Feddes Herefords

from Hereford America - September 2021

Sleepy Hollow Farm

Grand Champion Carload at the 2020 National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO.

more to me to see other people do well with our cattle. Some heifers we’ve sold have gone on to do very well showing, including the 2016 Western States Hereford Show Grand Champion Heifer in Reno and the Champion Hereford Heifer at the 2014 HLSR. In 2019, BCC Dominator 619D, a bull we raised, sired the Supreme Champion Bull at the National Western Stock Show. In 2020 one of our herdsires, Haroldsons Upgrade 33D sired the Supreme Champion Bull over all breeds at the Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City. I think that means more to me than the awards we have won.”

The Stock Show kicks off the year for Baumgartens in January, and they get home just in time to start calving heifers. Or not.

“Sometimes we get our first calf the day after we get home,” Jake said. “Sometimes it’s the day before… We start calving the heifers the last week in January, and then have our annual bull sale the first Friday in February. Our mature cows start calving the 15th of February. In between feeding cows and pushing snow we try to haul some grain if we get the chance.”

With the operation including both grain farming and cattle there’s never a slow moment on the ranch. By the end of March, Rollie and Jake are getting ready to get in the field and mending fences on the pastures. They seed approximately 3500 acres of wheat, corn, canola and sunflowers every year. Replacement heifers are AI’d April 20. Cows are AI’d in two groups, May 7 and June 1. They are also breeding a group of cows for fall calving now. They started using embryo transfer technology 20 (continued on page 6)

years ago and they are excited to forge ahead with that technology as they see improved quality in their replacements and more consistency in the bulls they sell.

“We’ve been flushing five to seven donors every year and putting in 6070 embryos,” Jake said. “I really hope we can increase how we utilize embryo transfer. We’ve seen our replacement heifers get two times better in the last two or three years. It helps us produce more high quality bulls and raise bulls with more consistency for our customers. It’s given a lot more depth to our cow herd.”

“I like to keep some extra females around,” Rollie said. “I like to let them and the calves they raise tell me which are the good cows after their first year or two in production.”

After the cows are AI’d they go straight to pasture, and by then it’s time to start thinking about haying. With drought conditions persisting for the last couple of years, bulls have been pulled early to shorten up the breeding season.

“We try to AI everything, then turn

Jake Baumgarten in the sale ring at their annual sale.

Bulls and bred females for sale

F Final Test 132 722 x Z311 Eye appeal, pigment, performance. Our 2021 bull calves are for sale. See them and their mothers at feddes.com. F 3006A Advance 907 HH Advance 3006A x 105Y Dehorned. Used in our herd for two breeding seasons. Tremendous length, depth, and power. Possession for sale.

BW WW YW M M+G REA Marb

1.9 69 111 28 62 .42 .52

BW WW YW M M+G REA Marb

For Sale Privately 80 bulls Bred females

BW WW YW M M+G REA Marb

2.8 65 103 34 67 .61 .11