NewsletterJan05

Farms

The Harvey's

Tom & Tina

Double

Farms

Double

Farms

Double

Newsletter

January 2005

Table of Contents:

I. Humor

II. Informative

III. Farm News

V. Current Events

V. Herefords Highlighted

Preface

I have come to realize through my conversations with many of you, that a newsletter detailing the happenings on the farm would not only be informative, but at the very least be somewhat amusing! Perhaps this could even develop into a forum based dialog where you, fellow breeders, and myself, can share and learn through others experiences. I cannot guarantee I will be able to provide material on a weekly basis, but I will make an attempt to provide something new every month or so. This might give y'all a reason to frequent our website, hear my philosophy on raising cattle, and learn a little more about our operation and our family.

I. HUMOR

Some of us learn lessons the hard way! (True story)

When I was a boy, I loved to fish. I would ride over 15 miles on my bike just to fish a good lake, or hike a creek for miles to find that big one, sitting in a deep pool. I even played hookie to go fishing. I must tell you that, "normally", I was the patient one when it came to fishing. I could sit for hours waiting on a bite. One day I was fishing off a lake dock with two of my friends. Usually I would be happy and content, but I also knew a bad spot when I saw one, and this was it! I knew this because I had fished it many times before. After some time of no action I became increasingly bored. My friends, on the other hand, were certain that a school of coaster sized bluegill meant bigger fish were present. I knew they were nothing more than a nuisance in that spot, but I could not convince them to hike the distance to where we could catch a stringer full.

I began to piddle, trying to find something to amuse myself with. It was then that I noticed the water was reasonably clear. Clear enough to see the bottom, but not so clear as to get a good idea how deep it was off the dock. I grabbed my 5' pole and reached into the water, unable to touch bottom even when my arm was shoulder deep. Hmmm, there had to be a better way. Perhaps a longer stick, or maybe letting my string go to the bottom and measuring it, but that wouldn't be a realistic "hands on" approach. I found my answer in a 9' timber post laying on the shore. Proud of my new find, I threw it on my shoulder and headed for the end of the dock. Once there, I eased the timber in the water, carefully balancing the now boyant measuring device.

My plan was simple. With one mighty thrust I would lift, then shove the mighty timber into the depths of the lake, seeing if it touched bottom and in turn confirming the depth off the dock! Whooosh went the log, and with so much momentum that my upper body and head followed the timber...but not off the dock. I followed it's path just enough to see that timber come right back up at an uncalculated speed, and hit me square in the face like a mack truck..except worse. All I remember is being thrown back on the dock, and suffering emense pain. My face was bloodied, my pride was hurt, and my intelligence was all that was measured. My friends ran over to ask what the heck I was doing, and I would have told them if it were not for the fact my lips were three sizes to big and all distorted! Needless to say I was done fishing for the day...but I had learned a valuable lesson in kinetics. To this day, I still flinch when I push a straw down into my soa pop!.....:)

The moral of the story:

"Think about the consequences of your actions. Sometimes a seemingly harmless act can have very harsh repercussions."

From a cattle raisers point of view:

Monitor the depth of your program with a common sense approach. Don't be caught following the trends. They may come back and hit you square in the face!

II. INFORMATIVE

Why the Motto: "Performance on the Hoof!"

The military has a way of placing emphasis on purpose, missions, and objectives. Many successful corporations in the private sector now mimic this goal oriented type structure to give their business direction. Like a good soldier I was determined to have my own....:) So, when we decided to make our Polled Herefords a business, we sat down as a family and talked about what our purpose was going to be? What was our mission and objective? We decided it was to produce Herefords that performed well, and met the needs of seedstock and commercial breeders. We wanted to express that our animals would do what we said they would do on pasture, not just on paper. So we we came up with a motto which we thought said it, plain and simple.

III.FARM NEWS:

This month we have recieved many emails, calls and inquiries for young open Hereford heifers. We have sold all but one of our 2004 heifers. January is also the typical time we see many calls for bulls, but those calls came even earlier than expected this year (in December). As a direct result we sold all our breed age bulls and bull calves earlier than usual. This is a good indication the demand for Herefords is increasing. Although the market is up, our prices have remained fair and consistent. We will not take advantage of buyers in a "bull" market.

Look for our consignments to the Hereford Breeders Online Auction slated for September of 2005! It will probably be the next best time to pick up some of our upcoming breed age bulls and heifer calves.

We are starting to see our early spring calves beginning to hit the ground. They are coming from RF Harvey 1G 17J and Gillespie Malachi M201. Later this spring we will also see calves from the Feltons 621 bull, DBLH Hoss L12, and Mike Willis' Red Dog 87L bull.

Trivia: Double H Farms originally used the "HH" prefix in front of new calves names. After the spring of 1999 we realized this prefix was all to common, so we changed our prefix to "DBLH". Some of the animals we kept in the herd who's names still bore the old prefix, were changed to the new, so they would all be uniform.

This year we will begin an embryo program which will be based on Dams of Distinction, proven cows, and 8 years of performance recording to back it up. We are certain these embryo matings will be what seedstock breeders are looking for. We have always taken pride in the fact that, for years, our program has been based on Hereford cows raising their own Hereford calves. Our program females we have selected for flushing have proven fertility, milk and calving ease up front. We are not just mating two winning show champions who's growth has been excellerated by feed, and in some cases a recipient holstien's milk from birth. We believe flushing a female prior to her ever proving herself capable of raising an exceptionl calf in a working contemporary group is risky at best. Genetics may very well be in the animals background, but that don't mean she shouldn't have to prove it! Very few show winners make truly good donor cows. It's the pictures and notoriety that sell their calves.

Note: Look for important information regarding Feltons 621 to be forthcoming.

IV. CURRENT EVENTS:

TPHA Annual Meeting and Banquet, and the Cowtown Select Sale was held at the Ft. Worth Stock Show today, January 30th, and for the first time in many years Tina and I did not make it due to our son being in from college.

Our Donor cow LLL Deana 2099 80E, owned with Stewart Polled Herefords, is now being flushed following the natural birth of her P606 bull calf in November. Her bull calf is outstanding and will probably see future use in both our herds. Deana's dam 2099, is noted as being one of the better cows Triple L Ranch ever had in their program.

Iraq held it's first elections yesterday. It may not seem like much at first glance, but it is truly a great accomplishment for demorcracy, and a tribute to the efforts for which our brave men and women have given their lives, and fought so hard to uphold. Freedom is precious. Our country knows it only so well, as we have been fighting for it in many differnt ways for over two centuries.

V. HEREFORD HIGHLIGHTS:

This is something Tina and Melissa came up with. I think it is a good idea too! We will highlight and animal either from our program, or one which is related or has direct influence on our program with each newsletter. This way you get to know our program and cattle a little better. This month we start with.......

WPH Ms Dyna 469 Born: 1/25/95

(depending on the bull used), and tend to grow out very well.

Four of her offspring have seen the show ring. One has gone into the "Ranch to Rail" program and did well. She has moved up from an April calving date to as early as December 31st. This is a testament to her fertility. She has weaned a 700lb calf, and is typically in the top end for weaning. This is a testament to her milk. Mike listed her with a minor assist at his ranch on her very first calf of 88lbs, and she weaned this first calf at 611lbs! Eight subsequent calves have come with no assistance. A testament to her calving ease. She is now 10 years old. She was first to calve in 2005 with a beautiful 87lb heifer out of Malachi. If we had to be "very" critical and fault her (as no cow is perfect) it would be that her calves usually weigh in the upper end on the group, she never looks fat and sassy (if you call those faults), and her front teats swell a little just prior to calving, but it is a very functional udder, and does not prevent a newborn calf from getting on the teats. Once milked they are perfect (as seen by the photo).

This is the kind of cow we want working in our program. "Knock on Wood", this cow has never been sick, lame or doctored, and neither has any of her calves. Low maintenance and high performance. Not perfect, but an animal that will perfrom where it counts. She is also a testament to the Willis Polled Hereford program, and their goal to produce fertile functional cattle. We have included photos of some of her offspring below. Her first bull calf from RF Harvey sold for $1,500 at just 4 months of age. He is pictured here as a yearling (wearing the ribbon).

It's calving time again....

....at Double H Farms

Ms Dyna was bred by Willis Polled Herefords of Emory Texas. We found her in a group of moma cows which had moved just outside Mike's regular calving window. As we were just getting started, and had no designated spring window yet, we decided to give her a try. She was selected because she showed to be heavy bred, carried strong pigmentation, and Mike spoke highly of her cow line. Her Grand Dam was a Dam of Distinction out of Skywalker 08N. Within days of purchasing her she calved an 82lb heifer. From that point on she was off and running in our program. To date, she has given a calf every year since calving at 2 years of age. Her calves are excellent quality, generally carry good pigmentation