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Boening Brothers believe in diversification

published: September 18th 2008

Diversification has become one of the buzzwords in modern day agriculture, but for the Boening Bros., Floresville, Texas it has always been part of their management philosophy. The operation includes registered and commercial Simbrah cattle, a dairy operation, row crops, a small feedlot, an aerial crop spraying service, a local trucking company and one hard working family.
    The Boening family includes Kenneth and Mildred, and son, Russell and wife, Margie and their three children, Megan, Braden and Ethan; son, Scott and wife Diane, and their three daughters, Brooke, Kayla and Ryann. The family business dates back to 1956, when Kenneth and Mildred, joined his brother in farming and raising cattle. They would later buy him out and grow the business to include their two sons.
    Today they run about 80 head of registered Sim-brahs and 225 commercial Simbrah females, milk about 450 Holstein and Holstein x Jersey cows, grow corn, grain sorghum, wheat, oats, cotton and some watermelons. Ken-neth, the pilot in the family continues to operate Boening Bros Aerial Service in primarily Wilson and surrounding counties.
    Their involvement with Simbrah cattle traces back almost to the beginning of the family business and today son, Russell oversees the beef cattle segment.
    “In the 1960’s, my uncle and dad, were running commercial cows that carried a lot of Brahman influence. Then in the 1970’s, a neighboring rancher brought over a couple of Simmental bulls. I was in high school, but I can still remember working that first set of calves. There was a dramatic difference in weights and that marked the beginning of our Simbrah program. We began breeding 7/8th Simmental bulls to our cows, and worked into Simbrahs,” recalls Russell.
    The Boenings. who were involved in the breed in its infancy, belonged to the Brahmental Associa-tion, before it ended and the young breed became known as Simbrah.
    Today they breed the commercial Simbrah cows back to Simbrah bulls, with the exception of some cows they breed to other breeds of bulls to raise their own show steers.
    “One of the advantages of the Simbrah breed is that with the floating 1/8 in the breed you can breed more towards the Simmental or Brahman. This really gives you flexibility,” describes Russell.
    The Boenings obviously have several reasons to not only raise Simbrahs, but to have firmly done so for 30 plus years.
    “We believe in the Simbrah female. We think she is about as good a female as there is. I think it goes without saying she has done a great job for us. She has fertility, gives us longevity, raises a strong performing calf every year, she’s versatile as you can breed her so many ways, and again she gives us options and flexibility because of the  floating Simmental percentage,” describes Russell.
    The registered and commercial herds are run much the same way. Replace-ment females are selected first. Then in the registered program, the top bull calves are marketed to area ranchers for range bulls and some are kept to use in the commercial herd. In the commercial segment, replacements are selected for in herd use and some are sold to local cattlemen and there’s always a group of steer calves selected to be evaluated for the kids show steer projects. After that the heifer and steer calves are retained and fed in the small family feedlot.
    “There have been some years where we have marketed the calves when weaned, but we usually feed them to finished weights of 1,200-1,300 pounds at 16 months of age. Then we ship them to Sam Kane Beef Processors in Corpus Christi. Retaining ownership and feeding the calves out, really makes sense for us. We have our own feed for the most part and we have the feeding equipment from the dairy segment,” says Russell.
    Another reason they keep feeding their calves is because of the results they get. Their calves consistently post yield grades of 1’s and 2’s and quality grades of mostly Choice and some Selects.
    “We have bought stockers also some years, but when you have calves that are born and raised on your place and never leave till harvest time, they just do real well,” explains Russell.
    The Boenings have used bulls in their program from LaMuneca Ranch, Linn, Texas; Pine Ridge Ranch, Dallas, Texas; and Triple S Ranch, Liberty Hill, Texas.
    The selection criteria for bulls include visual appraisal, EPDs and performance data, as well as structure and bone and moderate frame scores.
    “Because we retain our own replacement females, I look at all the numbers. I’m always after better cows. Bull selection is important to me, and I keep the female part of the equation in mind,” he says.
    In addition to raising many of their own steer projects, the Boening kids have also shown many home raised heifers. Their projects have been very successful, including a Simbrah Sensation Grand Champion heifer title, a San Antonio Simbrah steer breed champion and placing in the steer sales at San Antonio and Houston consistently.
    Kenneth and Mildred remain very active in the day-to-day business of Boening Bros. as Kenneth handles the aerial service and Mildred is in the office daily. Russell oversees the beef cattle and crops, while Scott oversees the dairy business and the trucking business while their wives Margie and Diane help in the office. The family operation also includes a first cousin of Russell and Scott’s who has been involved in the dairy portion since the mid-1980’s.
    The third generation of Boenings, include Russell and Margie’s children, Megan, who is a graduate of Texas A&M and an assistant buyer for Neiman Marcos; Braden a senior at A&M with plans to attend vet school and Ethan, a freshman in Aggieland, who is majoring in petroleum engineering. Scott and Diane’s girls are Brooke, a high school senior, Kayla a sophomore and Ryann, who is in eighth grade. All six of the children have been involved in showing and the three younger girls have strong interests in softball.
    The Boenings are also involved in a number of agriculture oriented organizations and hold various leadership positions within the ag community.
    “Our parents have always set a good example for us on how to run a business, how to work and how to maintain family relationships. While each of us have different areas we spend most of our time in, we are all involved in all of it. It’s not ever your job or my job, it’s our job,” Russell emphasizes.
    The Simbrah breed is an integral part of Boening Bros and their bottom line. For 30 plus years the cattle have added positively to their bottom line and the plan is to continue to raise Simbrah.
    “Braden has a real interest in our purebred program and we plan to commit some additional time and effort to this segment in the near future. Simbrah cattle have worked for us,” he concludes.
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