Nebraska Hereford Tour

Baumgarten Herefords...

(continued from page 5) F-1 baldies, only fi ve percent or so are used on Hereford cows. Ten years ago it was a lot harder to sell a Hereford bull but there is a lot more interest now. We sell a lot of good bulls to folks who are not just customers, they are friends.”

While the bulls get most of the press, it’s the cows that are at the heart of everything Baumgartens do. “Our biggest focus in on our females,” Rollie said. “The cowherd is the strength behind what we do. Both Jake and I look for longevity, for easy keeping, good uddered productive cows. These big pastures with their rolling hills, maybe only one water source in a mile, and with limited grass keep a cow herd hardy and functional.”

Jake Baumgarten with fiance Savannah and their son Theodore.

bulls out for pasture breeding,” Jake said. “We want the cows to calve in a 45-day window; every mature cow that is open in the fall gets sold. We’ve pulled them early the last few years and this year we don’t have as many opens as in the past. I think it’s really helped our fertility. A little management makes a big diff erence.”

The fall cows start calving around August 20. It’s been a lower stress management option than the January and February calves for Rollie and Jake.

“We really like calving without having to worry about the weather,” Rollie said. “We are usually still haying and in the middle of harvest, but for the most part it’s gone smoothly. We check once a day, weigh and tag calves, and that’s about it.”

Bull calves are weaned right after Labor Day weekend; heifer calves around October 15. Market and feed supply dictate when steer calves are weaned and sold, so that can vary from year to year. In between harvesting wheat, doing fall projects, and harvesting corn and sunfl owers, they run a fall heifer sale on the internet.

“This year it will be on October 13,” Jake said. “We pick out some show prospects, some cow prospects; this fall we’re off ering 10 heifer calves and fi ve bred heifers. They might go for show heifers or cow prospects or both.”

By December, it’s time to get ready for the bull sale and the stock show, and another year has rolled around. Bulls will be DNA tested this fall and enhanced EPDs run based on the DNA testing.

“Probably 75 percent of our bulls stay within a hundred mile radius,” Jake said. “It’s nice that they are close enough that we can go and see how they are doing for our customers. The majority of the bulls are used on commercial cattle, black cows or solid reds for producing

Wendy and Rollie Baumgarten with Wendy’s grandsons Benjamin and Isaiah.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

8:30-10:00 CENTRAL

HELMS POLLED HEREFORDS + SCHROEDER BROS. POLLED HEREFORDS

WELCOME AND BREAKFAST Gosper Co. Fairgrounds: 104 Rockford St., Elwood, NE

11:00-12:15 CENTRAL

ESTERMANN HEREFORDS

35219 S. Somerset Rd., Wellfl eet, NE

JUDGING CONTEST

CLASSES TO BE RANKED AT EACH STOP. OPEN TO EVERYONE ON THE TOUR.

GRAND PRIZE: REGISTERED HEREFORD HEIFER SPONSORED BY VAN NEWKIRK HEREFORDS

1:00-3:00 CENTRAL

JOHN SUKRAW, SACHTJEN HEREFORDS, SPEAR LAZY V RANCH + XA CATTLE

LUNCH AND INDUSTRY SPEAKER Lincoln Co. Fairgrounds: 5015 W. Rodeo Ave., North Platte, NE

3:00-4:30 MOUNTAIN

SNOWSHOE CATTLE COMPANY

194 Broken Axle Rd., Arthur, NE

5:15-8:00 MOUNTAIN

VAN NEWKIRK HEREFORDS

DINNER AND CLOSING 18302 Hwy. 26, Oshkosh, NE