Broseca Ranch Manager Shares
Northeast Texas Experience

By Colleen Schreiber

BROWNWOOD — Participants in the recent 20th annual Heart of Texas Cow-Calf Clinic here heard from Tom Woodward, manager of Broseca Ranches, on ways to improve the bottom line in a cattle operation.

Broseca Ranches, located in northeast Texas about 35 miles west of Texarkana, is the sixth largest cow-calf operation in the nation. The bulk of their 45-inch average annual rainfall comes in the winter, from October through April. Because that is not their growing season, Woodward told listeners, that much rainfall can sometimes be detrimental. Too much rain at the wrong time, he noted, can be just as detrimental as lack of rain.

"Our biggest Achilles heel in the winter is having to feed hay," Woodward said. "This past winter was a terrible winter for us in Northeast Texas. It was so wet that we waded in mud all winter long."

Because it is so wet, round bales have to be rolled out to get maximum use. In addition to hay, cattle have to be supplemented, Woodward noted, but supplementation is kept to a minimum.

Excessive rain also leaches the soil of beneficial nutrients, forcing them to fertilize on a regular basis.

Woodward has been with the ranch since 1981. One of the first things he did when he arrived was to focus on what the ranch wanted to accomplish, a "vision statement," accompanied by a list of goals needed to accomplish it.

For Broseca Ranches, it was decided that pounds weaned per acre would be the driving force.

"The good thing about Northeast Texas," Woodward said, "is that we can produce good calves."

Once the primary objective was established, Broseca Ranch had to find a way to accomplish that goal. Because grass is the primary natural resource on any cattle operation, Woodward began looking at ways to change their grazing management program to improve the bottom line.

At the time, the ranch was broken down into 30-some pastures, most of them 400 to 600 acres. It was decided that some type of timed grazing system was needed, Woodward said, primarily to stop spot grazing.

"You’ve heard the old saying that cows in East Texas can be belly deep in grass and be starving to death. It’s true," he said.

The intensive grazing system implemented at that point has increased grazing capacity by 30 percent, and pounds of weaned calf produced per acre has gone from about 80 in 1980 to 122 pounds at present.

Such an intensive system, he admitted, is a lot of work and requires dedication and commitment from everyone involved in the operation, from the owners right down to the cowboys. Many of his employees have gone to school to learn the system.

The ranch is set up in two-man units, Woodward explained, each in charge of 1800 to 2000 mother cows.

"They have to be committed to make things work," Woodward reiterated. To encourage and reward that commitment, Broseca has a bonus system in place. Annual goals are also established with individual employees.

"It’s all about making it a team effort," he said.

When Woodward took over as manager of the operation, the cow herd consisted of a set of F1 Brahman/Hereford cows. Today a three-breed rotation using Red Angus, Beefmaster and Simbrah is the primary program in use. Part of the objective is to have the Brahman influence, which is a necessity in East Texas, but to stabilize that influence and keep it to a maximum of 25 percent.

"There’s only one thing I know of that is free in the cattle business," Woodward remarked, "and that’s hybrid vigor. As a commercial producer, I have to use hybrid vigor."

Heifer productivity is a critical component of Broseca Ranches, because between 800 and 1000 heifers are calved out in any given year. Red Angus bulls are used on these first calf heifers. EPDs are considered an important tool and used extensively in their management program. Average EPDs for their heifer bulls include a -2.2 EPD for birth weight, a 14 EPD for weaning and 24 EPD for yearling weight. Woodward also pays close attention to actual birth weight, which he tries to keep down around 70 pounds. This year Broseca had a 91 percent live crop on their heifers and Woodward told listeners that he attributes that primarily to using the right kind of bulls.

In addition to their commercial business, Broseca Ranches also has a registered seedstock herd, a set of Red Angus cows which they use to select bulls for use on the ranch. A large part of the reason for this, Woodward says, is for acclimation purposes.

"It’s extremely difficult to bring a bull from other parts of Texas back to Northeast Texas," he told the group. "We would generally lose a year’s production on that bull."

Broseca Ranches has found that developing bulls in the environment in which they’ll be working is a far better solution than bringing bulls in and trying to get them to adapt.

For those who are buying bulls, Woodward suggested having a window of acceptance.

"If I’m buying a bull to go on mature cows, decide what is acceptable in terms of EPDs for birth weight and weaning and yearling weight," he said. "Draw that window, and then from those that fit within that window, select those that seem to have the phenotype you’re looking for.

"I promise you it pays off if you really pay attention to these numbers. EPDs are the most accurate thing we’ve got as far as selecting genetics for performance," he continued, "and when you feed out those cattle you’ll see that there is a difference."

To illustrate this, Woodward told listeners about a set of calves out of a four-breed composite, the progeny of Red Angus and Braunvieh bulls. They went to wheat in the Texas Panhandle and then on to a feedyard at Oberlin, Kansas.

The top 20 percent of those calves had a cost of gain of 55 cents, an average daily gain of 3.4 pounds per head per day, graded 100 percent Choice and a Yield Grade of 2.2. Those calves, Woodward said, made $92 a head.

The bottom 20 percent of that same set of calves had a cost of gain of 74 cents, an average daily gain of 2.4, no Choice calves and a Yield grade of 1.7. They lost $55 a head.

"There was $147 difference between the top 20 percent and the bottom 20 percent. That really woke me up."

When he started looking at the data, Woodward found that two bulls produced 35 percent of the calves in the low group and none in the top group, and three bulls produced 45 percent of the calves in the top group and none in the bottom group.

"We’ve got some bulls that became Big Macs real quick," Woodward said. "There is a difference in bulls, I promise you, and you can’t always see it just by looking with the naked eye. It takes information. You have to follow those genetics through to really get to the bottom line."

Being the sixth largest cow-calf operation in the country means that a successful weaning program is critical to the success of the operation.

"We’re interested in getting our calves weaned as cheaply and with as little stress as possible," Woodward commented. "Sickness is a result of stress. Calves that are not stressed can withstand a lot of bugs, just like humans."

For the last four to five years, Broseca Ranches has used a 48-hour weaning management program.

Once the calves are sorted off their mamas, they go straight through the chute, where they receive the standard vaccinations. The calves are in the weaning pens by 10 a.m.

"We try to get the walk out of the calves as quick as we can using a little of the Bud Williams’ philosophy," Woodward said. "We do that by putting a person in the pen on foot. They watch the calves and try to slow their movement."

Fresh weaned calves, he pointed out, won’t eat much in that 48-hour period, but it’s critical to make available fresh quality hay and clean water. Cubes are also provided, but the calves generally don’t eat much of those, either, he said.

Calves come straight out of the weaning pens after the initial 48 hours into traps where some kind of quality forage is planted.

"We stay with those calves until they drop their heads and start eating grass," Woodward said.

Calves are revaccinated in 14 days, implanted, and then at that point they’re ready to ship. Depending on their weight, the calves will either go to wheat or straight to the feedlot.

This past year, only two-tenths of one percent of the 4500 calves weaned had to be doctored after weaning, and death loss on those sick calves was one-tenth of one percent.

"We maintained weaning weight, our calves were healthy, death loss on wheat pasture was nil, death loss in the feedlot was nil, and I did that for about $3 a head," he told listeners.

For the last 10 years, Broseca Ranch has retained all or part of their calf production. For the last couple of years they’ve retained 80 to 90 percent of their calf crop, either through the stocker or finishing phase.

"A winter pasture program is utilized at home to grow some calves out to the yearling stage. They’re in the process of shipping some of those calves right now. Some of those steers on rye grass gained over three pounds a day over about a three week period.

"We can put some weight on the cattle in the spring, but we’re just about to the time of the year where that starts to slow down," he said.

Their winter pasture program is also used to grow heifers out.

"It’s very difficult to develop heifers in this part of the country," he noted. "You have to have something to get that heifer to gain a pound and a quarter to a pound and a half gain so that she’s at the right weight to get her bred. You can’t do that here on native pasture."

The majority of the Broseca calves go to wheat pasture or straight to the feedlot. A number of different alliances have been used over the years in an effort to get a better handle on how their cattle perform under certain circumstances. A great deal of carcass information has been collected and now, Woodward said, it’s fairly easy to characterize how the different crosses will perform under a particular scenario.

Woodward warned listeners about putting all their eggs in one basket, not only in terms of marketing but also in terms of placement.

"I’ve learned that there’s as much difference in feedlots as there is in cow-calf operations. They aren’t all the same," he stressed.

Woodward told listening producers that there are opportunities to make money through retained ownership. During 1996-97, Broseca Ranches retained their entire calf crop. Retained ownership through the stocker phase, he said, netted them just over $100 a head.

"I wouldn’t have netted $100 on those calves by raising them to weaning, and if I had sold them all at the stocker phase, I would have been ahead, but I gave some of that back when I fed those calves."

Retained ownership, he reminded, doesn’t work every year.

"This year I kept a lot of cattle, but thank goodness I got them hedged against the spring board at $82 for yearlings. That saved my life," Woodward said.

Controlling costs, the speaker noted, is another critical aspect to the overall success of any operation. The first step in the equation is knowing what those costs are.

When the Standard Performance Analysis first came out, Broseca Ranches immediately put it to use. Employing that system allowed them to get a better handle on costs and in particular the cost to produce a calf to weaning.

"You’ve got to know what your net is, and how to figure it. You’ve got to know what your costs are and what it takes to produce a pound of calf."

Broseca’s 1997 financial statement indicated that their expenses were equal to the average for the past eight years. Additionally, employee costs were 10 percent less than the average of the last eight years.

"We did that by paying fewer people more dollars," Woodward said. "You all know that the cost of doing business has gone up over the years. We’ve got to squeeze costs at every corner.

"Return on equity," he continued, "has always been low and will continue to be low, but if you want to compete in the future, you have to cut costs wherever possible and get your return on equity up as much as you can."

He pursues cost-cutting in some interesting ways, including a unique source of ranch trucks. Broseca buys "retired" Ryder trucks, the big yellow rental vans that can be seen on any major highway. Woodward said he learned quite some time ago that they’re not only cheaper than pickups but also a lot tougher.

In conclusion, Woodward reiterated the importance of developing goals. He encouraged listeners not only to develop goals but to write them down. Finally, he said, "know your costs and get involved in marketing. There’s three things important in the cattle business — marketing, marketing and marketing."