The recessive status & most recent EPD’s of any Registered Angus can be simply checked at www.Angus.org by putting in the Registration number in the “Animal Search Box” located in the upper left hand corner of the home page.  If tested themselves cattle will have a designation of either F (free) ie AMF, NHF, CAF, M1F, or D2F or C (carrier) with such designations as AMC, NHC, CAC, M1C, or D2C after or just under their Registration number. If they are untested and have no potential by pedigree, there will be no designation or listing of such. Rest assured that all Highview Angus Ranch bulls sold after these recessives (AM, NH , CA,M1, & D2) were known, have NO POTENTIAL TO CARRY THESE RECESSIVE DEFECTS as they are either free by Pedigree or they or their ancestors have been DNA tested free.

Unfortunately there continues to be cattle marketed by less progressive breeders that are Untested “Potential” Carriers.  If you are considering bulls from other breeds and/or breeders we recommend you question their approach to recessive defects. In the case of Registered Angus we highly recommend that you go to www.Angus.org  & put the animals Registration number in the “Animal Search Box” located in the upper left hand corner of the home page. Then watch for this paragraph identifying “Untested Potential Carriers” which will be located at the bottom of their registration paper or online pedigree.  “This animal has one or more ancestors known to carry a mutation that can result in calves with a genetic defect known as Arthrogryposis Multiplex (AM), or Neuropathic Hydrocephalus (NH), or Contractural Arachnodactyly (CA) or Myostatin Double Muscling Strain (M1), or PRKG2 gene mutation for dwarfism (D2) will be added. The American Angus Association recommends DNA testing at an approved laboratory to confirm the absence or presence of the mutation.” If this paragraph is present the cattle have not been tested & should be. If the paragraph is present & they were/are being sold AFTER the recessive was known AND the test available (11/15/08 for AM, 6/12/09 for NH, 10/5/10 for CA, 7/1/11 for M1, & 8/29/11 for D2) the breeder was/is likely trying to hide something. Insist on free by pedigree or DNA test for all your bull needs. —Jeff

Call Now for availability.

For more information contact Jeff.

541-426-5989

Email Jeff at HighviewAngusRanch@gmail.com

The 2011 Highview Angus Ranch yearling bulls are being developed over the winter at Double M Ranch, Echo OR. They will be back at our ranch in Enterprise by early April.

Prior to April all bulls will have been vaccinated this spring with Preg Guard 10 FP & an 8-Way Clostridial. Additionally they will have been ultra-sound scanned for carcass traits & semen tested.

Recently the American Angus Association has started updating EPD’s weekly rather than bi-annually. Our experience is that while some animals do change it is more gradual with minimal week to week changes. Additionally, any adjustments for genomic testing done within 3 generations of any animal are also included in these weekly EPD calculations.

2012 Spring Yearling Bulls (PDF)

For more information contact Jeff

541-426-5989

Email Jeff at HighviewAngusRanch@gmail.com

***

All bulls featured in videos available as of April, 21, 2012

View all

50

Nicolas Agache

Nicolas Agache,  University intern From Lille’, France spent five months in 2011 learning and doing some of everything here from heat detecting and working cattle to irrigation, and fence work.

The amount he learned in five months of ranch life was incredible.
Nico enjoyed his stay attending several rodeo’s, fishing, and seeing the remote scenery of Northeastern Oregon.

His English is excellent and he even picked up some good ole Wallowa County slang!  Nico is currently studying at Lille Higher Institute of Agriculture; Lille, France.

Click on images to see large pictures.

 Cade Steen

Cade Steen, Enterprise, Oregon, spent the spring & early summer of 2011 doing some of everything at Highview Angus Ranch from calving and working cattle to equipment operation, and irrigation.

Cade can figure it out and get’er done even if he’s never done it before.

Cade is currently studying at  Montana Tech of the University of Montana in Butte, Montana and member of the Elite Professional Bull Riders Association.

 Chuck Holcomb

Chuck Holcomb spent  six months in 2007 at Highview Angus Ranch on an internship from Cal Poly, SLO.

Chuck and the dog Buck became real buds while they did some of everything here from heat detection, irrigation, or moving cattle.

Very personable, people in the community still ask about Chuck.

Chuck Holcomb graduated from Cal Poly in 2008 and is now employed at Five River Cattle Feeders, Dalhart Texas.

Brady Goss

Brady Goss    

The longest tenure and best employee in recent history. Brady helped work somewhere around 15,000 head of cattle thru his High school days and was always willing to help Jeff out of a jam.

Now a professional musician he still stops by once in a while just to help with cows and say Hi.

www.bradygoss.com

Angelika Dietrich – Media Director

Angelika Dietrich, Eagle Cap Media Productions, has been our Media Director since October 2009 and continues to maintain our website, produces our professional flyers, photography shoots, and video productions.

Angelika also own and operates Wallowa Valley Online, covering Local News, Farm & Ag, Event and Sports Photography & Entertainment from Wallowa County, Oregon.

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The Dogs

"A dog named Split" 1995- 2010

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Reagan aka "Mr. President"

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"Cattle Dog Kate"

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Buck

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"Dingus"

The Horses

Reno & Jesse

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Big Red & Sammy ~ Angelika's the new kids on the block getting ready for 2012~

 

11/19/08 This is in response to Mike Baker about extended grazing seasons. It is long, but I can’t effectively tell much worthwhile without some explanation. While we can not graze all winter because we are in a high elevation mountain valley where many ranchers used to feed 6 months of the year…we have made substantial moves towards more late fall and winter grazing and I plan to do more. First I do calve later than most and certainly later than most purebred operators here with a due date on the main cow herd of March 10th. If I were completely commercial I would probably make it April 10th or even later.

We transitioned the grazing practices very slowly with some type of rotational grazing starting back in the 60′s but got more serious about MIG (Management Intensive Grazing) in the early 80′s. I have started weaning earlier and then just sending the calves back to grass except the bull calves only spend about 30 days back on grass before they go to be developed to sell as Yearlings. In my case the froze down hay meadows (where we take one cutting of grass hay in July) work pretty well but lack just a tick of protein for these calves by now. I do have them on 1 lb of DDG’s (Dried Distillers Grains) but have used 1/2 lb of SBM (Soy Bean Meal) in past years. I’ll never go back to just weaning and back grounding in the pens that get sloppy, cold, and wet this time of year and require expensive hay and some very expensive grain or pellets and a lot more hand labor in my case.

I am a little harder on the replacement heifer calves than the feeder calves in terms of eating all of a paddock or supplementing the feeder calves quicker during some deeper snow because I do think it teaches the replacements to forage thru the snow a bit more and teaches them to be a cow here. If they look rough as calves they will never make it as cows here but that grazing knowledge doesn’t have any value if the feeder cattle are just destined to a feedlot anyway. People seem to talk about lower input genetics a lot when it comes to winter grazing but I think it is as much if not more a learned trait and the earlier you start the training I think the better.

Regarding weaning I probably do wean at a younger age than most of the commercial operations in this area. Some who just start feeding hay when the snow flies but still wean at 9-10 months would have to feed them as pairs for a while and some still do. I wean pretty close to 205 days as an average. It is much more efficient to feed the pairs separately than thru lactation once the calves are more than 500 lbs.

I do fertilize in the spring but all of my pasture and hay land is irrigated. With the cost of fertilizer this past year I am not sure it penciled but I hope a return to lower levels will again make it a logical choice. The areas we stockpile for late fall and winter grazing have generally not had anything on them or were last cut for hay in late July to early august. By mid September most years we don’t grow much more grass. It froze hard here the first 10 of 12 days in September this year and that is not really that unusual. I have not yet had enough guts to try swath grazing due to the amount of fall moisture we can get before frozen ground but I think some trial and error there is going to happen in the next few years and I am thinking of some kind of small grain hay that might be planted after one grazing or an early cutting of hay. I did that this year on one 20 acre experiment but did have enough dry weather to get it up as dry hay. Generally it could be too late to get harvested as dry hay here but I think then it could work as swath grazed? Just a guess at this point. Maybe next year we will try some.

What I am gambling to do this year is keep even more stockpiled grass back than we normally can get to before the snow gets too deep then get back onto some of it later on. Like any days when we might have a Chinook or otherwise open things up. updated authors note.. despite some early deep snow (up to one & half feet)in late December of 2008 we did get a good Chinook wind in early January 2009. These warm winds opened back up the grass enough to allow us to stop feeding hay as the primary feed source even after we were forced to full feed for a few days prior. We again primarily grazed all the cows and even the replacement heifer calves until about the first of Feb. 2009. It worked very well despite the earlier deep snow and bitter cold temperatures I did that last spring (2008) on some small paddocks even saving some of it to the first of April on one five acre paddock just to see how it would work. (we usually don’t go to green grass until after May 1) and it worked very well reducing greatly the amount of feed needed for those cows at least for a few days. It was probably knee high before it was snowed under too deep. It looked terrible when the snow melted and I think would have just looked plowed if we had gone into it when the snow first melted and with the ground thawed. I waited until things dried up a bit and it worked very well. I just need to expand that and make sure I balance the protein with some supplemental feeding. Last year it happened by chance as we had single digit 1 1/2 feet of snow by now in Nov. but yesterday here it was in the mid 50′s which is very unusual this late in the fall. We did get cows by eventually until around Christmas but it was tougher than most years.

I hope to get into Jan this year and have the feed stockpiled to do that or I may get more of it later in the spring if the experiment from last year will repeat itself on a larger scale.

Sure I would like to not feed hay at all but I think that might be a bit of a long shot here. However, the message that we have learned over the years is to just try things, take baby steps and see where and how far it goes. Over time we have added greatly to the number of grazing days vs harvested feed days and in particular lately even with the younger cattle. They don’t need to gain as much as in the pens to have a competitive COG during this post weaning phase and seem to be happier too.

If I can offer one bit of advice is to learn very well how to BCS cows. Write them down then go back every few weeks and BCS some cows in the group trying not to look at their number or previous score until you have scored how ever many you want to get a sample. It will give you a trend and let you know how they are doing and every year you can just push the envelope a bit more depending on your available resources and costs or value of harvested feeds. Go slow and just see how it works. I would not recommend taking a full cliff dive on year one. I also have weights on all the cows within 30 days of weaning and I can turn on the scale when I run them thru the first part of Jan for a quick scours vacc. It usually just solidifies my BCS info but does give me something solid to compare with if I need to. I expect to take off BCS from Dec. 1 to Jan 15. Also FWIW (For what it’s worth) I think Angus females in general have an auxiliary fuel tank that can and should be used. It is an advantage few breeds have and those that don’t in general need to be on a more consistent feed program (read more expensive) The ability of Angus cows to both put on and then take off fat within a production year or even between seasons was the biggest contrast in our commercial herd which was previously dominated by another breed. If you are not willing to see your cows come down in BCS or you want to brag about every production weight measure this is not a program for you. It is about producing a lb of beef as competitively as you can in your environment and on your available resources.

Regarding plant species change…Although I would like to it would be hard unless I changed irrigation methods so for now I’ll work with what I have. I do have an abundance of stock water available even in the winter so I can’t help you there. The more we divide up paddocks, move cattle, stockpile, and graze thru the snow the more we increase the number of head days on the same acres. The best part is that it is more about effort and understanding than anything else.

Jeff D. Parker

Highview Ranch

Enterprise, Oregon

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From:owner-black-ink@ml.mystery.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

On Behalf Of Mike Baker

Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 4:59 AM

Jeff,

Excellent response! Full of logic and common sense. We have trended in your direction and have been very pleased with the results. Wean earlier, kick the heifers back out and allow the cows to put on condition prior to deep snow. We breed heifers averaging 830# and they breed up nicely. Much better than when our heifers were fed harder and got heavier. Everything looks better going into winter. BCS 5 and 6 on the cows. We are making this work and really haven’t changed our breeding objectives while saving on feed. We are continuing to extend our grazing season mainly by managing our grazing throughout the growing season. I have never been so pleased with our cattle.

Final comment…too many people are looking for the silver bullet. Time is the only silver bullet I have found. After a minimum of 15 years in the cattle business, if cattlemen have honestly evaluated their cattle and their management, success starts to happen.

All the best,

Brian McCulloh

Click here to return to “The Ranch”

The 2010 Highview Angus Ranch yearling bulls are being developed over the winter at Double M Ranch, Echo OR. They will be back at our ranch in Enterprise by early April. Prior to April all bulls will have been vaccinated this spring with Preg Guard 10 FP & an 8-Way Clostridial. Additionally they will have been ultra-sound scanned for carcass traits semen tested.
Recently the American Angus Association has started updating EPD’s weekly rather than bi-annually. Our experience is that while some animals do change it is more gradual with inimal week to week changes. Additionally, any adjustments for genomic testing done ithin 3 generations of any animal are also included in these weekly EPD calculations.
A note regarding genetic recessives. Once the mapping of the entire bovine genome as completed a few years ago, identifying & subsequent testing for several genetic ecessives has become more readily available in many breeds. While Angus has received he most attention due to the shear size of the data base, nearly all major breeds have identified some & the openness of their approach has varied by breed as well as breeder.
Highview Angus Ranch has been very aggressive & open in our approach to genetic effects. With considerable effort & expense the entire Registered Cow Herd & any cattle offered for sale by Highview Angus Ranch are free by pedigree or DNA test of AM, NH, now CA. We did this as soon as the status & subsequent tests became available & have not wavered in our pursuit to offer problem free cattle. Unfortunately, not all Seed-Stock uppliers share our view.
The recessive status & most recent EPD’s of any Registered Angus can be simply checked at www.Angus.org by putting in the Registration number in the “Animal Search Box” located in the upper left hand corner of the home page. If tested themselves cattle will have a designation of either F (free) ie AMF, NHF, or CAF or C (carrier) with such designations as AMC, NHC, or CAC after or just under their
Registration number. If they are untested and have no potential by pedigree, there will be no designation or listing of such. Rest assured that all Highview Angus Ranch bulls sold after these recessives (AM, NH ,& CA) were known, have NO POTENTIAL TO CARRY THESE THREE RECESSIVE DEFECTS as they are either free by Pedigree or they or their ancestors have been DNA tested free.

Unfortunately there continues to be cattle marketed by less progressive breeders that are Untested “Potential” Carriers. If you are considering bulls from other breeds and/or breeders we recommend you question their approach to recessive defects. In the case of registered Angus we highly recommend that you go to www.Angus.org & put the animals Registration number in the “Animal Search Box” located in the upper left hand corner of the home page. Then watch for this paragraph identifying “Untested Potential Carriers” which will be located at the bottom of their registration paper or online pedigree. “This animal has one or more ancestors known to carry a mutation that can result in calves with a genetic defect known as Arthrogryposis Multiplex (AM),or (Neuropathic Hydrocephalus (NH) & on 5/5/11 (Contractural Arachnodactyly CA) will be added. The American Angus Association recommends DNA testing at an approved laboratory to confirm the absence or presence of the mutation.” If this paragraph is present the cattle have not been tested & should be. If the paragraph is present & they were/are being sold AFTER the recessive was known AND the test available (11/15/08 for AM, 6/12/09 for NH, & 10/5/10 for CA) the breeder was/is likely trying to hide something. Insist on free by pedigree or DNA test for all your bull needs. —Jeff

By Jeff Parker 10/27/09
Highview Angus Ranch

A recent article in Beef Magazine by Alison Van Eenennaam (UC-Davis Animal Biotechnology specialist) suggests that DNA tests for genetic merit hold “tremendous promise” but so far that “promise” is about all.

Van Eenennaam says that “A criticism of the currently available tests is that their ability to predict genetic merit is limited”. She goes on to say that “Current estimates of the proportion of genetic variation accounted for by existing tests are generally low (0.0-.10) We would concur that from a cattle breeder’s perspective that is very low and it’s further compounded by the fact that it’s generally just the marketing companies themselves touting their worth. She further outlines that the companies marketing these tests hold that the marker panels are proprietary and thus confidential. Obviously, this leads to difficulty in validating their worth by unbiased third parties. As a result there is little peer reviewed documentation as to their ability to actually improve traits of economic benefit.

For several years now, we have been monitoring and then comparing some of these new DNA genetic merit values with actual on the ground progeny tests. Within the same or similar traits, to date, there has been little correlation (and in one case a negative one) in traits that cattlemen might actually turn into real dollars.

As always Highview Angus Ranch will monitor these new developments until such a time when ”the bugs have been worked out”. To be sure, in time these genetic merit DNA panels will hold great value but today they just aren’t there yet.  Many bio technology insiders suggest the “great stuff” hasn’t even been developed. So for now it’s just a bunch of promotion and commotion by companies trying to sell what hasn’t been proven or even created yet. However, with the rapid rate of discovery, this to will change, and the opportunities might then be endless.

See the link below for the entire article by Alison Van Eenennaam.

http://beefmagazine.com/genetics/selection-tools/1001-dna-test-future/

By Sterling Allen
for Agri-Times NW
Friday, February 6, 2009

ENTERPRISE – “My goal is to breed balanced cattle with a whole industry approach that will still work in the real world,’ said Jeff Parker, Highview Ranch, located along Alder Slope just west of Enterprise.

Parker is the second generation operating Highview Ranch that was started by his parents, Dave and Shirley Parker in 1960.

After graduation from Cal Poly, Parker had the opportunity to travel extensively and work with cattlemen throughout the West in both the animal health and A.I industries. Later, Parker managed two large ranches scoping from cow-calf, stockers, back grounding, finishing, and carcass data to purebred programs with extensive A.I. & ET programs with production sales.

He returned to the family homestead ranch in 1997 and began building an Angus base cow herd garnering foundation females from Gardiner Ranch, Kansas and Sitz Ranch, Montana.

Highview Ranch practices an intensive management grazing systems used extensively to increase the head days per acre by focusing on re-growth and stockpiling grass for late fall and winter grazing. The calves are weaned on grass and back grounded through the fall grazing season.

The cowherd, all replacements, and all sale bulls have been tested and ear notched for BVD P.I. tested free. The Angus calves display Angus Source identification tags.

“The conversion to a Powder River 2000 cattle handling system, with hydraulic chute, has allowed the Highview Ranch cattle to be worked efficiently, reducing stress and labor, “said Parker.

Parker has a specific approach to breeding and genetics.

“First, I am a cowman who understands that the complexities of my breeding decisions, when coupled with my management, have implications not only for me, but for my bull customers and ultimately the entire beef industry,” remarked Parker.

The cowherd is 100% bred A.I. The bulls are ultrasound tested which allows Parker to gather information to develop a high accuracy EPD’s from the cowherd. ET calves will comprise of 25% of the calf crop.

“When you buy a bull from me you know the same guy who made the mating decisions is the same one who is going to calve out the cows, the daughters, sell commercial progeny as value added feeders, retain ownership himself, and write the checks for all the bills,” stated Parker.

Parker markets 50% of his Angus bulls locally and 50% through out California and the PNW.

“I am focused on bringing the best progressive, yet real world genetics at affordable prices to my bull customers,” said Parker. “I have a saying here that I am not only the CEO but HDD (Head Ditch Digger) on this ranch operation.”

Jeff Parker is an innovator and progressive next generation of cattlemen that will provide a lasting positive influence for our beef cattle industry.