First Round of Preg Checking

Well we have finally got the first round of pregnancy checking done this morning and so far all of the females that we have at our farm are pregnant to their AI dates. This year for the sale we bred the 10 bred heifers at our farm to Optimus Prime and Fat Butt. In order to help ensure that all of the cattle in the sale are stuck to what we say they are bred to we, as well as all of the consignors, will preg check the bred cattle twice. One time before the catalog is printed and again a week or two prior to the sale.

In order to sell bred cattle to people for 13 plus years you have to be willing to stand behind your cattle. Thus the need to preg check the cattle multiple times. While doing this does not always guarantee that everything will work as planned, due to a variety of factors. In order to cover any problems that may arise from cattle purchased in this sale we stand behind all of the cattle and will make things right with our buyers.

Semen & Embryos are Rollin In!

So far for the Rare Semen & Embryo auction we will be offering Upgrade x The Full Sibling to S.O.S, Sexed Male Yellow Top Heat Wave Semen x The Scheetz 280 Donor Female, as well as Heifer Sexed Maximus x Miss USA. The semen auction will feature 5 mL Sexed Maximus Semen, DJ Salute, 6807, Yellow Top Heat Wave Semen, with more lots still left to come in. The Rare Semen & Embryo Auction ought to be even more exciting than last year's. We are still accepting entries into this portion of the sale!

Picture Time!!

We have finally received some much needed sunshine here in Roseville, and thus the picture taking has begun. The one thing I have learned through the course of taking pictures over the years is that you have to have a lot of patience and a good relationship with the people that help you photo. I can guarantee you that a lot of X-rated language is used on picture days around here.

For people who are first starting out taking photos of cattle I will give you a few hints that will make your experience photoing cattle a little more profitable. First off work in a small pen so that you don't spend all of your time walking in circles. Second invest or borrow (borrowing is the best option if you only take a few photos a year) a high quality camera, I use a nikon D3000, a good camera makes a world of difference in the final product. Third throw your phone away while you are photoing, because I can guarantee you that once the animal stands still in the right position your phone will go off and you will miss the picture. Lastly if the animal won't cooperate stop chasing her in circles and try again the next day, otherwise you will get so mad that you will never get a good picture.

Entering Cattle

Over the past 13, going on 14, years of the sale we have had quite a few people ask us about how to consign cattle into the sale. For the most part our sale consists of the same consignors with an average of 95% of our consignors putting cattle into the sale every year. The new consignors we add each year have cattle that have been screened by either Bob or myself. Each year we start looking for cattle the day after the sale and will end our search the week of the sale. So it is pretty much a year round job rounding up the cattle for the sale. For this year's sale we will have cattle from Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Nebraska, Mississippi, & Georgia just to name a few (And yes Bob or I have seen each and everyone of them). So you can imagine the miles logged to visit our 50-70 consignors farms.

The Journey Begins

Over the course of the next 2 1/2 months I will give you a first hand look at the inner workings of creating the Foundation Female Sale. It is now June 14th and we are only 81 days away from the sale and the pictures are just starting to come in. The first photos I have received are from Bill Couch, and if the rain will ever stop Bob and I will starting taking photos of the breds at the sale site. Here is the top picture so far!