home → articles → Producer Feature Stories | Email to a Friend

Simbrah an integral part of Sklar and Son operation

published: September 18th 2009
by: Martha Hollida Garrett

To say that Darrell Sklar believes in Simbrah genetics is an understatement. Sklar has been breeding and raising them since the mid-70’s---in fact Sklar and Son were some of the first cattlemen to utilize the Simmental and Brahman cross. Now 30 years, later the breed is still an integral part of their operation.
    Sklar and Son, was Darrell and his dad, Ira, and today it stands for Darrell and son, Shane. Shane represents the fourth generation of the Sklar family to raise cattle along the Gulf Coast, which includes divisions in the three counties of Jackson, Victoria and Bee.
    “We got our start with this breed in 1977. We were running purebred Brah-mans and commercial cattle at the time. We started putting Simmental bulls on our Brahman females and then we utilized semen from the great fullblood bull, King Arthur on a group of Brahman cows to establish a herd of 1/2 blood females that we bred up from there. We were involved with Simbrah, when it was called Brahmental and I was on the board of directors of that first association,” recalls Sklar.
    In the 80’s and 90’s, the program was very active on the seedstock level. They had cattle on the show circuit and wins included a prestigious Houston Reserve Grand championship. The program added genetics from several sources and the Sklar family was active in the Texas Simmental/Simbrah Association activities. The American Junior Simbrah Round Up was dedicated to Ira Sklar one year. Today the program focuses more of their efforts in the commercial segment.
    The breed thrives in this area of state, which can be very unforgiving at times, with heat, humidity, and insects. Lately it’s been extremely hot, very dry and the current drought has forced Sklar to reduce his numbers by over 20% across the board.
    Their registered herd includes 175 purebred Simbrah cows and carries lots of LaMuneca breeding Over the years, he has added genetics from a number of breeders, including Smith Genetics, Hagan Cattle Co., Wentz Cattle Company and the Houston International Sale. He concentrates on adding new genetics now through sire power. Sklar selects most of his bulls from the MAS Sales and also buys at private treaty from the Guerra family.
    “I have a good relation with Carlos and Sister and enjoy attending their events and doing business with them” he says.
     In years past, they utilized A.I., but now have elected to use sons of some of the top A.I. sires in the breed.
    “The bulls we select for the registered herd or just one generation from an A.I. sire and we watch what bulls are hot and evaluate how we can use those genetics. One of the bulls we are using on our registered cows is a full brother to the Dream Girl heifer that Jordan Grahmann showed to the National and International championship honors this past spring,” describes Sklar and he adds that he purchased a Sargeant x 50 son out of the Synergy 1 Sale from Hagans, and has a brother  of the Interna-tional Champions, Black and Red Bullet, as well as LM Full House sons.
    Their large commercial herds include a lot of Tiger Stripe females, as well as Simbrah sired females and these are bred to Simbrah bulls. They also maintain a herd of Tiger Stripes that are bred to Polled Hereford bulls, to raise 3/4 Hereford x 1/4 Brahman females. Simbrah bulls are then put back on these resulting females that are retained.
    “Simbrah bulls on F1 cows results in a powerful package, especially on the female side of the equation, and it has been a very good product for us,” says Sklar.
    They have two calving seasons, September-October and February-March, but the current two years of drought has made it extremely hard to get cows rebred as quick as they would like.
    “Ninety percent of our calves are already gone this year. We had to pull them off early and ship. We usually keep our own replacements, but not this year. We have had to feed for so long, we just couldn’t justify the amount of feed it was going to require to develop those replacements,” explains Sklar, adding that their moisture levels have been well under half of what is considered normal for their locations and the summer has included above average temperatures and more days of above average heat.
    Over the years, the Sklar family has become recognized as a source of quality replacement females. They have marketed their purebred heifers and commercial heifers by private treaty at the ranch. They also compete in local pen shows for commercial females to further their marketing efforts.
    “We have been able to build a loyal customer base and repeat customers are a huge part of our success. These cattle perform and that’s critical,” says Sklar.
    Their bull calves are castrated at an early age and marketed through three nearby sale barns, Wharton, Edna and the Hallettsville Livestock Commission, owned by fellow Simbrah breeders, the Hagan family.
    “We are not in the bull selling business. We have chosen to concentrate on developing the females we produce and spend our time marketing those,” he emphasizes.
    Sklar knows exactly the kind of bulls he needs for his program, in his Gulf Coast location and selects accordingly.
    “I want bulls that are deep bodied and with a lot of thickness. These are two traits we emphasize in our females, also. We buy the best bulls we can and pay attention to details like structure, growth traits and the older I get, the more attention I pay to disposition,” explains Sklar.
    It goes without saying that Sklar likes Simbrah genetics.
    “The Simbrah breed has always impressed me and impressed my dad. They have the growth traits we need, as we sell by the pound and the female offers us longevity, mothering ability and they will forage for grass. They can take the heat. I don’t want my cattle spending their time in the pond. I want them out hustling for grass and Simbrah do that. Simbrahs make you money that’s the most important reason we have them,” says Sklar.
    Darrell and his wife, Mary run the family partnership from the headquarters in Edna, Texas and they also farm about 2,000 acres of corn and milo. Shane and his wife, Jill, are partners in the cattle, plus they are expecting their first child in October. Shane works for an oil company, out of nearby Victoria, Texas. He is also very involved politically and was formerly the executive director of the Independent Cattlemen’s Association (ICA). The Sklar family is very active in the ICA and other agricultural organizations.
    Sklar and Son, is an operation that believes in Simbrah and like the cattle have established longevity of their own as breeders of Simbrah. Sklar says, “Ranching is something I want to do forever,” and you can count on Simbrah being part of those long-term plans.