Dear Friends, Customers and Gelbvieh Enthusiasts, We would like to thank you in advance for your interest in Triple K Gelbvieh genetics. For the past 22 years we have worked to improve our cow herd’s phenotype and genotype. Triple K’s genetic trends are proof positive of the genetic improvement. We have been blessed to stand in several final drives which attest to our phenotype improvement along the way. We have raised some awesome cattle and befriended some of the most amazing people, real people, salt of the earth people, good friends. We have had a great deal of help along the way, some direct some indirect from simple observation. To all those that have made the brand what it is today, a hearty Thank You! A dispersal sale is not an easy decision to make. We have poured much of ourselves into our cattle. From the beginning this is and was a family operation, hands on, breeding decisions, doing our own A-I, culling, doctoring, halter breaking, washing, blowing, fitting, and showing. We have limited acres and resources and are too close to Kansas City for the size herd we have. We talked about a dispersal last year and decided to give it one more year. We have retained our 2017 bull crop to serve our bull customers that have been some of the best. Our grandsons have a few heifers and we have a few embryos in the tank. So, with the help of a cooperator herd we will not be totally gone but much smaller in the future. Attention to our genetic trends have resulted in keeping up with breed averages or moving well above breed average. Our maternal traits of Heifer Pregnancy, PG 30, Stayability and $/Cow are all above breed average. We have also moved our marbling well above herd average. We have been able to do this with selective breeding. We will typically use multiple A-I sires each year specifically chosen to enhance and compliment the individual cow. We have also pushed hard to use the best herd sires we could afford. As it stands 10% of the herd is Dam’s of Merit or Dam’s of Distinction. There would be more if not for a management decision to move to a fall calving herd a few years ago. Being in eastern Kansas we too have a lot of Fescue pasture. These girls are well adapted to and potential problems with endophyte fescue has been managed with a good mineral supplementation program. We have been blessed to serve the American Gelbvieh Association as Junior Advisors for about 15 years. Al was a two term AGA Board Member and served as President in 2010. We continue to serve on the American Gelbvieh Foundation board. We plan to do some traveling in our spare time, Southern Utah, the Grand Canyon, Croatia and Uzbekistan are on our bucket list. Thanks,
Al & Mary
Al and Mary Knapp Family | 18291 158th St., Basehor, KS 66007 | Al’s Cell: (913) 219-6613 | Mary’s Cell: (816) 835-4976 Email: knappa@swbell.net | www.triplekgelbvieh.com