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The Midwest Cattleman · February 4, 2021 · P19

feedlot and is a great manager. BVD tested, and have had their own cow, too, and the revenue ter disposition, plus we can’t
He does it right and I value his pre-breeding exam and vaccines. from their calves goes into their run the black cows in the hy-
opinion.” Basically, ready to leave our Smart 529 college funds. brid grazing paddocks because
“A lot of cattle are coming off farm and go in with the bull,” “Good disposition is handy – we don’t have any shade trees
wheat fields the first of March. added Covington. everything moves so easy when in there,” said Eck. “While the
If we can graze longer and sell Red Angus Advantage we have to put them on a new red cows were out grazing, the
in May, we sometimes hit differ- Red Angus work well for pasture or move them around black cows would push through
ent markets and better prices,” Eck’s operation. They select for during calving,” said Eck. “They a five-wire fence into the neigh-
said Eck. “Tom helps me a lot efficiency and maternal traits. don’t get riled up or stir up the bor’s pasture to get to the trees
to determine where to sell. We “We like having heifers that you entire herd if we need to walk or they would tear up the stock
look at markets and then decide don’t have to worry about during a heifer through the herd to get tanks to stand in the water.”
whether to sell them at the barn calving. We have everything set her in during calving.” Tags and EIDs
or send them to the feedlot.” up on tiers, so we calve from They still have some Eck has used the Red Angus
Because the pandemic hit in mid-January to mid-March, black-hided crossbred cows that yellow Feeder Calf Certification
2020 and markets kept dropping then the chemical business and they are phasing out. “The Red
during March, they decided to farming picks up in March.” Angus cows have a much bet- continued on page 24
keep the calves until the end of Eck said it can get cold in
May. They also sorted off 20 of January when they are calving. SPREUTELS FARM RED ANGUS
the bigger steers and finished “We might get a cold snap of
them to sell meat direct to con- high temps in the 20s and lows
sumers. around 0 degrees,” he said. “The
“They went on corn right after past few years we’ve been more See these four top Reg. Bulls at
graze off,” said Eck. “Getting to in the 30s and 40s which is nice Heber Springs, AR and five Fall Bred
see the quality of finished prod- because we calve outside.”
uct and their marbling is im- If a calf does get chilled, they Commercial Heifers - - Mar. 27, 2021
pressive and has opened up my bring him in to the shop to warm
eyes to another way to market.” him up. They also have a porta-
They plan to sell at least 10- ble four-stall shed on skids that Sired by top Genex Bulls--3SCCDomain,
20% privately direct to the con- they use if they need to assist a Merlin 018A, C-Bar Big River, Gladiator & others.
sumer and hope more small, calving. Awarded two more Gridmasters in 2020
local packing plants start up for The only wind protection is
direct-consumer processing. the abundant cover of grass Farm bred and fed in the FESCUE BELT!
“Everybody we’ve talked to from the summer before which THEY WILL WORK FOR YOU!
has been just thrilled with their can stand 3-5 feet tall, providing
beef,” he said. “It’s nice to con- good shelter for the young calves.
tribute and sell directly to the “My only complaint about Red For the MO Red Angus Sale
consumer and build those re- Angus is that the calves match April 24th at Springfield,MO
lationships. If any one of them the color of the cured grass per-
wants to come out and see our fectly and it’s hard to find them,” Look for four Reg. Bulls and five Reg. Fall Bred Heifers.
cattle, we’re happy to have them laughed Eck.
on our place.” The kids help with the cattle
Eck also sees additional mar- and their gentle disposition is a
keting opportunities. “We’ve major advantage. “Peyton helps
sold on the grid before, but after keep the spreadsheet updated
seeing first-hand how our Red while we are calving because
Angus steers finished, we will those records are important
strongly consider retaining own- when we sell 2-year-old heifer
ership and marketing our steers pairs,” said Eck. “Nate helps run
on the grid again.” the headgate and gives vaccines,
They also retain their cut of and Sophia puts buttons on the
replacement heifers, sell the EID tagger or helps direct calves
bottom end as feeders and mar- when we are sorting by weight wspreutels@centurytel.net
ket 50-70 open heifers private- out of the chute.” Spreutels Farm Wilbur : 417-867-5695
ly. “They are calf-hooded, PI The kids each have their Steve: 417-280-1551