Over THE
Fence
Over the Fence with Matt Jarvis, Rollin J Ranch, Phillipsburg, Kansas
By Tom Strahm
Over the past several years, Matt and Shelly have been able to expand their cow-calf operation. Matt has built pens and a grow yard, which initially was for weaning their homeraised calves. This has created more marketing flexibility for backgrounding, and potentially feeding of the home-raised calves. It has also created the opportunity to do some custom backgrounding of other feeder cattle at different times. Matt has fed-out his home-raised cattle in the past, and is planning to do more of it in the future.
How did you get started using Gelbvieh and Balancer® genetics?
M
att and Shelly Jarvis are busy chasing kids and cows on the Rollin J Ranch in north central Kansas. They primarily operate a commercial cow-calf operation, and are located near Phillipsburg, Kansas. Matt and Shelly have three children. Their oldest is daughter, Joey (7), middle child is daughter, Charley (5), and the youngest is their son, Buster (4). In addition to the cattle and kids, Shelly owns and operates the Rollin J Boutique. She sells women’s apparel and accessories via her website, therollinj.com, as well as through the storefront in Phillipsburg. Matt grew up in the Phillipsburg area. His immediate family was involved in a diversified operation that included row crops and livestock. Matt developed a passion more specifically for beef cattle and the cow-calf operation while spending time helping his grandfather who ran commercial cows. After high school, Matt went to Fort Hays State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in agriculture with an emphasis in animal science. Following graduation, he went to work as a field engineer for ICM and was involved in the onsite construction of ethanol plants. During this time, Matt began purchasing a few cows to start his own herd. Eventually, he returned home to the Phillipsburg area and started ranching and raising cattle fulltime in about 2007.
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“When I moved back, and was trying to start a cowherd, I had the opportunity to purchase some cows from some older guys who were retiring. Several of those cows had Gelbvieh influence. I was very impressed with their maternal strengths and their docility. Those cows raised big calves and were easy to handle!” Matt continues, “Initially, most of the females I bought to build my herd were Angus-based bred heifers. Because I liked what those other Gelbvieh-influenced females were raising for calves, I decided to buy Gelbvieh bulls to use on the Angus-based females that I was buying.”
What are some advantages of Gelbvieh and Balancer genetics that you appreciate? “The maternal strengths of Gelbvieh are a great advantage in my cowherd. These females are good mothers, they have quiet dispositions, they claim their calves at birth, and then they milk good.” Since Matt has grown his herd to a more sustainable number of cows, he is keeping his own replacements instead of purchasing outside females. “I have been able to raise better females than I was able to purchase.” Now that he is retaining his own Gelbvieh and Balancerinfluenced replacement females, Matt is purchasing more Balancer bulls to maintain a more optimum balance and blend of Continental and British breed genetics. “I want to end up at about one-half to five-eighths Gelbvieh influence overall. I like those females. I like to