Welcome cattlemen & women!
It is our pleasure to welcome you to our 18th annual production sale. In addition, we are celebrating 30 years of being in the seedstock business. It is hard to believe that a small start with a few head of replacement heifers has turned into a passion of breeding for cows that thrive in an unpampered environment three decades later. Of all the things that have changed since the start, one thing that has remained constant has been our commitment to breed for solid cows that do their job day in, day out. What this means for us is a cow that will calve unassisted, get her calf up and raise it until weaning without help from us. She needs to be a good mother, know where that calf is, and protect it from the elements and natural predators. She must breed back in a short time frame of 42 days or less, wean an acceptable calf and maintain an acceptable condition herself. She must have good foot and leg structure, be able to travel well and go make a living on her own. Udders must have good attachment, suspension and we appreciate a teat size that is similar to an index finger in size and a pinky finger in length. We strive for a 4.5 frame cow with an average mature weight around 1300 pounds. In our environment, this type of cow seems to be able to do well checking the boxes required of her. We don’t believe that an artificial environment with creep feeders and daily rations to the cowherd has any place in breeding cattle to thrive in range conditions. We also try to make these cows work in an envi- ronment that is as similar to a real-world commercial operation as possible. Naturally, we must handle these cows more than a commercial operation would with gathering birth data, AI and weaning information; however, we make these cows make a living outside and do their job on grass, mineral and water and have full confidence these bulls will sire offspring that will do the same for you. The bulls offered this year are a result of planned matings to make phenomenal cows. We feel that if you have a strong maternal foundation, the performance of the calves will take care of itself. We love trouble-free females with intelligence, longevity and fertility that go out and take care of business. As you can see, we tend to like proven, older pedigrees that the guesswork has been taken out of most of the time. We try to breed the cows to like-type animals to create offspring, both heifers and bulls, that will produce with consistency either for our own herd or yours. As always, we appreciate your support over the past 30 years and look forward to continuing to serve our great industry by providing hard-working genetics that will leave you with a cowherd to be proud of.
Sincerely,
Jim, Lynn and the Open A Crew
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