Composites Simplify Reproductive Management Female Article_Booklet | Page 4

Hitting Home Runs

IN THE SOUTHEAST

Will Hargett owns a small sale barn in Ayden , North Carolina , in the eastern part of the state . “ We handle quite a few cattle that are in less than load lots ,” he says , with calves coming from cow herds ranging from 20 to around 100 head .
A number of years ago , he marketed some Lim-Flex calves . “ We sold them to a gentleman in the western part of North Carolina who backgrounded and finished them ,” Hargett says . “ About a year later , he called me back and said , ‘ We ’ ve been in the business for three generations and that last set of calves we bought out of your barn really showed us something .’”
Hargett is always on the lookout for ways to help his customers improve . He did a little research and decided he would help place some Lim-Flex bulls with area cow-calf producers .
“ We ’ ve had a great experience with Lim-Flex bulls in recent years with what I would consider to be fairly average commercial cows , and just get outstanding calves coming off these cows ,” he says . “ And we ’ ve had a lot of good response from the people buying these calves .”
Several of his customers retain their heifers . Bred back to Lim-Flex bulls , “ They ’ re not throwing anything with bad temperament issues . They ’ re easy to handle , they ’ re good milkers , they ’ re good mothers and are producing fantastic calves .”
To that end , he says the Lim-Flex genetics are busting some age-old myths . “ I was very impressed with the myth-busting left over from the late 90s and early 2000s where , in this part of the country , Limousin had a reputation of being a little too framey , not very good milkers and not very good temperament in some cases ,” he says .
“ And it just couldn ’ t be any different today . They ’ re thick , they have great carcass quality and the females are heavy milkers . And they ’ re easy to handle . It ’ s just a totally different animal . So , it ’ s been quite a surprise over the years .”