Class as a K-Stater

It's days like these where I am glad to be involved in agriculture. At K-State University I am taking the advanced beef science class. Each week we look at a different area of beef production by going out to visit and tour ranches and feedlots or having guests come to our class. This week we had a guest veterinarian, Dr Luis Mendonca from Brazil. 

Dr. Mendonca took us through the different types of calf malpresentations that are possible and demonstrated how to correct these positions to assist in what is hopefully a successful birth. I was really impressed by the demonstration unit that he had as we got to get some hands on action and have a go ourselves. 

It was really great to learn the techniques for correcting malpresentations, given that this procedure needs to be done in a short amount of time and when often when Murphy's Law comes in to play (i.e. when the vet is on another call!)

*this calf was already deceased and was not harmed in this procedure

Family Easter on an American family ranch

This Easter was a little different to the easter I am used to back in Australia. To start off with, the season is spring, rather than autumn and so there isn't the camping and fishing like there is back where I am on the coast of NSW. Instead, there is a ham and egg decorating!

I was fortunate enough to spend my Easter with a ranching and feedlot family in Emporia in eastern Kansas. They gave me a great American family easter experience. It is these types of experiences that I am so grateful for, because no matter how much money you spend on a trip or a tour, you won't get the first hand experiences of American life like I have been fortunate enough to have.

Decorated Eggs

In America, Good Friday and Easter Monday are not recognised as public holidays, which is one of the main reasons that it is not as big of a holiday as what it is in Australia. Good Friday, for my host family and myself, was celebrated with a 'Pot Luck' dinner and Mass. A 'Pot Luck' dinner, is simply where everyone brings a main or dessert to share. It was really lovely to meet some of the people from the surrounding communities of Emporia.

Easter Saturday I rose early to help feed the cattle in the feedlot. My hosts own some of their own cattle on feed, as well as custom fed cattle as well. It was a beautiful morning and they really took the time to tell me how they run their operation. Very early that morning a load of steers had arrived for feeding all the way from Georgia on the east coast. One thing that I will remember, is how many states these US cattle see in their lifetimes.

Doing the morning rounds on Easter Saturday

In Emporia, I rode with the daughters in to town where we went to a bridal and formal and shop so that the youngest daughter could have a prom dress fitting, then went to the rural produce store (which is like a hardware store, produce store and western clothing store all in one).

These Formal dresses are everywhere. It's just like the movies...and a nice change from dirt and dust sometimes!!

We went to the David Traylor Zoo in Emporia, where I saw the iconic American Bald Eagle and some other animals, such as a raccoon, bobcat, vultures and bison.

Bobcat

Bald Eagle. Fun fact: their white feathers on their head does not appear until they reach 4 or 5 years of age.

I also visited some nice spots such as the Cottonwood River, and a great little chocolate shop in Emporia.

The falls on the Cottonwood River

Saturday afternoon was spent dyeing and decorating Easter eggs, which is a tradition that most American families do. They are then hidden for the children the next morning. You're never to old to be a kid right?

These are some of the eggs that we decorated.

Easter Sunday was spent with Mass and then an hour and a half drive to Wichita which is a city in south east Kansas, where we met up with some more of my hosts family and had lunch.

Some popular confectionery at Easter time in America.

On my way back to Manhattan from Wichita, we stopped at some small little country towns along the way and enjoyed a beautiful drive through the iconic limestone Flint Hills- some of the best grazing cattle country in the nation.

Some cattle grazing the Flint Hills.

Some of the limestone rocks that lay on the surface of the Flint Hills.

Cottonwood Falls is a very small town with an impressive Court House.

See if you can spot me in standing in front of the Cottonwood Falls Court House.

We pulled in to visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

This house was built back in the 1800's. 

An American barn built back in the 1800's for cattle in the winter. You can see the ramps running up to the upper level for the livestock.

I am still buzzing from my great weekend, a family easter on a family ranch. You can't beat it.

Easter Sunday photos with two lovely girls- Sarah and Arissa. 

Keeping up with agriculture in Kansas

I cannot believe it is already the second term of the Spring semester! I've been keeping very busy with bull sales, feedlot and seedstock visits and classes.

I headed back to Haviland, Kansas to attend the Sandhill Farms annual Bull and Female Sale last weekend. It was great to see the end result, having been there for some of the preparation beforehand. I have a full appreciation for breeders that hold their own sales like this!

This is the sale arena at the Schultz's Sandhill Farms sale. I even got a mention in Kevin Schultz's opening speech!
(Photo supplied by Vera Schultz)

Sitting up watching the sale. Combine a fast-paced auctioneer, some good ring men,  and strong competition and it makes for a good sale! (Photo supplied by Vera Schultz)

 In the beef science class that I am taking this semester, we travel each week to visit different areas of the beef supply chain, as well as have guest speakers come in to present to us about the industry. This term, we have visited the Tiffany Cattle Co feedlot operation, Fink Beef Genetics seedstock operation and Larry Cohar, Vice President of Certified Angus Beef (CAB) spoke to us about marketing beef.

Tiffany Cattle Co. is run by two brothers, Shawn and Shane Tiffany. They run a custom fed feedlot of a maximum capacity of 15, 000 hd. Their story up until where they are know is quite interesting and inspiring. They were K-State graduates and worked in various areas of agriculture before both becoming the owners and managers of their own feedlot. 

This feedlot is quite unique! It is built on an American Army Corp airstrip from WWII. They have made good use of the existing concrete and built pens off the airstrip, leaving wide aprons on the inside of the pens. Consequently, the feedlot is triangular in shape rather than having traditional rows. 

It was a pretty cold day! The pens have a lot of slope because of the snow, wind and rain! 

This is Larry Corah, the Vice President of Certified Angus Beef. I have had the pleasure to meet Larry on a couple of occasions now. His presentation about branding of beef was interesting and the class participated in some marketing activities with him.

Since you have been in college....
the value of cattle in America have increased dramatically.

 Larry really put the value of cattle at the present in to perspective. Most of us get to our fourth year of university and realise that the time has flown by. This showed just how quickly, the value of cattle increased to be at extreme highs this year. There has been an increase in cull cow prices by 129% over the past four years!! There are a lot of producers sending cows to feedlots given their value. Corn is relatively cheap at the moment so there is a fairly inexpensive cost of gain at the moment.

 We had the opportunity to visit a highly regarded family and their ranch last week. Mr and Mrs Gaylen and Lori Fink, go by the name of Fink Beef Genetics, and run an Angus and Charolais seedstock operation. Their story began as a young couple making their way into the beef industry in 1977 with one Angus cow. They leased the land that they required and bought in feed. They now sell breeding cattle nation wide, embryos world wide and sell over 700 bulls a year. Gaylen emphasised how important it is to think outside of the square, have no limitations to your thinking and be different!

This is Gaylen Fink talking to our class at their sale centre. He gave us a brief of his operation, but what was more valuable was getting some great advice from someone who started with something so small! 

This is my beef systems management class! 

 The Flint Hills is a region in Kansas that contains the last of the tallgrass prairie and prime grazing land. Manhattan happens to fall within the borders of this limestone based land. Each spring, the Flint Hills are burned as part of grazing and noxious weed management. It is so far widespread across the state that there is a constant haze. I went and visited a prairie reserve, where some of the burning had taken place. The landscape sure is something to be seen!

One of the many views at the Konza Prairie Biological Station.

The track at the Konza is almost 10km. It was well worth the long stroll! 

While I only have a month left here at K-State, be sure to keep up with my blogs! There's still so much to do. Next up is Dodge City, KS for a beef production tour!