C A N A D I A N
H E R E F O R D
D I G E S T
THE HEREFORDS
The Simpsons’ cattle herd began with 100 Herefords, Shorthorns and Black Angus, which came with the ranch. Kerfoot, the original owner, kept registered Herefords and showed them and the good Herefords became a source of pride for the ranch. The herd was 1,000 commercial
at weaning individually and every 14 days hence, as a group, until they are a year old. That lets the Simpsons know if they are on track in terms of getting the right attention and feed. An average 1.5-pound daily gain is expected from the heifer group. Yearling weights are recorded on an individual basis. For heifer selection, the Simpsons use
Heifers are allowed two cycles with the bulls. This allows for a controlled two-month calving period for all heifers on the ranch. The objective is to have an over 85 per cent breeding success. The current rate is 83 per cent. Bulls are out for a total of 35 days with the cows. During breeding season, bulls are checked daily. Females are
The Simpsons can compare calving ease scores, birthweights and weaning weights from over the past 25 years Hereford cows-strong in the midnineties but during the BSE crisis, half the cows were sold. The Simpsons drew a line in the sand and all cows aged six years old and older were culled. Until the BSE crisis, the ranch had been a viable, self-sufficient business. It is now rebuilding the herd, which stands at 800 cows. Mature cow weights average 1,400 pounds. Birthweights are in the mideighties. Mobility is important in this herd, so good feet are absolutely required. So are eye and scrotal pigmentation. And these cows are culled hard. If heifers or cows come up open, they are culled. If they loose a calf at calving, they are gone. If they’re “ugly”, they’re gone. If they prolapse, they’re also gone. No exceptions. The Simpsons can compare calving ease scores, bir thweights and weaning weights from over the past 25 years. Heifer groups are weighed
records only, including health records. No personal colour preferences are involved. Neither is any “trend of the day” considered, according to John. The ranch records a pregnancy rate for each year, which is often a ref lection of sire groups or a particular letter group of cows. The ranch goal is to wean 95 per cent of the pregnant cows in the fall. Feed is tested annually and the ranch has a series of feeding programs, for the pre-breeding group, to the old cows and everything in between. Fed right, they aim to have cows rebred in one cycle. Heifer calves are weaned at upwards of 550 pounds while steer calves are weaned “north of 600 pounds.” Breeding season begins May 15th for the first-calf heifers and June 1st for the cows. Five to 10 bulls are purchased annually and bulls are kept until they no longer meet their annual performance tests.
JACK SIMPSON’S LEGACY Time magazine labeled Jack Simpson a ‘brilliant young engineer’ at the age of 29. Jack Simpson started as an engineer with the Burns & Dutton Calgary paving and contracting company, later to become a partner, turning it into the construction giant, CANA Construction Ltd. CANA has since been recognized as one of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada for 10 years in a row. As biographer Tyler Trafford recounts, companies under Simpson’s direction built petrochemical plants, hydroelectric power stations, university facilities, stadiums, airports, hospitals, cement plants, pulp mills, the B.C. Hydro Building, the Trimac Building, Bow Valley Square and landmark projects such as Calgary’s Performing Arts Centre, The Petro-Canada Centre, the Calgary Olympic Saddledome and the Edmonton Convention Centre. Jack Simpson was the only child of a CNR worker. He was an accomplished athlete in many sports and a soldier in 60
put into breeding groups of 100 so that bulls can be linked to specific calving groups. They start with two bulls per 100 cows in order to reduce fighting and ensure bulls get down to business. A third bull is added the second week. The ranch originally purchased bulls at the Calgary Bull Sale but for the past 20 years, the Simpsons have preferred buying bulls by private treaty or from ranch production sales, where John says he finds the bulls are represented more naturally. This past year, all 250 heifers were bred Red Angus, much to John’s chagrin, as part of Christie’s plan to experiment with the effects of hybrid vigour on calving ease and calving rate. Higher pregnancy rates are also predicted. Experience with F1s previously resulted not in smaller calves but in better calving ease scores and F1 calves outsold the straightbreds as
the Canadian army. He was described as a born leader and as physically and mentally stronger than most people. He was a collector of Canadian and aboriginal art and he was a hunter, trapper and rancher. His word was good. Trafford writes, “in anything [Simpson] did, he wanted to be the best. He researched everything and went into it 100 per cent.” Simpson gave a lot of attention to the ranch, when horses, not cattle, were the family’s focus through the 1960s and 1970s. He was a director on the Canadian Arab Association, on the Canadian Cutting Horse Association and on the Alberta Light Horse Association and was credited for bringing show jumping in western Canada to a higher standard. Jack paid $37,000 for Australis in 1969, believed to be the highest priced jumping horse in North America at the time, when John’s sister Barbara made the Canadian National Team. That team went on to win the Gold Medal at the Pan American Games in Columbia. Several world competition feats later, Barbara was named to The Alberta Horseman’s Hall of Fame in 1974.