2011 has flown by. The year began with processing our 10 calf crop. This includes vaccinating, worming, dehorning and castrating. Shortly after this we headed to Denver, Colorado for the National Western Stock Show. Tyler showed his may yearling heifer in the open show and she was champion in her division. Becky and the boys headed home after the hereford show and I stayed to help Sullivan Farms with their Shorthorn cattle in the open show. As soon as I returned home, hoof trimming and clipping began on cattle going to Fort Worth and the other Texas Majors. The Fort Worth steer show was the first week of Feb. and the weather was freezing, with ice on the ground all week. The Super Bowl of steer shows was competitive as it always is. Tylers Hereford Steer was Res. Heavyweight and sold very well in the auction. We had several steers that we sold make the sale and one that was a class winner.

Right after Fort Worth we weaned our 10 calf crop so that we could begin preparing them for our sale the end of March. I went through Dan Sullivan’s the same week and picked out 60 head for the sale. The middle of Feb. we attended the San Antonio steer show. Tyler showed a limi steer that got injured last fall. Even though he got over his injury, we just couldn’t get him quite fat enough. He ended up 2 places out of the sale. We raised the champion AOB and had several other placing steers and overall the show was a sucess. The Champion AOB was fed on Honor Show Chow starting with Impact Club Calf and ending up on Finishing Touch. As soon as we got home from San Antonio we started moving cattle home from the weaning pens so that we could start washing and clipping for pictures and videos.

We pregnancy checked the cow herd on March 1 and had all of the sale steers clipped by March 6th. On the 7th I headed to Houston for the steer show. Tyler’s steer was Res Middleweight Hereford and we were fortunate enough to raise the Champion Steer of the show. On March 15 I was an official for the Collegiate Judging Contest and on March 16 the Jr Heifers moved into Houston. While I was in Houston the crew at home finished clipping all of the heifers and videoed the 120 head of sale cattle so they could be posted on our website. Tyler had great success in Houston exhibiting the Champion Polled Hereford Heifer and the Res Overall British. We held this heifer all winter on Full Control and were very pleased with the results. Our sale was the last weekend in March and it was a great success.

The first week of April was spent loading out cattle from our sale. The second week I headed out on a 6 day, 3200 mile journey delivering, looking and picking up cattle. It was great to see some of the breeders that I have not been to their places in years, but I was exhausted when I got back to Schulenburg. Since the trip I have been working on Tyler and Mason’s new calves, getting caught up on paperwork and ranch projects that have been put off since the fall. The number of red sacks in the feed isles, the number of questions and the positive comments about Honor Show Chow at the Texas Majors this year were overwhelming. I forgot to mention the 3 basketball teams and the 2 baseball teams that the boys have been on this winter and spring. I guess we can talk about that next time.

It has been a while since my last blog, and a lot has happened in the last few months. The spring was outstanding with Tyler having Champion Hereford Steer in Houston and Reserve Overall British with his Shorthorn Heifer. Shortly after that was our steer and heifer sale in which we sold about 120 head and had excellent response with several winners this summer that came out of the sale.

We had some excellent clinics this spring in Poteet, Weatherford, Kennedy, and Giddings. Summer began with baseball season ending and swim team starting along with our Female Sale in June, the VIP, and the Texas State Hereford Show, which all took place in about 10 days. We had a real nice clinic at the state show in Amarillo with great attendance, and it even included air conditioning. The show had about 300 head in it and we were lucky enough to have Champion Polled Hereford Heifer and another division winner. The following week Tyler and I were to attend the National Jr Shorthorn Show but Tyler had to fly up by himself because I had to attend the funeral of a good friend of mine.

July started off with a trip to the Hereford Jr National in Indianapolis, which is a long way from Schulenburg, Texas. We had a great trip with the boys winning the 3 on 3 basketball tournement, the Prospect Steer Show, a division in the heifer show, a res division in the heifer show, res in the fitting contest and Tyler won his age division in Showmanship. I commend the American Hereford Association on a great event.

We had an outstanding turnout at the fitting demo sponsored by Honor Show Chow, and I would like to thank Mike Witte for his assistance. After 2 weeks at the Jr National I headed to California to judge the steer show at the state fair. The quality at the show was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. July ended with a trip to the state ag teachers convention in Galveston. The Honor Show Chow booth was very busy and I would like to commend Taw Wayne Dunham on his set up and hard work.

August has been very hot and humid but with the rains in July we have made quite a bit of hay. We are also preparing for calving season which will start the end of this month with about 100 calves due in the month of September alone. Good luck at the State Fairs!

January was extremely busy but very productive. After trimming a lot of feet around Christmas time, the family hit the road the first week of January and headed to Odessa, TX which is about 7 hours away. Tyler’s polled Hereford heifer was Supreme Champion and his steer was 3rd and made the sale. The weather was cold and snowy, but we really enjoyed the trip. The second week Becky and I headed to Denver for the National Western. I went up to help Sullivan Farms with their Shorthorns, which were very successful winning the Pen Bull shows, Champion Heifer in the Jr and Open shows and Champion Bull at the National Show. All of these cattle are on Honor Show Chow.

After being home for about 18 hours I headed to Fort Worth for the Jr Heifer Show. We took Tyler’s Shorthorn heifer and he had a great show. There were about 150 Shorthorns, and she was Champion. She has been on Full Control along with his Hereford and Red Angus. I love the way it works on heifers! They hold their fill and stay so much fresher. We also won classes in the Limousin and Red Angus shows with heifers that we sold, and both of them were on Honor Show Chow feeds.

We are now in the process of weaning calves. After the last 2 dry years I hate to say it but I wouldn’t mind if the rain would let up for a while. We have several shows this month and I’ll let you know how it goes. See Ya next time.

Things have been moving fast since my last blog. I attended the American Royal in KC and helped Sullivan Farms with their shorthorns and Upstream Ranch with their herefords. Sullivans had Champion Bull with a bull that I own part of and Res Champion Heifer. Upstream had 2 division winners in the hereford show.

The week I got home from KC we herd worked about 350 head. Then the following week I headed to Louisville, Ky for the North American. I helped Sullivan Farms in Louisville… our bull was also Champion and we had Res Heifer along with 8 division champions and reserves. I have been home for about 5 days and we are preparing Tyler’s calves for the Fall Classic in Waco and setting cows up for breeding season. Things are busy but the rainfall has been awesome and we still have pretty good grazing, but I’m sure we will have to start feeding cows pretty soon. See you next time.

Calving continues to go well and the rain continues to fall. This may be the best fall I have seen in my 10 years in Texas. The calves are doing well and I think this is the best group we have ever had. It is hard to believe you can go from two years of drought to these great conditions.

Tyler showed at the Heart of Texas Fair on the 10th and 11th of October and had a great run. He had two Breed Champions in the heifer show and one Breed Champion in the steer show. His shorthorn heifer was Res Supreme British in the overall. We also had a Breed Champion Heifer that we sold and a Breed Champion Steer that we sold.

The following week I headed to St. Louis for an ambassor meeting. It was great to see the crew and the meeting was very productive.

We flushed cows last week and I was pleased with the results. The embryos that we obtained were frozen and we will implant them in December. I’m headed to KC this week to the American Royal to help with some shorthorns and herefords. See you next time. Dave Allan

The 22nd of August we had a great Honor Show Chow event in Houston. The attendance was excellent and the facilities were outstanding. It was great to see the other ambassadors, and Kent Savage did an excellent job organizing the event. The next weekend we had another event in Gilmer that was equal for enthusiasm but not as large in terms of attendance.

Calving has begun and it has been going pretty well. Anyone that raises show steers knows this is not the easiest time of the year. We have had about 60 calves since the 1st and we are right in the thick of it with 7 calves born today. It cooled off about 2 weeks ago and we have had 4 inches of rain so the pastures finally look good and the young calves are doing much better.

Mason is playing soccer and Tyler is a waterboy for the Jr High Football team since he is too young to play. Things are busy at the showbarn and the steers and heifers are coming along nicely. See you next time.

August has continued hot and dry as we are approaching 60 days over 100 degrees. Aside from that, things have been going well. The first weekend in August we loaded up and headed over to Texas A&M for the Saddle and Sirloin Show. Tyler had a great weekend having Champ Hereford Steer and Res Champ Polled Hereford Steer on Saturday, and Champ Shorthorn Heifer, Champ Polled Hereford Heifer and Supreme Heifer Overall on Sunday. Most of our heifers are on Full Control right now, and I love the way they hold their fill and bloom without getting fat. The steers are on Fitter’s Edge and we are adding about 1 lb of Power Fuel a day. Despite the heat, they are gaining like they need to.

I have sent some pictures from the Hereford Junior National last month. This is the same heifer that was Supreme at A&M. This was her last show and now she is retired. She will calve this fall and we are excited to see what she has. We showed her twelve times and she was champion 9 times and got beat in her division only once. I have been trying to warn Tyler it won’t always be this good. We will start calving in a couple of weeks, so we have been making preparations for that. We have started moving the early calvers closer to the house and next week we will bring the first group home. Hope to see some of you in Houston this weekend. See you next time.

On July 3rd we headed out for the Junior National show in Tulsa. The boys were troopers riding all night and staying awake most of it on the way to Tulsa. The week in Tulsa was long and busy, but the whole family had a great time. On the 7th Kirk Stierwalt and myself put on a fitting demo and the attendance was great. On the 10th and 11th Tyler showed his two heifers and had a excellent show with 2 class winners and a Division winner. I commend the Hereford Association for putting on a great event that had over 1200 head in the show with a lot of other educational events as well.

After the Junior National the family headed to Minnesota for a quick vacation and to cool off just a bit. The weather at the lake was cool and we loved it after the hot summer we have been having in Texas (hottest on record)!

Once we got back to Texas we started moving cows to the little bit of pasture that we have left and trimming a lot of feet. If you have any extra rain send it down. See you next time. Dave

For the last three weeks, a lot of exciting things have been going on around Bar A. Tyler and Mason finished baseball season and swim season this last week. I attended the Honor Show Chow VIP the second week of June where we had an excellent turnout with a very attentive crowd. The Texas State Hereford Show started the day that I got home from the VIP. Becky (with the help of the boys and a good friend of ours) took the two steers and two heifers to the show. Everything was in great shape when I got there. We had a fitting demo at the show that was well attended despite the extremely hot weather. Tyler had Champion heifer, which topped off a busy but outstanding week.

The last two weeks have been over 100 degrees every day, but work continues (at a slower pace) and things are going very smoothly. Next week we will attend the National Jr. Hereford show in Tulsa. See you next time!

It has been pretty much business as usual at Bar A the last couple weeks. We put out fertilizer, we have been spraying weed,s and now we are hoping for some rain. Hard to believe after the flood in April!

Quite a few calves have been brought by lately to have their feet trimmed, and most of them are performing well. We have been busy working on Tyler’s show calves which will be going to the State Hereford show on the 17th and then on to the Junior National in July. I’m looking forward to the VIP on the 15th in St Louis, and from what I have heard we will have a great representaion from Texas. See you next time!