Our From our Directors Category
2011 Tri-State Fair & Rodeo in Amarillo, TX
September 17 – 19, 2011
As its name implies, the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo in Amarillo, TX is hosted by three states – Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma –but, as the premium book says, is open to the world. Despite this ambitious invitation, the show retains its atmosphere of relaxed, easy-going rivalry among friends and neighbors. There is an old-style feel to the show that welcomes families and smaller breeders, while encouraging the competition and drive to win that has made our country great.
The second annual Miniature Hereford show was no exception. Although there were folks such as Meredith Roberts and his crew from J & M Farm that traveled nearly a dozen hours to reach the show, there was also a representation by LK Robinson Farms of grandparents, parents, and kids from the hometown of Amarillo. They also brought their friends, Andrew and Cheraye Aguirre. A new member of MHBA joined our ranks when young Cole Brown showed his steer, Art. Overall, there were thirteen exhibitors with thirty-seven animals, making this year’s show even bigger and better than last year and surpassing the number of entries by most of the other breeds.
The show began with an outstanding set of three classes of youth showmanship with thirteen young folks, including a last minute entry. Aubree Blissard won the Pre-Junior class with a skill that only comes from many long hours of practice. Alea Smith took the Junior class, demonstrating that a willing worker can develop good techniques with only a couple of years of showing. Kirstie Kasch finished in the Senior class with her heifer, Joy, purchased just last January in Denver from Olson Miniature Herefords. The pair went on in the open show to take Reserve Grand Champion Female, so Kirstie’s special feeding program definitely paid off. And although he did not win his class, more than one observer noted the courage it took for Ethan Smith to use a bull for a showmanship competition!
The open show was just as exciting with a wide variety of animals and stiff competition throughout. Greg Schulz took top honors for Grand Champion Female with his heifer, SF Miss Princess Josie, shown by Madeline Smith.
Weston Robinson showed the Grand Champion Bull, LK Spencer, which he and his family raised at LK Robinson Farms. Rounding out with the Reserve Grand Champion Bull was Leah Stroud showing WW Tom Thumb, a little bull from WW Ranch.
The show finished where it started when three five-year-olds and their steers beat out all other ages in the ring. The Prospect Steer, LK’s Lightning, was shown by little Madeline Smith. Barrett Howe proudly led his steer, JAM G-Man from J & M Farms, to take Grand Champion Steer, and Corbin Marsh completed the day with a massive animal that he fondly calls Shaggy.
Now we are looking forward to next year and invite all of you to join us – but only if you want to have fun!
This year at the Grand National will be a first for the Miniature Hereford Association. It will be the first year we will have a Junior Show. It will be held on Oct 14th. The show time is to be announced. Please check the Grand National Website for further information. Come to the show and support our young breeders.
The open show will be held on Oct 13th. The schedule is also to be announced at a later time.
Region 9 is growing by leaps and bounds. We welcome our new breeders and hope you will feel free to contact “us” if you need help or support. We are always happy to be of assistance.
Hi from Region 8! As Summer turns to Fall here in the Pacific Northwest, our show season is winding down. Most of the shows occur at county fairs throughout Washington State and Oregon. The largest county fair, in terms of head count and exhibitors, was the Clark County Fair in Vancouver, WA (the Mini’s first time exhibiting there) from August 4th-9th. The beef superintendents, other livestock exhibitors, and the public were supportive of the Minis and encouraged our presence again in 2012; therefore, we will be striving to build this show. The Pacific Northwest Regional Show at the Oregon State Fair boasted the greatest number of exhibitors in the show’s history–GREAT JOB! I would like to congratulate the show coordinators for making the show well organized and enjoyable for everyone. I am excited to see the steer classes boom in the coming years.
I also wanted to recognize the new Region 8 MHBA members: Allen Family Farms, Molalla, OR; Cornerstone Acres, Wilsonville, OR; and Veach Family Farm, Mt. Angel, OR as well as the Silverton FFA Chapter, Silverton OR. I look forward to working closely with all of the members in my region to create more exhibiting opportunities. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions and/or suggestions. Jerry DuVal, Silverton, OR, duvalacj@msn.com.
The drought continues throughout the majority of Region 6. This drought is certainly the worst in recent history. Between the wild fires and the lack of moisture, most grazing land in Texas is not capable of supporting livestock at this time without supplementation.
If you are one of the many that are in this situation you have several options depending on what you may have available for forage. Assuming your pasture is basically non productive you will need to feed some form of roughage:
1. If you choose maze stalks, rice stalks, or a poor quality grass weed mix of hay, you can supplement with any of the following:
a. 20% breeder cubes at a rate of 5# per day per head along with a quality mineral and salt.
b. Free choice “Purina “ Accuration #2, #1, or LW depending on the size and age of your cattle. This product is fed free choice. Once again you should have quality mineral and salt available.
2. If you have a medium quality hay. Hay at 8 to 10% protein with with TDN less than 60%, you may supplement with protein tubs. I’d recommend using tubs with protein higher than 20%.
3. If you choose a quality Bermuda hay, bahia hay, brome hay, or alfalfa hay, supplement with a quality mineral and salt. Definitiion of a quality hay is 10.5% protein or higher with a TDN of 60% or higher.
These are just a few options you may use to survive the drought. Don’t forget to worm often. Parasites are worse in drought conditions. You cattle need to be wormed much more often when in these conditions.
Good luck, hang in there.
Greg Schulz
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a great summer! I don’t have much to report this session, but I did want to congratulate all of the MHBA members who exhibited their cattle at the 2011 Iowa State Fair. I was fortunate enough to be a spectator this year and what a great representation of our breed! I want to encourage everyone to keep up the good work and hope to see you all in Kansas City!
Thanks!
Jami Bingham
MHBA
Region 3
Directors Report
Sept. 20 2011
Hello from the Midwest
We’re currently gearing up for the fifth annual Miniature Hereford Show at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, KY. MHBA will be presenting the Open Show as always, but starting this year we are proud to be directing the Youth Show as well. There will be Open Female, Bull, and Steer categories this year as well as both Junior and Pre-Junior categories for heifers and steers. Entries are currently coming in and so far it looks like we’re going to have a good turnout again this year. The show will be taking place at the Kentucky State Fair and Exposition Center. Our cattle are scheduled to begin arriving on Tuesday, November 15 and the Show will take place at 3:00pm on Thursday the 17th in Broadbent Arena.
David Newsom will be sorting our cattle this year. Mr. Newsom is currently the Cattle Specialist for Land O’ Lakes/Purina Feeds and previously spent several years as the Assistant Farm Manager over the Livestock Program at the Western Kentucky University farm. I am very excited to have been able to confirm David as our judge as I’ve seen him judge cattle in the past and he brings a tremendous amount of experience and beef knowledge to his work. He is very thorough and provides extremely valuable feedback to breeders and showmen as he sorts their cattle. I think we’re very lucky to have secured him for our show and am confident all of you that are able to make the Louisville show will be pleased and impressed with his ability as well as his style.
If anyone has any questions surrounding the show, please feel free to contact me directly via phone or email.
Also, Wes and Denise Nelson of Catalpa Ridge Farm in Kentucky have informed me that they’ll be participating in the “Herbst Tour” in their area again this year. The tour is a regional tour of farms, wineries, and other agriculturally-related destinations and provides some really good exposure to their cattle, and therefore Miniature Herefords in general. Many thanks again to the Nelson family, I’m sure a lot of work goes into this event!!
Hope to see you all in Louisville!!
Respectfully submitted,
Ben Lisby
Region 3 Director
Fall is rapidly approaching here in Colorado and I’m sure everyone’s summer has gone way too fast.
With everyone’s busy summer, we didn’t have any changes for the MHBA. Planning & discussion continues with the development of the Junior program. We are continuing to develop some ideas for marketing Miniature Hereford Cattle as well as the beef aspect of the breed. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please contact your Regional Director or any Executive Board Member.
I also want to alert all of you to a rule change by the American Hereford Association that concerns registration of bulls. The new rule reads as follows:
*All Hereford bulls born after January 1, 2011 are required to be DNA typed at the official AHA DNA laboratory before their progeny can be registered.*
Please keep this in mind, as it will impact registration of calves in the future. Please contact the AHA for any questions or information.
Fall also brings a busy show season for many MHBA breeders. Hope all of you will consider entering and/or attending one of the upcoming shows. These shows provide an avenue of exposure and marketing for the Miniature Hereford Breed. Please see the “Upcoming Events” listing in this magazine for a complete schedule and details.
As always, please feel free to contact me for any information, questions, your suggestions or concerns.
Best Wishes!
Charlotte Williams 6/15/2011
This is a question that an increasing number of rural areas are asking, particularly in the area of food animal care. Food animal practitioners now make up fewer than 10 percent of the veterinarians in the United States, according to a 2006 study by the Food Supply Veterinary Medicine Coalition. Their work includes a wide variety of skills, from prevention and disease control on production farms to USDA food safety and inspection to laboratory analysis of processed meat samples.
A number of programs are actively in place throughout the country to combat this growing problem, including state student loan repayment programs, rural veterinary internships, and others. For example, last year Dr. Joe Hillhouse participated in an initiative led by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) through the AVMA/AVMF Food Animal Veterinary Recruitment and Retention Program to provide student loan debt forgiveness for veterinarians who met the requirements.
His practice in the small Texas towns of Borger and Panhandle also actively recruits from schools as far away as Cornell University in New York to provide internships for students who are considering a life away from the big city.
He also assisted this year in hosting the annual Food Animal Production Tour for first and second year veterinary students from Texas A&M University. They traveled over a thousand miles to visit facilities in the Texas Panhandle and to taste the sweet life in small towns. The Tour is designed to showcase state-of-the-art operations in the dairy, feedlot, swine, and beef industries and to show potential food animal veterinarians the multitudes of opportunities in food supply veterinary medicine.
This year’s cow/calf tours included a visit to the 6666 Ranch – a working Angus cattle ranch that is part of the 275,000 acre Burnett Ranches – a visit to an organic dairy, and a final stop at the WW Ranch Miniature Herefords. Quite a variety of experiences!
Unlike the larger facilities, the WW Ranch allowed the students to interact directly with the animals and to see the positive, close relationship that can develop between a veterinarian and his clients. Dr. Joe is a regular visitor to the ranch for show papers, brucellosis vaccinations, and the occasional foot rot or “what is THAT??” treatment. It also gives his interns a small, gentle set of cattle to become comfortable with procedures before tackling the Big Guys.
The Tour concluded with a lunch sponsored by the owners of WW Ranch, Steve & Charlotte Williams, at a local brewery club, and a warm send-off for the final bus trip back to College Station, TX.
Hopefully the support of people and programs like these will continue to encourage young veterinarians to make the choice to provide care for our nation’s food animals. Whether you drink milk, wear a sweater, or eat the occasional BLT, your life is affected by the direction their lives take.
Hi, I am Jerry DuVal, and I am excited to be your new Region 8 Director! For those of you who do not know me, I’d like to introduce myself. Along with my wife, Cynthia, and daughter, Alyssa, we farm 200+ acres of fine fescue grass seed (used for turf), 20 acres of Christmas trees, and manage our herd of mainly polled Miniature Herefords on 100 acres of pasture ground. In 2004, we purchased our first miniatures from Straitside Ranch in Sequim, Washington—we quickly caught the Miniature Fever. Through our careful breeding program and selective purchases, we have increased our herd to a scope of 60 head of breeding and show stock cattle, with a smaller amount of commercial minis in order to supply our slaughter beef customers.
With the show season rapidly approaching, we are working on the 12th consecutive Miniature Hereford show at the Oregon State Fair, even adding two steer classes this year. Both of the show coordinators have been working diligently to ensure that the 2011 Pacific Northwest Regional Miniature Hereford show is a blast!
I aspire to keep everyone in Region 8 informed of the happenings of your Association and strive to assist anyone in their endeavors. Please contact me via email at duvalacj@msn.com…I am hoping to hear all of your comments, opinions, and suggestions to help me better serve you as your Region 8 Director.
President’s Prospective—
Hello MHBA Members, Regional Directors & Executive Board Members.
Although this position was not contested, I am deeply honored and excited to begin as President of the MHBA. I want to thank each of you that took time out of your busy lives to vote in this election.
It has taken me a little time to get acclimated with the google group/discussion forum, as computers are not my forte. I have asked Fran & Charlotte to help get my ideas listed and out to you. I thank all of you for your assistance, patience and understanding while I do my best to get on track.
Many of you may have read my campaign information, but let me re-introduce myself.
I own and operate J bar W Cattle Company in Elizabeth, Colorado. I was born and raised on a family farm, raising cattle & hogs, near Fort Dodge, Iowa. I started my herd in 1997 with the purchase of 2 bred cows and a bull. Through selective breeding and purchase of out-cross bulls, I have developed the herd of 80 head I have today. I also own & have operated a successful security/alarm business for 20 years.
I am a member of the MHBA and have been an active member of this association since its beginning in 1999. I believe my experience as Vice-President, Show Committee Chairman, Co-Superintendent & Sale Manager for the National Western and Co-Superintendent for the Kansas City Royal provides the background and understanding for being President. I have been actively involved with Miniature Hereford shows across the nation to include showing all 12 years at the National Western; assisted to obtain shows at the Iowa State Fair, Kansas City Royal and happy to announce the 1st Annual Miniature Hereford Show at the Colorado State Fair in 2011. I have also shown cattle each year at the Houston Livestock Show & the Star of Texas Show in Austin, Texas.
I have had the pleasure of witnessing the growth of this association and firmly believe in the positive forward direction we have taken. I want to personally thank the membership, our current and past members of the Executive Board and Regional Directors for their time, sacrifice & dedication to this cause. I hope you see, as I do, how your efforts have made tremendous strides in the popularity and respect of the Miniature Hereford in the cattle industry.
There were some recent issues that arose that needed to be addressed quickly. These involved the Iowa State Fair Show. After personally speaking with the livestock office for this show, it remains their decision that the 2011 Miniature Hereford Show will be listed and sanctioned by the NAMHA. They remain firm that they will not be involved in the middle of the two associations, however they will allow MHBA members to participate in this show without being a member of the NAMHA. As a result, no MHBA funding will support this show. We will remain in contact with the personnel in the livestock office and make every attempt to return this show as a MHBA sanctioned show.
The other project we are currently working on is the formation of the MHBA Junior Program. Currently, there has been discussion, but no plan has been developed for the selection of this committee. Please feel free to submit any ideas or suggestions you may have, during the next couple of weeks, so that a plan can be implemented. The MHBA Junior Program funding will be part of the MHBA account and maintained by the MHBA treasurer. Also, the committee members will work with and through the Show Superintendents as to any aspects of the junior show.
Other goals and ideas are as follows:
1) Continue the positive trends & ideas that the MHBA has taken for all members
2) Encourage greater member participation in shows
3) Inspire members to express their suggestions & concerns
4) Develop programs for greater marketing strategies for the large or small breeding
program
5) Gain optimum benefit of well-produced cattle shows with due consideration to
MHBA funds
6) Increase public awareness and education
7) Promote Miniature Herefords as a superior beef product and other benefits
The expansion & growth of the Scholarship Foundation
As always, I THANK all of you for your consideration and support! My plan is to keep all members of the MHBA apprised of all issues and decisions through the Miniature Hereford News & the MHBA website.
Please feel free to contact me for any information, questions, your suggestions or concerns. I will work as diligently as possible to guide the Miniature Hereford Breeders Association and the Miniature Hereford Breed in a positive & forward direction.
Best Wishes & I hope everyone is having a successful calving season!
Justin Grady
President
Miniature Hereford Breeder’s Association
