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connection by United Ag
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Fall/Winter 2023
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BINDING SIDE
Who knew you could
own

BINDING SIDE
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BAY CITY
979.245.4828
EDNA
361.782.3539
EL CAMPO
979.543.3327
VICTORIA
NMLS493828 361.582.9500

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2 NMLS493828 361.582.9500
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VICTORIA
979.543.3327
EL CAMPO
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CONTENT
CHRISTMAS
SALE
6 CALENDAR

7 FROM THE MANAGER

8 COTTON UPDATE

BINDING SIDE
9 GIN UPDATE

Join us for in store specials!

10 HARVEST UPDATE

12 BEHIND THE SCENES

13 INTERNATIONAL FEEDING TRIALS

16 HERD BULL SELECTION

November 28 | 10 AM - 8 PM 20 PREPARING THE HERD BULL BATTERY

FOR THE SEASON

Shop Hop 22 UNITED AG CATTLE FIELD DAY

23 HUNGRY & NAKED

November 29 - December 2

BINDING SIDE
24 RECIPES

28 CHRISTMAS AT UNITED AG SALE

Christmas Sale
909 S W HARTON ST.
EL CAMPO, T X 77437 MONDAY - FRIDAY 10 AM - 5:30 PM
979-543-2005 SAT URDAY 9 AM - 3 PM
Main Office El Campo Eagle Lake Danevang Edna
911 S. Wharton St. 907 S. Wharton St. 201 E Hwy 3013 11338 S. Hwy 71 1116 S. Wells St.
El Campo, TX 77437 El Campo, TX 77437 Eagle Lake, TX 77434 Danevang, TX 77432 Edna, TX 77957
979-543-6284 979-543-7756 979-234-2191 979-543-6723 361-782-5051

Connection is publication of United Agricultural Cooperative, Inc. United Ag is a cooperative serving the agricultural
4 communities of the Gulf Coast of Texas. 5

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FROM THE MANAGER

Dear members
& patrons
A
s we predicted in our summer edition of our
Connection Magazine, cotton acres were cut
drastically and our volume of cotton dropped

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from 118,105 bales to 84,450 bales this year.
I am proud to say our gin ran very well aver-
aging 70.22 bales per hour or 1,504.84 bales per day
and that includes hours for clean up and breakdowns.
Our average turnout this year was 40.28% with the av-
erage bale weight of 489 lbs. and average seed per bale
was 623 lbs. Average seed cotton to make a bale was
1,214 lbs., therefore average ginning was $55.84 per
bale which included bagging and ties, freight to cotton
warehouse, national cotton council dues, and module
hauling. Hurricane coverage insurance was $2.74/bale
for round modules, and Intelligin charges were $2.50 per
bale. Total charge to gin a bale of cotton was $61.08 $4.33 per bushel. Most producers have freight to the elevator at
per bale less an average seed credit of $63.75. This 25 cents or more, leaving a net price of $4.07 per bushels. With
amounts to an average producer credit of about $2.67 interest rates at say 8.25% and storage at 4 cents per month, the net
cost to carry those bushels are about 7 cents/bushel/month.
per bale. We are very proud of our gin and know it runs
very efficient. We thank our loyal cotton producers who
For next year’s crop December corn futures are $5.16 per
elect to let us gin their cotton. bushel with a big crop predicted and strong interest rates. We ask
producers to be very vigilant of their production costs and come by
As we talked about in our last edition, we handled a record to discuss plans for next year’s crops. With even more acres of grain

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grain crop of 8,566,779 bushels of corn and 1,126,799 bushels of
milo for a total handled of 9,693,578 bushels. We did this through
roughly 6,200,000 bushels of space. By putting corn in our
cottonseed warehouse and cotton warehouse we added space for
around another 500, 000 bushels. So, as you can see, we had to ship
about 3,103,000 bushels to make room for all our producers’ grain
crops. Unfortunately, trucks were in great demand so we had to
stop our producers from harvesting for a couple of days to make
room. I apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate everyone’s
understanding. With the way prices look for next year, we could see
even more acres going to grain and yielding less cotton acres again.
The USDA’s projection for grain crops has a carryout of corn this
year of 2.1 billion bushels. We expect grain prices to remain lower
in this area unless export numbers really improve. With all the corn
stored in local elevators as well as in bags in the field, basis levels
could also be pressed. Our team is always ready to help you sell
your crops or take protection on grain and cotton. With interest
rates as high as they are holding on to crops gets very expensive.
December corn is trading at $4.91 with a basis of -18 and handling
at 40 cents per bushel. Net price to the producer on corn today is
planted, storage could be a problem.
Our farm supply stores continue to show increases in sales and
we thank you for your continued support in all areas. We finished
the year on April 30 with total sales of $27,904,998 which was a
$4,270,148 increase over the previous year. Congratulations to our
hard-working farm supply team for a record year.
Our corn bagging operation is going great with a good volume
as we spread locally produced corn in a significant area of Texas.
We are very proud that our feed program had around 5,500 head
of cattle on feed as producers have seen the advantage of weaning
their calf crop and feeding them out to add $200 per head.
All of this could not be possible without our loyal customers and
we appreciate your support through these tough times and wish
each and everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas,
and Happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Jimmy Roppolo

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COTTON UPDATE
T
By Cameron Roehl
his harvest season proved to be a quick one, with lower
than average yields due to the hot and dry summer
that we all experienced. Drought and the continued
high temperatures seemingly also contributed to
some quality issues that we normally do not see. We
saw a lot of strength and uniformity issues consistently throughout
the season, along with light spot to spotted cotton.
The USDA report released on October 12th stated that the U.S.
cotton supply and demand showed lower production, exports, and
ending stocks compared to the previous months. Production was
lowered by 315,000 bales, exports down 100,000 bales, and ending
stocks were reduced 200,000 bales. The average forecasted price for
cotton is unchanged from September.
There continues to be a 90-cent resistance level and the market
has been lingering and very stagnate between the 84 to 89-cent
price range for the past several weeks. This has all come into play
2023 Gin Year Cotton Variety Recap
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GIN UPDATE
Short but efficient ginning season
By Clay Whitley
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by the concerns of global demand and export reports. I know we
all feel the frustration of the prices. There is a big cut in production
and the demand factor is still our biggest hurdle. We do seem to
O
have strong support to keep prices on hold at 82-cents, however
further weakness could push prices below the 82-cent range. With
the world events that are happening today, it has added to the ur gin season kicked off on August 13th and
market uncertainty. finished up on October 7th. During that time,
we ginned a total of 84,450 bales. Your gin hit
“World Cotton Day” was recognized globally on October new records including 120 modules ginned in
7th, this day of celebration only just begun in 2019, after cotton a 24-hr period, shift record of 966 bales, day
producing counties in sub-Saharan Africa; Benin, Burkina record of 1,852 bales, and weekly record of 12,184 bales ginned.
Faso, Chad and Mali, proposed the event to the World Trade By mid-September, we were done hauling the majority of modules
Organization. Topics that were discussed this year included brand and bales in to the yard. This was accomplished by dry weather
and retailer partnerships, sustainability, women in cotton, and and utilizing both the Danevang and Hillje module yards for
benefits obtained from cotton production. storage. This worked very well keeping the bales organized and
continually feeding the gin while allowing farmers to haul in cotton
As always, we are here to help and answer any questions that you as quickly as possible.
BINDING SIDE
might have. This year’s cotton crop was dry and clean making it easy to gin.
However, producer’s saw two quality categories that were lower
than usual due to the drought. These included fiber strength and
light spot to spotted color. Fiber strength between 25.0 – 25.9 is
a negative 515 points, however 26.0 doesn’t have a penalty. Most
cotton that saw this deduction was between 25.8 and 25.9 in
strength. There was no penalty for light spot, however spotted was
a 600-point deduction. Several farmers experienced this anomaly.
We saw more foreign and lower quality wrap used this year. Both
of these contributed to a record number of bales with plastic
contamination, 101 bales to be exact.
We will continue to sell bulk cottonseed out of Danevang and
super sacks out of the store locations. The dual-purpose use of
the cottonseed house served us well this year as we stored roughly
215,000 bushels of corn and 7,500 tons of cottonseed. This flexibility
allowed us to turnover the square footage of the seed house and go
from corn to cottonseed in 40 days.
Thank you again for trusting us to gin your cotton quickly and
efficiently. We are looking forward to the 2024 season.
10/31/2023 3:47:46 AM
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The market hasn’t given us much to talk about since
the first part of August has traded mostly sideways. Corn
harvest across the nation at this time (10/18) is nearly
halfway complete with more than half rated good to
excellent despite the drought conditions the majority of it
faced in June and early July.
Our last WASDE report decreased supply 160 million
bushels and demand by 50 million bushels, net decreasing
Our local corn basis did make a comeback from harvest
lows, but is currently spinning its wheels not getting too
much traction to have any forward momentum. Acres and
yield were up across much of Texas, so it’s taking time for
processors to chew through harvest purchases. Time will tell
if the added export market demand ate up enough supply to
eventually pressure basis higher or if the lack of commercial
ownership will push it there. We need to keep the 2022 basis
history in mind, as at some point we push demand to other

HARVEST
ending stocks by 110 million bushels, but not enough to markets via rail.
create concern with our days of use on hand still at 53.7
days. Noteworthy to mention that even with the decrease in Please feel free to reach out to discuss marketing stored
production on this report, this crop is still the 3rd largest bushels as well as the upcoming 2024 crop.
corn crop the US has grown. It’s likely that we won’t see a

UPDATE
bounce in the futures until the market starts to buy acres.

BINDING SIDE
Record breaking grain harvest
By Lindsey Bowers

F
rom the first load received June 25th to the last load
received September 1st was 68 days and 9,693,578
bushels. However, those dates and numbers don’t begin
to tell the story of Harvest 2023.
United Ag handled 8,566,779 bushels of corn and 1,126,799
bushels of milo. I make mention of this because it’s strategically
more difficult to move corn at harvest as compared to milo. Milo
makes up less than 12% of United Ag’s total handle. The real
story was told between July 9th and July 22nd when we handled
6,211,775 bushels.
Our area was blessed with time, seeing as the weather was
remarkably perfect for harvesting, but freight power was
incredibly short. Harvest was somewhat delayed Corpus South and
somewhat early Corpus North which put trucks in high demand
when they were already in short supply. Neither of these factors
allowed any efficiencies to be created in order for grain elevators
to make enough sufficient space to keep harvest rolling at a
beneficial pace. Time and freight power eventually crossed paths
enough that harvest tailed off mid-August with the exception of
some later planted crops.

July 9th was the first date that between all facilities United Ag
handled combined over 300,000 bushels, followed by 5 days over
500,000/day, 4 days over 400,000/day, 3 more over 300,000/day,
and 1 day over 200,000/day. In those 14 days, United Ag handled
64% of the total handle, which ironically was also roughly the same
as licensed space.
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Harvest logistics are still very much being discussed as the
planning for the next crop year starts long before we finish the
current. We continue to expect grain acres to be strong and freight
to be short. We are evaluating all options and means to create
efficiencies in order to avoid restricting inbound loads in the
coming grain harvests.
700,000

During this time frame, the Port of Houston opened to receiving 600,000
United Ag 2023 Grain Handle
Main Bank Motor Bank Wharton Location Edna Location
corn on July 18th only to shut back down temporarily July 22nd. 202 E.Jackson Street 205 E.Calhoun Street 101 E. MilamSt. 609 N.Wells
500,000
While we had corn sold to multiple destinations, the Port of P.O. Box 470 P.O. Box 470 Wharton, Texas 77488 Edna, Texas 77437
Houston being open was a critical part of keeping outbound corn
El Campo,Texas 77437 El Campo, Texas 77437 (979) 532-1650 (361) 894-0300
400,000

fluid in order to continue receiving inbound corn. July 22nd was

also the day that we had to make the call to stop receiving corn
300,000
(979) 543-3349 (979) 543-3349 (361) 894-0306
until we made more space by shipping outbound. 200,000

100,000
This decision was done quite literally kicking and screaming. At
this point, we had put roughly 500,000 bushels in the cottonseed/ -
6/25/23 7/2/23 7/9/23 7/16/23 7/23/23 7/30/23 8/6/23 8/13/23 8/20/23 8/27/23
cotton bale warehouses and had nowhere else to go except to make
headway shipping on our harvest sales contracts, which took time
and freight power. Corn Bushels Milo Bushels www.NewFirst.com
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Behind the Scenes INTERNATIONAL

FEEDING TRIALS
By Cole Klimitchek

his year’s grain harvest was definitely a record setter in
terms of total bushels handled for United Ag. Our grain
elevators were operating to their full potential this year
as grain started coming in.
During last winter and early this spring, the new A-Side elevator
leg cluster and pit at Hillje were replaced and completed around
the middle of June. The new pit could dump a field load in five
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in Danevang. That’s when we started dumping corn into the cotton
seed house at Danevang and two of the cotton warehouses in El
Campo. Then on the 22nd of July we made the tough decision to
close the gates at all elevators because we were beyond full. The
Danevang elevator filled first that day and we moved all the trucks
to Hillje that were sampled. Then we started getting tight on space
at Hillje as well. Up and down, up and down ladders, and across
the catwalks looking into each tank to see where we could fit some

UA grain sorghum journey to

minutes, which is significantly faster than the previous one. more corn. We would dump one hopper in the pit and then wait as
it emptied out into the tank. Then if we could fit more, we would.
The first load of milo kicked off the 2023 grain season on the 25th Then after the last truck crossed the road to be sampled at Hillje
of June at our Hillje elevator. Corn started being shelled during we shut and locked the gates. Some were sent to the elevator in El

Segovia, Spain for feed trials

the last days of June and the earlier parts of July which is pretty
uncommon for our part of Texas. The first loads of corn came in at
a slightly higher moisture rate and had to be dried down in order to
maintain quality for long term storage. We would stay sometimes
till midnight/one o’clock in the morning to dry corn in order to
make room for the next day. However, when the temperatures
Campo because slowly the bagging plant would make room and
we were able to get all the trucks unloaded that day. We even put
corn straight from the pit into both dryers in order to get trucks
dumped; between the two they would hold 8 trucks. That does not
sound like much now, but it did that day.
By Joe Kelley

U
started rising, the corn dried down faster and we didn’t have to dry Once we started shipping more and more corn we decided
as much. Then it just let loose and everyone started shelling. to start at 2pm each day and receive grain until full. We finally
received our last load of inbound corn on the 19th of August at the .S. Sorghum Checkoff along with the U.S. Grains United Ag shipped grain sorghum to Norway earlier this year

The milo came off in a timely manner and we moved about 90
loads of it out per day to continue to make room. Every day we
would ship milo and then put more right back in its place. This
went on until the second or so week of July then we quickly swept
all the milo from the tanks and started dumping corn into them.
Harvest inbound loads of grain began to increase more and
more each day, with the elevator’s biggest day on July 14th when
we handled 573,094 bushels of grain amongst all four elevator
locations. It took 10 days to fill the 1.2 million bushel flat storage
BINDING SIDE
El Campo elevator.
It was a long season that lasted almost eight full weeks. Thank
you to all those who helped, from the elevator crew, ladies in the
office/dispatch, extra help from the Gin crew, the store for opening
up after hours to get odds and ends, our technology specialist, and
especially the truck drivers. All were needed in order to handle this
big crop efficiently.
Council have selected United Ag to facilitate
international grain sorghum shipments for grain
sorghum feed trials. This can be considered a feather in
United Ag’s cap to be selected to provide origination and logistical
services for these feed trials.
The latest shipment of grain sorghum shipped, actually originated
from Richardson Seed in Vega, Texas bound for Segovia, Spain.
The 16 metric tonnes of grain sorghum that was shipped will be
for Spain’s swine industry – which is a major feat within itself
considering that Spain is home to the most incredible ham ever
cured – the Iberian Ham or as it is more properly known: Jamon
de Iberico Bellota sells for the equivalent of $143 per pound. These
of course come from pure bred Iberian pigs. The uniqueness of the
jamon is not only from its lineage, but from its diet of acorns which
give the jamon its unique taste. Additionally, at any one time the
Spanish Iberian packing house might have over $100 million worth
at jamon being cured in its coolers at any one time. For the feed
trials in question, it is unlikely that the Iberian pigs will be used in
the feed trial, instead most likely pigs destined for the mass market
in Spain and to its export partners.
from the 2022 crop for poultry trials in Southern Norway. They
will now be receiving waxy red sorghum (again, from Richardson
Seed in Vega, TX) for feed trials in Norway’s salmon fisheries
located North of the Artic Circle in one of Norway’s many deep-
water fjords. Approximately 40 metric tonnes of waxy red grain
sorghum is destined for a specialized feed mill in the “axe handle”
of Norway’s Northern region. Obviously, aquaculture companies
are extremely particular with regards to participating in feed trials,
due to extremely sensitive constitution of the fish species (Salmon)
a number of regulations from the European Union, Norway, and
company specific guides create a long check list of items that need
to be accounted for and documented.
It appears that in 2024, we will see a number of feed trials for
grain sorghum taking place in Central and South America, across
a wide variety of animal species.

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HERD BULL SELECTION
By Michael Grahmann
B
ull buying season is in full swing as ranchers search
out herd sires to improve their bull batteries heading
into the spring breeding season. For these next 60
days, plenty of bulls will be marketed to cow herds
across the country. These bulls genetic impact will
not be felt until spring 2025; however, with the current state of
the cow herd and supply of calves, bulls purchased this fall will
significantly impact the bottom line of operations as we navigate
through a strong part of the cattle cycle. With this factor in mind,
the selection of genetics in this year’s bull purchases are critical to
continuing to strengthen the financial position. Bulls are one of
the single most important parts of a producer’s program because
of the genetic impact on the calf crop. Bulls make up 50% of the
genetic profile of each calf, and one bull can cover up to 25 cows.
Herd bull quality can have a dramatic effect on the economic
performance of your herd.
There is no doubt that year-round nutrition can have a profound
positive effect on herd and calf performance. Bull quality also has
a dramatic impact on the growth, development, and performance
of the calf crop. Black bulls, white bulls, red bulls, or multi
colored bulls can all provide different levels of heterosis when
mated to the right female.
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With most ranchers in the Gulf Coast having a cow herd that is
greater than 25% Brahman, their herds enjoy taking advantage of
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the added growth and muscle in the progeny by using an Exotic
breed bull (i.e., Charolais, Simmental, Maine Anjou, Limousin).
Let’s take the Charolais x F1 Tiger stripe cross for example. The
calves will be ½ Charolais, ¼ Hereford, and ¼ Brahman. Historically
and in the foreseeable future, this mating will continue to press the
scales and grab the attention of order buyers across the country.
If the operation is breeding with a purely terminal goal in mind,
then pure Exotic bulls are a definite option to consider. If the goal
of the operation is to keep replacements and/or market high quality
replacement females in this area, then other breeds of bulls may
need to be considered. Typically, the English breeds (Hereford,
Angus, and Red Angus) are identified with siring calves that are
more maternal in nature and more efficient in terms of cow size for
the Gulf Coast area when compared to their mates out of Exotic
breed bulls. This cross could potentially sacrifice performance to
the Exotic x F1 mating; however, typically, the females out of these
crosses are more marketable as replacements. In recent times,
there has been a push to utilize Exotic x English cross bulls (i.e.
SimAngus, LimFlex, Maine-Angus) on cattle especially in the
Midwest to try to capitalize on the benefits that both the Exotic &
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English breed bulls bring to the table. Using these crossbred herd
bulls in the South has not been as popular, but we are seeing more
of these composite type bulls used in Southern herds. The Exotic/
English cross bulls definitely provide multipurpose genetics to be
considered when selecting a breed to mate the herd too.
Regardless of what breed or breeds you pick for herd bulls, there
is one tool that cattlemen should use in the selection of herd bulls,
Expected Progeny Differences (EPD). EPD’s are the cowman’s way of
looking into the historical records of a bull’s lineage and estimating
the genetic performance that the bull will provide to progeny when
compared to another bull. These EPD numbers must be used with
either breed averages or in comparison with the EPD’s of another
bull of the same breed in order to discern an evaluation on the
performance advantage the bull provides genetically. However,
EPD’s cannot currently be utilized to compare bulls across breeds.
For example, a Charolais EPD cannot be compared with an
Angus or vice versa.
With that in mind, let’s look at a comparison of EPD’s between
two bulls of the same breed, and discern what information these
numbers provide the rancher.
Bull 1: Bull 2:
BW: +2.5 BW: +0.5
WW: +55 WW: +35
YW: +70 YW: +60
REA: 3.0 REA: 2.0
Birth weight (BW) EPD’s are an estimation positively or
negatively the difference in pounds at birth between Bull 1 and Bull
2’s calves. The BW EPD is critical in an evaluation as it serves as one
of our best measurements to insure unassisted births at calving.
The number becomes of even more importance when considering
breeding of virgin heifers to a bull.
Weaning Weight (WW) EPD’s are an estimation of the difference
in calf weights at weaning time (205 days of age) between two herd
sires. This performance number helps in selecting bulls that will
provide heavier weaning calves for marketing at weaning or after a
short preconditioning period.
Yearling Weight (YW) EPD’s are a measure of growth until
365 days of age. This EPD is most known for evaluating the post
weaning growth of a bull’s progeny, and becomes emphasized
if the operational goals are to feed cattle until harvest. Cattle
that can provide higher levels of post weaning gain typically
are higher performers in stocker, feed yard, and longer
term development programs.
The Ribeye Area (REA) EPD is expressed in square inches.
This EPD is the only genetic evaluation tool that is available that
provides an estimation between sires of which calves will possess
more muscle. This EPD provides the rancher information that will
be directly related to muscling in progeny and potentially, red meat
yield in the carcass.
Let’s study the example of the two bulls’ EPD’s listed above and
summarize the information that these numbers provide when
comparing these bulls. Using the numbers, the conclusion can be
drawn that Bull 1 will sire calves that are 2 lbs. heavier at birth,
20 lbs. heavier at weaning, and 10 lbs. heavier at a year of age. In
addition, Bull 1 is estimated to produce progeny possessing one
inch larger ribeyes when compared to Bull 2. If you are selecting
bulls for a terminal breeding program, Bull 1 would be the bull that
provides more genetic value to the operation.
EPD’s are not limited to the traits listed above. Most breed
associations are now providing EPD’s for milking ability, calving
ease, and marbling. Depending on the operational goals, these
EPD’s can be a big part of the evaluation of the genetic strength
of a potential herd sire. In addition, many new EPD’s are being
introduced as genetic and performance testing continues to
improve across breeds.
EPD’s can open the door to a world of potential for today’s
cattlemen. EPD’s cannot predict exact performance, but EPD’S
provide valuable information to assist in selecting the right bulls
for the operation. Always remember, EPD’s are not equal across
each breed, and the results will vary depending on the cow herd
and hybrid vigor! However, EPD’s are a very valuable tool to utilize
in bull selection with the performance goals of the herd in mind. If
assistance is needed in evaluating EPD’s, please do not hesitate to
call a United Ag Beef Specialist.
To answer the original question: “What bull should you breed to
your F1 tiger stripe?” My answer is simple: Whatever bull or bulls
meet your herd’s needs. Exotic, English, and American breed cattle
all offer advantages, but the bull for your operation is the one that
best fits the production and marketing goals!
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 J Bar angus
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~Since 1991~

“Leading supplier of Angus genetics in South Texas”

23 Annual Bull and

RD

Select Female Sale

BINDING SIDE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023 – 10:00 AM
CAROLETA RANCH – WEIMAR, TEXAS Friday, December 1, 2023 . 1:00 pm
SELLING 100 BRANGUS & ULTRABLACK BULLS
PLUS 400 COMMERCIAL BRANGUS & BRAFORD FEMALES
Hallettsville, Texas
KA ECH
ELE RAN
195+ Top-Notch Cattle Sell!
CH
EST. 1899 70 Coming Two-Year Old Bulls
45 Yearling Bulls ~ 80 Females
WALLIS, TEXAS
Spring Breds ~ Open Angus Heifers ~ Pairs
Commercial Brangus Heifers (Pens of 3 or 6)

BINDING SIDE
Call for a salebook!
Mark Janak, Mgr. Karen Janak, Mgr. Jordan Janak, Herdsman
361-798-6558 361-798-6898 361-772-6897
www.JBarAngus.com
“Like us on facebook”

FEATURING ACE BULLS AND KAECHELE RANCH FEMALES Formerly the Lone Star Angus Alliance Sale
Raised South Texas Tough
After 23 years, the Lone Star Angus Alliance
is being dissolved this year. J Bar Angus has
been hosting the annual LSAA sale since 2005,
Sale Directors: and plans to continue the tradition of an annual
REQUEST A CATALOG: Joe W. Fuller Bunge Halla bull and female sale at their ranch in Hallettsville.
texasdrovers.com 979-255-7747 979-758-4535 Videos will be available in November at JBarAngus.com
18 joe@texasdrovers.com bunge67@icloud.com Free delivery within 150 miles with a $10,000 purchase. 19

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PREPARING THE HERD BULL
BATTERY FOR THE SEASON!
By Michael Grahmann
W
ith weaning time winding down and calving
season just around the corner, herd bull
conditioning for the breeding season should
be addressed on your ranching operations.
Even though the herd bull is responsible
for 50% of the calf crop annually, herd bull conditioning is often
overlooked by operators. However, condition of the herd bull
battery has as much to do with a successful breeding season as the
body condition score of your cow herd at calving.
The process of herd bull reconditioning is something that should
begin four to five months prior to breeding season. By starting this
process early, ranchers have the opportunity to fully evaluate their
herd bull needs for the next breeding season long before the run
of late fall and winter bull sales. Emergency bull purchases due to
a bull not passing a breeding soundness exam, lameness, or not
being in condition to breed seem to never work out quite as well as
carefully planned bull purchases that target the traits the operation
needs in next year’s calf crop! Proper bull conditioning along with
a Breeding Soundness Exam 30 days prior to breeding season help
insure maximum reproductive success in the herd.
As with the cow herd, body condition score of herd bulls is
extremely important! Bulls entering the breeding season need to
United Ag Beef Cattle Consultants
Bunge Halla Michelle Frankum
(979) 758-4535 (979) 240-5194
bungeh@unitedag.net michellef@unitedag.net
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of nutrition for the cattle, thus when the bulls are turned out, the On Purina’s Intake Modifying programs, bulls will visit tisiv lli
micro flora in the rumen is not suitable for digestion of forages the feeders 6 to 8 times per day to consume their nutritional lanoitirt
causing the cattle to ‘melt’. requirements for the day. This behavior results in bulls consuming gnimus
much smaller amounts of feed per visit, thus these smaller rellams
A proven program that uses a combination of forages and meals allow for a more constant rumen pH and a more efficient tneicffie
concentrates is the Accuration Cattle Limiter program, which utilization of the nutrients. Due to the inclusion of cottonseed hulls slluh de
utilizes Purina’s Intake Modifying Technology. Depending on the as the roughage component, Accuration Forage Extenders allow wolla sr
average daily gain goal, in the Accuration Cattle Limiter program, for the proliferation of forage digesting microorganisms in the eht ni s
concentrates are only consumed at a rate of 0.5% to 1.5% of body rumen, so when the bulls get turned out for breeding, the rumen nemur e
weight. With this limited consumption of Accuration Cattle microorganisms do not have to repopulate thus the bulls are able to ot elba e
Limiters, forages are still an integral part of the nutrition resulting maintain their condition.
in a rumen micro flora that is prepared for the total forage diet
that the animal will be offered during breeding season. Finally, The Bottom Line…..Condition of the herd bull battery yrettab
economically, the Purina Accuration Cattle Limiter program offers prior to breeding season is of the utmost importance to insure erusni o
producers the opportunity to utilize the ranch’s cheapest source of optimal reproductive performance of the bulls and the cow herd. .dreh w
nutrition, the forage! Evaluation of herd bull body condition needs to occur at minimum mumini
60 days prior to turn-out. United Ag & Purina offer two functional lanoitcn
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If forage is in limited supply on your operation, there are other reconditioning programs for herd bulls that can be catered to your ruoy ot
options other than traditional bunk feeding of rations. The Purina ranch’s individual needs. Please contact one of our Beef Experts to ot strep
Accuration Forage Extenders are a complete feed that contain assist you in designing the proper reconditioning program for your ruoy rof
Purina’s Intake Modifying Technology. These products are a mixture herd bull battery!
of concentrates (grains & proteins), cottonseed hulls, and Purina’s
Intake Modifiers. Much like a conventional feeding program, these
rations are the sole source of nutrition for the herd bull battery.
However, unlike conventional feeding systems, the bulls do not
melt when turned out to breed the cow herd. The modified eating
behavior of the bulls is what allows this to be accomplished.
be in a body condition score of 6.0 to 6.5. Ideally, the desirable 6.0
body condition score should be reached 60 days prior to turn-out
to insure optimal sperm production. Remember, sperm production
in the beef sire is a 64 day process, thus, the need for proper body
condition at least 60 days prior to turn-out.
The first step in conditioning bulls is to first evaluate the current
body condition of the bulls. The current body condition will help
BINDING SIDE
determine how much weight the herd sire needs to gain prior to
turn-out. For most Continental and Brahman influenced cattle,
one body condition score equals an estimated 150 lbs. For English
breeds, one body condition score equals an estimated 100 to
125 lbs. For example, if Brahman influenced herd bulls are in a
body condition score 5.0 and the desired BCS prior to turn-out
is 6.5, then the necessary gain to reach this target is an estimated
225 lbs. This information will help determine how aggressive of a
conditioning program the ranch needs to achieve the desired goal.
Many reconditioning programs exist to achieve the necessary
gain in herd bulls; however, improperly conditioned herd bulls
tend to ‘melt’ once breeding season begins. Most conventional full
feed conditioning programs tend to produce bulls that melt quickly
during breeding season. On conventional full feed programs, cattle
are typically placed in confinement where forages are not a source
Michael Grahmann Dillon Frankum
(361) 772-0188 (979) 533-0352
michaelg@unitedag.net dillonf@unitedag.net
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Hungry & Naked
Where you would be without Agriculture
A
By Michelle Frankum
griculture is not only the backbone of our
community, but of our nation. Wharton County
is ranked #2 in the state for total cash receipts in
BINDING SIDE
agricultural production. Agriculture in Wharton
County is extremely diverse including corn, grain
sorghum, cotton, rice, wheat, soybeans, cattle, eggs, aquaculture,
nursery, and turf. Have you ever sat back and really processed that
information? Wharton County is such a special agricultural hub
located between two large cities.
The skyline looks rather differently in Wharton County than it
did a few months ago. Wharton County now has 24,350 solar acres
and 12,000 wind acres. This total of 36,350 renewable acres equals
approximately 16.5% total planted crop acres. The key reason
why Wharton County is so attractive to renewable projects is its
proximity to the power grid and cities.
“Hungry and naked, where you would be without agriculture.”
The phrase I heard in FFA that has always stuck in mind. Mostly
BINDING SIDE
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because of how bold it is, but also because it is simply the truth.
Fertile farm ground staying in production agriculture is important
to the food supply and safety. In addition, farm ground is vital to
our local economy and sustaining the 8,130 jobs in agriculture in
Wharton County.
For years, agriculturists have kept their head down, worked hard,
and tried to not draw attention to themselves. They are modest in
nature and do not know how to tell their story without sounding
boastful. The downfall is we are living in a time where the majority
of people do not have a clue as to where their food comes from.
They don’t know the hardships that are faced in planting, growing,
harvest, weather conditions, interest rates, high input costs,
growing competition for land whether it be renewable energy,
urban sprawl, etc. Agriculturists have to do a better job of telling
their story and letting the people know that without agriculture,
you would be hungry and naked.
TEXAS GROWN JASMINE RICE
from our farm to your table
Grown and Freshly
Milled in Texas
hgricemill.com
Sold at United Ag
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holiday cranberry
jalapeño dip
submitted by Cameron Roehl Add sugar, lemon juice and salt on top of cranberry
ingredients mixture and stir gently until blended.
12 oz fresh, uncooked cranberries
1/4 cup green onion Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.
1 - 2 fresh jalapeño peppers
2 Tbsp. cilantro (optional) Take cranberry mixture out of the refrigerator and stir all
3/4 to 1 cup sugar (according to taste) ingredients together. Strain out all liquid using a collander
with small holes.

BINDING SIDE
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. salt
16 oz. cream cheese (whipped) Whip softened cream cheese with hand mixer until smooth
(about 2 minutes) and spread cream cheese over bottom
instructions of a pie plate or 9x9 dish.
Use hand food chopper to chop cranberries. It is best
to not use a food processor to chop these as the Pour cranberry mixture atop cream cheese and keep in
cranberries liquify too much. Chop green onion, jalapeño refrigerator until ready to serve.
peppers and cilantro.

Bring more
Use a spoon to spread over Ritz crakcers and enjoy!!
In a medium-sized bowl, add chopped cranberries,
green onion, cilantro & jalapeños.

pumpkin roll transparency

to your
BINDING SIDE
submitted by Alicia Riha comes out clean.

business
ingredients
3/4 cup (1/2 can) pumpkin pie filling Roll up with parchment paper and refrigerate about 30
1 cup sugar minutes.
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour Remove from refrigator and unroll.
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda Mix the following ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar Purina® RangeLand® Protein Tubs allow
instructions 1 8 oz. cream cheese softened you to see product levels from a distance,
Combine all above ingredients. 1 tsp. vanilla saving you a trip to the tub. With time as
valuable as yours, every little bit helps.
Use cookie sheet with a 1 inch rim. Spread the filling mixture over the roll.

Line with parchment paper and spray with cooking Roll up pulling the paper loose as you go.
spray.
Refrigerate overnight. Cut and serve.
Pour batter in the pan and smooth out.
Find out more at purinamills.com/rangeland
Bake at 375º for 15 - 20 minutes or until toothpick

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15% off
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• Falcon & Waterloo Rods

• Bait Casting Reels
$60 off
Montezuma
• Browning & Stealth Cam 15”x13”x10” Steel Shopbox
Game Cameras $89.99 Reg $149.99
• Bug - A - Salt Guns

November 30 - December 3 30% off

15% off $100 off $5 off
Costa & Maui Jim

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Sunglasses

Big Country Toys Pelican 70Qt Cooler

$249.99 Reg $349.99
Accuration Hi-Fat Tub 200lb.
15% off Case Knives

10% off $3 off

Smarty

$500 off 15% off

Bites & Bones Dog Food 50lb.

Rhino Kodiak
38 Long Gun Safe 60 Min
$899.99 Reg $1,399.99
25% off $1 off Drip EZ

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Brumate
• Stocker/Grower 14N
• Impact Horse Feeds
• Strategy Horse Feeds
• AntlerMax Deer Feeds
• AntlerMax Deer Block
Blackstone
1883 Grill
$269.99 Reg $329.99
20% off
• Crescent Tool Sets
$50 DELIVERY FEE WITHIN 30 MILE RADIUS OF EL CAMPO • Fishing Tackle & Accessories
• Sanalite Cutting Boards
El Campo Eagle Lake Danevang Edna
907 S. Wharton St. 201 FM 3013E 11338 S. Hwy 71 1116 S. Wells St. • Outdoor Edge Knives
El Campo, TX 77437 Eagle Lake, TX 77434 Danevang, TX 77432 Edna, TX 77957
28 979-543-7756 979-234-2191 979-543-6723 361-782-5051 29

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10% off 5% off

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Gift Card Savings!

$50 GIFT CARD FOR $45 • Ropes • Lodge Cast Iron

$100 GIFT CARD FOR $90

• Saddle Pads • Bayou Classic Fryers

15% off 30% off 50% off

• Milwaukee Tools
• Guns
*Limit to one per customer. Gift card not valid until 12/4/2023.

50% off
• Shoes & Boots • Shirts • T-Shirts
• Jewelry
• Belts & Wallets

20% off 40% off 75% off

Studio M Art Poles,

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Flags & Planters

CIAL PRICES ON
$50 off
SP E CTS
YETI PRODU • GameGuard • Outerwear • Clearance Clothing & Shoes
Gerber • Felt Hats *Discount applied to original retail price
3 Piece Paraframe
Combo Pack
TurtleBox Speakers
$19.99 Reg $24.99
Save on
Jeans!
BUY 2 PAIRS OF JEANS, GET 1 FREE
Save on Jeans!
*Excluding 13MWZ, 13MWZPW, 31MWZPW, 936PWD

Taurus G2C 9MM Milwaukee M18

Fuel Blower Kit
$199.99* Reg $269.99 Pelican V100 Case $206.99 Reg $336.99
*Price after $30 mail-in rebate
$39.99 Reg $49.99
Swivel Action Shooting Bench Pelican V200 Case Federal
$149.99 Reg $183.99 $59.99 Reg $79.99 JHP 50 Grain

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20% off
5.56 X 45 MM
20 Rounds
Bog Death Grip Tripod $9.99 Reg $12.99
SS111619

Great
Stocking
$145.99 Reg $159.99 Traeger Grills
$100 off
Milwaukee
Gerber
2 Piece Multi-Tool/
Paraframe Combo Kit
Browning
Command Ops 14MP
Game Camera
$89.99 Reg $109.99
$32.99 Reg $39.99
Stuffer
M18 1/2” Impact & Grease Gun Kit

$90 off
$505.99 Reg $605.99
Dot’s Homestyle
Pretzels
$0.75 off 4 oz Pelican V800
Double Rifle Case
$0.75 off 5 oz $159.99 Reg $249.99
$1.00 off 10.5 oz
$1.50 off 16 oz *Gun sale only valid at El Campo location. Prices valid while supplies last. All sale items limited to
30 quantity on hand and may not be present at each location. Multiple sale offers cannot be combined. 31

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