Adj. REA 15

FUNCTIONAL PREDICTABLE PROFITABLE The Bull Sale

Ruby Catlle Co.

Nate, Leslie, Creed & Parker Ruby 1170 Elk Street, Murray, IA 50174 Nate Cell - 515-450-0112 Leslie Cell - 515-450-0259 rubycows@grm.net

Dear Fellow Cattlemen and Cattlewomen,

Another year has flown by and as I write this letter, the beef market has been gaining momentum and is strong. Fat cattle have made some nice gains and feeder cattle have really taken off. I think we all welcome this added optimism. We have had a great winter here thus far. The bulls weaned off big as our grass had some more punch than normal with adequate moisture but not excessive. Due to the mild fall and winter, we have been able to develop the bulls slowly, with lower energy diets to maximize the useful life of the bull. You will notice in the scan data these are some of the leanest bulls we have offered to date, yet their individual weights have not suffered at all. As the old saying goes, the performance is bred in, not fed in!

Obviously, we have raised bulls for several years, but in the past, admittedly we still had a primary focus on raising females. As many of those females were geared more towards the showring, we realized we were not raising the amount of good, commercially oriented bulls that we needed to. With that said, starting with the calf crop in this sale, we have refocused our efforts to provide easy calving, fast growing, stout made cattle with added carcass value while still maintaining the look you’ve come to expect from our cattle. We are excited about the direction of our program and look forward to what the future holds.

You will notice as you flip through the sale offering that many of the bulls in the sale are in the very top end of the breed for growth, yet all are born unassisted, and many are out of first calf heifers. With several of our customers retaining ownership in their cattle, we have brought a renewed focus on carcass genetics in these cattle. We have invested in herd sires and utilized AI sires that we think will add carcass value to their offspring while complimenting the genetics we already have in our cow herd. Even if you are not one that retains ownership in your cattle, rest assured the buyers of your cattle will be happy with their genetics and will be back for more.

In closing, we have never been more excited to offer a group of bulls for sale. We think this group is as impressive from start to finish as any we have produced so far. At the end of the day, pounds pay, and this group of bulls will add performance no doubt, but they will add those pounds without sacrificing calving ease and maternal traits. We have the largest offering of heifer safe bulls we have ever offered as well. We welcome your visit to the farm anytime and we hope to see you at the sale. If you are unable to make it to the sale, we have several options for you to bid absentee as well.

As always, thanks for your interest and consideration! Nate, Leslie, Creed & Parker Ruby