West Texas Mineral Management | The American Rancher

coming up it is a 365 day a year job they're living animals you can't just box them up and put them in the cabinet and bring them out next week so it's it's it's every day all day or can be a strong bottom line for one texas rancher begins with nutrition next on the american rancher hello and welcome to the american rancher i'm pam minnick on this episode sponsored by gainsmart we take a trip to the great state of texas to visit rancher kevin hamlin located just outside of big springs kevin's stalker operation has been in the family for decades the ranch has evolved over the years while staying true to their roots and from cow calf to stalkers and wheat pasture to irrigated ground kevin stays busy all hours of the day [Music] it is a 365 day a year job they're living animals you can't just box them up and put them in the cabinet and bring them out next week so it's it's it's every day all day or can be [Applause] kevin hamlin big spring texas a place is located north of town probably 10 to 12 miles my family great grandfather settled settled in this area in 1900 and the majority of this has been in the family ever since of course started out a cow calf operation in the early early days and then converted to a stalker operation in the mid 1980s i guess and we've basically been a stalker operation ever since of course growing up here i was involved with the cow calf operation as a child and grew up went to texas tech and received my bachelor's degree and stuck around there and got a master's degree in animal genetics and breeding and i got through with the college and moved down to eagle pass and went to work in a feed yard down there as the cattle manager spent about three years down there and uh dad called and said hey i need a little help at home you thinking would you consider moving back and then i did moved back and i partnered up with him on the operation here and it's evolved or grown uh number of cattle we run number of head we run it's um it's a semi-arid area you know almost a desert to some extent average rainfall is 16 to 18 inches a year the last two years have been very very dry minimal rain trying to get some stalkers put together for example if you're trying to get cattle put together ready for wheat and it's very dry it's either turn them out on dry grass or find a preconditioning yard or a pen to put them in and that's a challenge we we face every year sometimes is we don't have the grass or the available grazing to background those cattle prior to wheat grazing so that's one issue we we deal with last six to eight ten years we've kind of branched out i guess you'd say acquired place in northeastern new mexico a grazing place summer grazing place up there i have a smaller place south of here toward south of san angelo [Music] has of has some cultivation on it and some irrigation so we're able to raise some irrigated wheat down there and turn cattle out down there also so kind of can move cattle around diversify a little bit as far as where we send the cattle and a lot of it's weather driven and market driven also uh we've kind of developed where we buy a four to four and a half weight calf uh that's you know sometimes we'll buy lighter when sometimes bigger but i would say 80 of the cattle we buy weigh four or four and a half when we first purchase them and like we've been talking about it's a full preconditioning 45 to 60 days depending on the cattle background course vaccinations and all that stuff that goes along with it and a majority of the cattle we purchase i would say over 90 percent or angus base black black baldy calf [Music] nutrition is very important i mean it's whether it's livestock or people or whatever it's very important to get adequate nutrition and quality nutrition uh as far as the stalker end of it i would say you know you've removed that calf from her mother at a young age weighing 400 pounds they've got to have a source to to get that nutrition and she they cannot rely on their mother anymore for milk which was their predominant source at that point so you know provide quality grazing the best you can but you also have to provide supplemental products also whether it's salt or mineral or a combination of the both so it's it's very important and it helps with of course their maturity their growth and also and i'll just say stage one you know if you get us started off on the right track it helps helps keep them going and and they don't have those really ups and downs just keeps them going and where they can reach their full potential currently we're using the the stalker mineral and using that out on our on our grass native pasture and and our irrigated grass also provide that free choice at all times our wheat cattle we're using the wheat pasture mineral provided by gainsmart wheat pasture mineral had very very good success with that i think the cattle just seemed to really take to it and get on it so to speak there's very minimal time as far as getting them acclimated to that product they they i guess the texture the taste whatever it is they love it and they really really consume it well just watching the cattle just visual appraisal of the cattle cattle eat the product well consistently cattle seem to stay full consumption looks well as far as just grazing and uh seemed to seem to do well i think i'm not a nutritionist by training but i think it's something that's common sense i mean if you if you don't get all your nutrients you're not going to perform cattle or people or both i mean you got to have your nutrients you got to have your protein sources your energy sources plus all your micro minerals and small minerals that help with bodily functions and if you don't have that i mean you're going to be deficient if you're talking about cattle uh 1.8 daily gain versus a 2 or 2.2 i mean that extra gain that's that's profit yes you have your cost of mineral but i think that's if you put a pencil to it you're more than recouping that and plus you're making it's improving your bottom line at the end up next care that comes full circle we're trying to care for the animals because there's what they're what are making you a living but in turn that also cares for the people that take care of them too see how the gainsmart mineral program can fit your cattle operation because when running stalker cattle it's not one size fits all stay with us [Music] if you will in the stalker industry depending on where cattle come from but not necessarily always that they come from the southeast or travel a great distance two of the biggest things that are challenges for those guys in those type businesses is number one keeping cattle drinking water and on feed and keep them healthy and so if we can keep cattle drinking cattle will eat and the cattle drink and eat then their own immune system has some strength with it so that if those cattle meet a compromise and we have to use an expensive antibiotic the chances of that antibiotic working the first time are much increased of course our company motto is the care that comes full circle so if we can help producers through our product and affirmatives and all of our supplemental products that we sell we know what it does in terms of increasing gain and absorption rate of nutrients or intake digestion absorption rate in turn we also know the ammo firm has a helps with gut health 70 percent of our immunity comes through our intestinal tract whether that be a human or an animal so it's kind of a two-fold deal so we help animals not only perform better but also be healthier which translates to what pounds we work off of averages all the time average price average weights everything's on average so anything that we can do to increase that reduce the number of mobility mortality in these cattle and increase the overall average daily gain or feed efficiencies another way to look at it too every day the gain of feed efficiency coincide but they're really you can look at them separately it's two different mechanisms so as we move into the markets that we're in now with high grain prices feed efficiency is the is the key word so anytime that you can use a feed additive to improve that animal's ability to improve their feed efficiency you're going to be ahead of the game it's more magnified if you will as grain prices or feed prices go up the ability of what those can do are more magnified in terms of return on investment to the producer and so in our gain smart program we actually have four minerals if you will that that you can use so we have our stalker mineral which is designed for native faster grazing situations within that mineral we also have the gain smart heat which has our heat package in it with the capsaicin product that works as a vasodilator to help expel heat from the animal's body we know that when animals poor body temperature is reduced that they'll go out and graze more helps keep them out of ponds and out from underneath the shade trees for as many hours during the day in the summer time we have our ru 1600 mixing mineral that's designed to be used whenever you're making a tmr to feed in a in a grower situation you may have big grass traps you may actually have them in a grower yard that's designed for that and then the other line that's in the in the gainsmart line is our wheat pasture mineral we had talked a little earlier today about what makes wheat pasture and stock or mineral difference uh basically it's the amount of calcium that's in the wheat pasture is much much higher otherwise there's they're pretty similar in terms of phosphorus we have the chelated zinc and copper in those products which we think are extremely important in terms of addressing some health issues in terms of eyes and feet from a natural perspective we also utilize organic iodine we guarantee the highest level that you can put in a mineral on the tag we feel that's very very important from a natural perspective as well and then once you're if you're using those programs we have a really nice complement to to those programs to actually enhance maybe what you're doing in terms of overall health and getting cattle started at a faster rate we have our body charge line of products we have a cattle drench that's in that that line that's the minister chute site at processing to get one ounce of firm directly into that animal immediately and then we have our stress tubs that are designed for the first 14 to 21 days as those kettle are making the transition from maybe perhaps not even being away from their mom in less than than 10 days or even less than that to help them have something to lick get their saliva going getting them interested in drinking getting administered and eating we know that when cattle drink and cattle will eat if they do both those things the chances of getting those animals past that 21 first 21 days is of great benefit in terms of overall health and performance of those animals whether you're in a weak pasture grazing situation or a native pasture grazing situation or you have a starter yard we have a product that will fit into your operation that provides anaerofirm and a daily feeding to your animals so what makes our products important to you we improve intake digestibility absorption rate of nutrients so we help cattle start faster we get more of what you're feeding them digested through their system and we get a greater amount of actually absorbed into the animal's body through the intestinal lining again care that comes full circle we're trying to care for the animals because there's what they're what are making you a living but in turn that also cares for the people that take care of them too we have a branded program with superior livestock for not only calves coming through a stalker operation that may be sold which is our gain smart badge we also have our vita firm branded cattle as well those would be calves coming off cows that are on our one of our cow minerals so they both would qualify at the day of sale to have that bag as long as those cattle were fed 45 days prior to sale date and until they're delivered so that's what that's our branded program now you can still use that brand new program to add more dollars to your bottom line even if you don't sell your cattle through superior so that's that's the whole goal that we have as a company after the break in our industry so uh having the trust and the confidence you know i poured it out today i ain't gonna worry about it until the bucket gets low and go fill it up again we'll see why kevin trusts gain smart mineral packs when it comes to his cattle's nutrition and how those specifically formulated packages help him in any given situation you're watching the american rancher stay with us [Music] in the last three to four years we've pretty well retained ownership of 100 of our cattle that we buy so you know we go through the background and through the grazing phase and send them on to a feed yard and and finish them out and it's it's worked well for us uh we've we've had some market fluctuations of course but uh it's worked well gives us opportunity to see them from 400 pounds to 13 13.50 whatever the end weight will be on those cattle and you know we can kind of look see okay this maybe we need to back away from this a little bit or push more on this style or type of calf maybe something like that and and that's it's been very beneficial going from stalker or say wheat grazing to the feed yard if they've been on a good nutritional program whether including grazing and the vitamin mineral package that you're providing those cattle are they're healthy their digestive system is in order and they're ready to go on feed i mean versus one that's deficient in something they've got to spend time filling those deficiencies filling those voids before they can start performing in the feed yard and reach their full potential or maximum i just i've known kevin for several years now and uh known that he's he's really progressive in the cattle industry and and predominantly into the stalker industry and we've became friends over the years and i knew that that kevin uh would be a good fit for our program and our program would be a good fit for him you know we we offer a progressive product and he's a progressive cattleman in my mind and that's kind of how that that jailed the mint is we came up here and met and talked and showed him the benefits of it and and he agreed to to try it out and that's kind of how the the relationship um as far as being on the the gamesmart program started for for us our danesmart program is is geared towards uh you know stalker operations wheat cattle operations things of that nature and that's that's predominantly what what kevin does and uh being in this part of of of texas and having country scattered across the state i knew that our product could meet the challenges of different you know climate scenarios rain not rain grass no grass you know he needs a consistent product it can it can cover all those gamuts for him and i wholeheartedly believe that this this product would do that for him sam silvers asm in our area visited with me about it and kind of went over some of the some of the nutrients of it and the benefits of it possible benefits of it and i decided well if we're going to try and maximize stuff we need to get one product and stick with it and go with it and stay with it and we've been with it going on three years now and we've been very pleased with our results coming off a cow and trying to get their their digestive system converted or adapted to grazing full-time and removing that milk rich new nutrient base they have and it's it's really worked well and then going to the wheat pasture grazing the wheat product uh is of course formulated for wheat grazing and those cattle just they'll traverse easily and get go right on just watching the cattle just visual appraisal of the cattle cattle eat the product well consistently cattle seem to [Music] stay full consumption looks well as far as just grazing and uh seemed to seem to do well and i think in today's modern world there's enough stressors to go around that we don't need to develop a new one or have a new one in our in our industry so uh having the trust and the confidence you know i poured it out today i ain't gonna worry about it till the bucket gets low and go fill it up again and stay on that program [Music] to learn more about the gain smart mineral line simply give them a call or visit gainsmart.com and find a dealer near you and 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 [Music] you

Channel: Superior Productions

Views: 1,186

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: american cattle, american history, american rancher, american ranching, cattle documentary, cattle ranching, cattle tales, national cattlemens beef association, ncba

Id: c6t-X2PZoKc

Length: 20min 34sec (1234 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021