Deer Valley Farms | The American Rancher

[Music] coming up when i couldn't be an engineer which uh took out most of my training i fell back on what i knew if you do something do it and do it right don't do it halfway go to the finish line see what happens when you cross rocket science with cattle breeding next on the american rancher [Music] hello and welcome to the american rancher i'm pam minnick it's not every day that a rocket scientist becomes a cattleman but that's the career path of dr frederick clark born in a small town in arkansas he learned from an early age the importance of agriculture and the rewards that came with it i was born in the big city of marmaduke arkansas it had 643 people when i was there my mom was schoolteacher my father fought with general patton during world war ii and saw some pretty serious actions and when he came home today they'd say he had ptsd then they called it shell shock and he uh he stayed home a couple years after the war and one night went to work and we saw him eight years later and my mother uh raised uh three kids uh on a crueltial salary in arkansas at that time school teachers didn't make very much but we all worked we had paper routes we dropped cotton we picked cotton we drove tractors we all hay we did things that farm kids do and when i was in eighth grade is when russia launched their first man sputnik uh you old gurgarin i believe was a cosmonauts name he came back and he said i just proved there is no god i've been through heaven i didn't see him and being a southerner being a christian they hit me the wrong way and i said i'm going to be electrical engineer and work in the space program and i'm going to prove him wrong kind of strong statements for an eighth grader to make but they kind of turned out to be true i graduated from high school a valedictoring in my class i went to the university of arkansas to get my degree in electrical engineering i got married while i was still in college and my older daughter kim was uh was born about a month or so before i graduated i interviewed with ibm and huntsville alabama because huntsville satisfied two of my requirements one was i want to work in space program second is i want to get advanced degrees and ibm built the instrument unit and all the computers and data processors and programming for all the saturn vehicles so i joined that team right after the fire that killed astronauts wyatt grissom and chaffia astronauts would come and talk to us and said you engineers think that four nines are good says let's go for five talking about a probability of uh 0.999 being good but not quite good enough they said when you climbed top that big rocket and knew those ten thousand bad parts we'll tell you that that they wanted to to reduce as much as possible ibm made the decision in early 70s that they were going to leave hunsville they were drawing in some and i didn't want to go up north they could offer me a promotion to go any place they had a permanent facility and to work there but that's not something i wanted to do dr clark had grown to love huntsville alabama and didn't want to relocate his two young children with that he and a partner launched a new company called cas specializing in radar and missile systems design we worked on started working on the uh what was then the smd program in 1973 turned into the patriot program and i guess i worked 30 years as a radar engineer on the patriot system that was used as a deterrent then we had not fired a missile in anger at all the first persian gulf war which was against sudan hussein in the late 80s we of course shot down a number of scud metals and have continually improved it until during the second war it also has has been used more as a deterrent as anything else because it is the only u.s ground-based air defense system that's ever fired a missile in in a war but so that got me to uh to form a company called ces cass clark and stender and we started uh on our kitchen table and worked and when i sold the company in 2006 we had over a thousand employees in 26 u.s cities and four foreign countries the only bad thing about that was when i sold it i could not be a practicing engineer for seven years condition of sale if i couldn't be an engineer which would i trained to be in which i had practiced to be for 30 something years i had bought first parts of deer valley farm to deer hunt home i'd uh bought some more property we expanded it we started in 89 with commercial hers then we went to the limousine breed and then when you look the limousines were trying hard to be angus without without the name because they were turning to to black and and we decided well if you're going to try to imitate something just be that and so we bought our our first uh angus cattle and probably 96 in that time frame and uh i always said it doesn't done costume water on the the best so it cost no more to feed a good one that does a bad one off no more for the upkeep it just might cost a little more on the front but the prodigy will more than pay for that let's don't start with with something and try to breed up let's do our best to start at the top and and then we'll have the firm basis on which to build it up next when i couldn't be an engineer which uh took out most of my training i fell back on what i knew dr clark's agricultural roots skyrockets his next mission deer valley farms that's stories next on the american rancher introducing vitalik's feedlot starter tubs specifically formulated for beef calves before and after weaning to help decrease pull rates and stress and increase saliva these tubs contain diamond bees nutrasafe and help support overall immune strength antibiotic stewardship and gut health also packed with avela 4 a nutrient feed ingredient for animals that contains organic zinc manganese copper and cobalt vitalx stretch your profits with every lick for more information visit vitalix.com hi i'm bob mclaren with 44 farms we have a new program with walmart called prime pursuits which brings together great angus producers from around the united states together to provide great beef for the consumer producers all around the country we would love for you to join us in this great pursuit so please give us a call we would love to talk to you about the specifics of this great new program thank you established in 1987 superior livestock auction is the largest cattle marketing network in north america we sell forward contracting load lots of ranch fresh cattle on video and internet auctions last year almost 1.4 million head were sold by superior livestock auction and they brought top dollar world champion auctioneers present your cattle to buyers across the nation we have over 8 000 active and qualified buyers maximizing competitive bidding and true price discovery your cattle stay at the ranch until delivery and your superior rep writes you a check when it's done simple as that our job is getting you the best paycheck possible we know that most producers only get one paycheck a year for their cattle and more cattle men and women trust us to get the most out of every sale call us at 800-422-2110 or go online to learn more about how superior livestock action can work for you welcome back to the american rancher after dr fred clark's career as a rocket scientist ended his next career move brought him back to his roots in agriculture and he set out to raise production cattle it wasn't enough for him to just raise great breeding stock he wanted to raise elite cattle deer valley farm was started in 1989 i think started with one small piece of property and and then bought the place next to it and next to it and acquired quite a bit of land had quite a bit of grass and uh needed needed to uh do something with the grass and uh his roots and agriculture kind of sparked the idea of getting into cattle industry and so he started out buying commercial cows and and decided that he wanted something better uh actually started off in the limousine breed but as the industry transitioned into different directions and and things changed we weren't competing against other limousine breeders we were competing against angus breeders and so we basically decided it was it was time to join them and and try a different avenue after a few years of running both both breeds it was pretty evident to us that angus was by far the superior breed that had the most marketability and was easiest to sell and so we transitioned out of the limousine business and completely into the angus business around o5 there's so much versatility to this breed the options across this breed are second to none you can you can find so many different avenues in this breed to accomplish what you want to accomplish one of the real beauties of our of our location and our program and in this part of the world is that we have lots of customers we live in a part of the world that has a very dense population we have many many producers in this part of the country much unlike some of the guys you deal with out west across the midwest the downside to that is those producers are much smaller so from day one we had to kind of adopt the concept that the average producer in this part of the world when he buys a bull from us that bull has to do it all for him he's not large enough to have heifer bulls and cow keeping bulls and terminal cross sires he's got to buy a bull that can do it all the reason i believe that angus is superior to every other breed is that we've been able to raise cattle that were calvinies cattle that were extreme in growth cattle that were extreme and maternal cattle that were extreme in carcass we still can put as much phenotype and as much look and structure in an angus animal as any other breed but yet we can do it with data and we can do it with epds and performance they can stack up with any breed in the in the country you know education is important because the uh the angus breed is changing every day we are we're getting more dna tests we're doing more with them we're making more prodigy predictions and you've got to stay up on that you can learn a lot by the numbers you can produce a lot by the numbers if the cow can't walk in the pasture and eat and sustain herself she's got no phenotypes she's got no place in your herd because phenotype is in my opinion as important as the numbers are the the angus cow alone has has kept angus in the equation over the years in my opinion that mama matters and that if you want to build a program that that has longevity and it has consistency that you've got to build around the cow herd so you know we kind of went out and sought what we believe to be some of the very best cow families in the in the angus business and we're very fortunate to add some of those original females to our program that were true matriarchs of the of the angus breed the rita 6 14 cow the blackbird 558h cow the we had at one time i think we had nine direct daughters of the forever lady 57 decal we we put quite a bit of time and effort into identifying and finding those those tremendous cows that had had very proven cow families and that we believe we could build a herd around and it worked really well for us deer valley also has an extensive embryo transfer program the beauty of the embryo transplant program is it allows us to identify those animals that have achieved and excelled above the rest of the herd and we we can bring those cattle out of your typical year-to-year gestation period and put them into transplant and and mass produce those cattle in a way that we can really impact our program instead of that great cow having us one calf a year we can flush her three to five times a year and we might get as many as as 25 or 30 calves out of her this year it really really impacts the quality of our herd and and the quality of what we have available to sell but today we have the ability to take those kind of maternal genetics and in our breed we have performance and carcass that are second to none that we can go back on that maternal cow and we can create things that can satisfy any end of the industry when we raise a bull here he's pretty much got to be able to be that cavendish sire that growth sire that maternal sire that carcass sire he's got to do it all our belief has always been that if we chased any one trait or we tried to live in that top one percentile of any one trait that we gave away too many things to achieve that our philosophy has been that we would we would identify 10 or 12 of those most relevant traits that fit our customer base that fit our everyday world where we live in middle tennessee and we've basically developed a program around cattle and individuals that can live in that top ten percent of those traits and that the balanced trait selection across those traits will get us where we need to be as a program over time we've kind of let that mold our our plan and our our direction as a program up next from day one we have strived to produce cattle that were of the extreme in quality and in genetic merit and in dna and in epds if you do something do it and do it right don't do it halfway go to the finish line now is your chance to add deer valley farms genetics into your program we'll tell you more about that next on the american rancher reproductive success is critical in every profitable cow-calf operation that's why you need effective easy breeding with vitafirm concept aid high concentrations of organic trace minerals and vitamin e found in concept aid will ensure more of your cows breed back faster plus you'll be giving your herd the m a firm advantage leading to healthier heavier more uniform calves at weaning vita firm concept aid effective easy breeding the superior country page is the leading online marketplace for buying and selling load lots of calves feeders and breeding stock the country page is an efficient easy to use and low cost solution for selling cattle you set the price and move at your pace with flexible delivery options the country page matches the best buyers to the best sellers at the best price for both parties call or log on today to find out more about the superior country page established in 1987 superior livestock auction is the largest cattle marketing network in north america we sell forward contracting load lots of ranch fresh cattle on video and internet auctions last year almost 1.4 million head were sold by superior livestock auction and they brought top dollar world champion auctioneers present your cattle to buyers across the nation we have over 8 000 active and qualified buyers maximizing competitive bidding and true price discovery your cattle stay at the ranch until delivery and your superior rep writes you a check when it's done simple as that our job is getting you the best paycheck possible we know that most producers only get one paycheck a year for their cattle and more cattle men and women trust us to get the most out of every sale call us at 800-422-2117 or go online to learn more about how superior livestock action can work for you welcome back to the american rancher today deer valley farms is home to some of the most prominent angus donor females and one of the most innovative young hertz our batteries in the business with top service and superior genetics deer valley angus cattle add value to your bottom line every decision we make every everything that we do as a program is geared towards producing commercial bulls for our customers and and that's what drives us in every direction we go every day we sell 18 month old bulls rather than yearlings like a lot of parts of the country you know we believe that we can develop the bulls a notch slower uh we develop on a forage based system those bulls are going to go out in a lot more realistic rig and hold up and do a better job for our customers they're either on a silage based diet from weaning on to a grass or forage based diet all the way through we farm around 1500 acres of a row crop basically to raise the food for the cattle we raise corn in which we cut for salads we cut some 400 acres i guess we're silage and then we feed probably 60 70 000 bushels of shell corn each year and then i have a number of acres of soybeans which i use to rotate to rotate the crop to keep the land built up because one thing that we are supposed to do is begin stirred as a land we have about 200 acres of hay that we bail three or four times a year and after our our crops are harvested we send the uh samples to a nutritionist who will then look at what we have and and then make recommendations for the the types of rations that we need to feed the bulls the cows the dry ones the wet ones the babies and all so we do all that feed mixing here on the farm and feed a total mixture ratio we've been very fortunate to develop a tremendous commercial following we we sell in the neighborhood of 500 commercial bulls a year the bulk of those bulls will go in the southeastern part of the united states tennessee kentucky mississippi arkansas alabama georgia florida the carolinas that would be the majority of where our bulls would go but we're very fortunate that in any given year we'll scatter bulls from california to new york you know our bull business is built around repeat buyers producers that have had very very very good success with our product that have enjoyed our customer service and our relationships and for 10 12 15 years they've utilized our bulls and their programs and they've worked so they continue to come back year after year obviously quality of product gets them here but the relationship that you build with that customer the service that you provide to that customer that's what keeps them here the cattle got to continue to work but people are going to do business with providers that they're comfortable with that stand behind their product that offer guarantees and actually follow through with those guarantees when they have an issue and one of the things that we really pride ourselves on here at deer valley is that we stand behind our guarantee we have one of the best guarantees in the business we guarantee every bull that leaves this place for the first breeding season no matter what when you make an investment in a bull it's just that in our mind you're not buying something to get you by you're making an investment in an animal at deer valley that's going to change your program and improve your program and if that animal gets home and can't do that job then we hadn't done our job of following through on our guarantee at deer valley we have basically four sales a year we we have a big production sale in november which is kind of our marquee event of the year we'll sell basically 200 bulls ready to go to work we'll sell 175 to 200 females at our breeding age heifer calves bread heifers and cow calf pears some donors some embryos and some some pregnancies at some at some events but that's kind of our marquee event of the year we have a spring bull sale in march every year and we'll sell about 125 breeding age bulls ready to go to work in march may of every year we have another female sale and basically we sell the spring calving five-year-olds every year in may and we'll sell a set of fall bread heifers and then in october we have a bull sale down in okeechobee florida every year superior has been a part of our program for probably the last seven or eight years we will always broadcast the the big sale in november uh in some years we do the sale in march just depends on the year if you're available this fall we'd sure love to have you come here in november and join us we put on quite a quite an event that weekend it's november the 14th 13th and 14th we'll have all the cattle on display on the 13th we'll feed you a nice certified angus beef prime rib supper on friday night i'll have cattle available to view again on saturday morning and we'll have them ready to sell it at 11 o'clock on on saturday we chase the future and we chase perfection and we chase and and embrace change and evolution at deer valley we don't have problems we just have solutions one of the things that's been very positive for me to learn over the years is that you got to stop and back up and evaluate what you're doing if it works great let's do it again next year and let's try to figure out a way to do it better if it didn't work then let's find a new plan the sooner we find a new direction or a new plan the more positive the outcome is going to be you learn as you go you get better as you go at anything and you may not you get more information so you may not know how to do something particularly now but you do the best you can but then next year you you get a lessons learned and you apply those lessons learned to where you are to see how you need to go to meet the desires that you want for that project i've learned so much from dr clark over the years his philosophies his values his ideas have really really molded me as i've grown over the last 22 years here if you uh if you know him you you know that that he's a true gentleman at heart and he believes in in being fair and being honest and uh he's a christian that that that believes every day should be lived like jesus planned it and uh those values have have basically molded me and this place over the years as we have developed into what we are today i would like to have a farm that will go into the future to pass on to future generations of my family and my family is not just me and my blood can it's jp and his family a chef and his family and and those that have been with me through all all these times i wanted to have a a farm that would be an institute where that the kids can grow up when you finish a day you look back on the day and see what happened you should feel good about what happened that day if you do something do it and do it right don't do it halfway go to the finish line increase your bottom line by adding deer valley genetics to your program their annual production sale will be held november 14th in fayetteville tennessee the sale will also be broadcast on superior productions for more information about deer valley farms visit deervalleyfarm.com and that's all the time we have today to find out more about us visit our website theamericanrancher.com or connect with us on facebook i'm pam minnick for our entire american rancher team thanks for joining us we'll see you next time that was superior

Channel: Superior Productions

Views: 5,099

Rating: 4.8904109 out of 5

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Id: DKL5UPUxa7I

Length: 26min 2sec (1562 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 10 2020