Midwest Herdsman - Fall 2023

Midwest Herdsman

PRODUCTS PRODUCTS custom + personalized

Cowherd Record Books

Keep track of your operation with this cowherd record book. forget the days of trying to remember who you treated or where you put that piece of paper. This cowherd record book will provide organization to your herd.

Details: 200+ pages of record sheets

8x6 sprial bound record book

Breeding, calving treatment, pasture + grazing, feeder performance, Individual cow records, notes, gestation table + more.

Water proof + tear proof covers

general cover - $25

Custom cover - $30

*shipping not included

Branded wild rags

Rep your brand with these custom designed wild rags. Both fashionable and functional, a custom wild rag is a perfect gift for friends and family! order before October 15th for christmas delivery.

Details: two sizes available

100% real silk material

Semen tank tags

Never lose track of your semen or embryo inventory again. These semen tank tags hang right on the handle of your tank and include refillable sheets made to write directly on. The Ultimate semen tank organization achieved.

Details:

Plastic tank hanger with magnet

Refillable sheets

Completely custom design specific to you and your brand

Custom design - $55

*shipping not included

Semen tank inventory, embryo inventory, tank refill records + gestation tables.

additional sheets available for order refills - vary on qty

bundle - $20

*shipping included

*7 day turnaround

upcoming events

Genetic Reflections

Open house

09.16.23 - 09.17.23

Carrousel Farms

hosted by sc online sales 09.17.23

Wedig Cattle

Hosted by Steerbidder 09.17.23

Weigel’s Steer Pit

Hosted by Sc Online Sales 09.17.23

Marda Angus Farm

Live sale in Lodi, WI

11.18.23 12.01.23 - 12.03.23

Badger brawl

Show in madison, WI

Platinum Sale

December 2023

WBIA Bull Sale

Live sale in Platteville, wi 04.06.24

Sandrock Ranch Herefords

Live sale in benton, wi 04.06.24

Backroad Creative marketing Services Available

Spengler Cattle

Hosted by sc online sales

Tibbits Livestock Bid-off sale 09.18.23 steers -09.25.23 Heifers - 10.06.23

World Beef Expo west Allis, wi 09.28.23 - 10.01.23

Badger Select Sale

live sale in darlington, wi 10.08.23

Out of the northwoods sale

Hosted by Sc online sales Steers - 10.08.23 Heifers- 10.09.23

bernard show cattle

live sale in grand ridge, IL 10.10.23

generations sale

Live sale in endeavor, WI 10.15.23

Boo Bash show at Jefferson Co, wi 10.29.23

Coney Creek Farms

Hosted by sc online sales 11.10.23

Primetime Performance

Year-round services available

Schmitt show cattle

calves available private treaty

Final Drive Group see ad for sale details

Vyvyan cattle co

calves available private treaty

Great lakes belted galloway assn now accepting memberships

ADM

Feed & Supplements available

Hueber show feed

feed & supplements available

Reilly Ranch

Calves available private treaty

SVS REPRO

NOW BOOKING 2024 BREEDING SEASON impact hampshires

Semen available

Brodie Abney Photography

Now booking 2024 clients

Moll Cattle Company

Pasture sale this fall

SC Online Sales

booking sales now

Lime Ridge Ag Supply

various products available now

Meister’s Forest Products

various options available now

midwest herdsman

thank you!

From the editor:

This September marks the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of my purchase of Midwest Herdsman. What a wild ride! Midwest Herdsman has evolved into a publication and a marketing service which truly serves its clients in almost all capacities. We have done this together and I am so proud of how we have gotten here. Through blood, sweat and literal tears, you are holding the 9TH ISSUE of the magazine on the 5TH ANNIVERSARY of closing my eyes and jumping in. We did it.

I will admit there has been some hard days... being a business owner is not for the weak (as many of you know all too well.) One defeated night a couple years ago, my husband said, “Stick with it. You’re playing the long game.” In hindsight, we should have written that date down because that may be the first (and last) time I’ve listened without a rebuttal. But, he was right. After five years of showing up, this business has blossomed which is synergistic for everyone involved. As I take on more projects, I continue to sharpen my skills and build new relationships which helps me offer my clients the highest quality products, services and partnerships.

So here is your reminder to “play the long game” as Calvin would put it. The hard work and elbow grease that you are putting in today may not show instant results. But keep showing up, keep pushing forward, and keep doing the damn thing.

Reilly

Jayde

Marda Asti

Dam: Marda Asti 944

Sire: Ellingson Three Rivers 8062

Grand Champion PGS Heifer

Eastern Regional Angus Show

Division IV PGS Champion

National Junior Angus Show

Sold in 2022 Production Sale!

Her maternal sister sells in our 2023 sale; plus many more like her!

Guest Consignors: Cornerstone Livestock, Premier Angus, Johnson Family Cattle, Lone Oak Angus and Spring Creek Cattle Company

S A L E P R E P

P r o t e i n 1 2 % , F a t 3 % , F i b e r 1 5 . 8 %

C U S T O M E R R E V I E W

W e h a v e u s e d H u e b e r S h o w F e e d s S a l e P r e p f o r

o v e r a y e a r a t H e n n i n g F a r m s . S i n c e s t a r t i n g t o

f e e d S a l e P r e p , o u r c a l v e s h a v e i n c r e a s e d t h e i r

c o n d i t i o n a n d o v e r a l l c o v e r . T h e i r b l e n d o f f i b e r

s o u r c e s c a n b e a c c r e d i t e d f o r o u r i m p r o v e m e n t

o f p r e s e n t a t i o n c o m e s a l e d a y .

Danny Zehr, Henning Farms - Janesville, WI

S a l e P r e p i s a c o m p l e t e t e x t u r i z e d f e e d d e s i g n e d t o d e v e l o p c a t t l e a n d g i v e t h e i d e a l a m o u n t o f f l e s h a n d f i l l f o r s a l e t i m e .

F o r i n c r e a s e d c o n d i t i o n , f i l l a n d c o v e r - t r y o u r S a l e P r e p P l u s !

w w w . h u e b e r f e e d . c o m

social media post ideas

for your ag business or farm.

by Jayde Reilly, Owner of Midwest Herdsman

1 Your Story

Introduce yourself, your operation and what you do! You gain new followers over time. Be sure to re-introduce yourself occasionally to make connections.

2 Your Team

Large or small, introduce your team to your followers. There are many key players that make the wheels turn every single day. Highlight them with a post.

3 Tips and Tricks

You want to be seen as an “expert” in your field to your customers. Share a helpful tip with them that pertains to your product or industry.

4 An Upcoming Event

Do you host an annual sale? Maybe there is a farmer’s market happening in your area? Share details of the event with your followers to spread the information.

5 Updates

Something happening around the farm today? Share pictures or videos of daily activities as well as special events.

6 Quotes

Share your favorite inspirational quote. Include it in a post with a captivating picture.

7 Say “Thank You”

Your customers are the most important part of your business. Make sure to occasionally thank them for their support and loyalty.

8 Your Products

Education surrounding your product line up is essential in not only building trust with your customers but generating more revenue through sales. Share your products in posts and stories.

9 Behind the Scenes

Your followers like to see what you are up to! Share photos and videos of what you are doing and the behind the scenes processes in getting your product or service to them.

11

A giveaway post is a great way to encourage follower engagement with your accounts and to increase your brand awareness with swag.

Poll or Vote

Get your followers talking! Ask them to participate in a poll on social media. Red or green tractors?

12 Recipes

Share a recipe using ingredients that you produce or sell. This is a great way to inspire your followers to take action.

13

Popular Products

Post a popular product and how you utilize it. This can be one of your own products or someone else’s product that you find useful.

14

National Holidays

Wish your customers and followers well during the holidays with a social media post. But don’t forget...all of the smaller “holidays” give us great reasons to post as well!

15 A Story

Did something funny happen on the farm today? Sharing stories with your followers will help them relate to you as a real person behind the account.

Put it into practice!

1. Utilize the scheduling feature to post across platforms and into the future.

2. Post to your stories on Instagram and Facebook for more views on your content.

3. Engage with your followers through comments and likes.

Tips for preparing for your Online Livestock Sale 4

With cattle sale season upon us in the Midwest, you may be busy preparing for your upcoming online sale. If so, here are some tips from SC Online Sales that may help the process be more efficient and effective for all involved!

1. Schedule your date! Your sale date depends on a few different factors – timing, age of the livestock you’re selling, and most importantly making sure your livestock looks the part! Planning and getting a game plan established regarding a feed program and daily management is vital to your sale date. You want to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get them on a high-quality ration and looking their best in regards to condition and hair quality. Presenting your product well and displaying their potential will certainly help in getting them sold for their full value!

2. Find a photographer and book them! We highly recommend hiring a photographer that specializes in taking livestock photos (more specifically, the species you are selling). Now, if photography is something you are gifted at, by all means utilize that talent (and feel free to skip to the next step!) However, if you are not comfortable behind the camera, there are many talented photographers out there who do this full-time. The cost of hiring a photographer can sound a bit daunting, but this is how I look at it: I wouldn’t hire just some random person to do my taxes and I know darn well I am NOT good with numbers and I have NO idea what I am doing and I want it done RIGHT so maybe (just maybe) I can get a tax refund or don’t have to pay anything. So, I hire a professional – a certified CPA. The same concept goes for hiring a professional photographer. Capturing high-quality photos and videos that represent each animal well is EXTREMELY important. Since this is an online business, this is how most of your buyers are making their

purchasing decisions – off of the pictures you have provided! Our team has found that sellers who hire this service to be done have had much more success with their online sales and positively affected their bottom line! If you need help finding a professional livestock photographer, your SCO Rep will gladly point you in the right direction — or you can check out the “Resources” tab on our website.

3. Promoting your sale! Now that you have booked your sale date and scheduled your photographer, it is time to PROMOTE YOUR SALE! We offer multiple options to help with this. Our homepage offers two different ad sizes for you to optimize your views on our page. Our graphic designer will happily design this for you. We also offer targeted text message marketing. Our team will help you put together a list of recipients that are interested in bidding on whatever it is you’re selling. We can break the demographics down by bidders' location, the sex and breed of the animals you are selling, and much more! With the convenience and popularity of social media, promoting and marketing your sale on social media is also a valuable option. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat provide a high volume of reach to potential buyers. If social media is not your thing, you can always reach out to your SCO Rep, who will be happy to help share content through our SCO social media channels. Not only is the internet a great way to promote your sale, but investing in print ads with publications specific to the show industry is also another avenue we highly recommend. i.e. The Show Circuit magazine OR what you are reading now - The Midwest Herdsman, which reaches more than 3,000 livestock producers and exhibitors in the Midwest.

4. Organizing & sending sale materials! Now that you have your sale date established and your photographer has come, it is time to send in all of your sale materials. At SCO, we provide an easy-to-complete Excel spreadsheet that is specifically designed for your type of

sale which is sent to you via email approximately 2-3 weeks before your sale. This is where you will provide your lot and consignor information as well as your comments/footnotes. In regards to photos, it is important that they are all labeled accordingly (I always suggest labeling them by tag number or lot number, and if you have multiple pictures for one lot, name them in the order you would like them to be posted – EXAMPLE: Lot 1 A.jpeg, Lot 1 B.jpeg, Lot 1 C.jpeg.) Once the spreadsheet is filled out and pictures are labeled –the next step is sending them in. We recommend sharing all pictures and files via Dropbox. It’s a cloud storage service that allows you to share any file or folder easily with anyone! We usually encourage sellers to get their sale materials submitted at least 5-7 days before their sale date to ensure the sale is posted with plenty of time for viewers to look!

SC Online Sales prides itself on its customer service and more combined years of industry experience than any other online sales platform. So, whether you are selling cattle, sheep, goats, or swine, let the “Best Team in the Business” help you sell your stock. Feel free to contact any of our SC Online Sales Reps to book your next online sale!

by Deven Wilson, Social Media and Digital Marketing Director. www.sconlinesales.com

Article

midwest herdsman Details & Dates

Future issues:

Spring Issue 2024

Ads due: January 1st

Published: February 1st

Fall Issue 2024

Ads due: August 1st

Published: September 1st

All ads need .125” bleeds included. No crop marks or bleed marks Necessary.

Sizes & Specs:

Full page: 8.5 x 11

Half Page: 8.5 x 5.5

Business card 2 x 3

Ad Pricing Packages

*See new tiered ad package structure on page 37

Special ad placements may result in higher rates. Design services also available for an additional charge.