November/December - Pharo Cattle Company

PHARO CATTLE COMPANY
CHEYENNE WELLS, COLORADO
Nov./ Dec. 2002
NEWSLETTER
PHONE 1-800-311-0995
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Buy your bulls from someone who raises cattle the way you ought to.
Nature’s Way — It’s Still The Best Way
Shutting calves up in muddy or dusty
corrals and hauling harvested or processed feeds
to them is not natural.
Calves remain much
happier and healthier if they are left in familiar
surroundings with familiar feeds. We have used
a concept called across-the-fence weaning for the
past eight years. It is easy on the calves, easy on
the cows and easy on us.
For thousands of years, cattle lived in sync
with nature and their environment. Those that
didn’t, simply did not survive. Undomesticated
animals are still forced to live by nature’s rules.
For the past one hundred years, man has
been artificially changing the cow’s environment
and making it possible for her to survive
independent of nature. Apparently, we like the
feeling of being in total control. Only recently
have some concluded that going against nature
requires a lot of money and hard work. It can
quickly take the profit and fun out of ranching.
Developing replacement heifers nature’s
way is superior to throwing them into a highinput, artificial environment. We treat our heifer
calves like the cows we hope they will become.
They need to be out foraging for themselves with
minimum supplements. If our heifers can’t do
this, they will never make efficient and profitable
momma cows.
Calving in sync with nature is, no doubt,
the quickest way to put more profit and fun into
ranching.
How do you determine the proper
calving season? When do the wild ungulates
(hoofed mammals) have their babies? With very
few exceptions, the wild ungulates in North
America have their babies from the middle of
May to the middle of June.
We retain a high percentage of our heifer
calves, rough them through the winter, and expose
them to a bull for a short period of time. This
allows only our most efficient and early maturing
heifers to advance into the cowherd. Once they
are bred the heifers are put with the cows where
they receive no special care. They calve out on
native range the easy and natural way.
Like the wild animals, a cow’s nutritional
requirements are the greatest from calving to
breeding. Calving in sync with nature simply
aligns the cow’s greatest nutritional requirements
with nature’s very best forage resources. It also
minimizes sickness and weather related death
losses.
Survival of the fittest is a law of nature
that should not be ignored by cattlemen. It is
the only proven way to improve the genetic
makeup of a cowherd. Modern technology has
made it possible for our inefficient and unadapted
cows to stay in production. If a cow can’t make
it on her own, the experts tell us to purchase more
chemicals and more feed. Consequently, most
ranches have very few cows that can survive
strictly on what the ranch produces.
I know many ranchers who are saving
thousands of dollars after making this simple
change.
Not only are they increasing their
profits, they are decreasing their workload.
I
don’t know of any who would like to go back to
winter calving. In fact, most say they would quit
ranching if that was their only option.
When should calves be weaned? Calves
should be weaned when the available forage
resources can no longer support the nutritional
requirements of a lactating cow. In some years
calves should be weaned at 60 to 90 days, while in
other years they can be left on the cow for most
of the year. Some who calve in June are able to
leave calves with their mothers until April.
Nature will select against extremes in
nearly all traits.
Too much growth, milk or
anything else is not sustainable in the real
world. Unfortunately, most seedstock producers
are still in a race to maximize everything.
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Nature’s way is still the best way. Going
against nature takes most of the profit and
enjoyment out of ranching, so why fight it?
The Hunting Trip
Although we spent the week riding horses
and living in a tent, we were not totally void of
modern technology. Each of us had a little hand
held GPS (global position system) unit. These
units are no bigger than a TV remote control, but
they are able to connect with dozens of orbiting
satellites. They can pin point exactly where you
are and where you have been.
You can use
them to mark where camp is or where you made
a kill, so you can find your way back.
I enjoyed playing with my GPS unit, but I
don’t think it is an absolute necessity. Tyson and
John said they were sure glad they had theirs one
day when they took off hiking over a really steep,
heavily timbered mountain ridge. They couldn’t
see where they were going or where they had
come from, so they used their GPS units to guide
them back to where they had started.
I place GPS units in the same category
as four-wheel drive pickups. They allow us to
get into situations that we would have avoided
before we had one. For years, ranchers got along
just fine with two-wheel drive pickups because
they knew and understood their limitations. Now
that most of us have four-wheel drive pickups,
we think it would be impossible to get along
without one.
Well, by now you are probably wondering
if we shot an elk. Nope, we struck out. In fact,
we didn’t even see an elk until the last hour of the
last day, but we had a great time anyway. We
are already making plans for next year.
~ Kit
I promised those in our e-group that I
would tell a little about our hunting trip in this
newsletter, so here goes.
My son, Tyson, and I went on our third
annual elk hunt two days after our fall bull sale.
Not only did we leave Deanna with many sale
duties to attend to, she also had to take care of all
the other chores for over a week.
Very few
ranch wives are able or willing to take on this
much responsibility and work. Going on these
hunting trips is about the only thing Tyson and
I get to do together that does not involve cows,
bulls and ranch work.
Tyson’s friend, John
Engelbrecht, went with us. We also took horses
this year to save some walking.
It’s good to be able to get closer to God’s
magnificent creation and away from the hustle
and bustle of everyday life.
The Colorado
mountains are always breathtaking.
I enjoy
sleeping on the ground in a tent. I enjoy eating
camp grub and drinking cowboy coffee from a
tin cup. I enjoy saddling up before daylight and
riding through country I’ve never seen before. I
miss the simple life.
Although Tyson and John and I always
started out together, we would often separate to
follow different game trails with a plan to meet up
a little later. It seems that I always stayed on my
trail a little longer than anyone else and they were
always waiting on me. John threatened to put a
shock collar on me that would give me a little
shock whenever I started to get out of range. I’m
not sure I like that idea.
“The only difference between men and
boys is the cost of their toys.”
LOW COST COW/CALF PROGRAM
qÜÉ=pÅÜççä=
The Three Keys
Changing BCS
Time of Calving
Precise Nutrition
Dick Diven 800.575.0864
www.lowcostcowcalf.com
Tyson’s nice 5 x 5 bull elk from our 2001
hunting trip — proudly displayed in our home.
Agri-Concepts, Inc.
12850 N. Bandanna Way
Tucson, AZ 85737-8906
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Bull Sale Results…
Despite the widespread drought, our 2nd
Annual Fall Bull Sale was a huge success. We
had buyers here from 15 different states. Bulls
were sent to states as far away as Idaho in the
northwest and Florida in the southeast.
Everyone loved our “cowboy auction”
format. It is a very simple, low-pressure way to
purchase bulls. As usual, over 25% of the bulls
were purchased through our sight-unseen (SUS)
purchasing program — many by repeat buyers.
The overall average price on 70 bulls was
$2,460, with a range of $900 to $4,200. Except
for the six held-over bulls, these were all foragetested bulls.
PCC Colorado Hobo
Sons of this great Red Angus bull
averaged $3,750 in our fall bull sale. Colorado
Hobo has been redefining industry standards for
thickness, fleshing ability and capacity. On top
of that, he is a calving ease bull.
18 Red Angus Bulls …….. $2,835
22 Black Angus Bulls ……. 2,840
More Colorado Hobo sons will sell next
spring. Come check them out. Semen is also
available at $15. Call 1-800-311-0995.
16 Composite Bulls …….… 2,420
8 Hereford Bulls …….……. 1,760
6 Held-Over Bulls …...…… 1,135
Customer Comment
70 Total Bulls …... $2,460
We will be selling 70 more of these older,
forage-tested bulls in the spring along with our
yearling bulls.
If you have never attended one of our
bull sales, we encourage you to make plans to do
so. Come check us out. Take a look at our
cattle. Visit with our customers. Whether you
need a bull or not, it will be time well spent.
“The bulls arrived safely
Saturday morning.
They were in
good shape and hit the ground
eating. We are very pleased. It is
1833 miles from your ranch to ours.”
Varley & Linda Grantham — Florida
Customer Comment
“Kit, I really enjoyed
your cowboy auction. The
bull we purchased started
grazing the minute we got
home at 3:30 am, and I
don’t think he has looked
up since.”
Allen Powell — Missouri
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BAR 6
Are You Missing Out ?
If you’re not receiving our PCC Updates
via email, you are missing out on a lot. Those
in our e-group receive several PCC Updates full
of information and thought-provoking comments
and commentaries. This has proven to be a very
cost effective way to communicate and share ideas
and information.
We have also used these updates to help
ranchers sell or purchase cattle. I’m guessing
we helped ranchers relocate well over 50,000
drouthed-out cows this past summer.
Getting some of you to send us your email
address has been like pulling teeth. All you need
to do is send an email to kit@pharocattle.com
with your name /city/ state. It’s that easy. Don’t
worry, we will not share your email address with
others, and we will continue to mail you a hard
copy of our newsletter.
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Feed & Grain Dispenser
BAR SIX MFG. INC.
Protection, KS
1-800-549-4456
Cowboy Pride
For over one hundred years, the word
cowboy has described someone who is rugged,
honest and independent. Even in the twenty-first
century the cowboy or cattleman is admired and
respected by nearly everyone. In some cases he
is even envied. Like most of you, I am very
proud to be called a cowboy or a cattleman.
As cattlemen, we live and work in the
great outdoors. We don’t have to punch a time
clock in some concrete jungle. We have very
few people to answer to. We are responsible for
our own destiny. Yes, we are a very proud and
independent lot. That’s good, isn’t it?
It is good, but it can also be bad. As
men, we sometimes allow our pride and our
rugged independence to prevent us from having
meaningful relationships with other people and
more importantly with God, our creator. We like
to think we are totally self-sufficient — a selfmade man, if you will. We don’t need God or
anyone else.
It is very difficult for us to trust or rely
on God or anyone else. To do so would imply
that we are not in complete and total control of
everything around us. That simply does not fit
the image we are trying to live up to. It’s nearly
impossible for some of us to own up to and admit
our shortcomings. Humility has never been one
of our strong points.
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I’m ashamed to admit that I have had to
learn most things the hard way. It took many
years for me to realize the importance of having
a relationship with God. Having a relationship
with God actually makes being a cowboy much
easier and more enjoyable, and I don’t think
others view me as being weak or less of a man
because I believe and trust in God.
I can’t begin to describe all the benefits
of having a relationship with God. The more I
trust and rely on God, the more he blesses me. I
always have someone to turn to for guidance and
reassurance. I don’t have to fret and worry about
things any more. God is my father, my partner
and my friend. The greatest benefit, however, to
having a relationship with God is knowing where
I will spend eternity.
In Matthew 18:3 – 4, Jesus says, “Unless
you change and become like little children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Men, this is of utmost importance. God
has called us to be the spiritual leaders of our
households. This is a very serious responsibility
that cannot be delegated to others. Please do not
be afraid to drop your guard and get to know
God. Don’t let your pride get in the way.
~ Kit
Chip’s Challenge to PCC…
Dispersal Sales
One failing of many innovative business
startups is a slackening of sales and growth after
the initial concept begins to be copied by others
and becomes mainstream. It appears that a few
seedstock producers are finally starting to copy
PCC philosophies and concepts. That’s great,
but the only way for PCC to effectively deal with
this is to continue to improve their product, using
new and/or controversial thought. There can be
no status quo or complacency.
While most seedstock producers are still
occupied with overfeeding their cattle to increase
performance and cover up genetic faults, PCC
needs to find ways to genetically improve the
survivability, adaptability and profitability of
their cattle. Genetic selection will always need
to be taken one step farther, if PCC wants to
maintain its competitive advantage.
PCC is in the genetic business.
They
need to solve as many problems as they can
through genetics. If they continue to do this,
their customers will have more time to work on
management problems.
— Chip Hines —
I have been surprised to see so many
recent advertisements for seedstock herd
dispersal sales. I don’t know what to make of it.
I’m sure times are tough for some seedstock
producers. I wonder, though, how many of these
sales are legitimate.
In the past I’ve read of some total herd
dispersal sales, but later discovered the seller was
conducting business as usual a year later. In
those cases, every cow was offered for sale, but
the owner had someone bidding them up and
actually purchasing the cows that weren’t
bringing enough money. Instead of a total herd
dispersal sale, he really had a herd reduction
sale. There is absolutely nothing wrong with
that, but wouldn’t it be better if they had been
honest upfront?
check out our website
www.PharoCattle.com
Drought Adapted Cows
Earlier this fall, I went to see some of our
Composite cows on a ranch near Las Animas,
Colorado.
Even in a good year this is very
tough country. Unfortunately, eastern Colorado
has not seen a good year for sometime. In all my
life, I don't think I have seen pasture conditions
as bleak as I saw on this ranch.
Even though this country had recently
received a little rain, there was virtually nothing
to graze. I noticed that most of the native grass
was dead and I mean DEAD! Clayton Beaman,
the ranch’s owner, told me the only good thing
about all this is the prairie dogs are starving out
and leaving.
From a distance I could see that most of
the cows looked thin and stressed. However,
upon closer inspection, I noticed that many of the
first-calf heifers and younger cows didn't really
look that bad.
Although they had just come
through the toughest year imaginable, they
appeared to have enough body condition to breed
back. What was going on? How could these
young cows look so good?
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As I was pondering the mystery of this
situation, I started noticing some of the calves
these young cows were raising.
They were
healthy, but they were very small. In fact, they
would be called “dinks” by most cattlemen.
As I was driving back home, I realized
that this is exactly the way nature deals with
drought. Nature tells the young fertile cow that
survival of the species is up to her. She needs to
find a way to stay alive and breed back, even if it
means her calf will have to suffer.
I'm still learning, but I think I would much
rather have a cow that is able to survive and
rebreed under extreme adverse conditions than a
cow that puts so much energy into her calf that
she is unable to rebreed or survive a tough winter
on her own. What do you think?
In contrast, most ranches have been
selecting for more and more performance, growth,
size and milk.
They have created a herd of
cows that needs to be supplemented, even in the
good years, to stay in production. Their cows are
not adapted to anything except a feed truck.
The History of Our Newsletter
In 1994 Pharo Cattle Company began
mailing out a simple, one-page newsletter to a
few customers and friends.
Our first few
newsletters were a huge hit, so we decided to
mail one out every other month.
We used this newsletter to share some of
our ranching and cattle philosophies, thinking it
would probably be easier to sell a bull to someone who understood why we do the things we
do. Looking back, we can attribute much of our
success to the popularity of this newsletter.
You will notice, though, that we talk
about more than just cows and bulls in our
newsletters.
There are other aspects of our
lives that are much more important than cows
and bulls.
You will also notice that the editor of
our newsletter, Kit Pharo, tends to be quite
opinionated. He says, "I may not always be right,
but I'm never in doubt." That's true. It is our
desire to challenge some of your traditional ways
of thinking, without being offensive. If we have
ever offended you, we apologize.
That was
never our intention.
We now have over 11,500 people on
our mailing list. This part of our business has
quickly outgrown the seedstock portion of our
business.
Every time we mail out a set of
newsletters, it cost well over $5,000. We know
that probably sounds ridiculous, but we feel it’s
important to remain committed to sending out a
newsletter every other month.
We have a few very dedicated sponsors
who have stepped in to help defray some of the
costs associated with publishing and mailing out
our newsletters. Without them we just couldn’t
We have also had several newsletter
do it.
subscribers mail us a voluntary subscription fee
to help offset our costs.
We appreciate their
generosity.
Customer Comment
A Reputation Built on Pride and Quality
We have
Maybe you can help too.
reason to believe that at least half of our newsletter subscribers have an email address. If we
could talk them into sending us their email
address and if they would be willing to receive our
newsletter via email, our cost of printing and
mailing newsletters would be cut in half. That
would save us over $15,000 per year. WOW!
“I did not touch a first-calf
heifer that was bred to your bulls last
year.”
Mark Bowman — Nebraska
WIVES…
...We Still Need Your Help
We realize some of you women are
married to men who are totally and completely
computer illiterate. That doesn’t mean they are
bad fellows. It just means that they need your
help. Keep in mind they may be reluctant to
ask for your help (it’s a guy thing).
Once again, we are asking you to please
send us your email address. When we receive
it we will send you our PCC Updates. Please
print these updates out and hand them to your
husband to read after supper. Thank-you.
Kit and Deanna Pharo’s new home and office
You can design your own custom-built home.
1-888-927-3272 (toll free)
www.wardcraft.com
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PHARO CATTLE CO.
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT NO. 9
Cheyenne Wells, CO
44017 County Road Z
CHEYENNE WELLS, CO. 80810
PHONE
E-MAIL
1-800-311-0995
kit@pharocattle.com
deanna@pharocattle.com
WEBSITE www.pharocattle.com
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Cowboy Logic: “There are more horses’ patoots than horses.”
TWO Spring Bull Sales
South Dakota and within easy driving distance to
much of North Dakota and Montana. A good
friend, Travis Krein, owns a great set of facilities,
including a sale barn, just outside of town.
At this time the Harrison, Nebraska sale
has been scheduled for Saturday, March 29th,
while the Burlington, Colorado sale has been
scheduled for Saturday, April 12th. To save on
expenses, we plan to list bulls for both sales in
the same sale catalog. Each sale group will be
cataloged separately. I’m sure there will be a
few customers using our sight-unseen (SUS)
purchasing program at both sales.
We hope we’ve given you enough time to
make plans to attend one or both of our spring bull
sales. We invite you to come check us out even if
you don’t need a bull. If you have any questions
about our program or our spring bull sales, don’t
hesitate to call us at 1-800-311-0995 or send an
email to kit@pharocattle.com. We are in the
business of helping you, and we take it very
seriously.
~ Kit & Deanna Pharo
That’s right, we are planning to have two
bull sales this next spring.
The management
team for Pharo Cattle Company has always
thought it would be good to eventually have bull
sales in more than one location. Instead of trying
to sell more and more bulls at one location in
eastern Colorado, we thought it would be better
to open up markets in new locations — closer to
some of our customers.
The severity of the
current drought has acted as a catalyst to speed
up our decision to sell bulls in more than one
location.
We believe this decision should be
advantageous for everyone involved.
In recent years a high percentage of our
bulls have been sold into Nebraska and Wyoming,
as well as western North and South Dakota and
eastern Montana. Therefore, we decided our first
new location needed to be in that area. We think
we have found the perfect place for our second
sale location — Harrison, Nebraska.
Harrison is a small town located in the
northwest corner of Nebraska — right in the heart
of cow country. It is very close to Wyoming and
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