Following the Calves: Quality in the details

Attention to detail is everywhere you look around Glenn Cantrell’s Lone Grove, Okla., ranch. A freshly mowed lawn, an immaculate home, the cattleman’s perfectly creased Wranglers.

It’s no surprise it’s in the cattle, too.

But that wasn’t always the case.

“We’ve definitely evolved,” Glenn says. “We started out with crossbreds and some Angus and now we’re almost exclusively Angus. We started out focusing on weaning weights and yearling weights and just shipping our cattle to the stockyards in Oklahoma City or El Reno.”

But despite producing good calves, they weren’t getting paid accordingly. He knew there had to be a better way.

“We just were not getting them marketed properly,” Glenn says. “Marketing is a huge problem for us, and I’d guess, for a lot of cattlemen. It’s hard to get back what you put in to them.”

That’s when he decided to target quality over pounds, and turn to his friend Jarold Callahan (the pair have even judged at Denver’s National Western together) for advice on how to get there.

“I told him I wanted to improve our herd to the point where our calves graded well and I could get as many premiums as I could with them,” Glenn says. “He then told me the parameters and the EPDs that we would need to achieve our goal.”

That conversation became the basis of the criteria Glenn set for the breeding stock he uses.

While he’s still working to improve his cattle, the 82-year-old rancher is seeing vast improvements. Last year’s calves went 86% Choice and 42% Certified Angus Beef® brand. His goal is 96% Choice and 75% CAB.

And with his attention to detail and strive for perfection, I’ve got no doubt he’ll get there. But the best part? He’s letting us come along for the ride over the next several months. We’ll check back in with Glenn during calving season and again in the spring when he’s got data back on the calves he shipped off to Pratt.

I hope you’ll join me in Following the Calves.

-Katrina

Katrina Huffstutler is a freelance writer based in Electra, Texas. She’s a frequent contributor to the Black Ink team and lover of functional cattle and quality beef.

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PS–We are starting Round Two of last year’s popular Following the Calves blog series. Check back in the coming weeks and months as we introduce you to ranchers from across the country who are working to be sure their calves are just the kind that cattle feeders want. You’ll get to know the families, their cattle and hopefully a little more about the next segment in the beef business.

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