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Merry Christmas

We want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. We hope that you enjoy the time with your friends, family, and cattle. May you all enjoy the days off of work (not off of farming because that never really stops), the functions at church, work, or with family and friends, and all the good food you eat this season. Remember not to get caught up in the hustle of the season, but to make time for the baby. After all, the baby is the reason we celebrate this holiday.

Luke 2:1-20

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Fruits of your Labor

November is the month where the fruits of your labor are finally revealed. All the breeding decisions that you made the previous year, well they are finally eligible for discussion. It’s the time when you discover if your matings are as great in real life as you had imagined in your head and on paper. This is the time in which cattle producers have the opportunity to brag on their good matings and share with other producers. Personally, we love hearing about matings that go right!

And the thing about calving season is that in 40-60 days later you will be in breeding season. And if you are anything like us, breeding season decisions are made almost year round. We look at bulls in catalogs, on our phones, and offspring of certain bulls at other producers farms. We study on these sires phenotype and genotype and see what other farms are using these sires as well. Seeing offspring of the sires help us to determine the potential of the bull and how well we think he would perform on our cattle.

Not going to lie here…. sometimes we sit on the couch, in the bed, or at our big farmhouse table and discuss cattle by taking catalogs, websites, and information we have at hand. Then we make lists upon lists of what sires we like and what sires would work well for us. We pick apart the sires and look for all weaknesses and strengths. We only want the best for our herd and the herds of our customers.

Currently, we have some heifers (Registered angus and commerical) that are for sale. We also have a few bulls left as well (all Registered angus). 

Please email us, call or text us, or come see us on the farm!

We appreciate your support and your business.

Have a great week! 

 

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October News

We love October! It is one of our favorite months of the year. This October the weather has kinda been crazy. Summer came back and then fall actually hit this week. Some folks are still making hay. Makes me wonder what this weather will hold for us- harsh or mild? Who knows! Glad we have some fall/winter grazing started, some hay in the barn, and cattle that do well year round (genetics work y’all).

We have some bulls (two young registered black angus and 1 young simangus) bull for sale. And also, we have commerical and registered open heifers for sale that are about 10-12 months old. If you or someone you know are looking for some good genetics, longevity, and consistency in your herd….then you need to check out our animals. We are super excited to produce these animals on our farm.

Please contact us if you have questions or are interested.

And if you refer someone to us that purchases at least one animal then you will receive a VISA giftcard to use however you like 🙂

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Word from the Farmers…

Wow, it has been a while since we have blogged. So much to catch up on, literally. Lots of exciting things going on at Circle R Cattle Company during the month of September. Let’s take a minute to recap here….

1. Hurricane/ Tropical Storm Irma— Unfornuately, she reared her face here. Four down trees, debris, and 50 hours with no power. Super thankful for a kind neighbor who let us shower at his place and even helped cut down some trees. And another kind neighbor in the opposite direction, they allowed us to store our frozen goods in their freezer. Thank God for good hearted people!

2. Planting Season- Kevin spent a day no tilling rye and ryegrass for winter grazing. Really in desperate need for some rain so our crop doesn’t fail us right out of the gate. This is the second year that we have no tilled on our farm and we really enjoy that extra forage.

3. Spreading lime- As we speak, we have a guy spreading lime on the pastures. Getting the pH of the soil in check is huge key factor in having the best grazing. When the pH is out of line in a pasture it makes for weak grazing area. We like to soil sample our pastures and fields to make sure that we are giving them the TLC they need in order to raise high quality beef cattle genetics in our herd.

4. Selling bulls and heifers- We just sold a bull to a friend in Tennessee but we have a few more registered Black Angus Bulls left and even a Sim-Angus. Also have registered and commerical black angus females 10-13 months old for sale as well.

5. Cow shows- It is cow show season in South Carolina. We had our county show earlier in the month and our Champion Hill Georgina won first in her class. She is a feminine, long bodied, docile female from a strong line of Angus genetics that I love.

 

 

Lucas Latham showing “Gina”— our Champion Hill Georgina Female.

 

 

6. Fun stuff- So it’s been a month of hard work and labor buttttttt we have also made some room for fun. Two hikes, apple orchard, shopping, new restaurants, watching football games with friends, and even a wedding. We do get off the farm every now and then!

We are in gear for another productive week! Lime to be spread, animals to be sold, and another cow show this weekend. God is good!

Let us know how we can help you at Circle R Cattle Company.

                                          And stay tuned for or a SAV Classified baby calf that is due the first week of October (next week) from our donor cow. Pictures will follow 🙂 

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BQA Program

Hello everyone! It has been some time since I have made my last blog post. This week’s post is dedicated to the BQA Program.

 

The BQA Program has helped our farm in numerous ways. Both Kevin and I have our BQA certification and we share a common understanding of herd health, handling techniques, and the overall daily operations on our cattle farm. The BQA Program has worked hard to invest in the cattle industry to not only educate farmers, the general public, and the consumer but they have promoted the industry while doing so. When I hear the letters “BQA”, I think of a strong program that invests time, money, and energy into making the cattle industry the best that it can possibly be. This program has expanded our record keeping skills and increased our general management practices. As a cattle farmer, I try to use my “BQA Brain” as I make decisions on my farm related to management, records, herd health, or breeding. I am proud that when I sell my product whether that be a show heifer, a herd bull, or a side of beef that I can advertise that our farm is BQA Certified. This also allows the opportunity to share with others that are not familiar with BQA and help them understand the techniques that we implement on our farm that other farms may not do. As an agriculture educator, I thrive to educate my students about the BQA Program and the many benefits we have received on our farm from being involved in such an unique program. I have taught my students that is an unique program because not only does it benefit the cattle farmer, the cattle, and the industry but it benefits the consumer as well. In conclusion, BQA can be used as a guideline, expectation, or even a marketing tool depending on how you choose to use the program in your cattle operation. We are thankful for the impact that this program has made on our cattle farm and throughout the industry.

 

BQA No’s:

  • Never vaccinate in other area besides the designated upside down triangle in the neck region of the animal.
  • Never mix all your vaccinations together to reduce injection sites.
  • Never give a vaccination and fail to give the booster (3-4 weeks later or as recommended)
  • Never use a needle on more than 10 animals.
  • Never leave medicine that is supposed to refrigerator out to get warm/hot.
  • Never fail to record what treatments, vaccinations, and etc that were given to each animal.
  • Never bring a new animal into your herd unless it has been isolated from the herd for 21-28 days.

*More information can be found at the following website.

http://beefmagazine.com/beef-quality/why-bqa-important-you

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Merry Christmas from Circle R Cattle Company

Well, its that time a year again. Time for family, friends, trees, sweets, candy canes, presents, pine cones, christmas lights, and of course calving season. Kevin and I are enjoying this time of year. I am enjoying a break from work to be here on the farm and get things done around here.

So far on my break, I have worked in my sheep pasture on the fence lines, cleaned out the shop, and ran a few farm errands like getting lamb show feed and fencing supplies.

We also just got a new heifer on Friday from Bramblett Angus in Hartwell, Georgia. This is a picture of her from this morning trying to see if there was anything left in the bucket. Unfortunately for her there was not.

 

We also have had a rooster living on the farm for the past month, but I have him sold and

he will be leaving here in two days. We will miss ya, Bandit Earle.

 

 

 

 

Sweets, yes, I have been in the mood to cook! I created these lovely cinnamon sugared pecans yesterday for my hubby and his co-workers.

 

 

 

Lastly, the sweet and perfect ornament to add to my tree given to me by a sweet ag science student.

 

Don’t get bogged down in the rush of the season, but instead celebrate the reason for the season. The birth of our Lord Jesus and the miracles he has done in your life and will continue to do for years to come.

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Calving Season Among Us

Greetings from Circle R! The Thanksgiving holidays are upon us which means for us that calving season is among us. So far we have two baby calves. The first one was born about a week ago before he was moved to our farm, Clem, a black bull Angus calf. But the FIRST calf on Circle R was born yesterday. The  heifer calf, Bluebelle, is found in the picture below.

We have four other mama cows that are pregnant that should be calving in the next two weeks. Some of the cows are springing up, swelling in their vulvas, and forming a full udder.

The heifers are excited about taking it easy on the farm and taking a break from the stock show life.


Happy Thanksgiving to  your family from ours! Remember to be thankful for the wonderful ranch and farm life that God has blessed us with. Not everyone is as blessed as we are!

 

Ephesians 5:20

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

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October’s Showers of Blessings

Over the course of the past few weeks we have had many showers of blessings. Okay, so I cannot forget about all the actual showers we have had too.

In the month of October, we had some exciting times at cow shows. Our heifers have matured and filled out more. Addy, my favorite, a Momentum heifer, won reserve grand champion at the Union County fair. She and the showman, Dustin Collier are pictured below.

 

At the Upchurch Angus sale, we averaged $4,050 on bulls, $4,700 on bred cows, and $3,200 on open heifers. Great results for Circle R/Mondanock Ranch/Upchurch Angus. We took our nephew, Ben to the sale in Alabama with us.

SC State Fair went well also, we hadthree angus heifers in the show. Addy and Missy were in the top half of their class.

 

Lastly, we had a beautiful baby niece born to my sister-in-law, Christine and her husband Brian. The baby girl is named Anna Claire (AC).

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Not just your average cattle sale

This weekend we will be attending a cattle sale in Lineville, AL at Upchurch Angus Farm. Jason and BriAnna Upchurch are one of our cattle partners along with my father-in-law, Marc Renwick. We will be exhibiting and showing cattle at a local county show this Friday night. Then we hope to get a few hours of sleep before heading to Alabama.

We have five bulls and five females in the sale in conjunction with the Upchurch’s. The feature bull is listed as Lot 1. He is Upchurch Everlasting 253 MR and a bull that is owned by the Renwick’s as well as the Upchurch’s. I like this bull for numerous reasons. First of all, he has a low birth weight (-0.7) and high calving ease direct (+9) which makes he great for virgin heifers as well as adult cattle. He is also a great bull to add pounds to your herd with a WW EPD of +67 and YW EPD of +103. We will be selling 2016 spring possession and 1/3 semen interest. He has already produced high quality semen and we already have some of his calves on the ground.

The females are sired by Resource, Priority, Volume, Nationwide, and Grass Master. The yearling Resource heifer is as fancy as you’ll find in the Southeast. Two sisters to our herd sire Upchurch Volume 422 MR SCC are also featured that would make great additions to any herd.  If you’re looking for practical, predictable genetics, without sacrificing performance, you have found the place!

If you have any questions feel free to call or email us with questions!

“For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. Pslam 50:10

http://upchurchangus.com/pdf/Upchurch_Catalog2015_web.pdf

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Bright Industry–even on a cloudy day

The rain has been coming down for 4 days now. Totaling approximately 4 inches or so on the farm. This is good for the grass in our pastures. However, it has been too wet to do much of anything. We spent the weekend at a cow show, Anderson County Show. We visited with friends and family there.

As things have been slow on the farm due to the weather, it makes me think about all the things that we still have yet to do. We are waiting on results for 7 soil samples. After we get those results we will begin treating the soil. We know lime will be needed, but other than that it is a guessing game until we see the soil analysis results.

Fall has officially arrived, the leaves are changing colors, the presence of the wind is strong, and the air is chillier than it has been in a long while. Fall is my favorite season for some many reasons. Pumpkins, pumpkin spice, mums, pansies, leaves changing colors, football (clemson and OK State , of course), cattle shows, state fair, and  I could keep on going. I’m thankful for the opportunity to enjoy such a wonderful time of the year. But it will be gone before we know it. The preacher said this morning “13 Sunday’s until Christmas”. The next 13 weeks will be busy on the farm. We have a wide array of tasks to complete and we are excited to see what kind of progress we can make.

 

People in our area are just now starting to harvest their corn crops and get another crop in the ground. Cattle are being sold–just at a lower market price. Gas/fuel prices are decreasing and feed prices are doing their typical thing. The agriculture industry is still bright, even on this cloudy day.

I will end with this verse, “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops” from 2 Timothy 2:6. Remember that through the rain, shine, bad days, good days, droughts, low market prices, and even high market prices to give all the glory and honor to God above that provides you with the opportunity to do something you love.

 

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