The Crago Cattle

        Our cowherd is made up of Black Angus and Black White Faced cows. I try to keep our cow size between #1250 and #1350. It seems like if they get bigger they can’t winter on grass and cake and keep their condition. I like to keep the easy fleshing bred in along with the good udders. We are trying to breed some more carcass into our cattle but making sure we keep the weaning weight and fleshing ability with it.

        We’re using lot of Sitz, Sinclair and quite a few Blair Brothers Bulls. Some of the Bulls have Alliance, EXT, Traveler 8180, Prime Time, In Focus just to name a few of our favorites.   I have looked at their cows and they are the style I like. I think most cows are getting too big. I think you will see cattlemen going back to a moderate size female in the next few years.

We’re running around 400 cows and 180 yearling heifers. We breed these heifers and sell about 100 head every fall. We breed them to Prime Time and In Focus- two of the most proven heifer bulls.

        Both have balanced # on their EPDS. They calve great, but wean and gain. Their marbling is also excellent.

        Since we sell calves in October and calve mainly in April the weaning weight is very important.  One of the most important things to us is the maternal side. You have to have a cowherd when you are done that fits your environment. If you are breeding Black Angus to Black Angus you have to have a powerful set of bulls also.

        Our heifer calves will sell as good as our steer calves usually. They will go back in a good breeding program for other cattleman.

        We will have bred heifers available this fall along with our heifer and steer calves. The heifers will be ultra sounded for a short calving period.

        We hope you enjoy the ranching and cattle pictures. I think they portray our life on the ranch in South Dakota. You can see why we need good horses to make it all work.