Herdquitter Blog

Our Texas Bull Sale is behind us.   The pre-sale meeting with Peter Bierstadt had 40 cow-calf producers from at least four different states and Mexico in attendance.   Peter’s presentation was very well received.   It generated many questions.  

We had 51 registered bidders at the sale – from 5 different states and Mexico.   There were 56 people using our Stay-At-Home options – from 19 different states.   Demand for our low-maintenance genetics has been increasing at an Unbelieva-BULL rate – but that should be expected.   Status quo genetics are no longer profitable.

We sold 101 bulls in 62 minutes for an average price of $5021 – with a range of $2500 to $13,000.   These bulls were sold into 15 states and Mexico.   Thirty percent of the bulls were purchased through one of our three Stay-At-Home options.   We make it easy for our customers to purchase bulls this way.

Top Three States…

• Texas               45 bulls
• Oklahoma        28 bulls
• Chihuahua       21 bulls

These bulls were produced by efficient, easy-fleshing, low-maintenance cows that have never been pampered.   They will produce the type of replacement females needed to remain profitable – in good times and in not-so-good times.   Our passion is to help our customers become the most profitable cow-calf producers in the world.

Missouri Bull Sale –

Our Missouri Bull Sale will take place on Thursday!   You still have time to attend this sale or to participate via one of our Stay-At Home options.   Call us at 800-311-0995 if you need help.   You can access the online version of our sale catalog from the PCC Website.   If you are unable to attend the sale in person, you can watch it on Dish Network channel 998 or on Superior Production’s website.   The sale will start promptly at 1:00 pm Central Time.

Pharo Cattle Company does much more than sell bulls.   We provide a program that is focused on helping you make your business as profitable, enjoyable and sustainable as possible.   We always keep your next generation in mind.   Our ultra-low-maintenance bulls are just one part of this program.   There is a reason our customers are the happiest and most profitable cow-calf producers in the world.

With your long-term success in mind… we decided to put our money where our mouth is.   We are going to give three lucky customers a Day with Jim Gerrish.   A Day with Jim is valued at $1200.   Jim will take a look at all aspects of your business.   This will include a financial analysis and a look at your available forage resources.   At the end of the day, Jim will offer suggestions on how to maximize the long-term success of your business.

We will have a raffle drawing at the conclusion of each of our Spring Bull Sales.   You must be present to be eligible for these drawings.   For every bull you purchase, your buyer number will be added to the drawing.   For example, if you purchase three bulls, you will have three chances to win a Day with Jim Gerrish.   This is one of many things no one else in this business would ever consider doing.

I just thumbed through the latest DROVERS magazine.   It seems that the latest hot topic within the status quo beef industry is parasite control – with an emphasis on deworming.   There was one article on deworming and many advertisements for drugs and chemicals that are supposed to keep your cattle healthy.   In truth, however, the use of drugs and chemicals does nothing but create more and more drug-addicted cattle.   Today’s status quo cattle cannot live without their drugs.   No one gains except the big pharmaceutical companies.

I saw a quote in the deworming article that I thought was worth sharing.   Tom Craig, retired Texas A&M veterinarian, said, “Twenty percent of the herd will have 80% of the worms.”   If that statement is true, and I have no reason to think it is not, then I want you to consider how quick and easy it would be to totally eliminate the need for chemical dewormers.   The big pharmaceutical companies would love that, wouldn’t they?   STOP treating your cattle for parasites – and get rid of the drug addicts.   This will allow your cattle to develop a higher and higher level of genetic parasite resistance.

Most of our PCC cowherds have gone two decades without any chemical treatments for parasite.   We have cooperative cowherds in a variety of environments from Minnesota to hot, humid, fescue country in Missouri and Mississippi and all the way to the high-plains desert.   We also have cooperative herds from the southern plains of Texas all the way to the northern plains of Montana and North Dakota.    NO ONE has as much bred-in parasite resistance as Pharo Cattle Company – because no one else has ever tried to select for genetic parasite resistance.

 Quote Worth Re-Quoting –

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”   ~ Albert Einstein 

Several weeks ago, someone in the PCC Discussion Group shared an article on Complexity Bias.   It was difficult to read – but I found it very interesting.   The following is a quote from the article.

“Faced with two competing hypotheses, we are likely to choose the most complex one.   As a result, when we need to solve a problem, we often ignore simple solutions – thinking “that will never work” – and instead favor complex ones.”

This is exactly what many cow-calf producers do.   Most of the concepts I discuss in my presentations, as well as in our PCC Updates and Newsletters are simple, common-sense solutions to many of the problems cow-calf producers face.   Even though these concepts have all been proven to work, most producers are reluctant to even consider them.   If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say, “That will never work here,” I would have a truckload of nickels.

Don’t be too quick to blow off simple solutions, saying, “That will never work here.”   Chances are, they will work for you.   Consider, for example, the Ten Steps to Double Your Profits.   Do these steps make sense to you?   Is there anything complex or complicated about them?   I think you will discover there is nothing difficult about taking these steps other than they involve change.   Please don’t allow the fear of change to keep you from being all you can be.

Those who have taken these ten steps are among the most profitable cow-calf producers in the world.   In addition to being two to four times more profitable than their neighbors, they have substantially increased their overall enjoyment and improved their lifestyle.   Consequently, they have an operation that the next generation is anxious and excited to become a part of.   Agriculture that is not both Profita-Bull and Enjoya-BULL will never be Sustaina-BULL!

Opportunities Abound…   We still believe there will be more opportunities for you and your family to advance in the next five to ten years than there have been in the last 30 years – but only if you are willing to break away from the status quo, herd-mentality way of thinking.   You must NOT allow yourself to be a victim of Complexity Bias.   Keep everything as simple, and as fun, and as profitable as possible.

Quote Worth Re-Quoting –

“Life is really simple – but we insist on making it complicated.”   ~ Confucius

It is becoming more and more obvious the future belongs to those who are able to successfully transition to a low-input (high-profit) program with efficient, low-maintenance cows.   It belongs to those who are taking the Ten-Step approach to Profita-BULL, Enjoya-BULL and Sustaina-BULL ranching.   Cow-calf producers who have taken these steps are two to four times more profitable than their neighbors.   Allow me to share the first four of the Ten Steps to Double Your Profits.

Step 1…   Focus on pounds and profit per acre – instead of per animal.   There is a BIG difference.   Trying to increase pounds per animal will always have a negative effect on your profits.

Step 2…   Purchase ultra-low-maintenance bulls that will produce cows that fit your environment.   This is much easier and much more profitable than artificially changing the environment with expensive inputs to fit your cows.

Step 3…   Increase stocking rates by over 30% with the right size and type of cows.   Smaller, more efficient cows will always produce more total pounds per acre – and those pounds will always be worth more per pound.

Step 4…   Utilize rotational grazing to increase forage production and stocking rates by another 50 to over 200 percent.   Stocking rate affects profitability, or lack thereof, more than anything else.

If you have not taken these steps… NOW is the best time to get started.   Why wait?   If you wait until you are forced to make changes in your operation, it may be too late.   In the last 20 years, nearly 200,000 cow-calf producers have gone out of business.   That represents a decline of 20%.   Most of these operations went under because they did not have enough income to cover their expenses.   I fully expect the next 20 years will be substantially worse than the last 20 years.

Opportunities Abound…   As you might expect, cow-calf producers who are two to four times more profitable than their neighbors are slowly but surely buying out their neighbors.   This allows them to create a business that will support the next generation – and beyond.   Properly done… ranching is a tremendous wealth-building tool.

Every generation plays an important part in the success or failure of the family business.   The decisions you make (or don’t make) could have a profound effect on the future of your family.   As manager of your family farm or ranch, it is your job to make decisions with the next generation in mind.   Unfortunately, I see far too many cow-calf producers procrastinating and taking the “stick your head in the sand” approach to management.   Ignorance may be bliss – but it is a very poor management strategy.

We still believe… there will be more opportunities for you and your family operation to advance in the next five to ten years than there have been in the last 20 years – but only if you are willing to break away from the status quo, herd-mentality way of thinking.   Many (perhaps most) of the upcoming opportunities will come at the expense of those who are unwilling to make a paradigm shift.   That’s a little sad – but I don’t have much sympathy for people who are afraid to think for themselves.

If you don’t make the right decisions in a timely fashion, there may not be much for the next generation.   This is a responsibility that should not be ignored or taken lightly.   Your kids and grandkids are hoping you make decisions that are based on the future of your family farm or ranch.   Now is not the time to procrastinate.   He who hesitates may lose all he has – forcing his kids and grandkids to get jobs in the city.

According to the USDA Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, the average Angus, Red Angus and Hereford cow in America weighs over 1,400 pounds.   The status quo seedstock producers have successfully out-Simmentalled the Simmentals.   Unfortunately, as cow size has increased, profitability has decreased.   It doesn’t matter how big your cattle are if they’re not profitable.

Why are cows as big as they are?

For the past 40+ years… the status quo beef industry has been relentlessly focused on increasing production per cow (weaning weight).   Although this has provided some bragging rights, it has been detrimental to ranch profits.   As individual weaning weights increase, pounds and profit per acre decrease.  

Since big cows need to eat substantially more than smaller cows just to meet their maintenance requirements, this has forced ranches to destock and/or to increase supplemental feeding.   With the cost of land and feed as high as they are, it is quickly becoming less and less profitable to own those big, high-maintenance cows.   Ask your banker if he thinks you should focus on bragging rights or on profit.

Since smaller cows need to eat much less to meet their maintenance requirements and since they are able to wean a higher percentage of their own body weight, they will always produce more total pounds and more total profit than big cows – on the exact same acres.   To add insult to injury, there is growing evidence that smaller cows will actually wean bigger calves than big cows in a real-world, unpampered environment (see table below).

How can this be?

The big cows do not fit their environment.   Your ranch can only support so much growth, frame and milk.   Once you go beyond that level, you will have to provide expensive supplementation to meet the needs of your big, high-maintenance cows.   Without heavy supplementation, your weaning weights and conception rates will suffer.   Maintenance requirements must be met before any growth or reproduction can take place.

It shouldn’t surprise you that most of the bulls being sold today were produced by high-maintenance, 5 to 7-frame cows that weigh 1400 to 1800 pounds.   These cows must be pampered to stay in production.   What size and type of replacement females will these bulls produce?   Like begets like!   If you are concerned about long-term, sustainable profit, then thick, easy-fleshing, low-maintenance, 3 to 4-frame cows that weigh 1100 to 1250 pounds are plenty big enough (pictured below).

These 10-year-old PCC Solar Cows are very feminine in appearance.   They are wedge-shaped – and they carry a tremendous amount of thickness, muscle and condition.   Even during a drought, with calves at side, they have met their maintenance requirements and are storing up energy in the form of fat.   They are ready to re-breed.

No one sells as many thick, easy-fleshing, ultra-low-maintenance bulls as Pharo Cattle Company.   Thickness and fleshing ability have been bred into our bulls – NOT fed in.   Our bulls were produced by efficient, moderate-sized momma cows that have never been pampered.