Producers looking to enhance their herds this spring can buy with confidence from Hawkeye Ranching Company at this year’s Annual Bull Sale on March 27th—North of Tompkins.
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Leif Brost owns and operates Hawkeye Ranching Company Ltd. together with his wife Melissa. He says that over the years, bull sales have evolved to introduce virtual bidding on the DLMS website, though there is still an in-person aspect to it as well.
“When video sales were first starting, I wasn't sure how it was going to go because people like seeing the animals in the ring, but I found that video sales are a lot more low-key because the bulls stay in their pens through the wholesale, penned right beside the barn so people can go out and look at them halfway through the sale if they want.”
Brost grew up in Alberta, where his father ran a registered seed stock operation, had commercial cattle, and owned some grain land as well. And Melissa was raised on a commercial farm and feedlot, too. So when they moved to Tompkins in 2014, they naturally began running purebred cows, alongside a commercial cow operation.
“My family's been raising purebred cattle since the late 1960s, so it's something I grew up in. Now as our kids grow up, they help on the farm. Our daughter is working on her practicum in Swift Current but she comes home on the weekends and helps. Our family does all the pictures and videos. We do everything as a family, together at home.”
Hawkeye Ranching Company is a large operation, and Brost says low-maintenance cattle are a necessity – and that’s what makes their Red and Black Angus bulls stand out from other programs.
“Some outfits kind of chase the EPDs, feeding the bulls as fat as they can, chasing a big payday come sale day. But our bulls are fed with longevity in mind.”
He says their power bulls still have a lot of calving ease bred into them. And when selecting heifer bulls for herd sires, they use proven heifer bulls’ genetics.
“We concentrate a lot on the female side of the sire because we feel that that comes into play a lot in the calving ease,” he explains.
As their herds gradually increase, Brost says they focus on providing larger sire groups.
“We do AI a little bit, but we also use pretty good walking bulls. Our walking herd sires are pretty strong bulls, they breed very consistently. We try to concentrate on bulls that are out of good producing females that add consistency into their calf crops as well.”
At Hawkeye Ranch, Brost says they watch the industry carefully, to ensure they keep current.
“We still use the proven bloodlines, but periodically introduce new genetics to offer our customers different bloodlines as well.”
Another focus for the ranch is on structural soundness in their cattle.
“When we're selecting bulls and replacement females in a herd, our priority is their foot structure, as well as their leg structure. We don't choose bulls that are too straight-leg. They might be appealing at first sight but we find that the straight-leg cattle tend to blow the back legs out and when they're in breeding they don't last as long as bulls that have the correct set in their back legs.”
Brost says they also don’t feed their bulls to their max.
“We could probably have another 150 pounds on our bulls for sale day, but that doesn’t benefit the customer in the long run. They take them home and they just shed their weight and their guts are kind of burned out. We feed our bulls with longevity in mind and their athleticism so they can still go out and get the cows bred.”
At this year’s sale, Hawkeye Ranch has quite a few power bulls on offer, and a decent amount of heifer bulls as well.
“The power bulls have power, but we also select for calving ease. We prioritize solid-footed cattle that are free-moving and athletic and are able to cover lots of cows and all size of fields. We breed for lots of length. We don't single trait select or use EPD as the sole selection criteria for our cattle. Our main priority is to visually appraise them.”
Brost says their bulls are raised in an environment that’s similar to many commercial operations. But there are some differences.
“They run in big pastures, they graze well into the fall and winter. We feed dry feed here – they're not silage cattle, so they don't carry a lot of water weight. We feel that if our cattle can work here, they can go out to any commercial operation and fit right in.”
After-sale care matters to Brost and his family.
“We always stay in contact with the buyers to make sure there are no issues with any of the bulls. We tend to deliver most of the bulls right to their yards, and that gives us an opportunity to see what kind of programs the customers have themselves, so we have a good idea of what kind of bulls we should be breeding for and recommending they look at when they come to the sale. When we have a good idea what their goals are in their operation, it helps us advise them, come sale day.”
Most people would say Hawkeye Ranching Company is in the cattle industry, but Brost would disagree.
“Growing up in this industry, you learn pretty early on that it's a people industry. We always like to pick up new customers, but our main concern is keeping the ones we already have. We view the bull business as a service industry, where we stand behind our product 100% and if our customer needs a bull, we’ll do everything in our power to provide them with one, to make sure their operation can get through breeding season.”
Interested parties are welcome to give them a call at 306-622-2632, or stop in at the ranch and view their cattle at any time.
“They're all easy to view – they're all on-site at our place and we would be happy to show people around.”
To learn more about the Brost family and their operation, visit their website at hawkeyeranching.com.