Braunvieh World Summer 2023

The Roadmap

W here are we? We ranch in a beautiful grassland and have a productive, hard working cow herd. How did we get here? Where are we going? • We had a roadmap that started with 100 Braunvieh cows from Split Diamond Ranch 20+ years ago. They were sound structured, growthy cattle. We put culling pressure on birth weight and calving ease while infusing more polled genetics every chance we got. • We studied. MARC at Clay Center, Neb., has a wealth of data on trait heritability, intensity of selection and variation in the Braunvieh population. We attended BIF conferences, where we found scholars willing to share their knowledge. We listened, learned, and that helped us move forward down the road. • Everywhere we traveled, we were on a hunt for the next herd sire. Some helped us leap ahead on our roadmap… others caused us to backtrack, regroup and go a different route. • EPDs were like GPS instructions – very useful to get where we were going. But if followed blindly, they could take us down a bumpy road. Use modern tools, but keep the roadmap, too.

BLC EZ Sleep 811G – PB96882 Top 1% CED, BW & API. Top 4% CEM.

EZ Sleep son Junior Herd Sire BLC High Noon – PB101098

Top 1% CED & API. Top 2% TI. Top 10% BW & CEM, 30% YW.

• We built our herd with a lot of really good cows. There’s no substitution for a momma that calves unassisted, has a sound udder that will last, and raises replacement heifers, bull prospects or

Bob & Marilyn Brink 765 80th St., Piedmont, KS 67122 Bob (785) 766-6449 • Marilyn (785) 766-8713 e-mail: kanwaka@powwwer.net • brinkbraunvieh.com B R I NK L I VES TOCK feedlot steers. And she does that with a good attitude. • With these cows and herd bulls like EZ Sleep and High Noon above, we’re clearing checkpoints on our roadmap. We’re not done yet, though. Like all cattlemen, we’re excited about the next calf crop and always on the lookout for that next great herd bull. BLC EZ Sleep 811G Semen – $35/straw

The Newsroom M ARK Y OUR C ALENDARS : Nov. 4 – Herd Builder Braunvieh Sale, Nevada, MO Thank You Cattle Buyers… Gary Woodring, Annabelle Lehmann, Payden Boulden, Andy Rainsford, Ron Nudell, David Gauze and Brad Gauze. Thank You to all who attended the

BAA Field Day at our ranch.