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Blog: Trevor Dam, Angus Link and Focus

“Oh, you’ll have fun with Trevor.”

That’s what Ginette Gottswiller, director of commercial programs at the American Angus Association, said when she gave me a story lead for a rancher south of Arthur, Neb.

I wasn’t on location for longer than a minute before I knew she was right.

You see, Trevor is one of those who is quick with a joke, wears a natural smile and talks freely. Rapport comes easy with guys like that.

But sometimes his kind are misunderstood as all fun, no focus.

We exchange some small talk about his usually open highway that was pared down to a one-lane construction zone. I smirk as I think of the “wait for pilot” sign holders who probably know him well.

Then we jump in the Suburban so I can take pictures of the calves that will be shipped the next day. He tells me about the decade-old plan behind them.

“We started paying more attention to the carcass side. It just made sense. If you’re going to raise them, you might as well raise the best you can,” he says.

After spending the next few hours with Trevor, his wife Amy and their daughters Hailey and Ella, I know it’s all backed by action.

“I look hard at carcass EPDs [expected progeny differences],” Trevor says, noting he won’t use anything below breed average for marbling or ribeye. Weaning weight has to be average or better, and they have to look good, too.

He’s synchronized all females and used artificial insemination (AI) on his whole herd for a decade, selling any that settle in the clean-up bull group.

“I want them bred, how I want them bred,” he says unapologetically.

Trevor backgrounds his fall-weaned calves and sells them a few months later. Repeat buyers have shared information back, showing that they reach upwards of 75% Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand acceptance.

 “If you have good cattle, they sell themselves,” he says.

 Group carcass data make good numbers to know, but Trevor is always interested in knowing more. That’s why the Angus LinkTM program caught his attention.

 “When Jed called to tell me about it, he knew I’d be all in,” says Trevor of his seedstock supplier and friend, Jed Connealy.

“It’s as much for the sellers as it is for the buyers because it gives them some sort of baseline,” Jed says, noting that he and Dam talked about his results and areas for herd improvement.

The calves scored a 148 out of a possible 200 for Beef Score and qualified for the CAB Targeting the BrandTM logo with a 125 in the Grid Score. “I knew based on how they had done in the past that it wasn’t going to be a train wreck, but I really had no idea,” Trevor says.

 Not afraid of what the results might say, but ready to apply the data.

 The life of the party, the guy who will always say what’s on his mind…

“You can drive lots and lots of miles and not find another Trevor Dam,” Jed says with a laugh. “But he strives to do what is right for his herd, for the cattle and his buyers.”

 Fun + focused.

May your bottom line be filled with black ink,

 

Miranda

About the author: Miranda Reiman

I love this life. Things that top my list? God, my family, rural life, agriculture and working for the brand. I’m officially the director of producer communications, which basically means I get to learn from lots of smart people and pass that information along to other smart people: YOU. I’m fortunate to work with producers and others in the beef community from my Nebraska-based home office here in the heart of cattle country. (One other delicious job perk? Any time we meet, there’s sure to be good beef involved.) 

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South Carolina rancher and chef trade places

Trading places

It’s a near 3-hour drive from big-city Charleston to Ridge Spring, S.C. With every mile, people become fewer and cattle take their place.

It’s a new commute for Jeremiah Bacon, the spring sun bouncing off the chef’s windshield headed west. As Oak Steakhouse Charleston’s executive chef and owner, he’s more inclined to burn the midnight oil, less apt to watch the day wake.

His counterparts, though – the ranchers in this quality beef movement – they see new mornings all the time.

Caring for the cattle that supply steaks for the Steakhouse, beef’s bookends set out to watch one together for a change.   

“We’re gonna make Jeremiah into a cowboy today,” Kevin Yon teases his crew as the chef slides into Yon Family Farm’s morning meeting.

The two were scheduled to trade places and it seemed only logical to start at the beginning.

“Have you ever sat on a horse?” Yon prods with care.

“Sure, yeah,” Bacon stumbles to say. It had been a few years. “I mean I don’t think I can gallop or anything.”

There would be none of that, no funny business on Yon’s turf that could result in retaliation tomorrow. Besides, Bacon brought no boots – out of fear he’d recreate a scene from City Slickers – but Yon would get him on a horse nonetheless.

“On a typical morning in the spring, we’re still breeding cows,” Yon says. As they separate two from the rest he walks the chef through a regular day that’s always changing.

Bacon nods, the respected chef knows a thing or two about spontaneity, adjusting when life happens.

“This can make your head hurt this early in the morning,” Yon says, scanning a page of columns and data. “It’s just numbers, but if they’re good numbers, a lot of progress can be made.”

Expected progeny differences or EPDs are what help ensure Bacon’s customers get the eating experience they desire. Those numbers also determine what bull’s semen they’ll use for the heifer in the chute.

“I’m about to show you more than what you will want to know, but it’s the process,” Yon says, slipping on a sleeve.

He palpates the animal before guiding Bacon to do the same.

“Do you use your dominant hand?” Bacon asks before he preps to AI. In restaurant speak, one’s “pan hand,” is the stronger hand used to plate or sample a dish; the other left for more intricate, detail-type work. Bacon explains his inquiry and questions whether AI requires such a strategy.

“Most people will use their left but you go with what’s comfortable,” Yon says – as if any of the morning’s responsibilities are in that zone for the chef.

“I started out the day looking for the cervix, so that was pretty intense,” Bacon says with wide eyes.

But he’s committed, eager to learn and see life on the other side.

“What was her number? D-597?” Bacon asks, to make a mental note. “Let’s see if I got her bred.”

A calf in the fall will mean just that, and ultrasound will tell Yon in a matter of weeks.

For now, Bacon gets horseback to drive some cattle before driving the tractor to mow and the military feed truck for growing steers. He preps a cow for embryo transfer and tags a new calf – the latter his favorite part.

From a bird’s-eye view, they look pretty different, farmer and chef. It’s often not until they’re face to face, interacting and asking questions of one another that the similarities come into focus.

It’s in the details and precision, the passion and the pride that make up the big picture.

To consumers, these are men working alongside family, whether by blood or by choice. These are men providing wholesome food for the world.

This is what Bacon and Yon do well. Together, and separately.

“Our independent success is dependent on each other,” Yon says. “That’s the cool part.”

Understanding one another’s process only helps.

“Our worlds are this far apart. I’m at the beginning and he’s almost at the end,” Yon says after diving into the deep end at the Oak. The farmer’s arms stretch wide to show the point. “But there are so many similarities in what we do and I couldn’t be more pleased with people like Chef Bacon and his staff who represent our product.  

“We all want it to be the very best.”

It’s true. Bacon allows nothing less at the Oak. Returning customers demand it. His standard that all beef served is Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand does not waiver.

“People want to know where their food’s coming from, ‘what’s the process,’ ‘what’s this thing with CAB?’” he says. “Man, it’s about small ranches, it’s about small farms, that’s what it’s about.”

Education and real experiences provide him an unparalleled perspective. 

“I’ve been to Nebraska, I’ve been to Montana and the same dedication, the same follow-through and the same techniques are going on in all these different areas. It’s very impressive.”

Yon feels the same bond with his teammates in the kitchen. Nearly 30 hours after Bacon joined the farmer’s early meeting, the chef’s staff gathers upstairs at the Oak for an evening run. This time a cowman sits in.

“I don’t know if you consider yourselves part of agriculture, but we do consider you very much a part of agriculture,” Yon says. “Together, we are a part of food production, providing meals for people. What could be more noble than that?”

There’s a silence that says they get it. Heads nod and chests rise. The 24-oz. CAB dry-age ribeye they’re set to push carries new meaning.

“We’ve put three years into the steer going on the plate tonight,” Yon says. “Three years ago we made that decision.”

“We’re on the two-yard-line here,” Bacon adds. 

They’re on the same page. 

“Often people will come in the restaurant, confused as to how we get it all out at the same time. ‘I struggle with 10 people at thanksgiving,’ they’ll say. “It’s all about being organized,” Bacon says, “using our systems we’ve put in place, much like the ones they do at the ranch.”

For Yon, those systems and Bacon’s close coaching keep the Oak running like the “well-oiled machine” the farmer witnesses when he steps behind the counter for his chance to contribute to the end game.

“Feels like your back’s on fire, doesn’t it?” Yon asks Bacon’s sous chef. His glass of water dwindles in no time.

After a quick lesson in action, the farmer dives in and does his best to stay afloat. Plating, facilitating, calling out orders, bringing ingredients from the cooler and steaks to the tables, hours go by in a flash.

Yesterday we were weighing baby calves and today we weighed steaks,” Yon says, contrasting he and Bacon’s day to day. Back home, he’ll carry with him a better understanding and share it with those who will listen.

“That I could take a CAB prime ribeye, that perhaps came from our farm or others like it, and know everything that was behind that product, that the quality was there and we didn’t miss the finish line, that’s very gratifying,” Yon says.

The line gets busy behind them and the chef has to step in to keep the pace.

“I thought you were going to call for me any minute,” Yon says retiring his apron for the night.

If Bacon needs him, he’ll be there, a partner and friend.

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Sanders, Viator talk epigenetics, fetal programing and selection

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Control what you can and deal with the rest.

Cattlemen can’t stop drought or hurricanes, but they can set their herd up to be successful during “everyday” challenges.

“We can manage their feed. We can manage their health protocol. We can’t manage their stress,” said Kelly Sanders, Westway Feed Products. “From my feed standpoint, how do I mitigate that problem the best I can?”

Sanders and colleague Cheramie Viator spoke at the Angus Convention, Nov. 2 to 5 in Columbus, Ohio, addressing the importance of providing a cow herd the nutrients they need when they need them.

Sanders talked about epigenetics, or the way a cow’s environment can change the ultimate makeup of the calf she is carrying.

“The DNA remains the same. What happens is, whether its nutritional problems or stresses in that animal, it basically can mess up the packet or the translations or transcription of the DNA,” he said.

It’s not a new concept and was first discovered in humans by analyzing health records from babies born toward the end of World War II. During the hongerwinter, when the Germans cut off Dutch food shipments, most of the population received about 30% of their caloric requirement.

“When they went back and studied the ladies that were under this malnutrition…children that came from them had a lot of health problems,” Sanders said, noting they correlated certain trimesters with specific challenges, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

In cattle, researchers are looking to determine what level of nutritional stress—and during which trimesters—affects everything from subsequent reproduction in breeding animals to quality grade in fed steers and heifers.

“A lot of stuff goes in the first trimester, because that’s when the heart’s put together and developed, all the interior organs, a lot of the muscle fiber is developed during that timeframe,” Sanders said. Marbling cell development happens during the third trimester.

Studies have tracked what feeding 60% and 70% of cow energy requirement does to future progeny.

But how can producers be sure they don’t put that kind of stress on their herd?

It starts with selecting cattle that are well adapted, Viator said.

“Match your cow to your environment and your production system, and match your bull to your endpoint,” she suggested, noting it’s a good idea to develop females in a similar environment to their permanent one.

It’s up to seedstock producers to help other cattlemen assess which genetics are a good fit.

“We need to think about our customer’s production environment,” Viator said. “Don’t sell into a production environment where they’re not going to survive.”

That means considering everything from forage type and temperature swings to water quality.

Then, individual ranchers need to understand the energy requirements of their cattle, she said.

“We chase size and growth, and I’m all about it, but when we do—the more we push that spread—the more we increase the genetic requirement of our cattle,” she said.

Surveying breeders who have made it in the industry for 50 years or more, Viator said she found a common thread: “Optimums versus maximums.”

Finding the right amount of milk or growth for your environment is more sustainable than finding the very most or highest for those traits.

“Sometimes optimum is much more profitable in the long-term than the maximum is today,” she said.

The key is correctly using genetic tools and making smart decisions.

“Sometimes it’s fun to think about what’s really neat and what’s really popular, but sometimes we have to take a step back and think about what really works,” Viator said.

 

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Beyond Beef Buzzwords

You don’t have to tell people who make their living from the land that treating it poorly is just bad business. Ranchers have been leading conservation efforts for generations. Yet, you’d have to have had your head in the sand to not hear something in the news about beef sustainability. The buzzword is popular, driving clicks and creating heated conversations from internet comment sections and small town diner’s to city coffee shops.

From Meatless Mondays to Meaty Mondays, it’s easy to pick one side and nail your stake into the ground. But sustainability is something most producers and consumers AGREE is a good thing. It’s a word that’s hard to define but makes us all feel good.

Consumers demand sustainability, ranchers execute it and Mother Nature necessitates it. But what does it really mean?

Is it a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions? Beef production only accounts for 1.9% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. On top of that, the U.S. beef community has decreased its emissions per pound of beef by 16% from the 1970s to today.

Is it producing more with less? Between 1977 and 2007, U.S. family farmers and ranchers produced 13% more beef from 30% fewer animals.

How do we help capture the good things already happening in the beef supply chain, make it measurable and valuable to the consumer?

It’s questions like these that launched the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and shortly after the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. Initiatives bringing people across the supply chain together, to talk about how to treat the environment and cattle better and how to translate our work back to those who buy the product.

“This is a great platform as an industry to talk about the good things that we’re doing,” says Mark McCully, vice president, supply for the Certified Angus Beef ® brand.

McCully has represented the brand as a part of both Rountables providing a quality branded-beef perspective to the conversations.

“It’s important to connect the good work our ranchers are doing every day from a conservation and preservation standpoint to the high quality beef product they produce,” McCully says. “These are pillars of what cattleman think about every day.”

The Global Roundtable work resulted in an industry recognized definition of sustainability.

The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef defines sustainable beef as a socially responsible, environmentally sound and economically viable product that prioritizes Planet (relevant principles: Natural Resources, Efficiency and Innovation, People and the Community); People (relevant principles: People and the Community and Food); Animals (relevant principle: Animal Health and Welfare); and Progress (relevant principles: Natural ResourcesPeople and the CommunityAnimal Health and WelfareFoodEfficiency and Innovation.

However, the work has just begun. The task now is to create measurable framework that can be applied on farms and ranches across the industry that meets the definition and provides value to the end consumer. The question turns from ‘What does that mean?’ to ‘How do we measure it?

Attention-grabbing headlines claiming beef is bad for the environment aren’t going anywhere. These systems require input, data, and discussions. Since this is a dinner table conversation, everyone (producer, consumer and all those in-between) deserve a seat at the table for a conversation on how we can make the whole plate better.

McCully is hosting the Sustainability Engagement Forum at the NCBA Convention Feb. 1, 2019, 11:15 am – 12:45 pm. If you’re headed to New Orleans for #CattleCon, join the conversation.

We hope to see you there.

Until Next Time,

 

Nicole

 

For more information on beef sustainability please visit: https://www.beefresearch.org/sustainability/index.html

About the author: Nicole Erceg

Raised in the Strawberry Mountains of Eastern Oregon, I’m a fan of wide open spaces and rural life. I didn’t grow up in the beef industry, but I got here as fast as I could. My love for great stories, a well marbled steak and black cattle led me to Ohio where I consider myself blessed to blend my many passions into a “job” at CAB.

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New look, same mission for CAB division

A “rebranding” for the brand’s producer-facing effort

by Sarah Moyer

To make it easier for cattlemen to identify and access online resources, the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand revitalized its virtual presence on producer-focused communications channels.

It’s all to better serve the cattlemen who own and supply the brand, says Nicole Erceg, CAB producer communications specialist.

“We’re proud to reintroduce ourselves to cattlemen as the Certified Angus Beef  brand Cattleman Connection,” she says. The new look, accessible at www.cabcattle.com, launched at the 2018 Angus Convention.

Sharee Sankey of Sankey’s 6N Ranch near Council Grove, Kan., says she and husband Chris often visited the website before the updates and were impressed by the changes.

“I loved the logo,” she says. “It helps separate the main CAB website from this one.”

Erceg says the new name helps cattlemen recognize resources tailored specifically for them.

“I recommend cattlemen consider bookmarking this website,” she says. “It’s consistently updated with tools designed to help add value to your bottom line.”

Resources include news articles, market insights, success stories, research summaries and new management techniques. It’s an all-encompassing tool for cattlemen targeting quality beef production.

For seedstock breeders, the new site includes detailed information on how to leverage the Targeting the Brand program to market Angus bulls. Value calculators and tips for marketing feeder cattle are available for the commercial producer.

“It’s an effort to help demonstrate how the dollars generated from our brand flow back to the ranch,” Erceg says.  

Packers pay producers more than $75 million annually in premiums for cattle that meet the brand’s ten quality specifications.

“That’s not just pocket change,” she says. “We strive to help cattlemen capture their piece of those premium dollars.”

The brand’s first producer-facing website, CABpartners.com, was named for its prominent feedyard partner program that operated for 15 years. As producer outreach efforts grew, technology and branding required an evolution with the change in programs. The addition of a blog and social media channels for the production audience began as “Black Ink from the Certified Angus Beef brand.” The most recent update brings all channels under one umbrella with a new name and look.

 

“As a premium beef brand, we work to ensure each interaction anyone has with the brand is a reflection of the quality beef we market,” Erceg says. “This new website and updated branding brings a new, premium experience to our cattleman resources by making them easier to find, read and use on any device.”

Sankey says ease of use is a necessity, because she checks the website for quick updates while on the go.

“It makes you want to come back and look at the news or information that’s going to challenge you,” she says. “With technology, you can do more, but we’re all busier, too.”

Cattlemen can connect with the brand online through the new website, cabcattle.com and on social media. Follow @CABcattle on Instagram and Twitter and “Certified Angus Beef brand Cattleman Connection” on Facebook.

Recipes, where to buy the brand and corporate information is still available at CertifiedAngusBeef.com, the consumer-facing website.

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Sign reading

by Nicole Lane Erceg

The sign reads “Welcome to Grant County,” in simple white letters on a small, forest green backdrop. It sits near a creek more than an hour’s drive from where I grew up, but every time I see it, I already feel like I’m home. At this landmark, the air begins to smell different and the scenery—though to the untrained eye not seemingly dissimilar to the miles behind—is distinctly more familiar.

It’s a sign that I’m in the right place.

Most would breeze by this small signal and I’m sure many do. I only notice because of its significance to me.

For the cattle industry, market signals can offer the same perspective. Data, seasonal changes, articles providing the same advice on vaccination programs or colostrum importance are all too familiar. They don’t often stick out, and we proceed onward.

Others, like signals from consumers, we expect to stick out as noticeably as traffic lights.

But these important signs don’t always flash brightly on the side of the road. In the late 1980s, it wasn’t big, bold lettering that called the industry’s attention to true consumer preferences.

It was a quiet sign on the side of the road that simply read, “Marbling.”

Today we see the significance. The number of cattle in the Select grade decreased by nearly half over the past decade. Consumer demand for beef, both domestically and abroad, is growing. The beef supply today is the best ever in quality grade, at unprecedented historic levels. At the same time, price spreads between Choice and Select have maintained.

All signs say we’re headed in the right direction.

It’s the result of small changes, incrementally over time, that brought us to this rise in quality, value and demand. Those who saw the marbling sign and headed in that directed have won in premiums and stronger demand for that growing share of all beef that is simply better today. Those who have stayed on the road to higher marbling have seen the continued opportunity to grow profits.

Moving into a new year is an ideal time to reflect on the understated signals directing us on what changes to make and where to double down.

Does that comment from your neighbor on trying genomic testing come to mind? Maybe it’s time to evaluate a creep feeding program or a rotational shift that will get this year’s spring calves off to the right start. This might be the year to elevate your bull selection criteria beyond what’s already working well, moving the target higher on traits that add value and demand, and could use some added performance in your herd.

Signals for needed change aren’t always obvious. We have to look for those signs. When we do so with an eye toward what matters most for the farm, ranch or herd in 2019, we might see some that don’t call for grand modifications, just small adjustments.

In planning for year ahead, look around for the familiar and new signs that nudge us to keep moving in the right direction.

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Calving seasons of the mind

by Justin Sexten, Ph.D.

Winter came early for much of cow-calf country, and now calving season is at the gate. Even those who call it “spring calving” often start in January, but if you’re not out checking a heifer, this is a good time of year to catch up on reading. Calving dates and “housing” options for the herd were explored in a 2019 Nebraska Beef Report article by Terry Klopfenstein and others, who evaluated March, June, or August calving dates on the range, or two July calving systems in year-round confinement or in semi-confinement with grazed corn stalks from fall to April weaning. Even if none of these models fit your operation, the production and cost principles they illustrate can help develop a system that does match your resources.

Confinement for beef cows ranges from enclosed buildings to a more extensive dry-lot model, with greatly varying costs based on capital investments. Confinement in an open dry lot costs less, but if you have to deal with inclement weather, heat, cold, rain or snow, the added shelter may be worth the added investment.

Either of the confinement options could also make sense where expansion on range or pasture is limited by land availability. Confinement models can increase ranch stocking rates by using use forage resources more efficiently, with options for strategic supplementation and preventing overgrazing.

The top concern for any herd management system may be how flexible or rigid it is in setting the calving season. That window determines the year-round nutrient demand curve for the entire herd, along with seasonal price risks for ranch inputs and cattle markets.

In confinement housing, the main benefit is a ranch “environment” that becomes significantly more manageable. Cow herd nutrition options are much more flexible than the pasture under their feet. In the semi-confinement model the Nebraska team evaluated, grazed corn stalks reduced winter feed costs while capitalizing on seasonally low harvested feed costs during the confined spring and summer. There was nearly $100 net difference per calf between the two systems, total confinement with a $46.57 loss compared to a $51.92 net gain for calves in the semi-confined model.

Comparing returns to different calving dates among all five systems, March netted the lowest cost per calf and June, the highest. But unit cost of production was the key lesson in this data. Despite the greatest total cost, June calving provided the lowest unit cost of production and greatest net profit per calf, thanks to greater weaning and carcass weights. Simply driving down costs did not directly equate to increased profit.

What did equate to more profit deserves a closer look. Higher weaning weights came from weaning later than the traditional seven months—and the data shows cow performance was not compromised by longer lactation. In that light, those with fall-calving herds on cool-season pastures might consider delayed weaning into June to help manage spring growth and add weight to calves. You might worry that will hurt reproductive performance, but cows are already bred or not when you decide to keep calves on the cow longer. Body condition score (BCS) of a cow at calving is a far greater indicator of reproductive success than BCS at weaning. That’s a reminder to those with March-calving herds: now is the time to ensure cows have adequate nutrition to rebreed next year.

We might think that a pasture system calving in concert with natural forage production (June in Nebraska) is always more profitable than a semi-confined model with a comparable calving date. Not in this study. Semi-confinement netted $7.15 more per calf, over and above the $44.77 net return to June calving on range. Is that extra 13.7% profit worth a wholesale change and potential loss of pasture leases? Maybe, if you want to expand without adding land.

The Nebraska study didn’t consider seasonal price variation of inputs or cattle, though we know those trends can be strong and variable by region and impact on each ranch. While the five-system evaluation did capture the value of reduced costs in using corn stalk grazing, it muted seasonal marketing advantages by using fixed historical market prices for calves. Feed and forage input costs were also fixed—costs that are often stacked against confinement models. But all of us sometimes forget to consider variation in forage production for grazing models. Look out the window and we realize nature can give or take a lot from average, but we tolerate that risk as less troublesome than trying to manage feed prices.

Calving dates and management systems are hard to change on a dime, but it pays to keep alternatives in mind as a hedge against a possible future that calls for change.

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Nebraska Ranch Receives Certified Angus Beef Commercial Award

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Uncomfortable change

by Miranda Reiman

WHAM! Tap-tap-tap.

Some changes are noisy…like the current remodel and addition to our 115-year-old house.

Anyone who has lived through construction dust knows the disruption.

The crew knocked out the wall between the living room and new, unfinished space just before Christmas. We ask the kids to wear shoes almost everywhere they go, and pray the baby isn’t picking up too much extra hardware as she crawls along in the work-in-progress house.

To say it’s a bit uncomfortable would probably be an understatement.

But isn’t change that way a lot of the time? It’s not always “in your face” like the nail gun I hear running next door to my home office, but sometimes just the idea of doing something out of our routine can be nerve racking.

Are you contemplating a change in your farming or ranching operation? Maybe you’re considering moving around your breeding season or thinking of how to set up so you can wean calves at home this year. Perhaps you’re perusing bull sale catalogs right now, thinking of different thresholds for traits or looking at DNA testing to aid with replacement heifer selection.

It feels a bit exciting, but also daunting, doesn’t it?

We have a “girls room” and a “boys room” in our house, which worked fine, until the scales were tipped unevenly at a ratio of five daughters to one son, and they’re growing up. Their need for separate dressers and normal-sized beds are becoming more apparent each day. So life forced us to make some decisions. We got out a calculator. We analyzed our income, probability of moving, places to make room and what we could purge.

In the end, we decided to add on. It was the right decision and all the data and options weighed pointed us that way, but when they came to dig our basement we still felt a bit uncertain.

We wanted to be sure we were making the right choice, both for our family and for our pocketbook.

Have you put a pencil to your ideas? Talked to some experts or other cattlemen who have already been down that path?

Don’t let the unknown paralyze you. Think about the end goal and why you’re inspired to do something different in the first place.

Maybe you’re looking to recoup some investment or perhaps just trying to make specific points in the calendar flow a little more smoothly. Maybe you hear about these loads that are reaching 50% Prime and thinking, “I want my cattle to do that.”

The only way toward accomplishing an audacious goal is to take the first step. Make a change, even if it’s uncomfortable at first.

Over the “rrrr-rip” of the Sawzall, I’ll be cheering you on.

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It’s a labor of love, obvious in the way she lights up explaining their family’s 33-year effort to proactively adapt Angus cows to their land. A lifetime of telling stories from the pasture or kitchen has resonated with nonfarm consumers as much as fellow ranchers. “Everything we do is about cattle, but it’s also about family and connecting our kids to the land and to the cattle,” Debbie Lyons-Blythe says.