Cattle Husbandry

One of the Broken Bar M Ranch's main goals is to produce easy-keeping, self-sufficient cattle whose care does not detract from the bottom line. Achievement of this goal naturally lies in our cattle husbandry. There are certain standards to which we hold ourselves when it comes to the feeding, breeding, and handling of our cattle.

We utilize well-timed forage harvesting of bluestem and fescue grass--either through a swather and baler or through the cow and her teeth--to help reduce our dependence on outside supplements. In order to capitalize on the grazing habits of cattle, we attempt to maintain and 4 to 1 ratio of warm and cool season grasses.

The ranch only uses range cubes on a limited basis. For us, they are more of a handling tool, as opposed to a protein supplement. That said, we do use range cubes in those instances of poorer quality feed or for older cows whose quality justifies slightly higher maintenance.

To help maintain the protein in our feeding regimen, we raise and feed alfalfa and we produce our own silage. We also feed soybean hay and--at the right time of the year--we graze turnips, peas, and the hay grazer that remains in the field after the final silage harvest.

Our feeding techniques are flexible, and we try to stay light on our feet. If the hay didn't make, we look around and see what else is available. Maybe the local farmers' soybeans didn't do so well, and they'd be happy for us to bale them up and spare them the expense of getting them out of the field. Or, perhaps there's wheat stubble we can bale up for extra roughage.

One area for which we routinely go to outside vendors is mineral and salt. We firmly believe in a rigorous mineral diet, but we temper our need for it by harvesting at the right time in order to get the most out of our grass.

Breeding
Mainly, we pasture breed our cattle, but we are beginning a more selective breeding program through artificial insemination. We anticipate some great results.

Handling
Our cattle handling practices are based on the fact that a calm cow, bull, or calf is a productive one. Studies have shown that stressed cattle produce poorer quality meat. Based on that information and simple common sense, we strive not to stress our cattle. We handle them as quietly and calmly as possible, whether gathering, sorting, vaccinating, hauling, or whatever. Admittedly, we all get into our own frustrated moments and throw a bit of temper, but we honestly try to keep those moments to a minimum.

We don't holler and scream, and we use hot shots only when necessary. We try not to pack our trailers too tightly, and we travel as smoothly and kindly as possible when hauling. In fact, a common threat from Daryl is that he's going to load all of us up in a trailer and take us for a ride just to remind us what it's like for the cattle.

It seems that the cattle have responded to our efforts. We have very few ornery cows, and our bulls are gentle and easy to move and handle.

More cattle links:   Registered Shorthorns   |   Commercial Herd  |   Commercial Herd

Contact  |  Jarrod Miller  |  1147 Oxen, Howard, Kansas 67349  |   620-374-3025