Ginette GottswillerThe Source
Like a good branding process, AngusSource® makes marketing fast and efficient.
Springtime brings green grass and black calves running, jumping and bucking around. It is also time for those in the western states to brand their spring calves prior to turning them out on the range.
It was a cool, overcast day, and I was excited. Dave Rutan and his family invited me to tag along to a neighbor’s branding. It was Donna Nelson, owner of Ruby Ranch, who has enrolled her calves in AngusSource® since 2004. She and her family had a bunch of calves caught and ready to work when we pulled up.
I was pretty disappointed we didn’t get to put in some AngusSource tags, but Donna said the pairs would be running on public land. The calves may or may not come back with their AngusSource tag. They opt to AngusSource-tag their calves after they are sold on the summer video sales.
Everyone had to watch out because a calf was always being brought for processing. It was fast and efficient with camaraderie and laughter.
Everyone had a job to perform. Everyone had to watch out because a calf was always being brought for processing. It was fast and efficient with camaraderie and laughter.
Fast and efficient is how an AngusSource enrollment takes place, too. You, as the producer, have a job to provide some basic management information and the date the first calf is born. An AngusSource administrator’s job is to get a clear, concise picture of your operation from breeding to weaning. Once your enrollment is complete, an ear tag is issued for each calf enrolled.
Ruby Ranch has used the AngusSource Marketing Document to market calves on the video auction each summer. They have enjoyed premiums from $3.50 to $21 per hundredweight on their AngusSource-enrolled calves.
At the end of the day, we enjoyed a wonderful meal and the best tri-tip I have ever had the pleasure of eating. The AngusSource Marketing Document is like that succulent tri-tip that was at the center of the table — the reason you enroll. It is the backbone of the AngusSource program because it can convey important information about your calf crop to buyers. It includes information on genetics like the current expected progeny differences (EPDs) and dollar value indexes ($Values) on the bulls used to sire the enrolled calf crop. Health, management, date and place of sale, along with other pertinent information, can be recorded. Once you have completed your Marketing Document, it is emailed to a list of more than 700 potential buyers who want to know when and where AngusSource calves are selling.
Ruby Ranch has used the AngusSource Marketing Document to market calves on the video auction each summer. They have enjoyed premiums from $3.50 to $21 per hundredweight (cwt.) on their AngusSource-enrolled calves.
Join Ruby Ranch this year and enroll your Angus-sired calves in AngusSource. I won’t come and help you brand, but I promise the enrollment will be fast and efficient. Give AngusSource a call today 816-383-5100 to find out how to start the enrollment process.
Editor's Note: Ginette Gottswiller is the director of commercial programs for the American Angus Association.
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