Looks like the year is starting off right. Several of the kids who have been busy showing Double H Farms heifers have done well in their shows, and with the Lords blessing we are once again receiving ample rains, which is keeping the grass growing! We chose to skip the informative article this month and include it in our Summer Newsletter.
I. HUMOR
Preaching to the choir! (True story)
I'm sure all of us have made a sell which leaves us wondering if we did the buyer right, but have you ever made a sell where you question if the buyer did right by you? Last year, I sold a 3-way to an individual who I had never done business with before. I guaranteed the buyer that the cow was bred, otherwise I would compensate him with a partial reimbursement, and rebreed her. We agreed upon a price and a delivery date. We had a very nice visit following the delivery of the pair, then he wrote me a check and off I went. The next day I went to my bank to deposit the check and realized that he had made the check out incorrectly (actually I forgot to be specific). The bank would not except it even though I had been a patron for over 23 years! They suggested I take it by the bank from which the check originated. I thought that was a good idea, so off I went to the buyers bank. The teller at the buyer's bank informed me she could not cash the check either, despite me presenting proper identification. After some pleading with the her, trying to explain the circumstances, the teller agreed to double check with her boss. When the teller returned, she told me that they could not cash a temporary check addressed incorrectly. Temporary? I looked at the check much closer then before, and I didn't just make sure the correct amount was on it this time...:).
Sure enough! It was a temporary check, in fact it was #001! On top of that I now noticed the buyer had hand written his name and address in ink, it wasn't even printed on the check. My gears immediately began to turn. First, I thought my wife is going to kill me! She has an accounting background and she is always careful about money transactions. Whereas I just make friends out of customers and give them my trust...:). I would have to hear her use those three familiar words again...."that was stupid!", and then I would be forced to agree with her. How humiliating this would be......again. Needing an Ace before my hand was played I decided on a simple solution. I would call the buyer, since I was in his town anyway, and have him write me a new check. Having no cell phone, I made the call from the bank and all I got was an answering machine..dang! I would wait in the lobby of the bank for a while and see if he would return my message. I sat down in the lobby and began to reflect upon my trusting nature, and the mistake I had made by not paying closer attention the the check. That's when I noticed what the buyer had wrote as his business at the top of the check. There it was, my worst nightmare was coming true. The check was payable from: "Forge Cattle Co."!
I think this is the point where my hands began to sweat.
At least I knew where the pair was, or at least I knew where they were the day before. Of course it didn't help knowing I had dropped them off in a paddock area near a busy highway. Come to think of it, I never actually met the buyer up until the day I delivered the pair. Another person had come out the the place to pick the pair for the buyer in the first place! Arrrrgh....this was just getting worse by the minute. I couldn't take it anymore. I went back up to the teller and asked her if she knew where the street was which was on the check. She said it was only two streets over from the bank. Hooray, I thought...light at the end of the tunnel, hallelujah and thank the Lord! I hoped in my car and drove to the street then began to look for the address listed on the check. It took me two passes to realize it was either a church, or the empty lot next to a church. Now it began to set in. I had been taken for a ride. All I had to show for the transaction was a temporary check, numbered #001, a handwritten address on the check referencing a so called "Forge" Cattle Co., and a bad address with no residence. I would go back to the bank and hope my worst fears were wrong.
When I got back to the bank I asked the teller if she could at least tell me if the person listed on the check was a member of the bank. She obliged and reassured me that there was someone with an account by that name. I went on to amuse her with my story and my fears that the situation looked grim at best. (of course, my manlihood would not let me explain to a complete stranger that I would be receiving a verbal tongue lashing from my wife when I got home) When I got to the part about seeing a vacant lot and church where a residence should be she looked up the name again for me and said she thought that might be the new minister in town. Well, that would certainly help explain the church address, but what would a minister be doing buying cattle? I walked over to the courtesy phone and made one last call. He answered! I briefly explained the circumstances to the buyer and he said he would be right over. It all worked out for the best in the end. Of course, I couldn't tell the buyer some of the thoughts that were running through my mind that morning, but I did find out my new customer was in fact, a minister!
Since then, I have made a visit to his place, we converse over emails, and I have even listed his bull calf, which was on the side of that cow, for sale on my web site consignment's page. He had called once saying he had a vet check the cow and the vet called her open. I assured him I felt she was bred, as I had palped her, and not to ludylace her on the chance of aborting the calf. What's even more funny is that cow had her first two calves on Easter day, and this spring she calved again on a day of religious significance to a bull named after a prophet. He found the calf after having just done a newborn christening....it was a surprise blessing...:) The child which he had christened that morning bore the same name as the significance of the religious day, and the buyer, upon finding the young calf, gave it the same name also.
Well, the circumstances regarding that sell will always be remembered. You know, when I finally got home that infamous day, I was able to keep my head high. I told my wife the story (after I got the "where have you been?"), and even though I felt I made the case for trust that day, she felt it was her "duty" to remind me about checking the check, but I think she was just preaching to the choir!....:)
The moral of the story:
Faith is the cornerstone of trust and friendship!
From a cattle raisers point of view:
Enter a cattle business relationship with trust and friendship, and it will outlast the animal!
II.FARM NEWS:
Congratulations!
Michael Talbert on your second place finish at Houston with your calf scramble heifer.
Christina Tichenor on your second place finishes at Houston and Austin
Laura Haeckel for competing in the FFA program and doing a super job with Lady!
Thank You!
Preston DuBose, 3LJ Cattle Co., and Stewart Polled Herefords (for Kyle & Kyla Keahey), are all recent buyers of Double H Farms cattle. Thankyou for purchasing our cattle at the recent Association sales, STPHA, NETHA & Crosstimbers.
Notice
Our herd bull Feltons 621 who is co-owned with Stewart Polled Herefords and Willis Polled Herefords will be placed in the AHA's new non-certificate program. So, if you were considering a Felton's bred bull with a Trait Leader bull for a sire and a DOD for a Dam and didn't want the added expense of buying certificates, then 621 may be what you are looking for.
We have a nice Feltons Magnum son out of our JD Bellis DOD. He should be going into gain test this summer and will come out in September as a yearling, ready to go to work. If you are interested please give us a call or email us.
Due to us selling back quite a few head in the last year, we will not have much to sell the rest of this season. To date, we have only 2 to 3 bull calves, and a couple of heifers for sale. However, we do have semen on our bulls and frozen embryo matings that are available.
III. CURRENT EVENTS:
The All Star sale - May 29th in Sherman, Texas
State Jr. Show - May 22 - 25, Belton, Texas
Texas Polled Hereford Field Day - June 10th, between Meridian and Clifton, Texas
Texas Ranchers Relief Fund - Contact the TPHA at www.tpha.net. March winds kicked up one of the most devastating wildfires in recent Texas memory as thousands of acres were scorched, devastating several Hereford Ranchers in the region.
Hereford 101 will be Thursday, May 18 at 7 p.m. CST. Kansas State University.
AHA Introduces the Non-Certificate AI Bull Program
In an effort to increase the use of AI and send a message that the Hereford breed is serious about genetic change and providing a more consistent and predictable product, the American Hereford Association (AHA) Board of Directors recently approved the Non-Certificate AI Bull Program.
IV. HEREFORD HIGHLIGHTS:
Our Buy-Back Program
Farms
The Harvey's
Tom & Tina
Double
Farms
Double
Farms
Double
Newsletter
Performance on the Hoof!
Performance on the Hoof!
Performance on the Hoof!
Spring 2006
Thanks, and keep coming back!
Table of Contents:
This month we thought we would highlight our Buy-Back program at Double H Farms. Since our own kids are grown and we don't get to show as much anymore, we decided we would get a program together which would keep our cattle out there while helping Jr's get started. We also wanted Jr's to have a rewarding experience with their show Heifers, and not have to spend an arm and a leg to get it! To begin with, we sell the calves for allot less then selling them outright, plus we take $100 off the top of the price agreed upon if a child is enrolled in either 4H or FFA. We provide provide the Jr. with a calf that is halter broke, started on feed, and show clipped. So, when a calf is selected prior to weaning, she will be ready to go when she is picked up. After the calf's show career, we will buy back the show heifer for what the Jr. paid for her, and the Jr. will be given the show heifer's first calf "free" following it's weaning. We also pay the child monetary show
Michael Talbert recieving his trophy at Houston
for his calf scramble heifer bred by Double H Farms
incentive during the show career of the animal.based on placings and shows. We accept calf scramble certificates as part, or all of the purchase, and we will assist the Jr. in getting the heifer bred. If you are interested in this program, just give us a holler
156
209 CR 4625
Cooper, Texas 75432
903 395-2413
doubleh@vzinet.com
