Page 18 - MWC 02-25-2021s

The Midwest Cattleman · February 25, 2021 · P18
A truly good story is built “The Drennans were very par-
around an interesting lead char- ticular about their land and the
acter, a riveting plot, and the cattle that grazed it, and Dad
promise of sequels. Springhill had to listen,” said Dave Stump,
Herefords’ account delivers on who followed in his father’s foot-
all fronts. steps in the Hereford business.
At the heart of Springhill Her- “They took Dad to the Steele
efords, along the Kansas Flint Ranch to buy some horned Her-
Hills near Blue Rapids, KS, sits a efords.”
peculiar structure. A round barn. The plot twist to polled genet- and their families are each with- ture cows to hay all in a day, on
She’s been there since 1911. De- ics came from outside influence
signed to be self-supporting, the as well.
unique structure left no flat sur- “My sister married a polled
face exposed to the Kansas wind. breeder, Jim Rowland,” Stump
A trolley system once upon a said. “And out of high school, I
time distributed loose hay in worked for polled breeders.”
the center for storage and filled Like that long-established
a manger around the perimeter barn, Stump has undergone a
large enough to feed 100 cattle few modifications as well in the
at a time. At 92 feet in diameter ongoing story of Springhill Her-
and 40 feet high, she could hold efords. He and his wife Delores
230 tons of loose hay. have moved to town. Now he
Today, this central character commutes out to the farm, while
houses newborn calves thaw- youngest daughter Kim and her
ing from excessively cold tem- husband Dan Schmidt and their
peratures. The middle has been three children live on the Dren-
converted to include a working nan farm home place.
chute and half-center tub, with “I wanted to get away from
the outer edge used to start calving,” Stump said, half joking.
yearlings or monitor first-time “But, I took the 10 o'clock check
calving heifers. One thing that this evening.”
hasn’t changed is the breed of Son-in-law Schmidt, who has
the cattle that grace her interior a masters degree from Kansas
- Hereford. State University in ruminant
For more than 70 years, the nutrition, grew up understand-
Stump family has been devoted ing the interconnection between
to horned and polled Herefords, cow-calf producers and feedlot
thanks to the patriarch of the finishers. His father ran a feed
family Harold Stump. He rent- mill for a 15,000 head feed yard
ed the land in the 1920s where at Beef Belt Feeders for several
the round barn resides from the years. As for the Hereford con-
original landowner, John Dren- nection, that came from show-
nan, a horned Hereford breeder. ing calves in 4-H and FFA and
What Goes Round at
Springhill Herefords
by Brenda Black
crossing paths with the Stump will let a babe stay twice as long
family. before returning to his momma.
Kim and Dan met in college They get to bond and pair up for
and married after Kim graduat- the following 24 hours under
ed. She is an employee with the shelter.
Farm Service Agency, along with With below 20 degree tem-
providing significant help on the peratures, heifer checks are
farm to her husband. Schmidt every three hours. Barn cameras
oversees all of the day-to-day assist as long as the heifers stay
management and crop farming in front of the lens. Still, regular
with the help of his father-in- walks to the barn are necessitat-
law and family friend and part ed at 9, midnight, 3 and 6 a.m.
time employee Grant McKay. There are yearling replacements
Two more Stump daughters to feed, bulls to grain and ma-
in two miles of one another and top of calving routines.
contribute to Springhill Here- In fairer weather, work
fords’ success: John and Angie is more of a mental game for
Denton and Jarrod and Jamie Schmidt and his brother-in-law.
Gillig. Angie, who works as Com- Gillig, a supply chain leader for
munications Coordinator for the Cargill’s North American pro-
Department of Animal Science tein business. He joins ranks
at Kansas State University, han- at Springhill Herefords to help
dles the farm’s website and mar- with breeding decisions.
keting. Jamie helps with record “Jarrod and I tag team on the
keeping, while her husband Jar- mating decisions,” Schmidt said.
rod assists with herd A.I. work. “He is very analytical in what
The half section those two girls he does at his job with Cargill.
split is where Springhill Here- So, he’ll help take the numbers
fords bulls are developed. and we’ll sort cow families ac-
Under normal circumstanc- cording to what they are doing.”
es, Schmidt and semi-retired Sometimes it’s number overload
Stump would be done with when assimilating EPD data,
chores around noon. The middle DNA and genomic information.
of February in 2021, however, is Birth, weaning and yearling
not playing by the rules. So, the weights find their way into the
big round barn helps level the formula, along with phenotyp-
playing field. ical assessments. Schmidt is a
“It’s not insulated, but it pro- stickler for excellent udders.
vides protection,” Schmidt said Stump agrees that the biggest
of the historic structure, which part of the Hereford business is
on a nice day in May 2003, be- the mother cow. “We’re trying to
came a wedding chapel for Dan use bulls from good mothers,”
and Kim. In winter, a warming Stump said. “We do a lot of A.I.
box serves as pulpit and gets work and use a lot of our own
used for about an hour on a cold bulls to pick out cows with the
night when a calf arrives wet kind of udders we want. We want
and shivering. Of late, Schmidt cows we don’t have to worry