Keeney Angus-Business as Usual Sale

use specification further explained...contented cows for contented people;... if you can`t be content with what your eye and common sense tells you when looking at the big picture, then we probably aren`t your place to shop ...in the little picture; the dam of last year`s top seller calved first this year...happenstance I`m sure; pleasing nonetheless...a full brother sells this year , full brother just born...


Sons of Shoshone Fenley 6309 comprise much of the Model A offering...
this picture is for Dennis



when he quits playing and starts posing

And what a picture it is! My kind of bull also.

The Bull be 6309 or whatever his number, the one that was at Dunkums?

Bootheel wrote:

The Bull be 6309 or whatever his number, the one that was at Dunkums?

that`s the bull Joe..daughters calving soon..pictures coming as they do it...

I like it alot Mike. As I look at your cattle that saying that if cattle breed true to what they are, EPDs aren't necessary, keeps ringing in my ears. I really like in your letter about the cattle selling without papers so the commercial breeder don't have to compete against the registered game players. I have been working on my catalog and was trying to figure out how to say just that. Could I borrow that line from you? How do we convey to the few registered breeders like myself, who was standing at Voss's door step 6 years ago, trying to find our direction, that we welcome them too? I don't want to alienate that breeder any more than I want to attract the game players.

Jack McNamee wrote:

I like it alot Mike. As I look at your cattle that saying that if cattle breed true to what they are, EPDs aren't necessary, keeps ringing in my ears. I really like in your letter about the cattle selling without papers so the commercial breeder don't have to compete against the registered game players. I have been working on my catalog and was trying to figure out how to say just that. Could I borrow that line from you? How do we convey to the few registered breeders like myself, who was standing at Voss's door step 6 years ago, trying to find our direction, that we welcome them too? I don't want to alienate that breeder any more than I want to attract the game players.

at the risk of continuing my greedy, paranoid reputation , maybe say nothing other than charge $500, maybe $1000 to transfer papers? just a thought that would give the commercial producer some equality in competing for bulls...

Good news and bad news from Briann Larson yesterday...good news, the $1500 6309 son pictured below has been very satisfactory in breeding and calf performance in the pasture ...bad news is, my "teachings" are so good, my cattle so reliable and prepotent, that Briann says he doesn`t need me anymore; ... he`s graduated



I may not have papers on the bulls, but I am going to concoct a paper diploma for Briann and then set out to find a new gimmick to ensnare some new customers...something more persausive than counting flies, or measuring stress resistance with ultrasound...
commercial profit? ...nahhh, that`s not unique enough...

When the student is ready the professor will appear.

While on morphine after my operation to inflate my lungs from a barndoor hitting me. I knew I would be in no shape for AIing so I bought the K14 bull over the phone from Mike. Only disappointment then was paying $600 to get him here. The next year I bought 2 Elcore half brothers and 8 Fenley heifers. We met half way to cut down on the trucking and for a 2nd honeymoon. In the fall of 08 I finally got Emricks to sell me the 508 bull. Last year I got a Fenley x Elcore x Encore bull. I have never been to one of Mike's sale. Told Mike he could use the bull till I needed him, if Mike flew up here and I would take him home and pick up my new bull. To my surprise I came home with a bull and double bred Bob and her bull calf. The cow we are flushing looks awsome as a 16 year old cow and flushing very well. Good thing I got her before the lb. market went up.

bad news lost the 508 bull due to injury breeding on ice. good news bred 30 cows and collected semen and flushed the old cow.
bad news lost K14 broke his tool this fall. good news used three years on spring and fall calving herd. he was never a tame bull but always seemed to know what I wanted from him. also have some of the Fenley daughters bred to K14.


With the pieces I have in place I see no reason to do much more looking. Some would like to make out how rare the Shoshone and Keeney bulls are to get . HOGWASH What I found to be rare is Mike's honesty and willingness to help me. I would like to try breeding cattle instead of marketing them. My mistakes are my own. My success will not be from the bull of the month club. I have never been more excited about doing so little.

Thank you Professor Keeney

larkota wrote:

When the student is ready the professor will appear.

While on morphine after my operation to inflate my lungs from a barndoor hitting me. I knew I would be in no shape for AIing so I bought the K14 bull over the phone from Mike. Only disappointment then was paying $600 to get him here. The next year I bought 2 Elcore half brothers and 8 Fenley heifers. We met half way to cut down on the trucking and for a 2nd honeymoon. In the fall of 08 I finally got Emricks to sell me the 508 bull. Last year I got a Fenley x Elcore x Encore bull. I have never been to one of Mike's sale. Told Mike he could use the bull till I needed him, if Mike flew up here and I would take him home and pick up my new bull. To my surprise I came home with a bull and double bred Bob and her bull calf. The cow we are flushing looks awsome as a 16 year old cow and flushing very well. Good thing I got her before the lb. market went up.

bad news lost the 508 bull due to injury breeding on ice. good news bred 30 cows and collected semen and flushed the old cow.
bad news lost K14 broke his tool this fall. good news used three years on spring and fall calving herd. he was never a tame bull but always seemed to know what I wanted from him. also have some of the Fenley daughters bred to K14.


With the pieces I have in place I see no reason to do much more looking. Some would like to make out how rare the Shoshone and Keeney bulls are to get . HOGWASH What I found to be rare is Mike's honesty and willingness to help me. I would like to try breeding cattle instead of marketing them. My mistakes are my own. My success will not be from the bull of the month club. I have never been more excited about doing so little.

Thank you Professor Keeney

I kinda failed to mention; I only teach elementary school..fact is, I`m still stuck in graduate school myself, and according to my mentor, a long ways from graduating to even a post-doctorate, let alone breeder status...but now that I`m attending school on a Senior {65} scholarship, learning is fun again...so Brian, we`re classmates now...and can help each other move upward...

MKeeney wrote:

Jack McNamee wrote:

I like it alot Mike. As I look at your cattle that saying that if cattle breed true to what they are, EPDs aren't necessary, keeps ringing in my ears. I really like in your letter about the cattle selling without papers so the commercial breeder don't have to compete against the registered game players. I have been working on my catalog and was trying to figure out how to say just that. Could I borrow that line from you? How do we convey to the few registered breeders like myself, who was standing at Voss's door step 6 years ago, trying to find our direction, that we welcome them too? I don't want to alienate that breeder any more than I want to attract the game players.

at the risk of continuing my greedy, paranoid reputation , maybe say nothing other than charge $500, maybe $1000 to transfer papers? just a thought that would give the commercial producer some equality in competing for bulls...

a little issue of male equality keeps popping up in the "registered business" I may as well address, as registered breeders keep asking me for semen with certificates...if the male is represented by two straws of semen AND a certificate, why is it worth any less than what the registered female cost he is being bred too? so if one pays $4000 for a registered heifer, why should the registered male counterpart be worth any less? hmmm, ok, the heifer has 10 lifetime calves, so $4000 divided by 10= $400...oh gee, that isn`t even greedy enough to make Golden`s catalog this year ,
I`ll just stick to the value of the genes, and let the registered breeders determine the artificial value of papers...yearling bull minimums here will be $1500, 100 mile free delivery purchased on sale day, beyond at cost, guaranteed not to exceed $300...haul your own bull, minus $100...Life is not only good, it can be amazingly simple... simple helps make it good

Here is what I'm putting in my catalog.

All bulls except those marked commercial are eligble for registration but will be sold without registration papers. If you have to have papers for programs like Angus Source I will gladly register them for you. If you are a registered breeder buying a bull for clean up on a bunch of AIed cows and are wanting to dabble in these genetics, I will NOT register those bulls. No offence to anyone, but I don't like watching my good commercial producers compete with that type of buyer. I'd much rather see the bulls sold to someone that will use them and the bulls go where they will do the most good, even if it's for less money. I am raising bulls for the commercial industry and have no desire to be a part of the mainstream, bull of the month club seedstock industry as it is today.

Jack McNamee wrote:

Here is what I'm putting in my catalog.

All bulls except those marked commercial are eligble for registration but will be sold without registration papers. If you have to have papers for programs like Angus Source I will gladly register them for you. If you are a registered breeder buying a bull for clean up on a bunch of AIed cows and are wanting to dabble in these genetics, I will NOT register those bulls. No offence to anyone, but I don't like watching my good commercial producers compete with that type of buyer. I'd much rather see the bulls sold to someone that will use them and the bulls go where they will do the most good, even if it's for less money. I am raising bulls for the commercial industry and have no desire to be a part of the mainstream, bull of the month club seedstock industry as it is today.

well put, bold iniative, and very clear Jack...reminds me of a doctor, a one-time customer who outgrew me, who called wanting to buy a "cheap" clean-up bull after AI`ing...pretty damn insulted, I was nice, and bided my time...and last fall when he called wondering if I knew anyone wanting to buy bred heifers that mostly "originated" from Keeney cows..I had the distinct pleasure of telling him I had 5 customers wanting to buy bred heifers sired by Keeney Bulls; preferably from Keeney cows...but had no demand for his mainstream terminal crap...good moments eventually come to those who wait

I believe Tom Burke {Angustom} has joined us here, and I welcome him from the mainstream of registerdom{or is it registerdoom?} to the mainstream of cattle breeding and the outer fringes of cattle selling ...
I would like Tom`s thoughts about if some day this industry might become one that has to compete the way all other business's are run.... to competitively sell a better product CHEAPER than someone else..... rather than to sell a better product HIGHER than someone else as currently in the registered game; whether it's actually better or not.....So if Tom could promote the reasons why some cattle are better than someone elses at a CHEAPER price, he would have a place on the staff of RBPS, perhaps even be the most qualified to be the CEO..... and I would sure consider hiring Tom to promote and THOROUGHLY EXPLAIN my upcoming sale, promoting the slogan "Get more bang from your buck here, gettin' the mostest for the leastest "

Dennis Voss wrote:

MKeeney wrote:

I believe Tom Burke {Angustom} has joined us here, and I welcome him from the mainstream of registerdom{or is it registerdoom?} to the mainstream of cattle breeding and the outer fringes of cattle selling ...
I would like Tom`s thoughts about if some day this industry might become one that has to compete the way all other business's are run.... to competitively sell a better product CHEAPER than someone else..... rather than to sell a better product HIGHER than someone else as currently in the registered game; whether it's actually better or not.....So if Tom could promote the reasons why some cattle are better than someone elses at a CHEAPER price, he would have a place on the staff of RBPS, perhaps even be the most qualified to be the CEO..... and I would sure consider hiring Tom to promote and THOROUGHLY EXPLAIN my upcoming sale, promoting the slogan "Get more bang from your buck here, gettin' the mostest for the leastest "

What a time in history to be called "Pharo Cattle Co." where meretricious nobility reigns. But then, speaking of meretricious nobility, what does Mr. Mainstream Promoter say of the blind leading the blind industry that is the Angus Assn. registered business? Frankly, I've always been a fan of Mr. Mainstream Promoter's main competitor as he is truthful in a land of many tempting exaggerations. Also he utilized God's gift of photography of purebred animals, Mr. Fred himself the man who sighs artfully.
Dennis Voss, commercial cattle breeder

Reader`s Digest, besides the little column, toward more picturesque speech, also had 20 big words each month with multiple choice answers...with multiple choice, I could beat the 1 in 4 odds to the tune of about 60%...but I sure would have blown meretricious...even though three meanings fit so well!
a. Attracting attention in a vulgar manner: meretricious ornamentation.
b. Plausible but false or insincere; specious: a meretricious argument.
2. Of or relating to prostitutes or prostitution: meretricious relationships.

Meretricious...look at the word and you'll also find "tric".... two words evolving from the same source.

chocolate cow wrote:

Meretricious...look at the word and you'll also find "tric".... two words evolving from the same source.

etomology...I believe is the correct spelling...I was so happy to get a D in the class...Websters online and the internet hopefully has done away with learning word roots as the same and calculators ended the need for learning math

I had hoped to get a little blue sky picture taking promotion work done, but it rained 2 inches Thursday and 3 today...so these fields look like Larry`s Red Lodge place in July with flood irrigation water running everywhere...
some pieces are fitting together pretty near as I had hoped...6309 daughters are pleasing, 2966 and Unwanted calves are sliding out of heifers pretty light with only one mishap so far...
Should have things in a more sensible order by the weekend as the rain is over for this week I think...

Mike I don't know how to help at all you have already recieved at least half and probaly more than our annual rainfall in one week. wow Bobh

some killing time pictures as we wait for things to dry up a little...1.5 inches yesterday and last night...
pete and repete, identical et twins pictured yesterday...pete hogging the camera, hoggs the milk as well from a 2 year old heifer raising both...she`s thinning up more than the other receipt heifers, kind of proving the Dr. Voss theory of calf nursing effect on the young heifer...



these boys will be introduced to Unwanted heifers next year...already determined df, without the use of any written records...

and someday those 22% ibc`s identical twins will meet the full sib 20% ibc 17`s in hopefull harmonious union...in fact, if I had just had a little Chillingham fenced somewhere





I`m sure the 10 generation IBC`s are higher than AAA quoted above...I noticed the WYE catalog figures to be about 7% higher than AAA on a couple of bulls I checked...

all that green - looks like St. Patricks day a week early.

The only glaring hole I can see in them Mike is that they don't have my brand on them. Little by little this snowball is growing and as it grows it picks up speed. The mainstream seed stock industry better get a hold caues change is coming. Looking forward to the day there is nothing but blue sky and real cattle.

Jack McNamee wrote:

The only glaring hole I can see in them Mike is that they don't have my brand on them. Little by little this snowball is growing and as it grows it picks up speed. The mainstream seed stock industry better get a hold caues change is coming. Looking forward to the day there is nothing but blue sky and real cattle.

Jack,
I took this picture into the sun; I had a phone to my ear, and did not want this picture of a three year old 29 descendent to be too clear anyway...it took me ten years to appreciate the grandma; I think it might be ten more before anyone else appreciates them with all the current "thick, fleshing ease" mindset;;this bull is just pure athletic breeding machine...now Grandma is here, her daughters, her cousin...the times are achangin here; the lines are forming...cattle lineages; not lines of people beating a path to my door...for there is no better mousetrap built yet...well, it won`t be a trap; my plan is a method to free folks from the trap...

Keep showing these pictures Mike and I might have to do me some real genetic rustling. What are the brand laws there in Ky. Good looking bull for making functionally efficient females. I think that is the right kind of masculinity. Got a bull here that looks alot like him but better not give a pedigree or a number or may just have the "Genetic Rustlers" snooping around here!
Ben