6 minute read
A Start for Maine-Anjou in the Dairy-Beef Industry
from Maine Anjou Voice
by EDJE
A START FOR
MAINE-ANJOU
IN THE DAIRY-BEEF SECTOR In the cattle industry as an association – regardless of breed beliefs or alliances to certain breed agendas – all we can ever hope for the breed we provide service for is the cattle find versatility and profit to sustain the operation in which they are used. Knowing that not all breeds are suited for different environments, it’s tough to be everything to everyone. To be honest it’s naive to think that any cattle breed can cover all facets of the beef industry! There are sectors, however, that MaineAnjou genetics can make a sizable impact and be a strong benefit to the bottom line for those who want to add power and balance on the fat cattle grid. This is never more obvious than with a group and operation settled west of Lubbock, Texas in the little town of Muleshoe. The only town in the county of Bailey, with a population of 5,082 – in an area where the Friday Night Lights of high school football are king – sits a family operation built from scratch into a business that makes a sizable impact in the dairy industry and has started to create a niche market in the dairy beef industry using Maine-Anjou genetics. Although the story of Boehning Dairy starts with Brian, the patriarch and founder of the family owned and operated farm, it’s entrance into the dairy beef industry began around 2014 when Brian hired Chief Financial Officer and Maine-Anjou enthusiast, Jimmy Black. Jimmy grew up in Clovis, New Mexico on his family farm and attended Colorado State University where he received a degree in animal science before starting his career in the financial sector and Ag lending business that spanned a 37-year career near Bakersfield, California.
Upon retirement and moving back to Clovis, he went to work for a company that handled organic grain and started to sell Ag commodities to a growing west Texas population of dairy farms that were carving out their market share and helping to build consistency in a product that was filling the shelf at your local grocery store. After a few years, he transitioned to becoming part of the team at Boehning Group, and that is where our story of how Maine-Anjou genetics and them becoming apart of the business begins.
Jimmy, a Maine-Anjou breeder himself in past years and knowing the beef BY JOSH CRIBBS, AMAA COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
industry and the strength of Maine genetics, approached Brian about breeding Holstein cows to Maine-Anjou bulls to create a group of F1 replacement heifers that they could use to diversify the operation. Jimmy shared how the group of cows they are currently running came to be is through the fourth service via Artificial Insemination (AI). One of the most important things that Jimmy said is that the Dairy industry success is dependent on those cows getting bred and keeping them in lactation. He said that they see increased conception on beef semen versus dairy semen. Every cow on the dairy gets bred three times AI in succession to Holstein bulls, and on the fourth is bred to Purebred Maine -Anjou bulls. “The long and short of it is that the dairy wanted to try and minimize the loss they were seeing with the production of straight Holstein calves” said Jimmy. He said that those cattle get fed and merchandised through the feedlot sector and sold on a grid that rewards premiums.
The first time they executed the Maine-Anjou, Holstein cross, they kept 300 half-blood cows that they use to tool replacements out of for commercial breeders to purchase. Those half-blood cows get bred multiple ways, including back to Maine genetics, in hopes to balance power, performance, and milking ability to the ¼ blood Holsteins. 10 percent of their fed cattle each year are dairy beef. With birth weights in the 60’s and mature cow size at 1,400 pounds, they make the perfectly tooled cow for an environment that most would not believe to be productive grazing lands from the outside looking in. The most unique aspect of the business is the attention to detail and their management of the operation on a daily business. So many times operations with scope get scrutinized, but it is in operations such as this all across the Ag industry that make a sizable impact in our nation’s food supply. The Boehning Group’s attention to wildlife management and refuge is tremendous and speaks volumes for their understanding of leaving the wildlife environment intact and thriving. They have a very extensive understanding of how to manage their waste and manure and put it back into the ecosystem so that it helps to create a thriving environment for the wildlife they are surrounded by.
The biggest attention to detail is with regards to their management of the water resources they have and making sure that they properly reduce water and over usage by reducing pump size and making sure they don’t overextend their use at times of need. The annual rainfall for their area is around 18 inches so they are sure to make everything count. Jimmy says that Brian and the family are dedicated to the management of the land and make certain that the practices they use are sustainable for years to come.
The biggest questions of how MaineAnjou genetics will perform from a commercial sector standpoint is what the cutout value of the fed progeny will be and can Maine cattle do what Simmental, Limousin or Angus not do, and that is balance the grid.
According to a set of data that Jimmy and the Boehning Family supplied, a group they fed and slaughtered had some extremely promising results. The group killed 12 percent Prime and 66 percent Choice for a total of 78 perfect Choice or better. With Quality Grade results that strong, it would question if there would be Yield Grade concerns. In fact, these cattle stayed far away from the national averages. They saw zero discounts on the rail for Yield Grade, in fact there were no YG 4s or YG 5s in the group – only confirming the things that Maine-Anjou breeders know to be true. That it is a fact Maine bulls add muscle without removing Quality Grade and there is some true value in that in today’s beef industry.
To bring things into perspective from year 2000 to 2016, there has been a swing in hide color by 15 percent in favor of more Holstein influenced cattle flooding into the slaughter cattle market. That increase in numbers and shift in percentage is a market signal that the total cattle numbers relative to breed is shifting, and the dairy industry is gathering numbers and carving out a portion of the beef eating consumer. To adapt and drive hide color back into favor there is going to be a growing demand to inject beef cattle into the dairy industry. It’s a sector the MaineAnjou breed can make a strong impact in. Maine bulls bring Holsteins back into the area of acceptable mature cow size, which should aid more than anything in carcass weight, but also more importantly carcass length. Creating market share within the fed cattle industry is key to driving demand for our brand and the Maine-Anjou breed.
Jimmy finished the afternoon by stating that the operation will continue to create and feed Maine-Anjou dairy beef cattle to reduce the loss seen when feeding all dairy-influenced cattle. He looks forward to continued years of success on the rail with Maine-Anjou and is certain they will only continue to accomplish what he thought would happen when he first moved that direction in 2015.
