Welcome... A
s we close off this chapter of our lives, Diane and I reflect on where we started and what it took to get this far – buying my first purebred heifer in 1965, and marrying Diane Clemens in 1971, raising our family of three beautiful daughters and growing our cow herd to 300 registered Hereford and Black Angus cows. After watching successful operations over the years, I realized we needed to target a market and focus on that in order to become profitable, as our total livelihood depended on the cows being profitable. We needed to use all the tools and technology to ensure we were always moving forward. I looked at operations I looked up to like Evertt and Anna Batho of Batho Farms, Don and Sylvia Mitchell of Klondike Farms, my Father and Grandfather as examples of cattlemen that had goals and had a plan to achieve them. We targeted the commercial bull and female trade. We had to have FERTILITY (10 times more important than growth on an economic basis). We have had a 60 day breeding season since the late 70’s and more recently, a 21 day breeding season before we flip the bulls to the opposite breed. Over the last number of years, 78-84% of our calves are purebred and approximately 20% are black baldies. We also needed excellent feet and legs to carry these cattle for many years (our EPD on stayability in our herd exceeds the national average by a considerable margin); we have not trimmed feet on anything since 1977. We needed milk but only enough to produce a good calf on the availability of grass and hay. They needed hair to stand our Manitoba winters with -40 to -50 wind chills. We wanted to match milk production with environment. Lastly, we needed a cow big enough to raise steers, heifers and bulls to meet all our available markets and yet still be able to raise a calf, rebreed and get back into good condition to thrive in our cold, windy winters on standing grass and hay. They had to be profitable. It is with mixed emotions that we present these cattle for sale to you at this time, but as we all know Father Time waits for no one and we want to spend more time with our family and grandchildren and be less tied to our cows. Thank you for your interest in our breeding program and all the best with your purchase.
Don & Diane
Guilford Hereford Ranch
Don & Diane Guilford Box 100, Clearwater, MB R0K 0M0 P: (204) 873-2430 E: ghr@mymts.net Don’s Cell: (204) 825-0105