to Slovek's to picture and video several of these cattle for our website and sire directories.

Thanks to Tim Olson for hosting me this week and for all of the great herd visits and thanks to you for reading my blog! AA

Friends, another spring bull sale season is almost “in the books” and it has been a good one. After the first few bull sales, I found myself in a very “bullish” market, one like I have never experienced before. As a reader your perspective will depend on whether you were on the buying or selling side of this market, but it took me a while to get over the sticker shock of the bulls we tried, sometimes unsuccessfully, to purchase this spring. But with these higher bull prices comes unprecedented high prices for all classes of beef cattle and a kind of optimism seldom expressed by cattlemen. Combined with a comprehensive offering of genetics for many industry segments and a dedicated team of people, this cattle market has also driven our A.I. business to rare air this spring. If you are a customer, either first time or long time, thank you for your business!

I want to share with you a few comments about several of the bulls we were fortunate to acquire this spring.

Boyd Signature AAA 16916267 Signature is one of the most unique bulls that sold in the Angus breed this year. He was purchased by Kiamichi Link Ranch, OK for $170,000 and recently leased to Select Sires. At nearly $38 for $Weaning and Top 1% for $Beef, Signature is a genetic giant for performance and carcass merit. The uniqueness of the bull is his phenotype and pedigree that compliment his genetic profile. A Frontman X On Target X Wulfs EXT combination, Signature is a total outcross to the Select Sires lineup and to most competitor’s lineups. He is an impressive individual that is moderate in frame size and exceptionally thick for an Angus bull. His Erica Dianna cow family produced Wulfs EXT 6106 and the On Target cattle have many genetic markers for growth performance and feed efficiency. I believe Signature will be one of the “must use” young sires in the Angus breed next year. We expect him to become available for sale early this fall.

Connealy Shrek AAA 16204949 Shrek is a 4- year-old bull that was on my short list back in 2009 at the Connealy sale. This was the same year we purchased Sullivan and Counterpart. Since we had purchased the other two, we passed on Shrek and he was purchased by our Ohio neighbors, Way View Cattle Company, but I kept my eye on his production ever since that time. With two large calf crops turned in against many of the best AI sires in the business, Shrek’s genetic profile has continued to improve (look him up and you will see what I mean!) and this spring Way View accepted our offer to purchase him. He is slated to breed cows at Way View this summer and come to our facilities this fall. We hope to have semen available towards the close of 2012.

GDAR CJD Dash 1705 (name to change) AAA 16944751 This calving ease prospect is a Sitz Dash son out of a GDAR Game Day daughter and the first bull at Select Sires from Gartner Denowh Angus Ranch, MT. This is a unique bull that I found on a calving ease sort and represents a different spin on some popular pedigrees in the Angus breed. One of the most intriguing things about this bull is his mother. She is truly a moderate-framed “1000-pound cow.” Everywhere I go people talk about how they want moderate-sized mature cows, yet nobody seems to have any! If you come to Arnett Acres I will be the first to admit I am as guilty of this as anyone. Well I promise you the dam of this GDAR bull is small framed yet she produced a bull that ratioed 110 for weaning and yearling weights in one of the good herds in the Angus breed. Plus she is a big volume, feminine little cow with a beautiful udder. Interestingly, this is not a high $Beef bull due to his lower CW EPD (each pound of CW EPD is worth at least $1 of $Beef and really drives this index), but don’t overlook that he is high for marbling EPD. This will be one of the cowmakers of the future Select Sires lineup.

Connealy 7229 919 (will be renamed to Connealy Comrade) AAA 17031465 was our pick of the Consensus 7229 sons at Connealy’s. Out of a very good 5050 daughter, Comrade is 10 for CED and 122 for YW EPD. He is among the elite of the Angus breed at 42+ for $Weaning. Comrade scanned 149 IMF ratio against 489 head in his contemporary group and like all young bulls at Select Sires, has genomically enhanced EPDs. We like the performance and pedigree of this 2012 Connealy sale favorite.

YAR Standard 1077 (will be renamed) AAA 16991624 comes from the up-and-coming York Ranches in California but his dam is a US Premium Beef daughter bred by Thomas Angus Ranch of OR. This is a perfect mating in my opinion because the New Standard cattle are bigger statured, high growth cattle that people appreciate for the production and performance. Ideally, the New Standards could be a notch more moderate sized with easier-keeping range cow attributes. That is exactly where USPB compliments this mating. Everyone loves those moderate framed, easy fleshing, good uddered USPB daughters making YAR Standard 1077 the perfect blend of performance with cow power. At 15 for CED and over 100 for YW, this one is set up to be a spread bull that can do many things well in a mating scheme.

MCR Daybreak Design 081 (will be changed to MCR Horizon 081) AAA 17076135 is one of two Daybreak sons headed to Select Sires this year. The other is a great youngster called GAR Sunrise (AAA 16933958) who sells as our choice for Lot 1 at GAR this Saturday. Daybreak cattle are extremely good for calving ease and if mated correctly will offer extra carcass merit. Brian found Horizon while perusing the MCR catalog one morning when I was on my way back to the Kansas City airport and he called to tell me about this bull. I took the next exit off I-70 to Mill Creek Ranch at Alma Kansas is just down the road from my old stomping grounds at Kansas State University. When I arrived, Chad Breiner already had the bull up for me as he knew I had a flight to catch. One of the things I would change about Daybreak cattle (in general) is that they are relatively flat muscled with not much thickness behind. When I saw Horizon, I was pleasantly surprised in this regard. He is above average for thickness with a thick top and a big square hip and lots of volume and capacity to go with it. Plus he is a loose structured, fluid moving bull with excellent feet and clean joints. I really like this young bull.

This is not the complete list of Angus bulls acquired this year, and perhaps not the best bulls we acquired. We will know the answer to that in a couple of years! This is just a list of a few of the highlights. I must close now as I need to get home and move our cows to another pasture. It is still just cool enough here in Ohio that the grass isn’t growing at the pace I expect it will with a little more heat.

Thank you for reading and most of all thank you for your business. Wishing you the most prosperous spring, Aaron Arnett

Travel and sire selection is in full swing at Select Sires. I am writing this blog from the Chicago airport waiting on my connecting flight to Bismarck North Dakota. Tonight Joe Myers and I will be doing a producer meeting for Shane Talkington in Dickinson, ND then herd visits for the rest of the week in North and South Dakota. This is the first time I have left for a week-long trip with my wife, Emily at home and well into her pregnancy with our first child. We have a heifer due to calve any day now, the first at our new place and the first my wife has supervised on her own. This heifer that will calve to Regis. If the BW is as low as I have been hearing and seeing on Regis calves, everything should be just fine. We are fortunate to have a good Australian Shepard that gets plenty protective of the farm around strangers and some great neighbors who we can call for anything.

Speaking of calving ease and birth weight, I had a nice visit with Jerry Connealy last week. He reports that the calving ease in Confidence is genuine as he now has several on the ground. He also has a group of Regis calves he likes very well. If Jerry says something, it usually comes true.

Yesterday we were fortunate to win the bid on a full brother to Victor 719T at Topp Herefords in North Dakota. This bull had a low birth weight and has tremendous phenotype. Some of the respected Hereford breeders in the U.S. and South America have already contacted me asking when semen would be available.

Emily and I had a very enjoyable trip to Nashville last week where we visited the NCBA convention at the Opryland Hotel and I spoke at a sales meeting for the guys at Southeast Select Sires. They are rolling well with several new Beef Sales Reps. These folks are passionate about the beef industry and have a specific responsibility to service beef customers. They are fired up about the beef lineup and are poised for a tremendous spring.

Brian and Luke are also busy traveling. Brian did a meeting in Indiana last night and Luke spoke at a producer meeting in Oklahoma with 140 in attendance. I hope this is a sign of the momentum happening with the SS beef program and the AI industry in general. If early bulls sales are any indication, it will be a record spring for bull prices to commercial cattlemen, making AI more economically logical than ever before.

I will close now to board my plane. I wish you the best for a successful close to your calving season and a productive year in 2012. It is the most exciting time I can remember to be in the beef industry. Thanks for reading. Aaron

Hi everyone. It was great to see many of you at the NAILE this week. We had a great time and I felt the booth had more traffic than any other time since I have worked for Select Sires.

 This blog is to provide you a brief summary of my trip with Pat Garrett to several herds in the southeastern US the week of October 31^st. We visited many influential breeders and had great time learning, listening and sharing our vision with customers.

On Monday we drove from Ohio to Tennessee and visited Richard and Kent Brown’s bull test in Cookeville. In addition to the Brown’s, a couple of breeders who had bulls in the test showed up for our visit. Many of these breeders knew Pat and the group seemed to really appreciate our visit. There was much discussion of the young bulls in our lineup, especially Scotsman and Capitalist.

Tuesday was a big day that started with a visit to Pat Cawthorn at Woodbery, TN. Pat is a great Angus enthusiast and has about 150 cows and flushes several of them. She contributes bulls to the Brown’s bull test.  We discussed breeding several donors to Regis. Pat has several really impressive cows with royally bred pedigrees.

Tuesday afternoon we went to Shadybrook Angus where we visited Vince Santini. That is a beautiful farm and this was another very cordial visit but Vince was quick to tell us that Select Sires needed to consider more than just EPDs in selecting Angus bulls. I agreed and promised that we were paying more attention to phenotype when selecting our beef bulls. We also had a very good discussion about bull photos and how Select Sires seems to be the only stud that isn’t “retouching” bull pictures. I hope customers recognize our commitment to honest presentation of our bulls. Pat made several good suggestions for higher phenotype young bulls we are bringing in including Connealy Confidence and BC Classic.

Our last stop on Tuesday was to Deer Valley Farm at Fayetteville, TN. We saw a lot of impressive cattle relevant to our current lineup. We saw 454 and Progress heifer calves that commanded high prices at their sale the following week from prominent breeders all over the country. Their lot 1 bull was a 5050 son that looked great. They have many prominent donor cows in the Angus breed. We saw 1I98 from Whermann Angus, 2345 (dam of Progress) from GAR, a full sister to Bextor, and several other influential matrons. They promote the heck out of carcass genetics and work hard to make the phenotype better than most. There will be several Deer Valley calves featured in the 2012 beef sire directory. Also, we purchased the new Angus bull “Weigh Up” with Deer Valley from a breeder in Nebraska this year. Lastly, Jonathan Perry (manager) was extremely complimentary of Beef Specialist Mike Connatser for his service of their tanks and always willing to go out of his way to get semen delivered to their farm outside of his regular route schedule.

Wednesday we visited Gibbs Farms in Alabama. They are unquestionably the most respected producer of SimAngus bulls in America. They are also partners with SS on the purebred Simmental bull Stetson and the SimAngus bull Rookie. We saw milking daughters of both sire groups and they looked great. Both bulls appear to sire excellent udder quality, functional feet and legs with adequate fleshing ability. They have Regis calves born this fall and they love them! They will be using Mustang and Regis to breed the fall calving cows this year. I found one of the most impressive Simmental bulls I have ever seen on this trip. At their sale last weekend we were able to acquire the bull. He will be named Raisin’ Cain. He can be viewed at the link below as Lot 134.

http://www.gibbsfarms.net/pdf/2011/2011catalog/Gibbs%20Farms%20Catalog%2011-12-11%20(2-Bulls).pdf

After a lot of driving we ended our day at Tennessee River Music Farm, owned by the lead singer of the group Alabama, Randy Owen. Pat and I enjoyed bouncing around the pastures with Randy and his herd manager, David Cagle. As surreal as it was to be riding around with Randy Owen, he was elated that we were there. This was another place where they were very aware of our young Angus bulls like Regis and had already purchased semen on him. This was a fun visit with some tremendous Angus and Hereford females!  

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a very THANKFUL Thanksgiving. I know I am very thankful to be working in the beef industry doing what I love and surrounded by people who are passionate about this business.

This week I drove through some beautiful mountain scenery to Virginia where I met with Steve Furrow, Beef Specialist for Select Sire Power and fellow Angus breeder. For two days we visited influential beef cattle breeders throughout the state.

Our first stop was to Quaker Hill Farm where we visited Charles Rosson. We spent a couple of hours looking at bulls, fall calving cows, yearling heifers, show cattle, pigs…everything he had on the place I think! Charles has 5050 and Predestined sons that look very good. Charles was appreciative that I finally made it to his place and I really enjoyed the visit. He is a good thinker and marketer.

 Next we visited Tommy Clark at Mystic Hill Farm. He is an Angus and Braunvieh breeder who appears to have established a great commercial following. His focus is on females… good udders, feet and legs, longevity, fertility, etc. with a little emphasis on carcass traits. We were delighted to see that he used Regis last year and we saw several babies on the ground. He said he planned to continue using Regis as he was definitely calving ease and that he liked the direction of SS recently. It made me feel good that some of these new bulls were capturing the attention of respected breeders like Tommy Clark.  

 The next day we visited Mike McDowell at Locust Level Farm. He is an impressive thinker and gave us a great history lesson on what he has contributed to the Angus business for the last 30+ years. He was one who emphasized that he liked doing business with SS because of the people. He used 2020, Limelight and Regis last year and gave Steve Furrow a nice order for Mentor, Capitalist, Answer 71, Confidence and ND454 before we left.  

Next we visited Buddy Shelton, George Winn, Hank Maxie and several of their relatives at the bull feedlot. This crew also demonstrated great allegiance to SS. These guys were so fired up about us being there and each presented me with the data on their bulls. They made Steve and me feel like celebrities. They asked tons of questions and were very curious about the young bulls we acquired this year. We saw sale bulls sired by a variety of proven and young bulls from SS. What an impressive set of bulls that are deserving of attention on a national level, in my opinion. There was a particularly impressive Game On out of Limelight’s dam. After we finished looking at bulls a group of about 12 assembled at the local diner for a buffet lunch and we enjoyed great fellowship. If we could get all beef producers around the country as devoted to SS as this group was, it would be smooth sailing! What a great experience and good cattle!

 In summary, there is much to be positive about in Virginia and I left with a greater appreciation for the loyalty many customers have for Select Sires…very cool. Everywhere we went customers seemed to be asking about the new bulls, the Connealy bulls in particular.

I'm headed to several states in the Southeast next week with Pat Garrett. Gibbs Farm, AL and Deer Valley Farm, TN are a couple of highlights on the list. Then we'll see you in Louisville the week after. Thanks for reading! AA  

Fall is in full swing at Select Sires and I hear a lot of exciting feedback from customers and our beef specialists about the new sires we acquired this year. Bulls like Confidence, Capitalist, Conveyance, Ingenuity, Scotsman, Made Right and others are getting lots of attention and we have high hopes for these young stars.

I have and will continue to be on the road quite a bit this fall. Last week I was in Idaho and Oregon with Beef Specialists Jerald Raymond and Dan Morris along with sales reps Andy Barr and Hal Harris. We visited Colyer Herefords where we saw a set of heifer calves that would make your eyes pop. They sold half interest in one of my favorites in their sale a few days later for $47,500! Next we visited Simplot Livestock where Jerald’s son Dr. Randall Raymond is the veterinarian who oversees the feedyard with a one-time capacity of 150,000 head! It was an amazing sight and an educational visit. Last stop that day was to Sam Shaw and family Angus. They have a heavy focus on cow performance and maternal traits in their cattle. They commented on how we have acquired a set of bulls they feel they could really tie into.

The next day was highlighted by visits to Bobby Harrell Herefords and Thomas Angus Ranch, both at Baker City. Baker City Oregon is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. One fun common thread that day was that both Bob and Rob are K-State grads so we shared some stories from our time in Manhattan, KS, theirs 20 years before mine. Bob just finished his term as president of the American Hereford Association and deservingly so. They run several hundred purebred Line 1 cows and several hundred more commercial black baldy cows. His understanding of the beef business from cows all the way through to selling carcasses on the rail was impressive.

I was so excited to visit Thomas’ as I have always heard about how solid their cow herd was and I was not disappointed. They have Predestined, 1I2, and 208 daughters with big powerful bull calves getting ready to be weaned. Thomas’ sell weaned bulls right off the cows, in addition to yearling bulls. Rob had excellent groups of yearling bulls representing several Select Sires’ bulls including the best set of Ambush 28 sons I have seen anywhere. They were really good.

For the rest of the week we attended the Northwest ARSBC (Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle) conference hosted by the University of Idaho and held in Boise. There were only about 80 producers there but they represented approximately 50,000 cows! It was a great meeting highlighted by a presentation by Larry Corah from CAB. He predicts cattle selected for high marbling and carcass merit will continue to be worth more and we see this all the time with Select Sires’ genetics when they are sold on the rail. Progeny of our bulls feed and gain well and receive grid premiums because of their ability to marble with a minimum of fat cover. I returned home from a great week in Idaho and Oregon with an enhanced appreciation for ranching in the dessert and the scarcity and value of water to those ranchers.

This week I flew to Dallas, TX where I evaluated GAR Predestined N5408 (AAA#16334503).He is owned by William Ray at Greenville, TX. This bull is currently the highest combination of $W and $B on the AAA main report. He is a good looking bull too…moderate framed with a square muscular hip. ABS was there a few days earlier and offered to buy him. The next day I was fortunate to get him leased to Select Sires. He should be available sometime around the first of the year.  We are planning to rename him GAR Fusion.

I am planning travel and herd visits in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Kansas this fall. If you are planning to attend the NAILE in Louisville in about a month, please be sure to stop by our booth and visit. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you down the road. 

Readers: I wanted to share with you a message I received from Merle Schlehuber from Kansas, breeder of 7CH92 Revelation. Revelation added some progeny data recently and looks pretty good on paper.

Headed to Luke Bowman's Shorthorn sale this afternoon. Thanks for reading. Aaron

Aaron,

To date we have sold forty bulls out of our fall offerering with the Revelation sons being the first to go. They seem to really catch the commercial cowmans eye. I am exposing a very large group of cows to Rev this summer. Even with the tough weather conditions Revelation continues to bred and stays sound. I have never in my life seen a bull work as hard as he does. Merle

I spent last week visiting commercial and purebred herds in Illinois and Iowa while traveling with Select Sires Beef Specialists Tom Johnson and Steve Ethington and I want to publically thank them as well as Gordy Leader and family and Gary Brummer for the warm hospitality and friendship they extended me last week. Notable purebred operations we visited included Callan Angus, Blueston Farms Angus, Musgrave Angus, and Werner Angus.

  The first day we visited Callan Angus and Blueston Farms Angus where I saw about a dozen ALCOA New Standard calves on the sides of first calf cows at Blueston. They were big strapping calves with plenty of muscle and performance, especially since they were nursing 1^st calvers. TJ Curtin, owner, stated that all were born unassisted and this was actually his second year of using the bull because he liked the first crop so well. TJ judged at the University of Illinois the same year I judged at Ohio State. We both discussed how this is getting to be longer ago than either of us want to accept. I encourage any serious Angus breeder to investigate the up-and-coming Blueston program. That was a nice set of cattle.

The Musgrave family was very welcoming and I left with a deep respect for the time and hard work Melvin and sons have invested in bringing their herd to national prominence. I was particularly impressed with the quality of the females in their herd. The cows had strong udders, loads of volume, capacity and fleshing ability, and they were very quiet in disposition, a trait of great importance.

Bill Werner and Rob Fanning at Werner Angus showed us the first Prosperity calves I’ve seen, a flush of 5 out of a Shoshone-bred donor. The entire group was impressive. They were slightly bigger-framed with more leg underneath than I expected from Prosperity but impressive amounts of muscle and skeletal width for March babies. They are planning to show at least one of the heifers. I also saw the largest group of War Party calves I’ve seen to date, approximately 15 bulls and heifers. The oldest were fall coming yearlings. These cattle have an extremely attractive outline and pattern with long-reaching strides and the look of very functional cows. They are average for thickness in my view but awfully complete and long bodied with lots of performance and excellent dispositions.

One of the most impressive parts of my trip was visiting long-time Select Sires customer Lee Kovar and family. Tom Johnson has coordinated breeding nearly 1,200 commercial heifers for the Kovars for over 20 years! They have used the proven calving-ease lineup to add value to their bred heifer sales and now they are investigating breeding the mature cow herd by AI, becoming members of The Beef Connection and selling their fed cattle on a value-based grid system. Like all customers, big and small, the allegiance the Kovars have dedicated to Select Sires over the years is greatly appreciated.

I hope you are enjoying a productive growing season for both cattle and crops. Thanks for reading. See you down the road. AA

S Trailblazer 0110 AAA+16661708 is a tremendous young sire we just purchased from the Spickler Ranch at Glenfield, ND. In my mind, Spicklers are one of the up-and-coming Angus herds in the breed because the brothers Justin and Nathan are getting their cow herd so well dialed in to the needs of the commercial cattle producer. They are good students of the beef industry and have geared their cow herd towards calving ease and excellent maternal capabilities. These include but are not limited to fertility, moderate mature size, good disposition, udder quality and longevity, fleshing ability and foot and leg soundness.

Trailblazer is a son of the popular Chisum and out of an impressive Basin donor cow, Clova Pride 933L. She records a birth ratio of 8 at 86 and a weaning ratio of 8 at 104.  Trailblazer offers more calving ease and marbling potential than his sire and is an outcross to much of the Select Sires lineup. He has an attractive and balanced profile with adequate muscle, beautiful structure and a quiet disposition. Because Spicklers believe in the bull and wanted to use him as a herd sire this spring breeding season, look for S Trailblazer to be available from your Select Sires representative beginning this fall.

UNL Husker 84X ASA#2575115 My friend and colleague Dr. Matt Spangler, genetics professor and faculty coordinator of the beef herd at the University of Nebraska gave me a call a couple months ago and said “we have a bull you might be interested in.” I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was red SimAngus, the type of bull I have curious about for some time. As I travel the country I find many outstanding herds and individuals in the Red Angus and red Simmental breeds, but I have always had some unanswered questions in my mind as to just how much interest there would be for a red SimAngus in our lineup at Select Sires. As I watched interest in the black SimAngus cattle grow over the past few years, I decided UNL Husker 84X would be worth “testing the waters” with in our lineup. His pedigree is well-accepted in his two breeds of ancestry, Beef Maker X Romeo, and he writes an EPD profile for calving ease deluxe. At -5.1 for BW and in the top 1% for API and TI, UNL Husker 84X should catch the attention of red breeders looking to add heterosis and breed complementarity.

Here is a great report from ND Beef Specialist Shane Talkington I thought worthy of sharing on my blog. Thanks Shane for sending this report. AA

Hi all, if any of you are looking for a calving ease bull with a little different pedigree for your customers, Summit is looking very promising.  I just finished calving out 60 AI bred 2 year olds at home and ¼ of them had Summit calves, ½  BAR EXT calves, and ¼ had Birthright calves.  The Summit and BAR EXT calves both averaged 73 pounds across the board for both sexes.  The Birthrights averaged 79 lbs.  I think if he calves as easy as BAR EXT we would all take that.  They were born in less than ideal conditions and showed plenty of vigor, we didn’t touch a one.  They also seem to be filling out fast.  I talked to Justin Spickler, the breeder of the bull, and they had the same report.  They used him on quite a few heifers and didn’t have any calving difficulties at all.

Shane Talkington

Beef Specialist

Minnesota Select Sires Coop, Inc.

This past weekend we were fortunate to experience one of the most successful days of bull buying during my tenure at Select Sires. I don’t know how more bull power could have been added in a single day than what we did on Saturday at Connealy’s and Limestone.

Connealy Confidence AAA#16761479 Last fall I asked Jerry Connealy to submit Igenity profiles on his best sale bulls so they would have genomically-adjusted EPDs by sale day. He tested 90 bulls to help us (and any other interested party) sort his best bulls out. Connealy Tobin 8281 received the highest possible score (10) on the Igenity Angus profile for WW, YW, REA, and MARB! In addition, he has so many other things going for him. He is a phenotypic powerhouse…moderate framed with a wide hip, wide chest floor, big sound feet…just a three-dimensional great one. To top it all off, his dam is the cow I would have picked out of the pasture before I ever saw her son. She is a beautiful Thunder x Bextor daughter. This lead off bull from Connealy’s is an honor to represent at Select Sires and defines Calving Ease, Carcass and Cows to the highest degree. The Angus breed is desperate for calving ease with carcass power right now. This bull is the outcross answer!

Connealy Capitalist AAA#16752262 I pondered for a long time whether we needed another Final Answer son at Select Sires. We have several of the breed’s best Final Answer sons in Answer 71, Mustang and Regis. A quote from my late mentor Roy Wallace helped me decide. He used to say, “there’s always room on the team for good players!” Capitalist is definitely going to be a great player on the Select Sires Angus team. He was a crowd favorite at the Connealy sale because few had ever seen a bull that set out so wide at all four corners of his body. His double-digit CE and DNA-enhanced negative BW EPD and over 70 for $Beef puts him in the same boat as his counterpart above. 44 Farms will partner with Select Sires on this unique Final Answer x All Around son.

Connealy Combination AAA#16748950 is a son of the popular Connealy Consensus with an EPD profile that was made for commercial heifer programs and purebred herds alike. His -2.2 on BW, $34 Weaning and nearly $70 Beef blended with an outcross pedigree will make him a favorite young sire to sample in heifers. He is moderate in stature and expansive in volume and rib capacity and just as gentle as you could ask for in a young sire.

Limestone Made Right W935 AAA#16720850 is another unique addition to our lineup. This BC Lookout x OCC Great Plains combination is a maternal brother to the great OCC Paxton, one of the most highly adopted OCC sires in recent times. Phenotypically, Made Right is a lot like his pedigree suggests…moderate framed, thick ended, easy fleshing and big middled. He has a Pfizer 50K DNA profile that elevated his carcass predictions well beyond his pedigree averages. Made Right is a calving ease prospect with big time ribeye and visible muscle. He was Limestone’s Lot 1 for a reason. His combination of $ Weaning and $ Beef is impressive and he should have a great opportunity to become a great calving ease cow-maker in our lineup.

Semen should be available by early summer on these unparalleled young sires. Thanks for reading and for your support of the best beef program in AI!

Lots of great bulls added to the Select Sires roster since my last post. My recent trip to Kansas resulted in several great young sires added to our lineup.

Mill Creek Bluestem 977 AHA#43086834 We were fortunate to win the bid on the lead bull from the champion pen-of-three Horned Hereford bulls from the National Western Stock Show. Mill Creek Bluestem is the premier young sire of the Hereford population being the #1 nonparent sire for REA in the breed accompanied by a calving ease prediction with growth. Being a show ring winner, he looks the part too. Bluestem is an ultra-complete genetic package from one of the most respected programs in the Hereford business.

KSU Manhattan 0199 AAA#16718119 My alma mater, Kansas State University, bred the Igenity-profiled KSU Manhattan with a calving ease, carcass and maternal profile that is hard to find. This In Focus x Bushwacker x 5204 is a great representation of Select Sires’ cow power with a modern calving-ease pedigree. He is moderate-framed and excellent in skeletal makeup. Expect KSU Manhattan to be a favorite recommendation of the Select Sires Beef Specialists!

CCR Predestined 7005X ASA#2539036 Cow Camp Ranch located just Southwest of Manhattan Kansas is the source of the very unique SimAngus bull CCR Predestined 7005X (name to change) that writes indexes that most only dream of. With an All Purpose Index (API) of 145 and a Terminal Index (TI) of 90 this SimAngus superstar is a genetic outlier for calving ease combined with growth and carcass qualities. With so many commercial operations moving to a structured crossbreeding program, CCR Predestined will be the perfect compliment to take commercial programs to the next level of production rewards in the feedlot, on the rail, and in the cow herd!

Although the learning curve of genetic testing seems to be limiting my choices for Angus bulls this spring, there are several more great prospects that will be added to our roster in the coming weeks. Please check back for these updates. Thanks so much for reading my blog and for your patronage to Select Sires!

I am just home from a week in North Dakota with Luke Bowman and Joe Myers where we were hosted by Beef Specialist Shane Talkington. The first few days were tough with below zero temperatures. By the weekend, things had warmed to the low thirties.

Just wanted to update readers on some young sire acquisitions that I believe strengthen our lineup.

Ellingson Aberdeen (name will change to Ellingson Scotsman) AAA#16731737 is a TC Aberdeen X Net Worth son that any AI stud would be privileged to represent as evidenced in that all of our major competitors were either contenders in bidding on or had expressed interest in the bull at some level. With a CED of 10 and $Beef over 60, Scotsman is an ultra complete modern marvel that combines pedigree demand, EPDs and a calving ease cowmaker look like few I have witnessed. It is an honor to have Scotsman in our stable. Chad Ellingson will be sampling him heavily this spring.

SAV Bismarck 0008 AAA#16687591 is a Bismarck X Net Worth X Right Time son that was the lowest BW and highest CED bull of the 2011 SAV sale. Don’t let this calving ease prediction fool you about his phenotype. His picture will change your mind about heifer bulls. He is impressive to evaluate and he will pair nicely with Ellingson Scotsman.

KS Vegas S130 ASA#2564444 was the lead bull in a flush of Final Answer X Nichols Legacy SimAngus calves that were featured at Kenner Simmental’s sale in Bismarck. A BW EPD of -3.5 and a Marbling EPD of .37 helped Vegas reach the top 1% of the breed for API and TI. Form follows function and Vegas is no exception. He is moderate statured and dense bodied. He is wide based and expansive middled with evidence of fleshing ability that is sometimes difficult to measure but so economically important to forage adaptability. I have high hopes for this calving ease halfblood prince.

TH 49U 719T VICTOR 3X AHA#P43101191 is the calving ease choice of the 719T sons at the record setting Topp Hereford sale. 3X (name to change) is a moderate framed, dark red heifer bull that is naturally set wide at all four corners of his body. Breeder Ryan Topp took Shane and I on a tour of some of the young cows in his herd. For a breed with progress to make in udder quality, look no further than the Topp herd. The recently fresh cows had small teats and strong udder attachments with a look of longevity. Select Sires welcomes the first Topp Hereford sire to our lineup with hopes of tremendous calving ease in 3X.

I am headed to Kansas next week to visit many old friends at places like Lyons Ranch, Mill Brae Ranch, Kansas State University, Mill Creek Ranch, Dikeman Simmentals (breeder of Double Down), Mushrush Red Angus, Rock Creek Ranch, Cow Camp Ranch, and many others to sort through lots of bulls. Our goal at Select Sires is to leave no stone unturned and to be the premier provider of Calving Ease, Carcass merit, and Cow power to every beef producer who capitalizes on the value of AI.

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you down the road. AA