One of the interesting and exciting things about the seedstock industry in the Mid West is that from March until May there is at least one bull sale every single day. This makes for a lot of driving and a busy schedule for those attending. About 15 miles out of Manhattan is the Lyons Ranch, where Dr Corah offered to take me on Monday. The owners of this ranch are Debbie Lyons-Blythe's parents and it is managed by Debbie's sister Amy, with the ranch also being where the girls grew up. Jan Lyons is an incredible woman and has certainly made her mark on the US beef industry. She has held many board and president positions in various livestock associations and was also the first female president of the Kansas Angus Association. Frank Lyons was a practicing radiologist and now performs stem cell therapy on patients. Two amazing people! On arrival at the Lyons Ranch, Dr Corah and I were offered a delicious certified Angus beef burger and dessert - they certainly feed you well here! We made our way into the sale barn while stopping to meet and chat to a few friends of Dr Corah's. I said hello to the Lyons', as well as quickly catching up with Debbie and Duane. By the time we were settled, the sale was starting with a few introductions. I was introduced as the person who had travelled the furtherest for the sale, and shortly after this, was told by the auctioneer that these bulls would look good in Australia. It was a great afternoon out with the sale average reaching just above $5000 on 92 bulls.
Tuesday morning started with an enjoyable Animal Breeding class where we learnt about genetic gain in populations. Although this is something I learnt about in my Animal Production degree, it was great to revise and discuss the importance of the factors affecting genetic gain. That afternoon, I headed to my Beef Systems class where we had yet another guest speaker. The calibre of the guest speakers in this class is outstanding; the involvement with industry leaders and goings-on is an incredible learning and networking opportunity for the students. Kelli Retallick is the Genetics Services Director for Angus Genetics Inc., a subsidiary of the American Angus Association. Kelli discussed some really interesting topics with us, including the changes to genetic reporting and EPD's in the future for the Angus breed. In addition, Kelli chatted about how genomics reveals that a particular animal may not actually receive exactly 50% from each parent and that with this knowledge, particular genetics (either from dam or sire) can be capitalised on depending on the genetic makeup of the progeny. An interesting concept with the capacity to drive increased genetic gain.
Wednesday morning began with the same classes as Monday, with the highlight of these being Beef Science. Dr K.C. Olson had been covering all things relating to a breeding herd and on this particular morning was discussing weaning management. Although majority of the concepts he discussed were relatively commonplace, there were many facts I learnt! This included that research shows that pasture weaned calves are cheaper to own (due to minimizing feeding and labour costs of dry-lot/yard weaned calves) and will generally catch up to their peers after 28 to 50 days after weaning when all calves were sent to a feedlot. The other interesting area Dr Olson talked about was heifer development, which is a huge part of the beef supply chain in the US. The concepts discussed were all new to me, particularly in Dr Olson's own system developed to select replacement heifers. For example, if a heifer was born in the second half of the calving season, it must be culled. This is due to the age of that heifer at weaning and subsequent joinings, which puts that calf on the back foot. A heifer born later in the season may also indicate fertility of the dam and may influence the subsequent fertility of that heifer. After that information overload, I was treated to lunch by Mrs Nichols and a visit to one of Manhattan's western stores where I was blown away by boots! A lovely afternoon to finish the day.
Thursday was another great day for guest speakers in Beef Systems - this class doesn't have a bad day! The first speaker was Dr Dale Blasi, the K-State Stocker Unit's manager of many years. Stocker operations are defined as a facility that feeds and manages cattle for growth going into the feedyard. From this, Dr Blasi explained what goes on at the Stocker Unit, before highlighting the importance and growth of stocker yards in the beef supply chain. Dr Blasi also touched on the management side of the Stocker Unit and explained where margins on cattle health, for example, can make or break the business. We also discussed options for incorporating stocker yards into family operations and how to get involved in stocker yards. Following Dr Blasi's presentation, we had Don Close of Rabobank on speaker phone. Mr Close is an Animal Protein Analyst for Rabobank and followed on from the previous presentation by discussing his perception of stocker yards and how they are/will influence the beef industry. An interesting point of view.
Friday came around again and I had been excited for this day all week! I was picked up by a fellow classmate, Payden, who was instructed to drive me to Wamego by his dad (poor guy!), around 20 miles away, to meet with a reproductive vet. After I'd been dropped off by Payden, I jumped in the car with Dr Joel Anderson of Cross Country Genetics. We were headed to Gene Barrett's Angus ranch near Grantville, KS. The whole drive to the Barrett ranch was spent talking about AI, ET, preg testing and genetics - I don't think Joel could get a question in! We arrived at the Barrett ranch where I met Anna and Ella Barrett, Gene's wife and daughter respectively. After a quick setup and homemade cinnamon scrolls (so good!), we got to work. We had around 100 cows and 60 heifers to vaccinate with multiple vaccines, ultrasound, body condition score and bleed. I was based right in front of the ultrasound screen and with Joel making comments as he went, I learnt a lot! After a little while, Joel offered myself and Ella a few goes at ultrasounding - a heap of fun and certainly a little trickier than I thought! All while this was going on, I was paying attention to the foetus' age and whether that cow conceived through ET, AI or naturally. Gene had outstanding record keeping with which he often had dates for a first AI, then a second AI if the first didn't work, and then a date when he saw the bull with that cow. This made Joel's job much easier and gave Gene the information about each individual cow to help him manage the cows until the calf was born. After getting though the first 160 head, which took us around 4 and a half hours, we stopped for a 5 minute burrito lunch before heading to another set of yards. Here, we finished the afternoon with another 100 head of cows where I was in charge of loading syringes with vaccine. We finally finished up around 3:30pm where Gene and I set out to feed a mob of cows before driving back to Manhattan. I was exhausted by the time we arrived in Manhattan, but I had such a fun day! I couldn't thank Gene or Joel enough for such a fun day.
