Page 18 - MWC 2-3-2022s

The Midwest Cattleman · February 3, 2022 · P18
An Honest & Healthy

Appraisal of Red Angus

By Brenda Black

What do you get when “They took us under their At about the same time,
you cross an appraiser with wings to learn the business,” his father decided it was time
a nurse? Lamine Valley Red he said. for him to retire.
Angus is the answer. Bob Bob rented pasture ground “That's when we began
Felten, a retired real estate and bought 450- to 600-lb. to change our program from
appraiser of 40 years and feeders to put them on grass, feeder and commercial to a
his wife Susan, a retired rotating a few batches a year registered cow/calf operation
Family Nurse Practitioner, on the same ground. After at Lamine Valley,” Bob said.
have taken a no-nonsense feeding for a short time, buy- “I really needed to add value
approach to their breed of ers would come to the farm, to that herd, so we went to
choice. Together, they've built bid and ship them to Iowa or Red Angus after researching
a herd of moderate, function- Kansas. the purebred seedstock busi- in the undulating bottoms of
al Red Angus females eval- “That valuable experience ness a little bit. Also, when the Lamine River, and cover
uated for healthy success on gave us an intimate under- doing backgrounding, we re- crops for grazing when pos-
fescue. standing of the needs of the tained ownership and I knew sible. That ground is cur-
Bob grew up in Cooper modern commercial cattle- that the Red Angus calves rently rented, and the field
County Missouri, familiar man,” Bob said. we'd pick up performed well crop equipment has been
with the rolling hills of fes- Over the years, he and his in the feedlots. We sold all sold to the highest bidder.
cue and timber that banked father also experimented of the commercial cattle and Now, it's the Feltens in early
the flowing waters of the with a variety of breeds and started building a purebred retirement and pastures of
Lamine River. In 1981, he types of cattle for breeding herd that would be fescue fall-calving Red Angus that
and Susan purchased their and feeding. That real-world born and raised.” exclusively define day-to-day
farm in that beautiful region. education led Bob and Susan Bob formed a picture in his work on the property.
At the same time that he to establish a registered Red mind of his ideal cow. Susan is helping out more
managed his appraisal busi- Angus herd in 2004. “We knew we wanted mod- this winter with the feed-
ness in nearby Sedalia and “When we started farming, erate framed, easy fleshing ing. In this season, she re-
Boonville, he also ran cattle, I raised cattle with my dad,” cattle with a lot of natu- flects back to when they
and row cropped in the Pilot Bob said. “But he didn't par- ral thickness,” he said. “We were spring calving and the
Grove and Blackwater area. ticipate in feeding out. Every wanted a docile, easy han- compassionate nurse in her
His resume includes 25 once in a while, I'd partner dling cow with good maternal is thankful those days have
years in the commercial feed- on a load with a local friend, traits. Registered Red Angus ended.
er, calf backgrounding and but mostly I did it by myself.” matched our vision and has “I always asked Bob, 'Why
finishing side of the cattle Bob's father, who passed in been the sole focus of our cat- do we have those cows drop-
industry. During which time, 2014 at the age of 91, raised a tle operation ever since.” ping in the cold February?'”
Bob frequently purchased few purebred Herefords way What began with six cows she said. “Those poor babies!”
light weight calves to back- back, but most of his life he out of South Dakota and 10 The switch to fall calv-
ground and then finish at stuck with commercial herds. bred heifers from Southwest ing hinged on more than
home and in western Kansas “In the late 90s, our four Missouri today has now be- just temperatures and Su-
feedlots. Young, aggressive kids, Jonathan, Jessica, come the 50 registered head san's tender concern, even
cattlemen and some older, Brent and Josef, went off of Lamine Valley Red Angus if Bob agreed that “it's a lot
more experienced ones in the to school,” Bob said. “I lost operation. Up until 2019, the more comfortable to check
community influenced Bob's my help pushing cattle and Feltens were also producing cows in shorts and t-shirts
interest in backgrounding. working gates.” corn, soybeans, and wheat in September than coveralls
in February.” The change to
fall calving provided a better
calving environment and im-
proved conception rates.
“It also allows us to sell
18-month-old bulls in the
spring instead of yearlings,”
Bob said. “That gives us a
chance to evaluate our bulls
before selling them private
treaty or consigning them to
our annual production sales
at Maplewood Acres Farm in
Sedalia, Mo.”
The Feltens now special-
ize in the development of fall
calving Red Angus seed stock
and replacement heifers for
the commercial cattleman