DROUGHT Insurance
“ We ’ ve been tested pretty hard as far as weather the last handful of years ,” says Shane Anderson . “ Mostly drought and feeding a lot of poor-quality roughages . And they seem to be holding up .”
Anderson , a cow-calf producer from Towner , North Dakota , says that over the years he ’ s used Lim-Flex genetics , he sees more consistency in the conformation and disposition of the cattle . “ I ’ ve had a lot of confidence in the Lim-Flex females as far as calving ease and the vigor of the calves when they get up and get going . They ’ re really a herd that doesn ’ t require a lot of attention in the spring . And that ’ s a big seller for me .”
He ’ ll come back with Lim-Flex bulls on his replacement heifers . “ I ’ m getting some thickness in the calves , some muscle . So , on the steer side , these percentage Lim-Flex cattle are producing some thick-made feeder calves ,” he says . “ I ’ m happy with the selection I ’ m
finding in the Lim-Flex breed as far as bulls that hit my maternal needs as well as ones that hit the benchmark as far as the feeder calves and the performance I expect from them .”
What ’ s more , he ’ s impressed with the longevity of Lim-Flex females . Because of ongoing drought , he culled pretty deep , but says there are still some females in his herd that are producing at 12-13 years old , “ bringing in a decent calf and they ’ re still running out with the middle-age cows . They ’ re condition holds up well and they ’ re still bringing a calf in .”
When the time does come to rotate the old cows out of the herd , their condition and ability to yield adds value at the sale barn , he says . “ I still want some salvage value and you know what ? Even at 12 , 13 years of age , they sell just as they would if they were five , six , seven years old . They look good .”
“ 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 . “ 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 .”
Will Hargett , Sale Barn Owner