Farms
The Harvey's
Tom & Tina
Double
Farms
Double
Farms
Double
Newsletter
Table of Contents:
Preface
Some things are built to last, some things require periodic maintenance, and some things will just have a given life expectancy no matter what we do to intervene.
I. HUMOR
Here he comes! (True story)
Years ago we had an army worm infestation which was devastating all the pastures in the county. At that time I did not have my private pesticide license and the worms were eating down my pasture to the point you could see their daily progress like a wave coming in to the beach! The local sprayer was tied up, so I called in the reinforcements. The reinforcements just happen to be a local pilot who had a reputation for his "skills". I made a phone call to the seasoned cropduster and told him my location. He told me to mark the pasture with an "X", and that he would be out in about an hour. Oh boy, a cropduster flying right over our place! I told the kids what was going to happen so they would be prepared when the time was right. Meanwhile, I ran out to the field with some toilet paper to make my mark...:)
It wasn't long before we could hear the roar of his engine in the distance. "Here he comes" I yelled. The kids ran outside just in time to see the plane fly right over the house, what a thrill! They jumped up and down at the excitement. He banked around and came back diving towards the ground. Of course I was narrating the pilots actions to the kids the whole time he made his approach....but wait, his approach...it was off! He was diving into the neighbors pasture to the East! Oh no! I ran to the county road hoping to intercept him, wildly waving my arms to get his attention, but it was too late. Two passes and he was gone. It was a fine show, but not what I had paid for.
I waited about thirty minutes then called the pilot. "I think you missed me" I said. Although he was somewhat surprised, he assured me he would come right back. He asked me to mark my pasture with a bigger "X". I did just as he said, using a roll of paper towels this time. It wasn't long before the roar of his engine could be heard again. "Here he comes again kids!", and so he did, banking his plane into the horizon then with one quick turn he began his dive. On his first pass I realized he had not seen the "X" as, this time, he began spraying my neighbors pasture to the West! I ran to the middle of the field waving my arms back and forth again. He banked on his second pass and came straight towards me...uh oh! I realized this may not have been a good plan...especially if he was still spraying when he got to me!
Luckily for me, he saw me (or my "X") during his low pass, but it was after dumping his payload. He pulled up, made a circle and tipped his wing to let me know he had seen me. Again I waited about thirty minutes then gave him a call. "I think you missed me again" I said. The pilot answered " yep, I did, but I think I'm just gunna sit down, have a beer and call it a day". I had to wonder if it really would be his first of the evening! The pilot kept his word and came back the following day, this time hitting his mark. The army worm problem was eradicated....and then some. My grass recovered and we haven't seen those pests around for many years! Come to think of it, I haven't even seen or heard frogs or crickets for many years! Just kidding.
The moral of the story:
Your expectations may fall short if you fail to understand the reasons behind them.
From a cattle raisers point of view:
You can make your mark in the pasture, but not knowing your customers' directions can cause that mark to be missed!
II. INFORMATIVE
"Seeing,....the problem" (opinion)
This week I will be taking a bred momma cow to the sale barn. I'll be pulling her four month old bull off her early and will have to feed him out instead. She has been a good cow, raising some outstanding offspring and putting a good return back into our operation. I had hoped to keep her until she at least calved again, and I would have kept her until she was old and spent, but her time is up. It will sadden me to see her go. She was purchased for $800 as a bred cow, and will probably only bring half of that for slaughter. The reason? She has developed eye cancers. This will be the first animal in our program that we have had to cull for this reason since we began raising Herefords in 1996. In fact, we have had only one other incident involving an animals eye. It was pinkeye, and it was another persons heifer which was only temporarily on our place to be bred. Am I saying I have never had a case of pinkeye in my herd in 9 years? Yes!
You see I believe the problem lies within the management. Eye problems will naturally occur in cattle, and they are often even genetically present, but if we cull and manage for these causes we can reduce their frequency of occurrence. To this day (knock on wood), I have not had any animals in my herd, save the heifer mentioned above, come down with pinkeye. With the one exception mentioned at the beginning of this article, I have also had none with eye cancers. Have I been lucky, or have I been just been proactive? How have I managed to prevent this common affliction, labled as a "Hereford problem", from running it's course through my herd? It is true Hereford cattle are associated with eye problems. It is also true that lack of eye pigmentation (which is common in Hereford cattle) can be a contributing factor to these problems. I will briefly explain what I feel are some of the reasons cattle end up with eye issues, and give my spin on why it seems prevalent in Hereford cattle.
Hereford cattle dominated the free range for many many years in America. They could be found in just about every climate and place. Estimates are that over 60% of beef cattle were Hereford or Hereford derivative at one time. Herefords, due to their ability to perform under adverse conditions were being exposed to some of the harshest range conditions out there. Heat, dust, drought, cold, wind, snow, glare, brush, sparse vegetation, and high density group conditions which were managed by a "collect the calves once a year" program were common place for Herefords. These type of conditions help contribute to eye problems. Realistically, they would irritate any animals eyes, no matter what the breed, that's assuming any other particular breed could survive long enough under these conditions to begin with! To this day, most of the toughest ranges and environments are still populated with the Herefords as they have proved their survivability. However, these range cattle can be very difficult to manage, and eye problems un-checked can rapidly spread from animal to animal and/or eventually develop into cancers. If 60% of the cattle were a particular breed then it can be expected that they would be associated with 60% of the common afflictions. So goes the Hereford legacy.
So, if we remove some of the conditions and management practices which contribute to common eye problems we have taken the first step towards prevention. A little shade, or a simple wind break can go along way with glare, winds and dust. Mowing down tall grass and brush, or spraying for weeds with windborne seeds can also aide in the prevention of airborne particles or direct contact eye irritation. Checking the animals regularly and keeping the fly population down to eliminate cross contamination from infected animals is another way to help the spread of common ailments such as pinkeye. Breeding animals for eye cover characteristics and pigmentation around the orbit also helps protect the eye and helps with the affects of excess glare. Another way is to keep a relatively closed herd. Try not to bring in sick or infected animals, or at least isolate new animals from the herd until they have been properly vaccinated and/or checked. This will keep the problem smaller and make those problems easier to manage. Finally, just keeping the animals healthy, and strong, with mineral supplementation will assist with their immunities against these type things, and of course vaccinating them for pink eye seals the deal.
We cannot completely eliminate eye problems in cattle, but we can take precautions to reduce the chances we will have to deal with them down the road. Heredity, the environment, and management conditions will always be factors, and cancers will always pop up no matter what we do to prevent the likelihood of these problems. Improper management of our herds will cost money, and sometimes it can cost you the loss of a good animal in production. The animal we lost did not have pigmentation around the eye or good eye cover which is something we try to breed for here at Double H Farms. She also went years with small little polyps occurring intermittently around her eyes. I always though her lack of pigmentation caused excess glare on her eye, and that it was just matting due to mucous build-up. However, when we took her in for her recent exam we were told by our veterinarian that these were pre-cancerous polyps . Removal of one eye was not an option to salvage this cow, as the cancer had taken to both. We have been left with no choice but to ship her. We highlighted her is this issue.
III.FARM NEWS:
Wow! Our P606 son out of our Donor cow LLL Deana 2099 80E weaned at 730lbs a couple of weeks shy of 7 months old! Interest and possession of this bull may be for sale in the near future.
Internet Auction lots for Septembers sale will be posted on our site in June!
We will be offering embryos, semen, bulls, and heifers.
Stacy and Jason Earnest are the most recent buyers of Double H Farms cattle. Thankyou!
Watch for more flushes! Two of our Feltons Dams of Distinctions will be flushed this year.
Double H Farms is proud to announce the purchase of 2 new animals from the J.D. Bellis sale. Check out the "New Additions" page on our web site for details.
The Hereford Breeders Online Auction, slated for September of 2005, will probably be the next best time to pick up some of our upcoming breed age bulls and heifer calves. Check out the "Auctions" link on our "Sale Barn" page!
IV. CURRENT EVENTS:
The Texas All Star Sale will be in Sherman Texas on May 30th.
The Texas State Jr. Preview Show will be held in June
The Jr. Nationals will be held July 9th through the 16th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this year.
V. HEREFORD HIGHLIGHTS:
GM Vixon 6F
05/25/1996
Well, that about wraps it up. We certainly hoped you enjoyed the newsletter! Email us and let us know what you think.
ThankyouTom and Tina HarveyPerformance on the Hoof!
Performance on the Hoof!
Performance on the Hoof!
May 2005
"Vixon" was purchased at the South Texas Polled Hereford Sale in February of 2000 where she was dubbed the Reserve Champion Bred Female. She was Tina's first purchase at a registered sale with no help from the peanut gallery! She was a bargain at the price we paid, and she came heavy bred. She calved in March of 2000 and was off and running. Her first bull calf out of RF Harvey was an awesome specimen who won Reserve Grand Champion Bull at our County Fair as a yearling, then sold for $1,500 at 16 months of age. Vixen moved up in her breeding cycle, and by 2004 she was calving in January. Her birth weight ratio was 94% on 6 calves, her weaning weight ratio was 104% on 5 calves, and her Yearling weight ratio was 103% on 4 calves. She was not reported on in her first couple of years, and her Dam did not have EPD values, so her EPD's only
Vixen was good cow with excellent mothering ability. She milked heavy and rebred despite her body condition being moderate to borderline at weaning. Her calves always had excellent tops and fleshed out easily. We wished now we would have saved more daugters. Fortunately we have one good replacement from RF Harvey. We also have her upcoming son who looks to be another outstanding calf, and he will probably see some use in our herd in the future. We hate to lose cows like these. Not perfect, but definately the kind that brings profit in a program. In the 5 years we kept her in our program she was an asset. At the very least she was able to give 7 years of beef production in her 9 years. I was disappointed when Tina purchased her because her dam did not carry any EPD values and we were takjng a chance with an unknown, but I will be more disappointed in her loss knowing that an opportunity like her does not come around very often. I'm sure Tina will make sure she reminds me of this every so often... :)
Well, that wraps up our Fifth newsletter, we hope you keep coming back!...:)
reflected a portion of her actual performance ability.
Even with good Management, you can lose some good'ns!
DBLH Hardcopy R02
Vixen's last calf at Double H Farms
"Appropriately named"!
084
209 CR 4625
Cooper, Texas 75432
903 395-2413
doubleh@vzinet.com
