Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

Meet Our Replacement Heifers

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

July 15, 2022

Last weekend Beth gave an informative update on the status of our hens and egg production. Hope you were able to read it.

Today, I want to show you a few pictures of our replacement heifers. Maybe I should start by telling you what a replacement heifer is.

A replacement heifer is a young female yearling that is typically 15-24 months old that has not had a calf. The objective is to select the best of the best females from our herd and retain them to be future mama cows. Not just any female will do!

Heifers1.jpg

This is a picture of several of the heifers we kept from our herd.

Heifers2.jpg

The heifer "out front" is from our farm. The three orange tag heifers were purchased. They are smaller because they are also 6 months younger.

Bull.jpg

We also purchased this Registered Red Angus bull (tag 114) to breed each of our replacement heifers.

So, some details about the bull & heifers we purchased.

First, one of the best Red Angus forage based ranches is 5L in Montana. We tried several years to pickup both replacement heifers & bulls, but the price (including transportation) put them out of our reach.

So this year we looked to Les in Alabama who has used 5L bulls exclusively for the past 25 years to improve his cow herd. I first meet Les about 5 years ago at his farm. It was the time when he was preparing to attend the annual 5L Spring Bull Sale. By preparing, I mean he was studying the sale catalog of some 400 or so bulls. Studying all the data - looking for bulls with qualities to improve his herd. There is no telling how many hours he spent "selecting" the bulls he intended to be the high bidder on...and he usually was.

This makes us feel very good about the replacements we purchased and look forward to the improvement they bring to our Grass-Finished Beef.

And our new bull - well his Sire is a top 5L bull. This is the second time I have purchased from Ron (and the third bull) and have been pleased with them all.

As you can see, we are moving towards 5L quality Red Angus. We agree with their motto "Bred For Balance" vs. placing emphasis on the latest fad traits. And, they are raised on forage and not grain.

Can't wait to see those first calves in February 2023!!!

Maybe you have been looking for premium ALL NATURAL GOODNESS of beef, pork, chicken, and eggs raised on pasture as God intended - without growth hormones, drugs, chemicals, and antibiotics - and raised humanely then you have come to the right farm. Our delivery schedule and product availability is listed below along with order buttons that will take you to our website where you can browse over 90 product choices and place your order from the convenience of your home. It's that simple!

Yes, I want to Place My Order

Ben & I really appreciate your business and thank you for rewarding our hard work with your trust and support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

More from the blog

Farm Improvements

Farm Improvements – Fresh water is a necessity for raising healthy animals on pasture. Until recently, we used an ICB tote on a small tralier that we would refill from our well. During the summer the frequency greatly increases in order to keep the chickens hydrated. So, I called my buddy at Southern Pipe and ordered pipe, fittings, etc. and then rented a trencher for May 16th to install 2,700 feet of 1.25 inch PVC pipe. Along the line we added 15 Plasson Quick Coupler Valves that we will hook to as we move the animals through our pastures.

My Advise How To Jump Start Small Farms In Mississippi

“Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.” — Henry Kissinger The fight to change food from addictive to nutritive will most likely be harder than the fight regarding tobacco (smoking) in public places that started back in the 1980’s. Note that my comments are NOT a condemnation of anybody who may use tobacco in any way as this can be a sensitive topic. However, it is personal to me as my Dad smoked at least 45 of his 75 years and died of lung cancer.

Small Farm Republic

Pasture Talk With Our Cows– Tuesday morning I was out checking on our cows and took the opportunity to record a short 2-minute story about the time I saved the life of one of the “pet” cows Number 608. Click to watch here. Small Farm Republic- is a book written by John Klar. A former attorney who contracted Lyme disease, John now farms in Vermont. I spent much of last weekend reading his book. He is very pro-small farms and presented a lot of evidence to support his position. On page 77 he makes a comparison to the number of farms and farmers during the Great Depression versus today. During the Great Depression the American population was 100 million. According to USDA charts