Braunvieh World Summer 2023

“It didn’t have to be written down or shook on. It just had to be said. Not everybody’s that way, but Ron was.” McBee was in the cattle business for nearly 50 years, and in that time, he made several important contribu tions to the Braunvieh breed. “Ron was performance driven,” Williams says. “We were one of the first breed associations to implement total-herd reporting. Ron was one of the biggest proponents of that.” McBee was elected BAA president and during his tenure, he made sev eral other impressive advancements for the breed. “He did some restructuring of the membership fees, and 10 percent of the fees were earmarked for promo tion,” Williams says. “You could choose which program you wanted your mon ey to go to. He also served on so many committees and had a real influence on so many members. He definitely gave back to the breed in that aspect.” Another way McBee contributed to the Braunvieh breed was through his own personal efforts through McBee Cattle Company. In 1994, McBee started his Calf Roundup Program to help his customers market their calves for top prices.

Right: McBee Cattle Company was awarded the BIF Seedstock Producer Honor Roll of Excellence Award in 2010. Ron and Teri began incorporating Braunvieh cattle into their herd in 1990.

“The program allowed anyone to bring calves with McBee genetics to be put in a bigger group, since they’re off colored,” Imhoff says. “It helped us customers receive more accurate pricing. There were no docks for coloring, especially since they were sorted by weight in groups.” The Calf Roundup Program has strict guidelines for commercial producers to follow for their cattle to be eligible. All calves have to receive two rounds of pre-conditioning vac cines, and they must be dewormed, dehorned, castrated, bunk broke and weaned for at least 45 days. The calves are received five days before the sale day, and they are tagged and sorted. They are allowed four days of rest to help combat haul ing shrink and to ensure a more ac curate pay weight. After being sorted by weight group, the owners are paid for the percentage of the weight they own in each group. “He had the program twice a year, and the buyers knew that the calves

were high quality and ready to go,” Imhoff says. While McBee made several ad vancements to the Braunvieh breed, he also blazed trails in the cattle industry at large. “He was one of the first producers to practice rotational grazing,” Imhoff says. “He had enough paddocks to give the pasture a 30-day break so that the grass has time to recover.” Ron McBee was many things. His friends describe him as detail ori ented, educated, funny and curious. They also describe him as a true cattleman who loved the Braunvieh breed and would do anything to further it in the cattle industry. The world was truly a better place with Ron McBee in it. BW

PROVEN BLACK & POLLED BRAUNVIEH GENETICS

www.bagleyfarms.com

OUR SINCERE THANKS! To those breeders who’ve purchased our PROVEN genetics. We’re excited to see how our genetics perform in your herd! HOME OF FIRE POWER

PRIVATE TREATY Selling fullblood Braunvieh, Beef Builder and percentage bulls.

370 Strain Road • Cohutta, Georgia 30710 Blake Bagley (706) 280-7733

Tim Bagley (706) 217-5459 tim@bagleyfarms.com

blake@bagleyfarms.com

www.braunvieh.org

21