Tell us about yourself!

[Kupfarm]

Ok, I feel like the odd duck out.  ;D  I am Kupsmom from Northwest Indiana.  We currently do not have cattle.  My family raised mainly 4-H cattle for 20 years. But all five of us girls are done with 4-H and my parents sold off the 5 acre property.  I am engaged and getting married in June.  We have one son.  I am still a 4-H leader in my county and love this board for the helpful advice that I can pass on to my friends who still raise cattle.  I help younger 4-H members with their halter breaking, fitting ( I am by no means a pro) and marketing of their animals for our auction.  We are hoping to purchase someday a decent tract of property to raise a few head on.  I am leaning towards Lowlines or other "minis", but I still love my crazy Chis. 

 

[showgirl2010]

My name is Jamie.  I am from Southern IL.  Both sides of my family have cattle.  My Dads Father has commercial simm influenced cattle and my moms dad and 2 brothers have reg. blk angus, reg. salers, and some commercial simms.  My dad, younger sister and I have about 60 head right now. 30 reg. salers and 30 angus commercial.

Both my younger sisters and myself are lined up to go to the jr nationals, the futurity, and hopefully The American Royal and a few others.  Between the 3 of us we  usually take 10-12 head to the county fairs.  That includes Mature cow and calf, heifers of all ages, mature bulls, young bull calves, and market steers.  I have been showing since I was five (now 16) and between me and my sister have always walked out of the show ring with a trophy.  (Even when we had white hided cattle HEHE).

We rent most of our ground since we only have 10 acres here at the house.  The puppy-dog gentle show cattle stay at home, so they can get all the attenion they need. ;D.  We do not put out any crops and make all of our own hay.

I am a sophomore in highschool and after highschool, like tyler, I want to be a veterinary surgeon.  Through the summer i work at a local vet office (when i am not at a show) adn have gained much knowledge by doing so.

Jamie

 

[TJ]

Ok, I feel like the odd duck out.   ;D  I am Kupsmom from Northwest Indiana.  We currently do not have cattle.  My family raised mainly 4-H cattle for 20 years. But all five of us girls are done with 4-H and my parents sold off the 5 acre property.   I am engaged and getting married in June.  We have one son.  I am still a 4-H leader in my county and love this board for the helpful advice that I can pass on to my friends who still raise cattle.  I help younger 4-H members with their halter breaking, fitting ( I am by no means a pro) and marketing of their animals for our auction.  We are hoping to purchase someday a decent tract of property to raise a few head on.  I am leaning towards Lowlines or other "minis", but I still love my crazy Chis. 

If you are interested in seeing some Lowlines in person, Doc's co-owner lives between Lafayette & Crawfordsville, IN.  She loves to have visitors & to entertain.  They just got back from FL & it will probably be a few weeks before they pick up their cattle. 

Unlike most mini breeds, Lowlines have a percentage registry (similar to Shorthorn Plus), so you can breed Lowlines to Chi X's & register the cattle.  Also, look for at least a few Lowline shows east of the Mississippi River this year.  Lots of interest in having Lowline shows especially from new members, some that aren't even ALR members yet.  I don't have enough fingers to count the number of Lowline sales that I've lost due to the fact, that there were no Lowline shows in this region for their kids.  That problem is going to be remedied this year.  We are also hoping that the NAILE will allow us the opportunity to showcase our cattle this fall!  We should know something in the next few weeks. If we get in this fall, that would be huge, IMHO.   

BTW, I still have a fondness for Chi cattle, but I absolutely love Lowlines... smaller, gentler, etc.  Also, Jerry Adamson, is a Chi breeder in Nebraska who has a large number of Lowlines. 

 

[dutch pride]

My name is Doug. I live in SW Michigan with my lovely wife and two kids. We also raised one niece since she was 5 yrs old (she is now 2, attending college, and out on her own). Another niece lived with us from 2 yrs old until she was 13 when she went back to live with her Mom.

Anyway; I am more of a show cattle wannabe than a real cattleman. I grew up with cattle, both a small cow/calf operation and then a small feedlot and worked with my Dad for a while but times got tuff and he made some bad decisions and ended up loosing the farm to bankruptcy.

After I was married and kids got old enough for 4-H, they started showing pigs and then steers. We bought a hiefer for my son to show and kept her as a cow to start. We did this again for a couple of years and also bought a couple of bred heifers so we now are expecting five calves this year. That is all the bigger we can go as we have no more room. We only have 6 acres we live on and basically purchase all the feed for the cows and show stock. Our goal is to be able to sell our calves as show stock and those that are not good enough, we finish out and sell as freezer beef.

I really enjoy this board and all the participants and comments.

 

[Kupfarm]

Ok, I feel like the odd duck out.   ;D  I am Kupsmom from Northwest Indiana.  We currently do not have cattle.  My family raised mainly 4-H cattle for 20 years. But all five of us girls are done with 4-H and my parents sold off the 5 acre property.   I am engaged and getting married in June.  We have one son.  I am still a 4-H leader in my county and love this board for the helpful advice that I can pass on to my friends who still raise cattle.  I help younger 4-H members with their halter breaking, fitting ( I am by no means a pro) and marketing of their animals for our auction.  We are hoping to purchase someday a decent tract of property to raise a few head on.  I am leaning towards Lowlines or other "minis", but I still love my crazy Chis. 

If you are interested in seeing some Lowlines in person, Doc's co-owner lives between Lafayette & Crawfordsville, IN.  She loves to have visitors & to entertain.  They just got back from FL & it will probably be a few weeks before they pick up their cattle. 

Unlike most mini breeds, Lowlines have a percentage registry (similar to Shorthorn Plus), so you can breed Lowlines to Chi X's & register the cattle.   Also, look for at least a few Lowline shows east of the Mississippi River this year.  Lots of interest in having Lowline shows especially from new members, some that aren't even ALR members yet.  I don't have enough fingers to count the number of Lowline sales that I've lost due to the fact, that there were no Lowline shows in this region for their kids.  That problem is going to be remedied this year.   We are also hoping that the NAILE will allow us the opportunity to showcase our cattle this fall!  We should know something in the next few weeks. If we get in this fall, that would be huge, IMHO.     

BTW, I still have a fondness for Chi cattle, but I absolutely love Lowlines... smaller, gentler, etc.  Also, Jerry Adamson, is a Chi breeder in Nebraska who has a large number of Lowlines. 

Thank you for the information.  I will have to check out some more Lowline sites.  It might be a year or so before I actually get the land to do it, but I am a firm beleiver in researching everything to make sure it is the right fit for me or someone purchasing from me.  I have literally sent a dozen or so books home with someone before they have purchased a Jack Russel terrier from us.  I have done the same thing with a few guinea pigs that I have placed into homes.  Most people do not know that Gpigs require full time hay in their diet.  But I love my cattle best of all.  I think my love of Chis comes from my first 4-H project, an red Overdrive heifer, who raised several breed and grand champion cattle for us.  I have had Chis that I could sit on and have had ones that would rather kill me than get haltered. 

 

[Doc]

 My name is Mike. I live 25 miles north of Nashville, TN , 4 miles off  I-65. I have been raising Shorthorns since 1970. I did work 1 year for a Hereford outfit in Winona,MS after college, though. I have a wife & 3 daughters. I use to also raise & show barrel horse futurity prospects. We raised Aussies until 2 years ago , now all we have is 1 minature Aussie for a house dog.
 Right now I have 25 momma cows & I try to put in about 10 embryo's a year. I have about 6 cows we flush & sell some embryo's out of. I've had a fondness over the years for the full Irish Shorthorns.
 I work as a sales rep for a company, haven't been fortunate enough to be able to work full time on the farm. I'm like OHB & really enjoy collecting old Shorthorn magazines & memoribilia.
BTW , OHB I've got pictures of Troubadour with Bob Hope & with President Lyndon B Johnson if you ever want me to make copies of them.
 I really appreciate the knowledge that everyone has shared on this website. I've been fortunate to meet some of the individuals off this site in person . If anyone is ever in northern middle TN & wants to stop by & talk cattle or need a place to lay over , just let me know. You are always welcome.

 

[REM]

Hi, I'm Rem from Minnesota. I don't post much but enjoy reading everyones replies to the topics. I spent 5yrs teaching Ag. Ed. in SD before I came home to take over the family farm. I've been married for 3 yrs, and have 2 kids. We farm 900 ac of family owned land, we have 60 hd of Maine Anjou and Maine x cows and have 500 head of feeder in custom lots that I manage. Hope every one is having good luck calving!

 

[kanshow]

Hi, I'm from Kansas.  My husband & have- 3 kids - daughter ( 12), son (10), & daughter (3).  We farm full time, have crops, commercial cows, background cattle, and have a small PB herd of cattle.  The older kids show sheep & pigs as well as cattle - althougth this might be the last year for the pigs.  We both grew up on farms & raising cattle.  I started out showing Polled Herefords a few decades ago.      We also show Pembroke Welsh Corgis - sometimes exhibiting ourselves and other times with a handler - and have had moderate success.     

 

[farmboy]

names zach. southern ohio, we run a little hobby cattle farm, 20 maine cows, usually 3-5 show animals in the barn at any given time.

started showing about 5 years ago, had a bucket heifer which won her class at the local fair and alamb my first year of 4-H, we've sold a few county fair champions and the PA farm show lightweight steer a while ago. Nothin to fancy or high dollar but i plan on being a vet or something along those lines on down the road as im only 15 and am convinced i want to be involved in the cattle industry ;D

 

[nysteerguy]

Believe it or not I am from NY.  And as some of you know a young guns from back when the site first got up and running.  I am currently a senior in college and will graduating in May and that really has taken some of my attention away from posting since the early fall of last year.  I think that this is a great learning community that is also very curteous and concerned about the growth and development of a healthy beef industry across the United States and Canada even.  My father and I have a smaller clubby type operation but mainly try to stick to shorthorns and maines.  We currently only run about a dozen cows but try to show at a few local shows every year.  The bad news is that there is a good chance I will be moving from home in the late summer in pursuit of my law degree.  Anyhow that pretty much sums it up.  Any questions feel free to ask.

-NYer

 

[Shebet21]

I'm from west central Wisconsin, about 30 miles from the Minnesota border. Showed a lot as a kid, even made the trip to Denver one year with some partnered cattle we had. When my father retired, I didn't want the cows so they went but I bought the farm. Now my kids have showed for the last few years so I'm starting a cow herd again ( 6 cows calving this year and some yearling heifers that we're showing this year ). Really kicking myself now for letting the cows go. I've got 360 acres of classic Wisconsin land ( hills and valleys ). We don't know what level land is here. I currently work an off farm job while my wife is in law school, once she's done I hope to get back to the farm full time. Really enjoy the site, learn something every time I'm on here.

 

[Show Dad]

I started out as Show Dad but shortened it to SD to save time.

My family lives in south central Kansas but I grew up in western part of the state. My wife and I have three kids daughter 18 attending Emporia State University, sons 14 & 10. Been around cattle and agriculture all my life and make my living from it. We got started showing through 4H and through breed associations. We raise Angus (family tradition) and Red Angus (because I like them better). The Kids also show pigs and are involved in 4H shooting sports. We have done OK showing but our claim to fame is we have had the top carcass in our county 6 years in a row and the only time we showed a steer at the Kansas Junior Livestock Show got top carcass there too. I know in the show ring thats not a big deal but to a commercially focused operation that's what pays the bill. Besides isn't call "market beef"

Love the planet for all the information, discussion, Reds kind guidance and Knabe!

 

[jimmyski]

I am Jim Latoski. I am 24 and currently the livestock judging coach at Colby Community College in Colby,KS. I grew up on my families farm and ranch in eastern Colorado(Wray) where we run 150 commercial Red Angus cows and farm around 1500 acres of mostly dryland wheat. I attended Colby Community College for 2 years and then transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where I was on the 2004 Livestock Judging team. I then went to Colorado State University where I am still finishing up my Master's degree in Animal Science. I love raising cattle and everything that goes with it, but probably my proudest accomplishment came with this year coaching my first team. As many of you know I took over the program in December and things had been pretty rough for the team as they had only finished 13th in KC and 19th in Louisville. However, we had an awesome spring finishing 11th in Denver, 2nd-Iowa Beef Expo, 8th in San Antonio (with the High Individual Overall), 2nd-Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic, and then 5th in Houston. I couldn't be more prouder of the set of individuals that I have to work with. With them it was never a question of how talented they were, but just a matter of convincing them that judging could be fun again. Having fun along with a little sucess took these kids a lot farther in the 3 short months that I have been here than they ever imagined. I just cant think of better feeling than finally getting people to believe in themselves and then seeing the rewards that they achieve along the way. Anyway, enough of my rambling. It's been wonderful reading about everyone and if any of you are ever out in Western Kansas feel free to stop in anytime.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

I am Jim Latoski. I am 24 and currently the livestock judging coach at Colby Community College in Colby,KS. I grew up on my families farm and ranch in eastern Colorado(Wray) where we run 150 commercial Red Angus cows and farm around 1500 acres of mostly dryland wheat. I attended Colby Community College for 2 years and then transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where I was on the 2004 Livestock Judging team. I then went to Colorado State University where I am still finishing up my Master's degree in Animal Science. I love raising cattle and everything that goes with it, but probably my proudest accomplishment came with this year coaching my first team. As many of you know I took over the program in December and things had been pretty rough for the team as they had only finished 13th in KC and 19th in Louisville. However, we had an awesome spring finishing 11th in Denver, 2nd-Iowa Beef Expo, 8th in San Antonio (with the High Individual Overall), 2nd-Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic, and then 5th in Houston. I couldn't be more prouder of the set of individuals that I have to work with. With them it was never a question of how talented they were, but just a matter of convincing them that judging could be fun again. Having fun along with a little sucess took these kids a lot farther in the 3 short months that I have been here than they ever imagined. I just cant think of better feeling than finally getting people to believe in themselves and then seeing the rewards that they achieve along the way. Anyway, enough of my rambling. It's been wonderful reading about everyone and if any of you are ever out in Western Kansas feel free to stop in anytime.

Congrats Jim - it was good to meet you in person at Denver - Keep the team rolling - it should be fun!

 

[Dutch Acres]

We are in Northeast Indiana, we have about 25 purebred shorthorn cows.  It's a 4-H project that went out of control.  My sons are all raised and will probably show as the grandchildren get older but for now they just help occasionally.  Problem is Dad can't give it up.  We have been extremely fortunate as a family as we bought a factory 8 years ago providing ag. products to equimpment manufacturers.  Deere is our largest customer but we also make parts for CNH, AGCO and make the hood for the military HUMVEE which goes to AM General  Needless to say the purchase was unbelievably successful.  I am getting close to retirement and wanted to spend my remaining days doing what I love which is raising show calves.  We hired a very good herdsman 3 years ago and have been buying many of the best genetics in the country recently.  However we refrain from buying from many of the largest breeders and sales as we believe there are some very good cattle with excellent pedigrees at smaller operations.  We would rather help the smaller breeders vs make the big guys richer. Our objective is to sell very good calves to families who know how to show and win but can't afford that $25000-100,000 heifer that is getting way too much hype.  Our struggle is we are really poor marketers but trying to improve.  We have made some excellent purchases recently, Full heifer sib pregnancy to the Darbyshire heifer that was Reserve Grand in Denver in 2006, Sonny/Rose heifer for $9900 at Schrags in 2007, % interest in DF Tuscaloosa for $15,000. Revival/Sonny cow  from Schrags in 2007 for $17000 plus several others prior.  I tell you all this so that it would encourage you to visit us this spring or summer.  (My effort to improve our marketing)
When I hired my herdsmen he asked what the objective was.  My response was "I don't expect to make a lot of money, we want to have fun and not lose a lot of money"  Not sure how well we are doing on  not losing a lot of money but we are having fun.  Come see us.

 

[bradycreek]

Hello my name is Don with Brady Creek Cattle Co
I'm a new member and bought a registered shorthorn herd last summer. 13 cows,  3 replacment hefiers, and K-Kim Modesto our clean up bull. We AI all our cows then clean up with the bull. Can't wait till may when our first AI calves are due. We bred cows to Sin city, Polar Express and Muridale buster.
My goal is to get 20 good cows under 8 years old.  Then I'd like to raise show steers and hefiers.
I live in Richmond Missouri and am a school teacher.
One of our replacement hefiers born Jan.

Sired by K-Kim Modesto
thanks for a great web site.

don

 

[justintime]

OH Breeder.... here is a little information about your picture of PS Troubadour. PS Troubadour was the Grand Champion steer at the 1956 Chicago international. He was bred at Penn State and was sired by Calrossie Troubadour, who was a herd sire at Cyrus Eaton's Acadia Farms. ( this explains his name PS Troubadour).

  Cyrus Eaton was the owner and Chairman of the Board of the Cheasapeake and Ohio Railroad.After this win, he commissioned a luxury parlour car on the C&O railroad to be named the PS Troubadour, and he toured this steer throughout almost all parts of the USA and Canada for almost two years. This steer was displayed at majoe events from the East coast to the west coast, was introduced to numerous movie stars and leading politicians .... and was one of the first animals to be displayed on numerous Televison shows in the early years of TV. This steer has his own attendants that travelled with him and cared for him year round. No animal in history was ever introduced to as many world leaders as this steer was.

The picture you have shown here was taken at the 1957  Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. The people in the picture are The Right Honourable John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 to 1963... and his wife Olive. The lady at the halter was Betty Royan who was Cyrus Eaton's secretary and also was very influential in managing the Shorthorn herds at Acadia in Ohio and Deep Cove In Nova Scotia.  Betty Royan just passed away in the last year. The Acadia herd was located at Northfield, Ohio. Is this close to where you or Red are located?Acadia was one of the most prominent Shorthorn herds of the time. I was there once with my dad, but I have no idea of where in Ohio I was at.

In this era, some of the show herds of wealthy owners, had their own luxury rail cars in which the show herds were transported from show to show. I remember seeing a couple of these rail cars when I was a young boy, and I was super impressed.

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
I cut and paste your information and am saving it with the photos. This way I know who is what. The calves that in the picture were from the same farm the steer came from or least the individual I purchased the photos from said. This is great info. I really appreciate it.

Northfield OH is now surrounded by Cleveland suburbs. I work inthat area at times and now it well.. I480  and I 271  in cleveland runs right near Northfield.

A little more info. regarding Acadia Farms. The last farm manager at Acadia Farms was Truman Kingsley and he was manager from 1964 to 1974. Truman passed away on March 28, 2008. After his 10 years at Acadia, he went back to his family farm at Wheatland ND where he continued to show cattle. He continued to raise Shorthorns for a few years, but more importantly, developed his own breed called Continentals which were developed using Chi, Shorthorn, and a few other genetics. His Continentals were sold throughout North America. Truman was called the winningest cattleman in North Dakota and he produced numerous Champions throughout his life. Truman Kingsley was also a great educator, and he welcomed junior and college judging teams from across the nation to his farm for judging clinics. Many of today's great judges, had a few sessions listening to Truman Kingsley. Truman also worked closely with Dr. Bert Moore at NDSU and the NDSU judging teams were often atthe Kingsley farm  before they headed out on judghing competitions. Truman Kingsley was respected by cattlemen of all breeds for his knowledge and he will be missed.

 

[maverick]

Hi, I am Sue from Norwood, Colorado ( elevation 7,000.ft). My Husband is the 4th generation to ranch in Norwood.  My husband teaches and coaches football, basketball and track. I teach accounting, marketing, business, and computers to middle and high schhol. . We have about 70 head of cows (angus and angus/maine) and farm about 200 acres of hay.  We have two sons 13 and 15 that have shown steers in the local county fair since they were 8.  Last year they started showing pigs too. My boys also play football, basketball and run track.  If you are ever in this part of the country feel free to stop by!

 

[farmgirl760]

My name is Renee and I am 24 years old. I live in Ramona which is in Southern CA about an hour north of San Diego.  I live with my parents, sister, and neice on our ranch. We currently have 2 cow/calf pairs, 1 Shorthorn Heifer, 1 Mainetainer heifer, 2 steers, 1 Dairy Heifer, 2 veal calves, horses, goats, pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. I also have a sheltie and my yellow lab who loves to go out and lay with the calves in their pens. My sister currently shows with 4H. I unfortunately did not get the opportunity for 4H cause we did not get into cattle until 4 years ago when she started High School and I was to old by then. I get to show once a year at the San Diego County Fair where we have an open division. I would love to be able to show more but unfortunately we dont have many open shows at all out here in CA. My goal one day is to have my own breeding operation so that I am able to sell calves for 4H and FFA kids that are not able to afford the EXPENSIVE calves that some of the kids out here end up with. We have some families that will spend anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 for a calf for their child. But the kids who cannot afford that much end up with just a "range" calf that doesnt even stand the chance against them. I would love to have Shorthorns, Angus, and whatever else comes my way.  My sister is going to be attending an agriculture community college this year and she hopes to have her own club calf breeding program.

I am looking forward to chatting with everyone and I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful calving and show season!!!

 

[bluffcountrycattle]

Mark Holmen - wife Becky and 2 boys Ryan and Carter (ages 5 & 2) - and we are Bluff Country Cattle!  Farm located near the little town of Lanesboro, MN here in SE MN.  I work as a district sales manager for DTN (farm markets, news and weather) to support my angus habit.  Currently will calve 12 cows this spring, with 21 to breed here shortly.  My uncle has been in the purebred angus business since the 60's, so got some good experience and travels there (www.reinangusfarm.com).  My cowherd is primarily IL bred, with purchases from the Marvin Kramer family in southern IL, and McLand Angus in western IL.  I also got a nice cow from Pohlman Angus in Norfolk, NE.  My new herd sire is a Grid Topper son, and was purchased from friends RTM Cattle CO also close by.  Look forward to meeting more of ya down the road...