Separate (But Together)
Fri 27 Jan, 2012
November 2, 2011
By: Sara Brown, Farm Journal Livestock and Production Editor
A Montana family comes together to grow farm operations individually
The majestic Rocky Mountains can make any view beautiful, but the white Charolais cattle grazing before Brett DeBruycker are his idea of natural beauty.
"The northern plains of Montana are as close to a cattle-raising mecca as it gets," DeBruycker says. "The mild summers, cool weather, higher altitude and native vegetation combine to create a near-perfect environment for raising premier breeding stock."
DeBruycker should know—he and his family run the largest Charolais operation in the country. Brett’s parents, Lloyd and Jane, started with their first Charolais cattle in 1963, and the operation grew as cattle were added by their children Mark, Jacque and Brett and their brother-in-law Joe Campbell (married to their sister Cathy). Together, they run 2,000 cows. As a family, they market females and more than 850 bulls each year through their annual bull sale and private treaty.
While their success is due to the family operation as a whole, the nuts and bolts of the operation are still mostly divided. The DeBruycker and Campbell families have never incorporated their cattle operation or their farming operations, but Brett, Mark and Lloyd have set up a formal partnership for their feedlot.
The DeBruyckers divided their operation into what the corporate business world calls "profit-centered" accounts, meaning each section of the operation is a stand-alone entity that must prove its muster on the balance sheet.
The familial operational design lends itself to being more flexible if one family decides to grow, change or stop any part of its cattle or farming practices. It also helps reduce stress on family relationships, letting each family chart its own path, DeBruycker says.
Cow–Calf Centered. "In the Charolais portion of the operation, we are a family operation but not a corporation; nor are we a partnership. We each own our own cattle, pay the bills and reap any rewards of those females. However, we have chosen to market the offspring from those cows together. DeBruycker Charolais is really a marketing arm for the family," DeBruycker says.
Behind the success of the family’s bull operation is a structured cow management system. Winter calving takes more labor and hay to keep cows in peak milk production, but it is those calves that make up the bulk of the annual bull sale.
Fall calving has shown financial benefits, however. Some customers wanted a selection of older bulls at the sale. This year, 18-month fall bulls averaged approximately $1,000 more than spring bulls. You can see more sale results by visiting www.DeBruyckerCharolais.com.
From the first year, productivity of the cow is top of mind. Heifers are synchronized and AI’d the first year. "Even with a short breeding window, we can achieve high conception rates—95% or higher," DeBruycker says. "We’ve done a lot to breed fertility into the herd through breed characteristic selections and quality animals. We worry as much about the quality of our females as we do about our bulls."
The cowherd is managed a bit differently. After their first calf, cows are not AI’d until their third calf is on the ground. This gives the cows two years to develop to their full size and maintain their body condition. Bull breeding has also been shown to improve conception rates for younger cows, DeBruycker says.
"I truly believe that we utilize herd bulls that are as good as any bulls in the Charolais breed that others AI to. We’re just not using them to their potential because we are unable to use them all AI," he adds.
Managing production records takes time and attention to detail. Information is entered into a Microsoft Access program that Jacque and brother-in-law Chris Wend designed.
Brett DeBruycker independently owns cows in his family’s Charolais herd, buys cattle to feed in the family’s feedlot and grows winter wheat and hay, but he takes advantage of cooperative marketing and resources with his parents and five siblings.
Read this article direct at Agweb.com