Another new guy

DV, I don't plant one on the cheekbone unless someone else plants one first and I can take a cheekbone plant better than most. I'm 60 years old and was born to raise outcross hybrid bulls. Lots of extreme highs and unfortunately lots of extreme lows. Quite an artist you go to art school or are you a natural?

Will wrote:

DV, I don't plant one on the cheekbone unless someone else plants one first and I can take a cheekbone plant better than most. I'm 60 years old and was born to raise outcross hybrid bulls. Lots of extreme highs and unfortunately lots of extreme lows. Quite an artist you go to art school or are you a natural?

Holy crackers Will I had no idea you had such a sensitive side to you. Are you in favor of gay marriage?

Oh I got heart. Too much sometimes. Gay marriage? MK, wishes cows could breed cows so why not.

Will wrote:

Oh I got heart. Too much sometimes. Gay marriage? MK, wishes cows could breed cows so why not.

So maybe i took that wrong but ya got a sense of humor. Can you take a T-Post to the chin?..............If you can want to go to Iowa?

T-post to the chin? Not sure, but took a bat to the chin playing slow pitch softball. Shook it off and kept playing. Great times playing softball. No need to go to Iowa but thanks anyway.

Will wrote:

D Biggs, might want to go to page 21 of the 23 page Reflections from LL. Fourth post down!

Will, who might want to go to page 21.

Will, from page 21 for your convenience, "I am still not sure which part of the side Will was referring to. Hip, flank, ribs, lats, traps, forearm, or some or all. He did say loose hided. But not to loose, but I assume he is against tight hided cattle with defined muscle expression. But like Mike says that depends a lot on season, hair coat, bcs etc, and is very subjective. "

Please help me understand specifically with regards to anatomy your perception, definition of soft.

DB.....on standby again only because Mike and DV have some hope.

D Biggs, YOU might want to go to page 21. No everyone should go to page 21 and read what you said. Once again soft sided. No need to be on standby because there is no hope. I am an outcrosser and will remain an outcrosser. History and $$$$'s make me right at least for my customers and my program.

Dylan,
this may be a prime example of "hope springs eternal "

Purebred breeders and particularly linebreeders will appreciate your business Will, as you will always be dependent on them to provide you something to cross...and as the Simm-Angus lose their heterosis effect in commercial herds and become more like a pukey purebred, who knows...a linebreeder might get their business as well...either way, the breeder eventually wins...

Mike, right about now it is looking prime to me.

Wiil you still want to use a buzz word without being able to describe what you are talking about other than a reference to apples.

So it remains a hype term for marketers to spin their schpeel.

Simplistic buzz word laiden marketing is a boomer approach that cheapens and denegrates the seedstock business.

A sure sign of which is the inability, of those that use the terms, to define them with any specificity and or clarity.

Go for it Will!


DB......not hopeful.

Will, I was a natural who thought you had to go to school and did, believed it so much I taught it myself, spent the last 30 years trying to unlearn it and unteach it. I'm almost there, (back to where I started) The search for the full circle is what it all boils down to. We can derail ourselves for a while, but we must come full circle in the end. DV, working to become the natural I knew as a kid

DV, great post. Yes the circle. The full circle. I really enjoy your art. Sara, my son's wife is an artist. Went to school also but was an artist from birth. I have to ask her about the circle and art school.

A linebreeder should get the business if his line is an outcross to what the breeder needs to max heterosis. Heterosis is win win in my opinion. The breeder I buy my genetics from wins. I win when the commerical rancher buys my genetics. My customers win when the feedlots buy their calves at a premium. The feedlot wins when the cattle are effecient and hang a good carcess. Packer wins when the carcass has less waste fat and more well marbled red meat. Beef eater wins because he has a great eating experience. Hybrids if nothing else has forced the purebred industry to think about heterosis. I think that is very helpful to the Tru-Line concept! Tru-Liners your time in the sun is just around the corner. Its all about DV's circle.

Will wrote:

A linebreeder should get the business if his line is an outcross to what the breeder needs to max heterosis. Heterosis is win win in my opinion. The breeder I buy my genetics from wins. I win when the commerical rancher buys my genetics. My customers win when the feedlots buy their calves at a premium. The feedlot wins when the cattle are effecient and hang a good carcess. Packer wins when the carcass has less waste fat and more well marbled red meat. Beef eater wins because he has a great eating experience. Hybrids if nothing else has forced the purebred industry to think about heterosis. I think that is very helpful to the Tru-Line concept! Tru-Liners your time in the sun is just around the corner. Its all about DV's circle.

so far, the linebreeder has been less rewarded accordingly in the above scenario; because phenotype sells; genotype is under appreciated...the outcrosser disguised as a breeder, mover , shaker {read Kent`s Austrailian article on another thread}, changer, and purported "linebreeder" have all been greater rewarded monetarily than the true close breeder...maybe, as WT and others keep bringing forth elsewhere, the outcrossers have merely been paid too much...can this be changed given human nature never changes ? ...for it is human nature, not science, genetics, or economics that propels the current situation...just what could DV, the teacher, convince SS to do differently...nothing of his own mind, he has none, but he would follow a crowd anywhere...
we must become numerous enough to be considered a crowd

Will wrote:

A linebreeder should get the business if his line is an outcross to what the breeder needs to max heterosis. Heterosis is win win in my opinion. The breeder I buy my genetics from wins. I win when the commerical rancher buys my genetics. My customers win when the feedlots buy their calves at a premium. The feedlot wins when the cattle are effecient and hang a good carcess. Packer wins when the carcass has less waste fat and more well marbled red meat. Beef eater wins because he has a great eating experience. Hybrids if nothing else has forced the purebred industry to think about heterosis. I think that is very helpful to the Tru-Line concept! Tru-Liners your time in the sun is just around the corner. Its all about DV's circle.

Will read this ten times real slow.
A linebreeder should get the business if his line is an outcross to what
the breeder needs to max heterosis. Heterosis is win win in my
opinion.

You got it will and in your own words, you didnt even need any help. Now if you crossed your Sim bulls on my red cows we would be able to sale peas in a pod as feeder calves and reap a healthy profit. Then we could do it again the next year and everyone would think we were both smart. And not as dumb as a mud fence....

Will wrote:

Max technology is not a luxury it is a necessity. No overlap with expensive chemicals or seed and fertilizer.

A necessity, you figure... many people make out just fine without it.

But honestly it’s the greatest, no down side, helps you make money, more than you can even dream about

And just when you think it can’t get any better, you will get into variable rate prescriptions, Real Time Kinematic Inter-row seeding and CTF.

It’s all good, never a faulty wire harness, no software glitches all the different technologies are completely integrated and interchangeable, you can buy an air card to have tech support from India log directly into your on board computers and fix them anytime for a nominal fee assuming you can communicate the problem you are having.

You need to get current and I hear there is some awesome advances coming next year as well

Hilly, have a neighbor that is technology to the max maxed out. Dry land corn did over 200 bushels an acre last year. Everyone else had a bit over or under a 100 bushels per acre. Variable rates all his wheat and barley. Has had spring wheat well over a hundred bushels per acre. He says more inputs but it pays off big time. It will be interesting what his corn does this year. Was last year a total fluke? Sprayer is the most important piece of equipment we use and it will be maxed out!

Will wrote:

Hilly, have a neighbor that is technology to the max maxed out. Dry land corn did over 200 bushels an acre last year. Everyone else had a bit over or under a 100 bushels per acre. Variable rates all his wheat and barley. Has had spring wheat well over a hundred bushels per acre. He says more inputs but it pays off big time. It will be interesting what his corn does this year. Was last year a total fluke? Sprayer is the most important piece of equipment we use and it will be maxed out!

Will, I can tell you are one busy, busy, guy, but wondered if you had found any time yet to read Reflections? If not, maybe you could fast forward to page 71, the 9th post down written by LL. One of my favorite personal messages from LL ended with.... " I wish you enough." Will - what do you take that to mean?
Kendra

Well we are all but done seeding for another year, rain day today with only 500 acres left to seed

Will, sorry for the sarcasm in my last post, it was not intentionally directed at you, I’ve been doing a fair bit of considering on Boomers and Stickers lately and that has me questioning my direction again.

We use the technology and at this point it would be hard to go back even with the frustration over lack of producer ability to troubleshoot problems and no options to haywire something together to get going until parts or techs can fix it.

By moving the drill over 2 or 3 inches and seeding between last year’s rows the theory is we will be less reliant on the sprayer as last year’s crop stubble will provide added competition in ground cover for weeds.

Technology has helped us produce more, production being but a part of profit. More so though, it has allowed us to get bigger and expand, being relatively young getting bigger played on my enthusiasm.

But at what cost, I noticed we were getting bigger as neighbours were going broke or getting out... too bad so sad, they should have kept up with the times.

Now instead of supporting the bigger farming neighbours, few even wave at each other in passing, as we all wait with baited breath for someone to be below average so we can get bigger. A far cry from the farming communities of old... but we can’t live in the past we are making too much progress

My dad was one of 92 grand children that originated from this farm and around 5 farmed for a living, I am guesstimating but there are over 350 in my generation and I’m the only one farming full time. I’m not sure what the point of that is other then it wasn't or shouldn’t be all about the money.

I mention my concern to my dad about five years ago now that I worried my one line eulogy would read to the effect “Craig sure knew how to make money farming”.

As a recovering adrenalin junky, it took me a long time to figure out what it meant to have contentment with “enough” as Kendra is alluding to. I also struggle daily with the thought that I have to provide my boys with “enough” knowing full well it’s not mine to give and in fact with my good intentions I may actually be hindering them.

On one hand, I travel daily through the land that raised up to 6 big families at one time that I now manage. Are we more efficient that one man can do the work of 6 men and 30 boys just 40-60 years ago, or does it take 6x or more land to support a family than it did back then?

Kent and Hilly thank you for your posts.

Kent re efficiency, I think part of the modern pattern is an economy that defines success as perpetual growth and personal achievement expectations that are defined by a perpetually expanding ability to aquire and consume ever better and more of everything, like the well conditioned consumers an ever growing economy requires. The general mindset is one of perpetual deficiency defined in relative context by those who have more. And their is always someone with more. Within our modern consumption ability quality of life defined culture enough is for losers. Of course over the long term perpetual national economic growth is impossible.

DB

Hilly, no problem with the comment. You must have a Seed Hawk drill. How wide are your rows apart? Have much success with weed control using last years stubble and seeding between last years rows? Our rows are 7.2 inches apart. Plan on adding more openers and coulters to narrow them down to 4.5 inches. It will boost yield and really help with weed control. Get the ground covered and crowd and shade the weeds out. Almost do it with 7.2 inch rows. I like to find ways to max things a bit more without increasing inputs much. That's why enough is never enough at our place.

Jonken, I take that to mean Elly the Elephant needs a bigger basket! Why limit yourself with a basket to small?

For me I'm more interested in increasing production in the margins. Longer grazing seasons, matching my forage quality with the demands of my cattle. How can I capture and utilize what limited moisture we receive.


Strip farming used to be quite common and captured a lot of spring moisture in the form blowing snow. Now virtually gone because of spray drift problems. Technology has allowed us to get more stupid in the name of improvement.

Angus 62 in Will's neighborhood attending a graduation.

Really! Which graduation?

Angus 62 wrote:

For me I'm more interested in increasing production in the margins. Longer grazing seasons, matching my forage quality with the demands of my cattle. How can I capture and utilize what limited moisture we receive.


Strip farming used to be quite common and captured a lot of spring moisture in the form blowing snow. Now virtually gone because of spray drift problems. Technology has allowed us to get more stupid in the name of improvement.

Angus 62 in Will's neighborhood attending a graduation.

Amen. Amen. Amen.