Beef Improvement Federation Recognizes Seedstock, Commercial Producers at Annual Meeting

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—Beef Improvement Foundation, American Angus Association

Bradley 3 Ranch, Memphis, Texas, was recently named the 2013 Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Seedstock Producer of the Year June 13 during the 45th annual BIF Research Symposium and Meeting in Oklahoma City. Darnall Ranch, Harrisburg, Neb., selected as the 2013 BIF Commercial Producer of the Year.

"The success of the Angus breed has been built by operations, such as the Bradley 3 Ranch, that are committed to excellence," says Bryce Schumann, American Angus Association CEO. "When the entire beef industry recognizes that effort, we could not be more proud. Congratulations to the Bradley 3 Ranch for a much-deserved honor."

Bradley 3 Ranch was started in 1955 with the purchase of 20 registered Angus cows. Today, the herd is one of the few Angus herds in the country that has maintained more than 200 registered Angus cows for more than 50 years. Located in the southeast part of the Texas Panhandle, much of the ranch is rough with canyons, draws, mesquite and cedar trees. Bradley 3 Ranch is currently home to 400 registered Angus cows, and managed by Mary Lou Bradley-Henderson, Minnie Lou Bradley and James Henderson.

Early on, the Bradleys were committed to a disciplined approach to performance. As one of the first members of the American Beef Cattle Performance Registry, they maintained an emphasis on performance that is still the foundation of the herd today.

In 1986, the Bradleys started B3R Country Meats. In the next 16 years, they built the all-natural meat company to a 125-head-per-day harvest facility that harvested more than 30,000 head in 2002, the year it was sold. Customers were both beef producers and beef consumers. The beef producers were part of one of the earliest value-based marketing systems in the U.S.

To learn more about the Bradley 3 Ranch, visit www.bradley3ranch.com. For more news and information from the 2013 BIF conference, visit www.bifconference.com.


Darnall Ranch, Harrisburg, Neb., selected as the 2013 BIF Commercial Producer of the Year.

"Darnall Ranch is a prime example of a family working together to advance cattle production and beef quality for our industry," says Bryce Schumann, Association chief executive officer. "We congratulate them on their achievement and look forward to the improvements they continue to make in the cattle business."

Darnall Ranch Inc., managed by Gary and Lane Darnall, is a family owned cow-calf operation, feedlot and farm located in the Panhandle of Nebraska, 30 miles southeast of Scottsbluff, Neb. The ranch was originally homesteaded in 1889 by Scott Darnall and incorporated in 1973.

The 124-year-old family ranch now includes some 7th-generation youngsters helping out with 1,700 commercial Angus cows and the Certified Angus Beef ® brand partner feedlot. Today, the cow herd consists of 1,700 commercial Angus females, which produce 300-400 replacement heifers annually. Bulls are developed using expected progeny differences (EPDs), genomics and the GrowSafe system.

The balance of Darnall Ranch offspring are fed out in the 22,500-head Certified Angus Beef LLC-licensed commercial feedlot, where records are collected for conversion, rate of gain, grade and yield, along with a profitability analysis each year.

Darnall Ranch strives to use the land and cattle as an efficient and economical multi-generational agribusiness. Twenty-five thousand acres of grassland, 2,400 acres of irrigated and 4,700 acres of dryland farm ground are used to grow the feedstuffs to help support the cow-calf, yearling and feedlot operations.

For more news and information from the 2013 BIF conference, click here.

 

 

 

 

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