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Pounds And Profit

published: September 15th 2009

Pounds and profit--the two words are often synonymous where ranching operations are concerned. The J.F. Welder Heirs Cattle Company sells their calves after preconditioning and at this legendary Texas ranch, pounds are dollars.
    The J.F. Welder Ranch, headquartered in Refugio County, traces its beginning to 1878 and today, the fourth and fifth generations of this family, continue to ranch across Refugio, Goliad and San Patricio counties in South Texas. The ranch is one of the oldest undivided family partnerships in Texas.
    In 2001, the company began adding Charolais bulls as a terminal cross with the  Hereford x  Brahman cross females.
    “Our goal was to increase total net dollars by raising weaning weights, and producing a more marketable product,” says Clay Neel, who has managed the ranch since 2001.
    Now almost a decade later they are pleased with the results and how the Charolais breed helped them reach their goals.
    “Since we first added the Charolais bulls, our weaning weights have increased by 50-75 pounds on the average. It seems like we have been in a drought most of the time. Our product has improved and the uniformity in the calf crop has really generated interest in our calves and kept our buyers coming back,” he explains adding, “it’s been our experience that the Charolais cross calves are always in demand regardless of weight or season.”
    Welder Ranch has made bull purchases from Thomas Ranch, in nearby Raymondville, Texas, Walden Farms from Alabama and Caddo Hills Charolais in Athens, Texas.
    The uniformity and conformation of the calf crops has been a real marketing and management advantage. Neel says they have very few cuts when putting their calves together in matching load lots. Their calves are marketed by video through Superior Livestock.
    “The calves will all be alike and when all of them get on the truck that is something. We may cut only one calf off of a load, they are that uniform. Plus, it saves time as we don’t have to sort calves three and four different ways and most importantly, the buyers are impressed,” describes Neel.
    The Charolais calves are also very uniform in color as most are yellow. Neel says it is a pretty sight to see the calves lined up at a feed bunk, as they all look alike.
    The ranch calves predominately in the fall, with most of the herd calving in September, October and November. They have found the calves do better and weigh more than the spring calves.
    “Our spring feed bill is as high as our fall. Of course we’ve been in a drought five of the eight years I’ve been here and we have to supplement the spring calvers in July and August with protein to finish the breeding season,” he says.
    Their fall calves are weaned about July 4th and the spring calves in October.  Neel says that in good years their fall born Charolais sired steers wean at 635 and the heifers at 600 pounds. This year is an exception as the drought, which is now one of the worst on record, has lowered those weights by close to 100 pounds.
    At weaning the calves are backgrounded for 45-60 days. During this time the ranch spares no expense on health measures. The calves are given a full repertoire of vaccinations. All calves are vaccinated three times before leaving the ranch.
    “We take tremendous pride in delivering a healthy and properly vaccinated product to the industry. We can compete on the health level and our buyers tell us the health of our calves is unbeatable,” he says adding that they do age and source verify their calves, which has added value and increased those net dollars.
    Another area of consideration in 2001, was selecting bulls that would adapt to the area. The ranches, which are spread over three counties include remnants of coastal prairie and lots of brush with pastures ranging in size from 500 to 2,500 acres. A cow needs 11 to 12 acres in some areas and as much as 20 acres in others.
    “Brush is a daily battle as it will just take over if you don’t fight it. We have lots of huisache and mesquite trees. We rely heavily on prescribed burning to manage it, but when we are in a drought we have to limit our burning,” he adds.
    Neel has been pleased with the toughness of the Charolais bulls they have used as they have withstood the harsh country. The bulls are expected to cover 18-30 cows depending upon their age and the roughness of the pastures.
    While the bulls may be tough, Neel is even tougher when purchasing them.
    “In addition to the goals we have for pounds, marketability and net dollars, we also want our bulls to have longevity. We buy almost all of our bulls at auction and my first consideration is weaning weight and weaning weight EPD. These two sets of numbers are crucial to our operation. Then I also want a bull to have a strong ribeye scan and ribeye area EPD and as much marbling as possible. After that I sort on the phenotypic traits. I want a moderate frame, deep ribbed and thick bull, with adequate bone and sound structure,” he says.
    Neel says that moderate framed Charolais bulls will produce 1,250-1,300 pound steers and they focus on selecting those in the moderate range.
    “Tendency is to go into a sale and buy the biggest, fattest, stoutest bull, but those bulls won’t hold up in our country. These moderate framed, softer made and easier fleshing Charolais bulls work better for us and will produce a product that fits nicely in any segment of the industry.
    Getting bulls to work year after year is crucial in the Welder program and is one production costs Neel seeks to minimize.
    “You are going to lose some bulls to injury and that is especially true in this country, but we have to have bulls that will work year after year, which means fertility and semen quality are paramount. Wise bull purchases are crucial to an outfit’s bottom line, but they become a huge expense item if they have to be prematurely replaced. Nothing drives me crazy like bulls that won’t pass a breeding soundness examination (BSE) when its time to turn them out the second or third year. This examination needs to be part of all purebred operations marketing information and the information needs to be brutally factual. It’s been our experience that marginal bulls from a BSE standpoint, generally don’t stay in the herd long,” he discusses.
    The Welder program retains their own heifers and those not retained are marketed along with the steers. They retain about 350 heifers a year and utilize ultrasound information in their replacement selection. The program has some pretty stringent requirements for females to remain in the herd.
    Recently they have introduced Red Angus genetics into the cowherd to increase carcass merit, improve udders and enhance reproductivity.
    “We are asking more and more every year from our heifers. We want them to breed earlier and produce more. We expect the heifers to calve at 21-24 months of age. If they don’t they cant’ stay. Plus, we know that our heifers have not been exposed to any bulls carrying “trich” and we have a verified health program, which in our mind are major advantages over purchased heifers,” he says adding, “we know what we have and we know our cowherd is our future and we like the built-in predictability of our heifers.”
    The drought is taking its toll at press time. This area of Texas was sitting 12-18 inches below normal for 2009, depending on location. But that’s just part of the story as 2008 was dry too and combined the area is now almost 40 inches below the normal.
    “2009 is done. We are in survival mode. Were trying to position our operation for what we hope will be a more normal 2010. We are retaining our heifers this year, so when it does rain and things turn around, we have a nucleus of young females. We see our retained numbers as an investment in the future,” he explains.
    Welder Ranch has seen a lot of tough times since 1878 and maintaining an outfit that is profitable is key to their longevity. Charolais bulls have been part of that profitability, largely through increased pounds, for almost a decade.
SLS