Page 23 - Sep302021

The shift in thinking ren- going to lose a lot of indepen- The Midwest Cattleman · September 30, 2021 · P23
dered measurable results. dence to succeed. Something
“At a time when most for nothing doesn't exist. Dad
calves at the county fairs was in WWI, and saw what
were weighing around 900 it was like in Europe and
pounds, the Doran Bros. out countries that were socialist
of Boone County Iowa had directed.”
Angus steers weighing over With cattle and the cow-
1,400,” Bradford said. “We man both pulling their
were interested in cattle that weight, Bradford managed
made a living for people, and to raise his large family with
continued to select for a lot of Angus solely footing the
Fertility is Jim Bradford's performance.”

Balancing Performance continued on page 24
Number One Angus Philosophy with Productivity
Pounds across the scales
meant more money in the
family's pocket, still, the
foresight to keep things
in balance ran deep in the
Bradford family philosophy
as well.
“While we selected for
performance, the key to not
going overboard was fertil-
ity,” Bradford said. “You can Adj WW 725
get them so big, they are late Adj YW 1578
in maturity and can regress Adj IMF 5.5
in terms of fertility. That's a Adj RE 18
major, major factor. Without
breeding regularly, you've *19979965
lost the game. It's a trait 2/8/20
that's too often overlooked.
Too many excuses are made
for it.” CED +9 BW +1.5 WW +86 YW +145 MB +.91
Strictly calving in the RE +.88 $M +78 $B +181 $C +313
spring has kept the females
honest in his herd, according
to Bradford.
“For a few years, we did fall
calving,” he said. “That got to
be a little bit of an excuse for
cows that fell out of breed-
ing. They'd get moved to fall.
By sticking to a spring-only
*18688213
calving season, this keeps 02/10/2016
them accountable to breed-
ing on time. It's a hard line,
but you need a rigid set of CED +11 BW -.7 WW +74 YW +142 MB +.87
parameters that keep your RE +.95 $M +55 $B +211 $C +329
quality up and keep the eco- Owned with SydGen and Brinkley .
Semen at ORIgen and ABS.
nomics of it in focus.”
Bradford grew up with ex- Adj WW 727
pectations on him as a ranch- Adj YW 1490
er as well. Adj IMF 8.6
“My dad's philosophy was Adj RE 16.6
that the world doesn't owe
you a living,” he said. “You *19979968
have opportunities. Think 2/29/20
things through more in-
tently and study the issue. CED +10 BW +.4 WW +78 YW +140 MB +1.10
That's the way I was raised. RE +.86 $M +62 $B +189 $C +307
Dad wasn't in any farm pro-
grams. He thought that it
would grow the government Wes Tiemann
(816) 244-4462
to surrender your freedom mrtiemann@outlook.com
for a handout. With govern-
ment overspending beyond
any bounds, pretty soon, if Video and Sale Broadcast
the dollar goes to naught due
to inflationary values, you're EPDs as of 9/1/21