Optimum production is always much more profitable than maximum production. Bigger is not always better! Optimum production is the point at which net profits are maximized. Profit is what we really want to maximize.

       Fit Their Environment. To achieve optimum production ranchers must produce cows that fit their environment, instead of artificially changing the environment to fit their cows. Since many ranchers have cows that are too big and inefficient, they are forced to change their environment by feeding harvested and purchased feed to keep their cows in production. This quickly takes most of the profit out of ranching. We want a cow that can survive strictly on what the ranch produces with little, or no, inputs. A cow ought to be supporting the ranch, instead of being supported by the ranch!

       In order to produce momma cows that fit our environment, we require our cows to run on short native grass year-round with very little feed supplement. We let the environment sort out the "good ones", while we show absolutely no sympathy for open, late, or dry cows. They must produce and wean a calf every year or they are culled. There are no second chances!

       Desirable End Product. We not only want a cow that fits her environment, we also expect her to produce a desirable and profitable end product. Her calves must be able to feed efficiently, as well as meet the requirements established by the current beef industry. The industry wants a steer calf that can produce a 700 to 800 pound Choice carcass with a Yield Grade less than 3.

       Contrary to popular opinion, we believe it is possible to produce ideal replacement heifers and ideal feeding steers with the same bull. To prove this point we enrolled our steer calves in a feed and carcass test for three years in a row. We are extremely pleased with the results. The averages are posted below.

       Breed Selection. Not every breed has the type of cattle that can effectively meet the requirements established by our philosophies. We have looked into many different breeds in an attempt to find cattle with the right biological type to fit our environment and production goals. This is an ongoing process. Our seedstock program currently includes: Red Angus, Black Angus, Hereford, Tarentaise and Composites of these breeds. These are all moderate sized, low-maintenance breeds of cattle with extremely strong maternal traits.

       Red and Black Angus have always been very popular British breeds. They are noted for their calving ease, maternal traits, and their ability to marble. With so much to offer, we believe they should have an integral part in most crossbreeding systems. Our biggest challenge, though, is finding cattle within these two breeds that still do what they were designed to do. Rick Bourdon, from Colorado State University, got it right when he said, "Many seedstock producers take cattle that are close to optimal for a particular niche, breed them in a different direction, and end up with cattle that are not really optimal for anything." Angus and Red Angus lose their advantages when they are bred to compete with the larger exotic breeds.

       Hereford is another breed that originated on the British Isles. I grew up with a herd of commercial Hereford cows. They never weaned the biggest calves but they had the unique ability to wean one every year. It didn’t seem to matter how bad the year was. I attribute this to their superb adaptability. They were true range cows that could survive on whatever nature provided for them.
       In addition to their adaptability, we like Herefords for their unequaled disposition, their hair coat, and their conformation. They remain the obvious choice for crossing with Angus and Red Angus. Most people will agree that the black baldy or red baldy cow is extremely hard to improve upon. Those baldy calves are also quite popular.

       Tarentaise is a Continental breed that originated in the French Alps. They are noted for their fertility, milk production, meat to bone ratio, and excellent udder conformation. Compared to the British breeds, Tarentaise have a higher growth rate, higher milk production, and produce a leaner carcass. Compared to most of the other Continental (exotic) breeds, they excel in calving-ease and fertility, while having a smaller mature size. Tarentaise is the most moderate sized exotic breed that I know of. A Tarentaise-cross cow is extremely hard to fault.

       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, 25 to 50 percent Red or Black Angus, and 0 to 25 percent Hereford. They can be red or black in color. This combination is excelling at all levels of production. Our Composite cows have the ability to wean our heaviest calves while holding their condition and rebreeding.

       Why the Composites? Crossbred cattle have always been much more efficient than straightbred cattle, but most crossbreeding systems are complicated and frustrating. They require too many breeding pastures, too many different breeds of bulls, and too much time and management. Traditional crossbreeding also produces a lack of uniformity in calf size, cow size, muscling, and milk production since several different breeds of bulls are used. How can you expect to achieve uniformity when your calves are sired by two or three different breeds of bulls?

       Composite bulls can provide you with all the advantages of breed complementarity and hybrid vigor, without all the problems associated with the typical crossbreeding system. Instead of using several different breeds of bulls, you can use composite bulls to achieve the same results. You would not have to individually identify and sort cows into different breeding pastures to be bred by different breeds of bulls. In fact, you could run all of your cows in one herd with one set of composite bulls. This makes a rotational grazing system possible.

          1. Honesty and integrity will not be compromised.

2. We will manage the natural resources placed under our control in a sustainable        manner.

3. The breed of cattle is not as important as the breeding program and the philosophies that produce the cattle.

4. Cows are run in a real-world environment, as tough as or tougher than the environment most commercial cows are run in.

5. We let the environment sort out the good ones, while we show absolutely no sympathy for open, late, or dry cows.

6. We will never make an excuse for a cow. A cow must produce and wean a calf every year to remain in the herd.

7. By limiting feed resources we try to apply sufficient pressure on the cowherd to force out the unadapted and infertile animals.

8. In addition to growth and performance, we select for other vital economic traits like fertility, calving ease, moderate cow size, fleshing ability, structural correctness, disposition, and longevity.

9. Replacement heifers are developed on a low-cost, forage based diet with minimum supplements. We only want the most efficient and most adapted heifers to make it into the cowherd.

10. A bull calf must be born unassisted from a fault-free cow that has never missed to make it into one of our bull sales.

Direction vs. Destination

       Does your breeding program have a destination, or does it simply have a direction? Most ranchers have no specific target to shoot for. They have a direction, but they have no destination. They are moving, but they don’t know where they are going. If you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to know when you get there?

       Rick Bourdon, from Colorado State University, was once quoted as saying, "To breed for optimum means to have a target in sight beyond which you don’t want to go. If your goal is to maintain an optimum level for any trait, the evidence of your accomplishment is not visible change, but lack of it." We agree wholeheartedly. Once you reach your optimum destination or goal, you should try to maintain that level without going any further.

       Direction. A breeding program that has a direction, but no destination, would constantly be trying to increase or decrease one or more traits. For example, it would increase a 350 pound weaning weight to 400 pounds and increase that to 500 pounds, and increase that to 600 pounds, and on and on. That first 50 pounds might be easy to achieve, but every increase after that will become more and more difficult and expensive. For every dollar invested you will receive less and less in return. When you go beyond your optimum level, your net profits will actually begin to decrease. I know several ranchers who have finally concluded that their optimum (most profitable) weaning weight is only 400 to 450 pounds.

       Remember, you can’t get something for nothing. Every increase in production comes at a cost. It’s ironic, but several ranches that were put together and paid for with 350-pound calves are now struggling and going broke with 600-pound calves. What went wrong?

       For thirty years producers have successfully increased growth and size in their cattle, and most are still running in the same direction. Seedstock producers are leading the pack. They are willing to do whatever it takes to continue increasing their weaning and yearling weights. But what happens when they go beyond the optimum level? Feed costs will increase along with cow size. Calving problems will increase along with birth weights. Herd fertility and efficiency will suffer. But most importantly, net profits will decrease. This may go unnoticed by seedstock producers who are able to sell their bull calves to commercial producers at an over-inflated price, but what about the commercial producer who buys and uses these bulls? How will these bulls affect his profitability?

       As ranchers, we’ve been conditioned to believe that our progress can only be measured by the visible changes that occur in our cattle. It’s difficult for us to stop at the optimum level for any trait because there would be no more visible change. Since we can no longer see an improvement, we feel compelled to keep pushing on in the same direction. Direction is good, but only if we have a destination in mind.

       Destination. A producer who has a destination knows what it takes to maximize profits. He knows what size and type of cow is optimum for his environment. He knows what his optimum level is for birth weight, growth, milk, etc. All of his breeding decisions are made with his destination in mind.

       He realizes there are genetic antagonisms between several of the important economic traits in beef cattle. For example, extreme growth rate will negatively affect calving ease, fertility, and feed requirements for maintenance. There are trade-offs that must be considered when making breeding decisions. We can only select for so much growth, muscle, and milk without having some negative consequences. Therefore, the optimum level for many traits lies somewhere in the middle. All the flashy extremes that the beef industry is drooling over must be avoided. It’s unfortunate, but most seedstock producers don’t have the discipline required to quit using the extremes.

       Once you’ve reached your destination you can start working on uniformity within your herd. This isn’t difficult if you know what your optimum levels are for the various traits that you select for. There is absolutely no reason why ranchers cannot reduce the variations that exist for birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, cow size, fleshing ability, etc., within their herds. To do so, however, requires that they know where they are going. Their breeding program must have a specific destination.

       Pharo Cattle Company has a destination. For years we have been breeding cattle for optimum production. We want a cow that can make the most efficient use of our available resources with minimum inputs. Our cows are required to run on short native grass year-round with very little supplemental feed.

       We try to keep enough pressure on our cows to force 10 to 15 percent out of the herd each year. If we get over a 90 percent pregnancy rate, we figure that we either understocked our grass or over-supplemented our cows. The type of momma cow that performs best in our program will look something like this:

       Staying on Target. Since we know the type of animal we want to produce, we are able to make the appropriate breeding decisions. We have discovered there are certain boundaries we must stay within to stay on target. For example, we can only select for so much growth without negatively affecting birth weight and cow size. It takes an extreme amount of discipline to stay within these boundaries. We have to pass over those real flashy bulls that other seedstock producers are using, but the results are worth it.

       Even though our breeding program consists of four different breeds, we have achieved unbelievable uniformity within our herd. We have less variation in our herd than many seedstock producers have in herds that consist of just one breed. No matter what the breed is, we always select for the same biological type and stay within the same boundaries. Our herd averages (bulls and heifers) are posted below. They do not change much from year to year because our breeding program does not change from year to year.

Herd Averages: Birth Wt. - 71 lb.; Adj. Wean Wt. - 570 lb.; Cow Wt. - 1080 lb

       By design, our cattle are what they are. We don’t pretend to be all things to all people. We do, however, believe we are producing the right kind of bulls for most commercial ranchers, especially those that are raising their own replacement heifers.

       What does it take to produce efficient, moderate sized cattle that work on the ranch, as well as in the feedlot and packing plant? It takes moderate sized bulls.

       Contrary to popular opinion, it’s nearly impossible to produce an efficient 1100-pound cow with bulls that are over a 4 frame score. Although I’ve seen some 6-frame cows that only weigh 1100 pounds, it’s not a pretty sight. They are tall, thin, gutless and very frail looking.

       Many people mistakenly believe any cow under a 5 frame is a dwarf or a miniature of some sort. They’re wrong! Just for the fun of it we challenge you to take a tape measure and see how tall 48 or 50 inches is. You will discover that 3-, and 4-frame cows are not as small as most people think they are. When you add thickness and fleshing ability to a smaller framed cow you have a package that is without equal. We have some thick, easy fleshing 3 and 4 frame cows that can easily weigh 1200 pounds. That’s big enough for any cowherd.

~ Kit & Deanna Pharo