Our Expo consignments really mean a lot to us this year. This is the story of Parker.
To get to Parker you have to start where many great men start… With his mother, Teardrop. The life of Teardrop started in Oklahoma and her mother is Ginger Gal who won the 2005 JNHE in Milwaukee. I had the privileged of holding the halter when she won and this daughter is simply one of her best. Teardrop is sired by the only two-time Supreme Champion Hereford at the NWSS, Shock & Awe. We think that Teardrop is the best combination of both individuals. After Teardrop calved Parker she had a beautiful udder and remained in phenomenal condition throughout the summer while raising him. We flushed Teardrop to Right Track this summer and are expecting an ET heifer and a natural calf sired by BR Currency. You might also remember Teardrops full sister that was our Expo consignment last year. These cattle have the look to fit in the showring and as Teardrop proved this summer, the goods to raise a very impressive calf. The fastest way to propagate this cow in our herd is through the use of Parker and that is precisely what we intend to do. We are in expansion mode after buying the farm this summer. With Parker leading the pack in our AI sire battery and Teardrop contributing multiple calves each year we are in good hands.
The night that Parker was born Crystal and I were camped out in the office at the farm as we still lived across town and didn’t want to miss something. Looking down in the pen that Teardrop was in every 20 minutes Teardrop was obviously getting sick of us. Finally some time after midnight and well after Crystal asked if we could go home, Teardrop finally had her calf. The calf that we had expected to see would not have testicles as she had been bred with female sexed semen… Well we were in for a surprise. Little Parker was tougher or sneakier from well before conception as he made it past detection and into the soon to be frozen straw of semen. Once he was thawed out and put into his mother he was able to out race all of his sisters and make it into the egg first. You see what I mean, the boy just gets after it. After we realized what an overachiever he had been it is easy to say that we were not impressed. We expected a heifer, we would be selling his moms full sister in about a month based on the fact that we would have a heifer. But Parker made it up to us.
As Parker began to grow we fell hard and fast for the little guy. His attitude was the first thing to grab our attention. Much to his mothers discouragement he really wanted to be your friend. Then we started to see that the boy was good, really good. I have spent more then too much time looking at this calf. He has and continues to exceed our expectations. When Parker was born he weighed in at 90 lbs. he weaned off at 700 lbs. and when he was recently weighed on his birthday his yearling weight was 1,335 lbs. His big top, butt and nuts are reason enough to use him but his soundness seals the deal. Add his awesome momma to the mix and for us it becomes a no brainer, just as easy as breathing. With our 1/4 in-herd semen share we will heavily anticipate the arrival of his calves next year. If you have any questions about Parker who sells as Lot 30 at the Iowa Beef Expo on February the 13th, please utilize the Contact Us page and get a hold of us either on the phone or via e-mail.
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This article expresses the amount of care and time you put into your livestock in a very fashionable way! It’s articles like these that the public needs to see, the reality of agriculture, not what they perceive. It makes me glad to see all the hard work and effort you put into this and the affection you express towards your livestock! As someone who is also as involved with livestock as I can be, growing up around livestock, showing livestock, and raising livestock, I applaud you on your wonderful language and ability to write fluently and consistently on the happening at your farm.