SG_USA_October_2018

By Kate Hagans, Freelance Writer

Family Values, Progressive Genetics

T he Cotton Branch Plantation, an eighth-generation cattle ranch nestled among peaceful cottonwood meadows, is located in the deep south of Missis- sippi. Their cattle are some of the most progres- sive Santa Gertrudis in the country. Ryan Cowart, Cotton Branch Plantation day-to-day man- ager, also serves as one of the five East Region directors on the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International (SGBI) Board of Directors. “My future goals for SGBI is to keep improving the cattle and attracting more commercial bull buyers,” Cowart says. The Cotton Branch Plantation adopted the Santa Gertrudis breed after a great aunt purchased a small herd in the 1950s. “As I got older and our business was growing, I decided to bring cattle into the operation. It was only natural I went to our family to purchase some,” says Ed Herring, Cowart’s grandfather and the plantation’s manager at-large. “As a young man, I always bought land when I could,” Her- ring says. “The land we run our cattle and horses on today was all pieced together from those early opportunities. “For us, this is a family business and a way of life. My son- in-law and grandsons all live on the place,” Herring adds. “The land is constantly being cleared to bring more family and cattle into the mix.” Operation Management For commercial cattlemen, the answer is simple: versatil- ity. The versatility of the Santa Gertrudis breed ensures it is a compatible and profitable cross with a wide variety of breeds. “Our main goal is to get a healthy calf on the ground and get it going so we can develop it for our annual sale,” Herring says. “That’s one thing we know – to just try to take the cows we have and constantly try to improve future herds to come.”

The breed’s efficiency as feeders and outstanding carcass traits highlight the fact that Santa Gertrudis cattle are com- petitive and profitable in every sector of the industry. The Cotton Branch Plantation genetics can be traced to Grizzly, a bull raised in the 1990s. “We like to tighten up our genetics so we can get a really good predictability on what kind of calves we’re going to get,” Herring explains. “Our goal is to simply raise the best cow possible.” Herring and Cowart have focused on marketing their bulls to interested commercial producers. “We’ve sold more bulls to commercial buyers than ever before,” Herring says. Currently, 40 cows and 70 replacement heifers graze Cotton Branch land. “We do keep one or two outcross bulls,” Herring explains. “We’re always looking for that next great bull to add a little ‘extra’ to our cowherd.” When making the best possible decisions for the operation, both Cowart and Herring utilize the knowledge of expected progeny differences (EPDs). “We use EPDs because it’s a tool we depend on,” Herring says. “We scan everything we have and that gives us a truer picture, but it does tie into the EPDs.” “We definitely have a phenotype we like – they have to be deep, wide, with good and level hips, and heavy bone struc- ture,” Cowart says. At the end of the day, Cotton Branch Plantation wants to ensure their customers are well taken care of. “Customer satisfaction is first and foremost,” Herring says. “We want the customer to be happy with their purchase, and we want them to know what the cattle are capable of. If they get a good calf out of our genetics, we know we can expect subsequent business.” The Cotton Branch operation is constantly setting goals for their livestock and management procedures. Goals are nec- essary to keep the business on track to maximize production efforts. While some producers tend to shy away from Santa Gertrudis due to their past phenotype, the Cotton Branch Plantation is starting to experience new interest in the breed because they’ve been able to prove their performance.

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Horseback is the only way to work at Cotton Branch Plantation. Left to right, are, Sam, Ben, Graham, Ryan and Shelly Cowart.