SG_USA_October_2019

SANTA GERTRUDIS Commercial Corner CITRUS, CATFISH AND CROSSBRED CATTLE

By Hannah Gill, Freelance Writer

I n the 1940s, when Wes Williamson’s grandfather, Frank W. Williamson Sr., purchased what would eventually become Williamson Cattle Company, the elder Williamson knew that diversity would be key to keeping the Florida cattle ranch going strong. He partnered on a piece of land, banking on the fact that land prices would increase, and sold pieces of the property as needed to make the mortgage payments. “He knew about citrus and any time he had any money left over, he would save some, then plant some citrus, a little block here and some there,” Williamson says. The plan worked, and the citrus business grew to be very profitable. In the 1970s, the next generation followed his lead by looking to expand the family business. Initially, they inves- tigated purchasing land in Central America to run cattle on but ended up choosing a property in western Alabama. “We were doing some row crop farming up there, raising soybeans and we always had a few cattle up there. Then the row crop farming got pretty tough, hard to make a profit on,” Williamson says. The catfish industry was just starting in western Alabama and, Williamson says, they were just there in the right place at the right time. The principle of diversifying the business stood the same, and the catfish business is still proving to be a good business. Eventually, a ranch in Texas was added to the growing list of enterprises where they run Brangus cattle and operate a commercial deer and quail hunting business. In 2016, Williamson decided to diversify a part of their Brangus cow herd at the Florida location by adding Santa Gertrudis genetics, and the results have thus far been just what he was hoping for. While the family stands firmly behind Brangus females being the most ideal for the Florida climate and terrain, the Williamsons also know what heterosis in crossbred calves could bring to the table. “Heterosis may be the only free thing in the beef indus- try; everything else you have to pay for,” Williamson says. “When you continue to cross Brangus on Brangus, you’re giving up that heterosis, so we looked for another cross.” There was a list of criteria that the right breed needed to fit: something that would boost the pounds, still be a good quality feedlot animal and, because the business had a reputation for selling a quantity of bred heifers every year, the cross also needed to produce a half-Brangus, marketable female. They tried crossing other breeds with their Brangus females, but none seemed to create a calf that fit the whole package. Williamson did his research on the breed and finally purchased six Santa Gertrudis bulls from the King Ranch®. So far, he says that the cross is meshing well with their operation. Their first calf crops showed the crossbred calves weaning 30 pounds heavier than the ranch’s Brangus calves. He hasn’t seen specific data on how the calves are perform- ing in the feedlots because the crossbred calves are mixed

with straight Brangus calves, but the feedback has been all positive. “We got some very nice looking, desirable half-Brangus/half-Santa Gertrudis females out of it too. So far,

Wes Williamson

results are about 80 percent being black in color; the other 20 percent being different shades of red,” Williamson says. The ranch doesn’t keep individual records on females – there are about 10,000 between the three locations with the majority being on the Florida ranch – but Williamson is strict about making sure cows keep bringing calves to the pen each year, something he says is often overlooked. “The more non-producing females you have on a piece of land, there’s just that much more revenue that you have to come up with,” he says. “She has to have a calf, and then not just be pregnant but bring a calf to the pens every single year for us to use her in the herd and to raise potential replace- ments out of going forward.” The selection process for replacements is simple, based solely on phenotypic evaluation when pairs are brought in. About half of the heifer calves are kept back for replace- ments, and of those, the ranch keeps what is bred in the first 60 days of the breeding season, offering what is bred in the last 60 days for sale. But the selection doesn’t stop there. Second-calf cows also must prove that they are capable of being bred back within a reasonable amount of time or they may not stay around the ranch long. “One of my report cards is how many of those heifers that we breed get bred back the second time,” he says. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to have a heifer as a yearling if you’re going to mess around and she’s not going to get bred back and have her second calf.” Of the half-Brangus/half-Santa Gertrudis females that the ranch retained as replacements, Williamson says 96 percent of them bred back with their second calf. “That’s exceptionally good,” he says. “It’s just what we strive to do to get those females bred back.” The future looks promising for Santa Gertrudis cattle at Williamson Cattle Company. Since 2016, Williamson has bought three more Santa Gertrudis bulls to add to the ranch’s bull pen. And not only are the crossbred calves perform- ing well, but they also mesh well with the Florida environ- ment. That’s a high priority to Williamson, especially since the ranch was the first east of the Mississippi to receive the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Environmental Stewardship Award. “The Gerts fit in because of the Brahman blood that they have,” Williamson says. “You’ve got to have something that is adaptable for this environment so that then proves to be easy on the environment. Almost anything you can do to enhance your cattle is not just good for cattle production, but good for the environment and for our cattle ranches.”

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