Page 18 - MWC 8-20-20s

Pride & Joy By Brenda Black
A STORY OF The Midwest Cattleman · August 20, 2020 · P18

FOR SIMMENTAL

Like bookends to a collec- are the things that give the Ca- With the first Simmental bull
tion of beloved stories are the son's pride and joy. imported just a few years prior,
choices Denny Cason, Albia, Cason grew up on a dairy representatives of the breed
Iowa, has made. The history farm, but, he “fell in love” with were neither abundant nor af-
section on his bookshelf is lined the beef industry and Sim- fordable for a dairy farmer kid
with 40 volumes (i.e. years) as mental cows in the early '70s, from Iowa just out on his own.
a beef producer. Reams of Sim- he said. The breed was new in “I came from a large family,”
mental registration papers are the states and Cason's expo- Cason said. “There wasn't a lot
propped in place with a passion sure was limited to a handful of money, so the only way I could
for the cattle business and the of steers and females he noticed get into the breed was with A.I.”
Simmental breed. Between the at the county fair. “I took an ex- Working off the farm for 42
early editions and the latest treme likeness to them.” years, the last 22 at Ajinomoto,
tales, biographies have been In 1976, Cason married a an amino acid processing plant
written and exciting stories gal named Janet, and they just 18 miles from home, would
lived. bought a farm of their own. not dampen his aspirations or
That early anchor of enthu- Their first-edition herd was his affections for the breed that
siasm is matched today with comprised of a few dairy heifers gets credited for the ranch's retired to the ranch and en-
the sturdy promise to continue and a small herd of Angus cows. name Cason's Pride & Joy Sim- larged his efforts to an even
being dedicated to work togeth- Cason still had his heart set on mental (CPJS). greater extent. Mornings con-
er as a family. The overarching the Simmental like he'd shown “The cattle were my 'Pride sist of doing all the feeding for
theme to this Simmental story in 4-H while in high school. and Joy,'” Cason said. “We fall replacement heifers, spring
has never changed – to focus on didn't take bred heifers and fall bulls, all
the traits needed for the com- vacations. dry lotted. Every other morn-
mercial cattleman's success, Didn't have ing, you'll find Cason trying to
while never losing sight of the a lot of get through four different pas-
things that matter most. Those hobbies. I tures to check cows and calves
worked full and keep salt and mineral out.
time, and As for making hay, Cason
my wife does most of the mowing and
still works baling. He counts on help from
away from their youngest son Landon who
home, so partners with Dad, but also
our spare works full time off the farm
time is with Pioneer®. Landon rakes
spent work- and hauls to the hay lots. While
ing with Landon, his wife Brittney and
the cattle.” their two little ones are just
a half mile down the road,
Four years Landon's older brother Colton
ago, Cason works at Iowa Ortho and lives
away from the ranch. Colton,
an avid sportsman, often visits
on weekends to scout for hunt-
ing, and pitches in a hand when
needed.
Every summer, the family
exhibits a sizable string of their
Simmi cattle at the Iowa State
Fair. That means, beginning in
June, they'll add to the chore
list the task of breaking calves
to lead.
“I still have little-to-no spare
time,” Cason said. “We run 160
cows, have two sales per year,
and spring and fall calving
herds. I still A.I. about 95% of
the cows. And we do it on natu-
ral heats.”
Together, Cason and his son
divide and conquer 75 to 80
days’ worth of heat detection