Dear Friends and N

to be held Sunday January, 26th 2014 We are proud to ha . ve been marketing bu lls privately for m to have a live auct any years, but our ion. We welcome program has grow you to join us sale Our program is ba n to a level that it day at the ranch no sed on combining s time for us rth of Alton, KS. su pe rior genetics, prog tomers with reputa ressive managemen ble breeding stock t, , an an d industry partnersh d their customers a This has been the quality beef produc ips to provide our standard, and the w cust. ay of life since our Carswell partnered family got its start on a registered cow ra isi ng he re rd. By 1940, the ra gistered Herefords Daryl, and Gayle. nch had grown to in 1928 when Jay Harold and his wife include Carswells , Pat, branched off of Alton, which to four sons; Harold, and began their ow day still serves as Bill, n operation in 1950 the headquarters fo . They bought land r Carswell-Nichols no H rthwest er ef or ds . We believe in keep ing the process sim pl e.. .it all starts with th Productive cows ar e cowherd! Our co e the REAL warra wherd has long be nty behind the bulls Hereford females en our programs str we sell. We work to that remain produc ength. br tiv eed highly materna e in our unreliable K structural soundnes l, efficient, problem ansas environmen s ensures that ther -free t. Ri e is gi a d culling for udder While our cowherd solid, problem-free quality, fertility, an still maintains the cow behind all the d tim ca ttl e tested Carswell bl porate additional fe e we market. oodlines, in the pa male genetics from st 10 to p years we have inve are used heavily on herds across the no sted heavily to inco rthern U.S. In addi the ranch which al rtion to natural serv lows us to utilize th trait driven. We fo ice, AI and embryo e best genetics in th cus instead on wel tra e ns co l ro fer un un try ded sires that inco fleshing, and phen . Our sire selection rporate balanced EP otypically sound, ye is far from single D t s m w ai In an effort to supp hose sons grow ef ntain those core m ficiently, are easy aternal qualities. ly our customers w ith the most accura have genomic-enh te performance da anced EPDs (GE-EP ta, a large portion Ds). We feel that select bulls that w of the bulls in this this tool allows yo ill fit your program year s sale will u as a commercial . G Epotential. EPDs will provide cattleman more op the most accurate portunity to and complete pictur e of the animals ge netic Please contact us if you would like a sa le bo and how our seedsto ok mailed to you. At anytime, we wou ck can help you m eet and exceed your ld be glad to visit we are confident ou with you about yo goals. 2013 repres r genetics can be an ur needs ents our 85th year asset to you and yo in the Hereford bu ur herd. sin es s, and Brock and Carolyn Jim and Carol

We are excited to an

eighbors,

nounce our Inaugu

ARSWELL-NIC HOL HEREFORDS

ral Production Sale

Alton, KS

Brock Nichols (785) 346-6036 . Jim Nic

355 S. 230th Ave . Alton, KS 67623 hols (785) 476-5842 . brocknichols@ yaho

o.com . www.carswell-nicholsheref

ords.com

Breeding Hereford bulls to Angus cows results in the perfect female, and the steers hold their own, too. by Sara Gugelmeyer, American Hereford Association
Hereford is the new breed of choice for many commercial cattlemen. For ranchers in the Northern Plains, Hereford bulls are providing the magic cross on their Angus cows. Take Gary and Sharon Romey, Hot Springs, S.D., for example. Gary is a lifelong cattleman and grew up, like most from his generation, with commercial Hereford cattle in the pasture. He says, We had Hereford cattle until the mid-80s, then we started crossbreeding. Baldies (HerefordAngus F1 females) were in big demand, so we put an Angus bull on our Hereford cows. We got a set of baldie cows that ended up being phenomenal. Back to Hereford But after using Angus bulls for nearly two decades, Romey was losing the Hereford influence in his herd. We used (only) Angus bulls forever, and those good baldie cows were 12, 13, 14 years old and still having calves, he says. When the baldie cows started disappearing, Romey knew it was time to find some Hereford bulls . . . . By using Hereford and Angus bulls, Romey plans to keep his ranch stocked with Hereford-Angus cross cows because he thinks its the best cow. She gets some more hybrid vigor and if shes bred right shes going to have more fleshing ability to her, Romey says. Ive seen a little more kick out of these calves if they come out of a baldie female. Thats exactly why fellow South Dakota rancher Fred Walker sought Hereford bulls to put on some of his 400 Angus cows. My dad used to breed Herefords, Walker says. Everybody was telling me what a good cross that is. So we bought a couple Hereford bulls and put them with our 3-yearolds to raise some black baldie heifers. Walker says hes wanting some Herefordsired females to retain in the herd. The Hereford bulls seem to pass on a good disposition which makes the baldie cows easy to be around and to handle. This gets to be more important every year as we get older. Also, there is the hybrid vigor factor. To make these baldies, Walker found a couple of dark red Hereford bulls with a lot of pigment from which resulted in 100% black whiteface calves, no reds. Steer success Unfortunately for Walker, the first calf crop was all bull calves. His second crop of calves is due to start hitting the ground any day now, but he was not disappointed in the way the Hereford-sired steers performed. The reason I (bred to Hereford bulls) was to get some black baldie heifer calves, but I am hoping the baldie steers continue to weigh as much or more than the Angus calves. They gained good and I was pleased with them. He sells his calves through Crawford Livestock Market, Crawford, Neb. Jack and Laurel Hunter own and manage that auction barn, which is also where Romey does his selling. Jack Hunter says theyve been seeing more and more cattlemen switch to or add Hereford bulls to their bull batteries. In the last few years weve seen quite a few guys that have switched to Hereford bulls to get some more hybrid vigor, Hunter says. And theyve had success. Theyll sell just as good as the straight black-hided ones on the steers. Sometimes the heifers will bring more, Hunter says. A good price has certainly been the case for Walker and Romey. Walker says his Hereford-sired steers sold right with his straight Angus calves. Romey markets his calves when they weigh 600 to 700 lb. We usually sell about three potloads of steers every year, he says. And the baldie calves are right up at the top every year and a lot of the progeny that come out of those baldie cows are better. Several repeat buyers bid on his calves every year, and all were receptive to the Hereford-sired calves and liked them, Romey says. At the present time were marketing the (Hereford-sired and Angus-sired) steers together but were probably not too far from marketing them separately, he says. Baldies in demand Hereford-sired steers sell just as well as straight Angus calves, but the baldie female is the offspring where the magic of the cross really shines through. Romey keeps many of his Hereford-sired heifers every year to improve his own herd, but those he decides to part with are certainly in high demand. We see more demand for the baldie heifers every year, he says. I can see where theres a market coming and theres going to be a price increase for the F1 baldies if theyre the right kind. By carefully choosing his seedstock, Romey has created quite a reputation for producing quality cattle. As such, all of his heifers are either retained or sold for replacements. The key is to buy the best Hereford and Angus genetics possible. (For more on that, see The right kind.) Topp says careful selection of seedstock has helped Romeys success, One can witness the fruits of that selection by the demand for his calves. They are very simply as good a set of baldies as one can find. Good genetics are what lead to top prices for the cattle. With good prices paid for steers and better prices paid for heifers, cattlemen have no excuse not to put some Hereford in their programs and realize the benefits of crossbreeding. Hunter says at his auction, If theyre good cattle, feeders wont shy away from them. A whiteface steer might not bring any more than a solid black steer but on the heifer end theyll bring more to make a cow. Demand continues to rise for HerefordAngus cross females as more and more cattlemen are realizing the importance of the magic cross of the baldie cow. Both Romey and Walker plan to continue using Hereford and Angus bulls to keep their cow herds as profitable as possible. Reprinted with permission from American Hereford Association.

The Magic Cross

CED BW WW YW MILK REA MARB. +0.3 +3.9 +74 +121 +23 +1.13 +0.05 With only a 82# birth weight, Spirit weaned off at 789#. He is below average BW & in the top 1% of the breed for weaning weight, yearling weight, ribeye and CHB. Contact us for semen.

CHURCHILL SPIRIT 185Y 43184047

CED BW WW YW MILK REA MARB. +0.1 +3.7 +46 +91 +15 -0.35 +0.37 A moderate birth weight bull with a powerful set of maternal traits. His daughters and granddaughters are making outstanding cows. Contact us for semen.

NICHOLS TORNADO 42960185

by Jack Ward, Director of Breed Improvement, AHA

Over the course of the past few years, the American Hereford Association (AHA) has worked closely with the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium (NBCEC) and other scientific entities to develop and implement genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs) for Hereford cattle. The approach that the AHA has taken is to utilize the genomic information in its National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) to produce an EPD with much higher accuracy. This helps commercial cattlemen purchase the bulls that will provide the genetic change and reduce risk in their herds. Since commercial cattlemen have a good understanding of EPDs and how to use them for selection, the AHA Board and staff thought it was important to use the genomic component along with the pedigree and phenotypic information already used in NCE. Also, every trait produced through NCE will have a genomic component that will add accuracy. Obviously, these accuracy changes will be different for each trait and will depend on the correlation. For instance, for birth weight (BW), when a non-parent Hereford animal has a GE-EPD generated, the amount of effective progeny added to its pedigree would be approximately seven. This would change that animals accuracy for BW from about .12 to about .35 before any progeny are born. Below is a table that shows the change in accuracy and the number of effective progeny that would be added to a non-parent Hereford animal that has been tested. In order to search for animals with a GEEPD, the AHA has utilized a visual logo to identify animals that have GE-EPDs. In addition, you can find these animals on the AHA website, Hereford.org. Go to the EPD search section as a guest user and use the select if portion of the search to find only bulls that have been tested. You can then set your EPD parameters to find the bulls that fit your needs within the group that has been genomically enhanced. The visual logo to identify animals that have GE-EPDs Key Points to Remember: The AHA has always utilized the high-density panel that will provide the best training, validation and pre- diction. The panel is specific in Hereford and has little to no value in other breeds. Be sure to understand that when comparing animals that have GE- EPDs to animals that are not tested, the EPD will be enhanced and the ac curacy stronger, so your confidence in the EPD can increase and your risk decreased. Effective Progeny 33 7 7 6 6 14 7 3 4 5 3

Hereford GE-EPDs

1. 2. 3.

Trait CE BW WW YW MM MCE MCW SC Fat REA MARB

EPD Acc (BIF) .12 .12 .12 .12 .12 .12 .12 .12 .12 .12 .12

Enhanced Acc (BIF) .32 .32 .22 .27 .17 .22 .28 .19 .21 .21 .19

Carswell-Nichols Herefords 355 S. 230th Ave Alton, KS 67623

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE Manhattan, KS PERMIT NO. 580

PAID

ARSWELL-NICHOL HEREFORDS Alton, KS First Annual Production Sale Sunday, January 26, 2014 . At the Ranch
Out of the heart of the replacement heifers including our National Western Stock Show pen!

27 Two-Year-Olds 5 18-Month-Olds 10 Yearlings

42 Bulls

5 Registered Yearling Open Heifers

80 Commercial Yearling Open Heifers

40 Hereford & 40 Black Baldie

355 S. 230th Ave . Alton, KS 67623 Brock Nichols (785) 346-6036 . Jim Nichols (785) 476-5842 brocknichols@yahoo.com . www.carswell-nicholsherefords.com