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All are Brangus sired... JM makes it their business to raise replacement females

published: October 3rd 2008
by: Martha Hollida Garrett

JM Cattle Company’s business is raising Brangus sired commercial replacement females and over the past few years their product has gained recognition, as well as repeat customers across the South.
    The operation is headquartered at Gause, Texas, which is about 40 miles north of Bryan and they own or lease seven locations in the counties of Milam, Robertson, Brazos, Burleson and Washington. Jim McCord, owner, has been in the cattle business since 1977, as a cow-calf operator. About nine years ago, he and manager, Josh Kinslow, decided to change their emphasis and concentrate on replacement females.
    “I was attending a lot of these special sales at the time and was really interested in the replacement business. I had hired Josh in 1999 and he and I decided that this was a market we could develop, verses just selling our calves wherever at weaning,” remembers McCord.
    “We run about 675 true F1 Braford momma cows. These carry registered breeding on at least one side of the pedigree and many have papered individuals on both sides. The Brahman bloodlines include a lot of Hudgins and V8, while the Hereford lines include Lonestar and DeShazer, B&C, Barber, as well as other prominent lines,” explains Kinslow adding that they purchase all the F1 replacements for the nucleus of the program.
    JM maintains a total fall calving herd and these F1s are all bred to Brangus bulls to produce the replacement Black and Black Baldy replacement females. Previously they had used Angus bulls on the F1s.
    The resulting females are marketed at the premier commercial heifer sales across Texas, including those at the Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Houston Livestock Shows, as well as the Bluebonnet Beef Breeders Sale, South Texas Independent Cattlemen’s Association Sale in Beaumont, Johnson Cattle Marketing’s Sales, and Jordan’s Best of the Best Sale.
    Their product has been very successful at these events with a number of championships and first places in the grading competitions. Some of their wins include 2008 first place Brangus and Brangus Pairs at the San Antonio Sale; 2008 Champion All Other Brahman Crosses and 2008 Reserve Champion pen of Brahman Division in Fort Worth; 2006 and 2007 Reserve Champion All Other Brahman Crosses in Fort Worth; 2005 first place Brangus and Brangus cross pairs at the San Antonio Sale; and 2005 Champion All Other Crosses and Champion Brahman Cross pairs. In addition, their females have developed a reputation for quality and they draw interest and demand at these events. The females have worked for the buyers and they have developed a following, as evidenced by the number of repeat customers they enjoy. Plus the numbers support their enthusiasm as over the years their consignments in these special replacement sales have averaged right at $1,800 a head.
    “We wean the calves in two groups and the first group comes off about July 15th.  They are placed in the Vac 45 program, and at the end of the preconditioning period, we sort off the heifers that we are going to keep and sell as replacements. Then the cull heifers and the steer calves are sold at Jordan Cattle Auction’s Special Stocker Sales in San Saba. These calves sell as age and source verified and we have been receiving anywhere from $8-$12/cwt premium for our calves with many selling to repeat buyers,” describes Kinslow.
    He adds that their steer calves last year averaged 643 lbs. and the heifers averaged 618 lbs. In addition, they add approximately 70-100 lbs during the 45 day pre-conditioning program.
    The first set of 2007 weaned calves, sold at Jordan’s on September 6th and the results reflect the quality of the JM program. Overall 238 calves, which is the steer calves and cull heifers,  averaged $788 a head.
    The “keeper” heifers are  sent to Jim Theeck’s Mayfair Ranch, Brenham, Texas to be developed once the 45 day program has been completed.
    “Mr Theeck has been a big help to our program and he suggested that we switch to Brangus bulls on the F1 cows. He develops the heifers for us and we have a great working relationship,” says Kinslow.
    The Brangus sired heifers are provided a strong nutritional base at all times.  They are placed on coastal and native grass pastures till Theeck’s winter pasture is ready. They stay on winter pasture till it plays out in the late spring and they go back to  coastal/native grass pastures. Brangus bulls are turned in about January 15th, so the heifers are then marketed as heavy breds in the special fall sales and as pairs in the stock show sales held the following January, February and March.
    Theeck calves the heifers out for JM and winter pasture is once again used to provide adequate nutrition at this stage of their lives.
    They have been very happy with their decision to utilize Brangus bulls on the F1 cows. McCord says their heifer calves are very uniform and their customers like the amount of ear, which is 7/16ths. Their steer calves sell as for as much as the Angus calves they produced previously from the F1s.
    “We like the consistency and we like the demand for our Brangus sired product. Brangus bulls have really performed on these cows. We have purchased bulls from  Suhn Cattle Co., Eureka, Kansas; Deep Down Ranch, Creole, Louisiana;  Mound Creek Ranch, Leona, Texas; Iron Farms, Kilgore, Texas; Cavender Ranches, Bul-lard, Texas; The Eagles Ranch, Evergreen, Louisi-ana; Cow Creek Ranch in Alabama; and Steiner Ranches, Bastrop, Texas as well as  some through consignment sales. We select bulls that are moderate in frame, with lots of depth and spring of rib. We want them to have a lot of bone and muscle.  We are interested in weaning and yearling weights as these play a large role in our marketing. Since we are breeding these bulls to true F1s, birth weights are not so much of an issue with us,” notes Kinslow.
    JM Cattle Company is pleased with their decision to switch to raising replacement heifers and just as pleased with the decision to incorporate Brangus gene-tics.