My time Flies
The other day a good friend of mine reminded me that it had been quite some time since I had posted a blog. When I looked back at the date of the previous post and started to review the past few months, it is amazing just how much has happened around here since then.
There have been several personnel changes at Maplecrest since we last visited. Jeremy Simpson, who had been with us since late 2007, left in May to return to a position in the manufacturing industry with his previous employer. We appreciate all of the hard work and dedication that he put forth during the past three plus years here with us and wish him nothing but the best with his career path.
Prior to Jeremy’s departure we had made the decision to add a second employee to help address the needs of an expanding operation. Scott Winkle joined us in early May from his previous position at Greenhorn Shorthorns in Ohio. Scott had helped us on occasion in previous years with our cattle at shows. He now gets to help us with all aspects of this operation. In June, Ben Wheeler also joined the team here at Maplecrest. He comes to us from a previous stint at Hudson Pines Farms in New York. Both Ben and Scott come to us with valuable experience in the seedstock cattle business and have hit the ground running with their new responsibilities.
Breeding season never really goes away around her as we flush cows every 60 days or so. We are flushing cows this week with bulls such as Connealy Confidence and B/R New Day 454 seeing the heaviest use. We have wrapped up the spring breeding season with most of the cattle palpated at this point.
Fall calving season has gotten started a bit earlier than expected. I believe this can be directly attributed to the high temperatures we experienced in late July and early August. Most calves will be born between now and mid-October. Since fescue is our primary permanent pasture grass, we prefer to calve in the fall in order to best take advantage of this forage’s positive attributes.
The girl’s show heifers have dominated our schedule over the past three months. They have exhibited at the Atlantic National, All-American Breeders’ Futurity, Ohio Angus Preview Show, National Junior Angus Show, Simmental Sweepstakes, and the Ohio State Fair. It has been a successful season thus far with the following highlights:
* Atlantic National: Jr. Show – 2 Division Champions, 1 Reserve Division, Open Show: 2 Division Champions
* All-American Breeders’ Futurity: Jr. Show – 1 Division Champion, 1 Reserve Division, Open Show – 1 Division Champion
* Ohio Angus Preview Show: Jr. Show – Grand Champion Owned Female, Grand and Reserve Grand Bred & Owned Females, Open Show – Reserve Grand Female, Grand Champion Cow-Calf
* National Junior Angus Show: Reserve Grand Champion Owned Cow-Calf, 2 Reserve Division Champions, 3 class winners
* Simmental Sweepstakes: Jr. Show – Grand Champion % Cow-Calf, Open Show – Reserve Grand Champion % Cow-Calf
