Bull development
The best compliment we receive is that our bulls do not change after they have been turned out. Customers continue to report that the bulls come off the cows/heifers with little to no weight loss. This was one of our main goals when we made the decision to change how we grow and develop them.
Several years ago, we made a change to our bull development and customer reports have been overwhelmingly positive. Developing the bulls at a slower pace out on large pastures post-weaning has been the best change we have made to our operation. The bulls are weaned at approximately 200 days of age, with no creep, and dry-lotted for 2 to 3 weeks before being turned onto brome pasture. These 2 to 3 weeks would be the only time they are dry-lotted until sale week.
Approximately May 1, they are hauled to native grass pastures until the first part of October. At that time, they are brought closer to home and run on a fescue-mix pasture with a restricted supplementation mix of rolled corn and dried distiller’s grain, along with free-choice prairie hay with processed brome, usually starting in mid-December.
To ensure fertility, all bulls pass a complete BSE at 13- to 14-months of age, and then again prior to the annual sale. All sale bulls are also tested and negative for P1 BVD.
