2015 Keeney Angus Bull Sale

Tru-X  Private Treaty bull sale

beginning March 10, 2015

After enjoying the relaxed pace of selling 50 bulls at private treaty last Spring, we see no reason to do otherwise. Having reached this final segment of our journey on the road to greater consistency and predictability in maternal parent stock ,  all of our yearling bulls are the same price and priced relative to April live futures; currently 1500 x $1.54 = $2300. While some phenotypic differences will always exist in a breeding line, the genotype is such that no recognizable difference in breeding value exists in our bulls. Our selection priority has been for the maternal components of improved profitability; fertility {a 95% preg rate on all 250 spring calving 2014 females}, fewer problems, and efficiency of production by breeding and utilizing complimentary types in commercial production.

Our bulls are for sale exclusively to commercial producers; the only thing a registered breeder could accomplish with our cattle is dilute any prepotency created through closed herd breeding.. An understanding of closer breeding and of the need to separate selection into maternal/paternal lines as done by competing meat species is imperative to appreciating our program. Those still clinging to traditional phenotypic selection may come early and privately sort until satisfied; but rest assured that the last bull chosen in a pen has the same potential breeding value. All bulls will pass a breeding soundness test; any further guarantees are in the price and the pedigree is in the name Keeney Angus. The sale begins Mar 10,2015; bulls can remain here until May 1, 2015 at the purchase price. We sell bulls over several states; and help arrange delivery at cost. Volume discount. Further information and cattle breeding discussion can be found at www. keeneyscorner.com.

wow...dementia has not set in after all; got a CCN`s KC`s call today from a guy I last saw as a third floor, Donovan Hall freshmen at UK...I remembered the name vaguely; even put a face with it...he even remembered the name of a girl that liked me; that`s not as hard; they were rare
Life`s path takes a lot of strange turns; Woody was in pre-med; switched to Pharmacy , but that AF ROTC uniform I remember him wearing got him a call to pilot`s school and a trip to Vietnam flying B-52`s ...and then a career flying 777`s for United...now has the perfect hobby, cows
A $2300 Angus bull seems an anti-climatic prop for a 50 year reunion with a fellow who has traveled the world, but it`s the best I can do; or have ever done...

I decided to put a possible  future of Keeney Angus to a little test this winter...picked a pretty testy time...

http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/19/3702937_record-lows-thursday-are-just.html?rh=1

no news is good news...Ocala had a high of 47 Thursday; the oldest guy I saw playing golf was...69

16 below this morn with a foot of snow When I got done breaking ice and checking cows it had warmed up to 2 below...Did I mention we are calving now. well thats enough of that Mike I might be making you homesick

Tom,
even in absence, a management decision has been made...bulls won`t go out before 6-15 this spring; after the 6-5 turnout last year resulted in excellent breed up...heat/humidity might be an old farmers tale concern??...was pleased to hear from Rod how the slick-haired bulls were enjoying Wyoming ...of course, it`s been warmer there

Heck you guys need to move up here - was 46F yesterday in my cold valley and our snowpack is starting to melt early.

Mid june sounds good for me to Mike. That was my plan last year but mid may cows in heat nice weather......No thanks GF....I have seen your pictures

shilow angus wrote:

Mid june sounds good for me to Mike. That was my plan last year but mid may cows in heat nice weather......No thanks GF....I have seen your pictures

Tom, you got an intensely linebred Encore bull recommendation for me ? prefer a yearling ;or 2 yr old ...I`d like to put one of yours with the 6141 and 1116 sons I`m going to use and see if anyone, including me, can spot the mountain bred Encores from the promoted Encores...be an interesting exhibit for the 2017 Gathering here...You can pick from my keeping yearlings for an evaluation trade...

Mike as you no I have not tried to sell bulls here. The the two yearling bulls I have here are only mildly inbreed ( 6% IBC 27% encore) The type of bull your talking about are being born here now.Sire/daughter matings (20-30%IBC 30-40% encore. Ten years ago in 2005 we breed 2 50% encore cows to a son of a 50% encore cow these cows IBC was about 15%. This produced a bull and cow Most of the cows here go back to this mating. In 2010 we breed the 2 original encore cows now 12 years old to the 1126 grandson we got from you this produced 2 bulls one of them (whose 17 year old dam is still hobbling around here with a calf at her side) is the main herd bull here now. our goals have been simple make good cows while maintaining some encore genetics. I will save you a bull if you still want one out of this years crop....maybe trade it for a fenley son.

keep me one out of this year`s calf crop; an if you wish; use something from here this year...still using the Miller Hereford bull? I haven`t heard from Danny for a while; Pete is breeding Herefords over there; another interesting little project...

when you ask about the fat, there is another thing I am finding out. Those heifers that are well cared for, not roughed thru, appear to be staying in the herd longer, reproducing better, and being more productive over their lifetime vs heifers raised rough, especially if I never take them down to fescue.


well absolutely, as would be the case with all terminal cattle bred to grow and stay lean in the feedlot...

Mike I will put the bander away for a while....The females have been our goal and the few bulls we keep intact are weighed in at the in of the breeding season. Dannys hereford bull made some good BWF here I weighed him in this winter I be over this spring. Tom

Mike, haven't been on here for a while. Several life changing events have happened since I was at your place the end of Nov.
My Dad passed away in Dec. and my last day of public work was Dec. 31. Sure has been a change for sure. Ol Pete is doing real
good and has actually gained weight. I'm sure his work is done here but with the weather the way it is he is probably just as well
off being here until things get a little better. I will return anytime you desire. Tom, the pictures you sent me of the baldy calves looked
real good. Did you save any heifers from these matings? They should be very maternal crossed with the maternal cattle you have.
Looking forward to spring and some green!!!
DM

Danny sorry to here about your dad. We have let a neighbor have all the bwf heifers he breed them to a unwanted son from mikes. The are due in march. I plan to keep this years crop.

Danny Miller wrote:

Mike, haven't been on here for a while. Several life changing events have happened since I was at your place the end of Nov.
My Dad passed away in Dec. and my last day of public work was Dec. 31. Sure has been a change for sure. Ol Pete is doing real
good and has actually gained weight. I'm sure his work is done here but with the weather the way it is he is probably just as well
off being here until things get a little better. I will return anytime you desire. Tom, the pictures you sent me of the baldy calves looked
real good. Did you save any heifers from these matings? They should be very maternal crossed with the maternal cattle you have.
Looking forward to spring and some green!!!
DM

I know your feelings Danny; my sympathies; and it changes some things more than you might expect...mom, Larry, loss of a college friend reminds me how short life is; and birthday`s tell me how old I am...I still breed cattle like I was going to live forever; but I`m sure not farming with that attitude...

“I don't believe that grief passes away. It has its time and place forever. More time is added to it; it becomes a story within a story. But grief and griever alike endure.”
― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

“The world doesn't stop because you are in love or in mourning or in need of time to think. And so when I have thought I was in my story or in charge of it, I really have only been on the edge of it.”
― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

shilow angus wrote:

Mid june sounds good for me to Mike. That was my plan last year but mid may cows in heat nice weather......No thanks GF....I have seen your pictures

way past time to eliminate this from my management AND breeding vocabulary...

checked at 2 am and 6 am with no calves

MKeeney wrote:

shilow angus wrote:

Mid june sounds good for me to Mike. That was my plan last year but mid may cows in heat nice weather......No thanks GF....I have seen your pictures

way past time to eliminate this from my management AND breeding vocabulary...

checked at 2 am and 6 am with no calves  

...for sure. In the 15 years I have had my own cattle I have never assisted a cow. You know, one time-about 6 or 7 years ago....back in Indiana, I did watch a calf be birthed from our living room window.

Perhaps "It is better to be lucky than good" applies but I also believe that you make most of your own luck.

A ruination of the adage, "Action equals profit." Busy, busy, busy.

I should add that crap happens @ KA...but the objective , through both management and breeding, is to minimize it...the next management step will be turnout of bulls on 6-20...every action in breeding and management has an equal and opposite reaction...and so different strokes for different folks; well maybe the same folks, for each individuals priorities change with age; and hopefully, some accumulated knowledge from experience...but don`t count on that last part
mine is currently leisure above profit; and yet, it seems profits are greater than ever    

the breed mags are there to keep you dumbed down; to follow their way, instead of your way...now the accusers will likely suggest we have Kool-Aid for you to drink to follow our way...let`s dispel some of that by saying if you need us; it won`t be for long if you apply the principles of Tru-line; except at our prices, it may be more convenient to use us than do your own...why the hell would anyone pay exorbitant prices for what you can do yourself? would it cost a commercial producer $7500 to raise a bull? must be some damn sorry cattle  

I speak for maternal only; I`ve no clue what terminal bulls should cost; quite a bit more I suppose; since a producer would have to deal with those terminal cows...everyone remember the size of those Wulf cows?

MKeeney wrote:

shilow angus wrote:

Mid june sounds good for me to Mike. That was my plan last year but mid may cows in heat nice weather......No thanks GF....I have seen your pictures

way past time to eliminate this from my management AND breeding vocabulary...

checked at 2 am and 6 am with no calves  

checking admitting you might have a problem
checked at 2 am and 6 am know you have a problem.

I wasn't quite sure where to post the author credited post below; it works so well so many places...  I decided to put it here since it condenses beautifully  everything I believe to base a breeding program on...no, this belief has not happened over night for me; too late perhaps even... it didn`t happen without experience for Larry either ...but thankfully, it has happened sooner for John; and is happening for many others of you now...

I tend to think that the consequences of our selections are recorded accurately in our type ...

posted by John Dockweiler at acs...

I tend to think that the consequences of our selections are recorded accurately in our type ...

I`m going to repeat this so many times it will be indelibly etched in the brain, or until the detractors become nauseated...

first for Pat, when all the genomic bs gets sorted out, it will prove the above; what we should already know from experience; and could be applying profitably; right now...Pat reminds me of a boy walking through the orchard with ripe apples bumping into his head while he goes to get a ladder to pick a shinier apple on the top branch of the tallest tree...

MKeeney wrote:

I tend to think that the consequences of our selections are recorded accurately in our type ...

I`m going to repeat this so many times it will be indelibly etched in the brain, or until the detractors become nauseated...

first for Pat, when all the genomic bs gets sorted out, it will prove the above; what we should already know from experience; and could be applying profitably; right now...Pat reminds me of a boy walking through the orchard with ripe apples bumping into his head while he goes to get a ladder to pick a shinier apple on the top branch of the tallest tree...

Pat is up to date with his data.

I tend to think that the consequences of our selections are recorded accurately in our type ...

the crowd that wants to applaud less growth, more traditional Angus type should learn the above as well...and quit criticizing GAR for ruining the breed...if you breed reasonable birth, later maturing, higher marbling cattle, the type will be, what GAR currently is...

I tend to think that the consequences of our selections are recorded accurately in our type ...

isn`t it so much more meaningful to have our selections recorded in the cattle than on paper ?