Well Mattie and I took the plunge and took 3 Galloway calves to the Denver Stock Show January 15th through 19th. We had a fun time with our friends from Montana, as well as other breeders on site for the show.

This is RFLTD Victoria, who is the first calf out of RFLTD Sapphira, pictured on down below in this blog. Victoria is a very correctly made heifer with rock solid grass genetics in her background. Her DOB is 5/8/09. She is for sale right now: $1500.

Also at the show was RFLTD Valentine, a 4/23/09 dun heifer and full sister to RFLTD Sapphira, pictured elsewhere

Again, a very correct female who will add efficiency and lower costs in any operation. Price: $1500

And finally, our daughter's bull calf Muddie Acres Vinnie Van Gogh, born 4/10/09 to a spectacular white cow named TOGS Nebecca.

While at the National Western Stockshow, Vinnie (9 mos) was ultrasounded with some amazing results: Ribeye Area measured 10.16, with a liveweight of approximately 600# !! Sure, our cattle are short legged.... But there's a lot more eating to be had in the ribeye than there is in that space between their bellies and the ground!
Vinnie is for sale, price: $1600

This is RFLTD Sapphire, a 2006 heifer we raised out of McDuff of Lone Pine and RFLTD Lillian. We have been increasing the percentage of duns and whites in our herd over the past couple of years. We asked ourselves this question: Would we rather graze out in the hot sun wearing a black shirt and pants, or tan/white shirt and pants?

Galloway come in 4 colors, with black being predominant. Reds and duns are solid colors, while the whites typically have colored 'points', that is, pigmented ears, muzzle, eye pigment and often pigmentation at the ankles. Here's a couple of examples.

Our grazing operation runs on about 220 acres, about half of which is leased. We were especially fortunate when our neighbor thinned down his cowherd a few years ago, as this enabled us to lease grass right across the road from our primary 100 acre pasture. This leased parcel had not been burned for quite some time, so a few weeks ago Bill, myself and daughter Mattie went up and lit off the woody portion. The reason for this is to damage/kill the woody plants, especially cedar trees and buckbrush, both of which are highly invasive and difficult to kill once established. By shading the soil, they effectively eliminate a lot of grass, and will eventually overtake native grasslands. Not good!

Sorry to say it was such a last minute event that I forgot to take the camera for photos during the burn, but here is the after effect. We will burn the other pastures in about another month, and I will make an effort to snap a few shots then. This part needed burned earlier because it has a lot of cool season grasses that green up early, and once they've greened up, a fire usually is not successful at crisping the trees and brush!