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Leachman Cattle Company Rides the Range with Partners by Teres Gatz-Lambert No one can ride alone - These five words are taken seriously by Leachman Cattle Company of Billings, Mont., and implemented via the company's cooperator herd program. "We strongly believe that you cannot be an expert at everything," Lee Leachman states. "We also know that this industry is so large that alliances are needed to be competitive. "We decided to align with cooperators - families involved in ranching who have superior management and cattle but who want to keep their operations simple. They provide the land, the cattle and management, and we provide technical support, genetics and marketing." Today, more than 75 cooperator herds are bull cooperator herds that help multiply Leachman Cattle Company's beliefs and reputation and supply a majority of the 2,000 bulls and females featured in the company's annual hairpin brand sale. These cooperator herds are located in 16 states plus Canada. Leading the way with cooperator herds is Montana, followed by Kansas and Nebraska. Other cooperator herds are located South Dakota, North Dakota, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and New York. Cooperator herds supply purebred bulls, hybrids and composites, including Range Makers, Range Calvers and Stabilizers, composites created by Leachman Cattle Company Cooperator Herds Tell 'Why' Darold Tomsheck of Oilmont, Mont., became a cooperator herd more than 10 years ago and, although cautious at first, hasn't looked back since. The partnership between Tomsheck and Leachman Cattle Company was struck in 1990 when Tomsheck's Tarentaise herd met the criteria of Jim Leachman who wanted a herd backed by AI (articifical insemination) and performance records. Tomsheck, who had been AIing and keeping records since 1967, agreed to AI 100 head of his 300 Tarentaise cows to a South Devon bull recommended by Leachman. The goal: a two-breed composite using South Devon. Yes, this herd is the foundation of Leachman Cattle Company's Range Maker composite. Within three years, the arrangement between the two cowmen expanded to AIing the whole cowherd. 
"Our original agreement to AI 100 cows grew to include all but my Top 10 cows because I wanted a small, super elite Tarentaise herd," Tomsheck explains. "After some thought, it became obvious to me to not keep the elite 10 head herd I originally wanted. "Jim's program matched my theory of raising the best cattle possible, and, to me, that meant turning over those 10 elite females for the good of my name and the Leachman program." Through the years, Tomsheck has added a second herd, registered Angus. Tomsheck decided to take advantage of his cooperator herd status and build a name for himself in the Angus business. This move appears to be working. Last year, a purebred Angus bull from Tomsheck sold in Leachman Cattle Company's April sale for $9,250, going to Alta Genetics. Another purebred Angus garnered $7,200, selling to South America. As agreed in his contract, Tomsheck received half of the selling price. "I never would have been able to get those kind of prices on my own, and certainly would not have had the ability to expose my bulls to the audience that Leachman can," Tomsheck states. "Additionally, my Angus bulls in the Leachman program are competing with Angus bulls from cooperator herds from across the country. If my bull performs, has the right muscle pattern, EPDs, structural soundness and temperament, all those attending the sale - or receiving a catalog - will know about the bull. "What an opportunity for building a name for myself in a business that's pretty darn competitive." Don Hineman of High Plains Gelbvieh, Dighton, Kan., came on board as a bull cooperator herd just four years. It's a move that fits him and his program. "Being a cooperator bull herd lets me concentrate on the part of the business that I enjoy best: production," Hineman tells, "and it lets me partner with people who like - and are good at - the other aspects of the business. "I doubt if you could find people in the beef industry who are better at marketing than Leachmans." Hineman, who runs 170 Gelbvieh, follows Leachman Cattle Company's recommended sire pool. He turns first to AI and then cleans up with bulls similar in genetics to those on the recommended AI list. In the end, his offering to Leachman Cattle Company are purebred Gelbvieh bulls and hybrids. Like most cooperator herds, Hineman moves about the Top 50 percent of his bulls through Leachman Cattle Company. His bottom 50 percent are banded and go through a nearby Kansas feedlot. "The bulls that don't make the Leachman cut certainly don't need to be out siring calves," Hineman adds. Selective Leachman Cattle Company has certain parameters - birth dates, weights, health care, feeding regimes, etc. - that all bulls from cooperator herds must meet. For example, bulls for the April sale must be born before April 15. Those born after April 15 can only be moved via private treaty sales. Because Leachman Cattle Company emphasizes bull development, bull cooperator herds must agree to run their cattle under commercial conditions. They cannot creep bull calves or run them on irrigated meadows. Cooperator herds must take pre-weaning weights and submit information to Leachman Cattle Company who returns the analyzed data, indicating which bulls make the initial cut. A Leachman staff person then visits the ranch and visually inspects each animal. Once bulls are approved, they're sent to Billings, Mont., for a mid September arrival. Leachman Cattle Company takes over from there, including footing all expenses - feed, sale promotion, etc. - from this point forward. At Leachman Cattle Company, the bull calves are fed a high roughage ration designed for a 3.00 lb. per head daily gain. The bulls are fed highly digestible sources of fiber, such as wheat mids and less than 15 percent concentrate. Although the bulls may gain less, Lee points out that the bulls have rumen flora ideally suited for grass consumption. As for the wheat mids, Lee says wheat mids increase longevity, structural soundness and fertility of the bulls. "At Leachman Cattle Company, our goal has always been to be a major supplier of superior seedstock for the beef industry," Lee states. "Together with our cooperator families, we strive to ensure that our genetics offer true economic advantages to our customers. "Cattlemen know that consumers are concerned about the taste, tenderness and nutritional content of beef - not to mention how and where it is being raised. Many of the proposed solutions to these challenges are superficial, complicated, improbable or unnatural. Our family has always thought the answer lies in the selection of better genetics, and our cooperator herds help us further that goal." |
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