TM
The Largest Privately Owned Hereford Newspaper in North America The one that’s read “from cover to cover.” • Visit us on the web at: www.herefordamerica.com
Vol. 21, No. 6
Serving Commercial Cattlemen & Registered Hereford Breeders
Published by: Hereford America, Inc. • 13823 Beaver Creek Place • Reva, SD 57651
Editorial Comments... Jill Bayers Hotchkiss I don’t remember having a bull sale season as cold as this one! In the month of February we have 35 Jill Hotchkiss sales on the calendar and we try to make it to quite a few. The ones I attended in midFebruary, mostly in North and South Dakota, were bitterly cold with a hefty amount of wind. While the windchill factors weren’t quite what they were in Montana, there were quite a few days that were about 0-5 degrees (F) with a 20 to 30 mph wind, making it feel about 20-30 below zero. My northern friends are probably laughing about that. One (continued on page 36)
Byron Bayers It has been a tough winter in parts of Hereford America Country. Northeastern Montana recorded a 50 below temperature last Byron Bayers week and it was not uncommon for temperatures to be in the 20 to 30 below range. As I write this article it is 15 degrees below zero here. Heavy snow has hit Montana the Dakotas, Wyoming and parts of Oregon and Washington. It was reported that the Van Newkirk sale was held on a 35 below degree day and yet the people came and purchased cattle in that sale at a high dollar figure. As I watch The Weather Channel daily and see the storms being (continued on page 4)
March 2018
Strong Ranch Woman Continues Long History of the Empire Ranch Hulett, WY – Judy McCullough never thought she’d be running a ranch by herself, but when her husband Curt passed away in 1995, the rancher pulled her hat down tight and decided to keep on ranching. “When Curt died in 1995, cow prices were terrible. I couldn’t bring myself to sell two men’s life work for peanuts,” she says. “Then, by the time the prices came back up, I wanted to keep ranching.” McCullough admits to being “scared half of the tim e th o s e f ir s t five years.” “I never worked harder in my life,” she continues. “I had to do everything I expected my partner to do. But I had good advisors.” “My dad was still alive, and he was a good stockJudy McCullough, Empire Ranch, has man,” she says. She credits her successfully maintained the ranch on own for over 20 years, while also father and neigh- her getting involved in the issues facing the bor Skip Waters agriculture industry. for being her greatest supporters and teachers. “I got a university education from those two,” she admits.
Hereford heifers are bred to Longhorn bulls. After their first calf, the Hereford cows are bred to Hereford bulls.
Even though she had a hired man to assist with the work, there was still plenty of learning to keep the ranch running. On the ranch Today, the ranch has Herefords with a twist. “We put Longhorn bulls on our yearling heifers,” notes McCullough. “first for the calving ease. Then, those Longhorn bulls keep the neighbors’ bulls out.” She continues, “In addition, those Longhorn-cross calves sure teach a
young cow to keep a calf with her at all times. We don’t have 200 calves in the back when we’re trailing them. We put them through the gate, and in a couple of minutes, there is no bawling.” She admits the Longhorn calves aren’t worth as much in the fall, so they keep them and sell them as yearlings. “They are worth as much as any other yearling,” McCullough says. She uses Hereford bulls on the second-calf heifers and the older cows. Work on the ranch McCullough calves from April 15 until around June 15. “We calve later because we calve all of the cows in the open, except for the two-year-old heifers,” she explains. “It’s rare we need to pull one, but things happen, and sometimes, we’ll need to have them close.” Hereford bulls are purchased from Largents out of Kaycee, WY, Fawcett Herefords from Ree Heights, SD, Mrnak Herefords from Bowman, ND and Micheli Herefords out of Ft. (continued on page 8)