The American Rancher with Red Angus - Jan. 2021

[Music] coming up being a young person in the cattle industry it can be challenging it's just hard to compete because there's so many ranches around here that been here for so long and so good at what they do we're not seeing the traditional full-time individuals trying to get into agriculture the barriers to entry on a lot of these things are just huge hill that these young people have to try to overcome learn some of the challenges facing the new generation of ranchers next on the american rancher [Music] hello and welcome to the american rancher i'm pam minnick as more and more ranching families sell out getting the next generation up and running is a challenge today the red angus association investigates some of the biggest obstacles facing young aspiring ranchers who are trying to enter the business but first we look at the merits of red angus cattle and meet two young producers who raised them justin and kelsey keith a young ranching family in allen kansas are busy raising a new family and building their business with red angus cattle [Music] keith cattle company was started by my father he bought the place here in 1987 and it's grown to a background in yard of 4000 head all this is built on a big old pretty hay metal that i grew up knowing then i've got to see all the changes be made throughout the years it's really interesting just see how far it's come how much it's changed we run close to 3 000 head of grass cattle and also he has a cow calf operation of his own which has inspired my wife and i to buy our own red angus cows that we really enjoy to raise right now we started out with red angus and that's all that we've ever known we've had a lot of people ask why why'd you go the red angus route and i always have to kind of laugh to myself because we didn't we didn't put a lot of thought into it we didn't do a lot of research ahead of it we just knew we wanted our own cows and we wanted something different and luck was on our side when we went the red angus route because we've had zero regrets since doing so we've selected females with the idea of herd retention and maternal traits in our herd we also have purchased a couple of bowls with similar traits in mind really the longevity the maternal side of things and the qualities that those can bring to our herd are those that we seek i like the bull on the right the best he's a better made bull he's got a really good disposition his epds are really really good he's out of uh the guy that we bought those calves from he's out of one of his favorite cows so that really means a lot to me so really excited to have him and see what his calves produce i enjoy seeing the consistency of our chaos due to the red angus and they all look alike and they're they're fast growing and end up to be really fleshy good looking calves i would say the influence of the red angus breed is gaining popularity at least where we live we've had a couple of tough summers with high temperatures and low rainfall and i think that a lot of the producers around us are starting to look for those smaller framed cows that could lower input costs and tolerate those long hot summers a little better the weather here in kansas is real volatile some years it's going to be dry some years it's going to be wet this year it's kind of been dry and we're starting to run out of water but seems like our cattle adapt to the the changes of the weather really well in terms of marketing i really listen to our cattle buyer and listen when he says it's a good time to sell cattle or when these calves are selling high before we sell our cattle we always have them wean for at least 90 days and have them vaccinated and all ready to sell so they're in goods they're already bunk broke and ready to go on for the next person one of the biggest benefits that we've seen with the red angus influence is the fact that we take our four-year-old son bodie with us everywhere and just with their maternal traits and their docility i don't really think that we ever have too much to be concerned about and that's been really really neat that we can have him be so involved it's been so much fun and we're forever grateful for that these girls are really gentle it makes it really easy to bring him along and do things include him knowing that how gentle these are and same same aspect it's nice that they work for us instead of us working working for them tyler richter is a young rancher who is now manager of watson ranch just outside of morris oklahoma watson ranch has a rich legacy in the cattle industry and tyler oversees the cow calf operation that switched to red angus genetics with excellent results we're located in omaha county on 3 800 acres as you come up the driveway our house it looks very old but it's actually just shy of 30 years old but it's a replica of will rogers birth house that's located in ulaga oklahoma during world war ii the ranch lost its its help to the draft so doc worked out a deal and had german pows out here as his labor force on the ranch and if it wasn't for them the ranch wouldn't have got a lot of things accomplished several years later one of the german pows came back to the area that he grew to love while he was here as a prisoner of war we're primarily a cow calf operation we will background our wing calves and we'll run them for 90 to 120 days and this past year we ran some outside yearlings for for the summer in the past watson ranch was known for their hereford cattle they actually haven't been on the ranch in several years when doc watson the man who started the ranch and built the ranch whenever he passed away his kids had to sell the cattle to pay the inheritance tax on the ranch so after a time where they leased out the ranch they took the ranch back under their own management and hired my former boss that ranch manager they gave him the option to to choose what breed of cattle he wanted to put on the ranch he chose red angus he saw that red angus was really working to develop good cows that are hardy they can handle hot and dry they can handle cold and wet it made them a little more profitable with cattle that they had many options to market them when it comes to marketing our cattle utilizing the dangle tag program we've been selling on superior for several years and to differentiate our cattle the past two years we've started an extensive ai program where we're utilizing industry leading sires to make our calves better we've uniformed our calf crop and we're creating a genetically superior animal than what we were previously producing utilizing ai and the fccp program people are seeing that we're we're putting more into these cattle to create a better product and with the history that our cattle have they know that they're going to go to work for them they're going to be efficient some of the major advantages that i've seen of the red eggness cattle over the black angus kettle is their their ability to do better in the heat and other elements the angus association has done a great job of marketing their cattle but i think the red angus cattle have just as much if not more to give than the black angus cattle do i've seen them in the pasture the black-headed cattle will be shaded up or in a pond two to three hours more than the red-headed cattle will i see the red angus cattle being more docile than other cow breeds our cows don't see people on foot very often but we could walk out there and they're not going to come for us they're not going to run off they're just going to be curious about us i think that's a a huge statement for the breed if they're able to withstand so many different environments from the cold and the snow in the north to the heat and the drought in the south that it's a very versatile breed and they can they can work anywhere after the break there is a transition going on there's a lot of these older individuals that are transitioning out and and you know we're not seeing what you would typically call the traditional full-time individuals trying to get get into agriculture learn about the premiums that the red angus feeder calf certification program is generating for cow calf operators nationwide and later in the program see how aspiring young ranchers are overcoming the obstacles they face to be successful in the beef cattle business you're watching the american rancher welcome back to the american rancher the steadily increasing popularity of red angus cattle has a lot to do with quality genetics that perform in the pasture and on the rail but key to the breed's success is the quality of red angus females the red angus female has long been a benchmark in the industry in terms of maternal excellence we found them to be the industry's most preferred female because of the traits that that our breeders have put into these cattle for for a long long time since its inception red angus has been known for producing high quality females the the traits that ranchers can can use to be profitable the mothering ability the milking ability the docility all of those traits that make excellent females we really feel like that combined with this extra market value has really pushed ranchers to capture that extra market value in those good females these cows are very good models they raise a nice calf they take care of their calf and and they keep predators away along with superior red angus females and high-performing genetics the red angus association's feeder calf certification program continues to bring consistent premiums for red angus cow-calf operators the red angus association of america has a long-standing tradition of not only servicing our members but also our commercial cattlemen using red angus genetics the red angus marketing team continues to develop programs designed to add value to red angus calves we offer the industry's most experienced age source and genetic verification program better known as the red angus yellow tag more cattlemen are utilizing the fccp tag than ever before to garner red angus premiums this past fiscal year the program enrolled over 214 thousand head this growth is not surprising considering the tremendous return on investment that producers are experiencing with this third party no enrollment fee program research has shown that fccp tagged calves garner a 2.98 premium per hundred weight compared to non-tagged red angus influenced calfs this equates to a 1 430 difference on a pot load of six weight fccp tagged calves compared to a pot load of non-tagged red angus calves with premiums like this commercial producers should waste no time enrolling in the program to enroll call the red angus office and complete a short supplier enrollment question and answer session over the phone to verify that you qualify for the program once qualified tags are shipped directly to the producer where the calves are tagged prior to them leaving the ranch of origin we have the option of either a 99 cent dangle tag a two dollar eid only or a three dollar dangle eid combination set the next step is to fill out the customer enrollment agreement and provide some basic calving records you'll send this document in along with a copy of the first page your calving book once this has been received by the red angus office we will then issue your certificate of compliance which is the document that buyers are looking for to verify your calf crop in the program alternatively the red angus association offers the allied access tag which carries the same age and source verification benefits of the fccp program but without those genetic requirements this program is designed for producers utilizing a planned cross-breeding program and has the same easy enrollment process as the feeder calf certification program both of these options are ways the red angus association continues to serve our commercial producers and help add value to their calf crop to find out more visit our website at www.redangus.org using the fccp tag adds value to your cattle and makes your buyers more confident seeing that tag in their ear they know that those cattle are age source and genetic verified ordering the tags from chessy was really easy i was literally riding a four wheeler dragging a fire stick burning pasture and called her on the phone and the next thing i know the tags showed up at our doorstep up next the barriers to entry on a lot of these things are just huge hill that these young people have to try to overcome ag lender jim bob reynolds joins tyler justin and kelsey to discuss the challenges of entering the ranching business at a young age at a time when many ranching families are selling out that's after the break here on the american rancher welcome back to the american rancher at a time when so many ranchers are selling out the next generation faces incredible challenges to enter the cattle business with the future of the industry hanging in the balance being a young person in the cattle industry it can be challenging because you haven't been out there as many years as someone that's more experienced has been and gaining someone's trust to kind of turn the reins loose with with their cattle and their ranch it can be tough because you know you haven't necessarily made those decisions before or as many of those decisions being a young ranching family is kind of hard for us because there's so many ranches around here that gather up all the grass and it's just hard to compete with them when they've been here for so long and and been doing this for so long and they're so good at what they do it's very difficult for these young people to to get started and and to make a go of it the barriers to entry on a lot of these things are just a huge hill that these these young people have to try to overcome a cow cost 2 500 a pickup 70 000 1.2 million dollars for a baylor stripper it's just the cost keep going up just exponentially but you know we're still selling three dollar 3.50 bushel corn we're still selling a you know a 750 dollar you know 800 yearling or whatever it is you know so it's just the price that we get versus the price that we're paying for a lot of these inputs and and whatnot that gap keeps growing tremendously there is a transition going on there's a lot of these older individuals that are transitioning out and and you know we're not seeing what you would typically call the traditional full-time individuals trying to get get into agriculture i think it is a long-term trend that i would like to see it reverse but it's a difficult thing in spite of the challenges we have been afforded the opportunity to live on a working ranch which has been huge for our family it's a major blessing having the working facilities here for our cows and also being in the neighborhood that we are in we have many producers that we can lean on for wisdom they've all been in business for years and are more than willing to share that wisdom with us beginning ranchers i always wanted to be on a ranch running cattle somewhere so straight out of college i moved to iowa and i developed heifers and then i found a job here in oklahoma and it got me the opportunity to come down here to this ranch and i started out as a as a ranch hand and and then into a foreman and then it turned into a ranch management training position and two years ago i took over management of this ranch you know it takes a village whether you're an industry group yeah you know like the red angus association or you're you're a marketing group like superior or you're you know you're a farm credit bank like lone star ag credit i mean it takes us all to help these young individuals to lower those barriers all work together america is a great place that we have the safest and most secure food sources and in the entire world so we all have to do our part to help these young individuals especially the young people trying to get into production agriculture it's not a bridge too far to build if they want to get in agriculture you need to ensure that your business plan is solid don't take the first no as the the end-all be-all always be pushing forward always be trying always be stepping in in in that direction because at some point you are going to be successful and somebody is going to say hey i'm going to give you a hand and i'm going to help you and and that's all it takes i would say the biggest challenge for us so far was just getting the courage to do it as a young farming and ranching family it's a big jump for you and it's overwhelming and intimidating and maybe there's never a perfect time to do it but it's just getting that courage to take the first step owning our own herd has been a lifetime dream for both of us we just have always worked towards that done whatever it takes to get to this point and we're just really proud to finally say that we made the jump that's all the time we have today we hope you enjoyed the show to learn more about your future with red angus cattle log on to redangus.org and to find out more about us visit our website theamericanrancher.com or connect with us on facebook i'm pam minich for our entire american rancher team thanks for joining us we'll see you next [Music] time [Music] [Applause] [Music] that was superior

Channel: Red Angus Association of America

Views: 8,027

Rating: 4.8961039 out of 5

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Id: f2RkOkrJE0s

Length: 22min 2sec (1322 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 04 2021