OUR PROGRAM
OUR CATTLE
Our herd traces back to reputable programs that include Sitz Angus, Connealy Angus, Flesch Angus, Stevenson’s Diamond Dot, Basin Angus, Gartner-Denowh Angus, Schaff’s Angus Valley and Rishel Angus. This year’s crop features calves out of LD Capitalist 316, Sitz Resilient, SAV Elation 7899, Musgrave 316 Stunner, Musgrave 316 Exclusive, Square B Milestone 7143 and more!
Our cattle are not pampered. They are managed the same as any commercial herd. Our environment is known for its extremes - bitter cold in the winter and often dry, hot weather throughout the summer. We winter in the Milk River Valley, forcing our cattle to endure the biting cold that is often the result of high humidity and blustery conditions. Our summer pastures are made up of rolling hills and flats. In the hot days of summer, our cattle don’t have many trees to offer shade or shelter from the elements. Since our cattle are able to adapt and perform in these diverse conditions, we feel they are equipped to thrive in any environment they are exposed to.
As seedstock providers, our obligation to our customers comes first. We take on the responsibility of creating genetics that will work in any commercial herd. We make our program’s process as transparent as it can be so that you know exactly where, when and how the cattle were handled before they got to you.
THE NISSEN ADVANTAGE
Females are the foundation of our program. Our cows have to be efficient when it comes to reproducing, hearty enough to withstand a harsh and ever-changing environment, sound to provide longevity to any herd they are in and raise a good quality, heavy weighing calf. Jeff has been selecting and breeding for these traits since the early 1990s.
We continually search for bulls that will compliment those maternal traits and put all the pieces together for that powerful end-product. We don’t believe in single-trait selection - we look at the bull as a whole to make our decision. Of course we rely on selection tools such as EPDs, Genomic Testing, Individual Performance and more. We use them as just that, TOOLS. We don't base our purchase on just one of those elements, its a balance of ALL the information combined.
We know our cows because we are with them everyday. We don’t have any hired hands or daily help so its up to us when it comes to feeding, calving, etc. Its essential that our cows are easy to work with and handle. We don’t have the man power or resources to deal with pampering or special treatment. Our cows have to work efficiently or they don’t stick around.
OUR PROGRAM
At calving, our birth weights are taken with a digital scale within the first day of being born. We typically brand around the middle of April - trying to time it with AI synchronization so we don’t have to handle the groups more times than we need to. We tattoo the calves at branding along with giving them their vaccinations. We usually precondition the groups around mid August. The bulls receive a booster dose of the Moraxella Bovoculi - Pinkeye vaccine while they are at the feedlot and the heifers receive one when they are bangs vaccinated.
All the registered calves are weaned the first part of October. The bulls that make the cut are hauled to Hould Bull Development Center immediately and started on a high roughage ration. Visit our sale page to find out more details on their development and for information on this year’s sale offering.
The cows are brought in from fall grazing around the middle to end of December. Once they are in the valley, they graze hayfield residue as long as the weather permits. Depending on the year, we will sometimes start giving the cows a little cake a few weeks prior to AI season - more as a less stress technique for gathering them to synchronize. We AI the heifers to start calving around January 25th and the cows February 1st. We use synchronization protocols on each group for the first breeding and then turn clean up bulls out with them to finish. When they are out to grass for the summer, they are on their own except for some Ultramin mineral and trace mineral salt blocks. Our summer pastures all have reservoirs as their water source and the amount of trees is very limited. Our calves are required to show their potential solely on mother’s milk and mother nature’s resources - NO CREEP.
We develop our own replacement heifers. They aren’t fed any supplemental feed other than hay and salt/mineral until we start getting ready to AI them. We’ve found that by not feeding them pellets throughout the winter, it allows for them to sort themselves out and gives us a better idea of their honest potential. This not only helps the initial costs to the pocket book, but also weeds out any non-thrifty, unproductive heifers that cost us and our customers more money in the long run.
We continually work to advance our genetics and add quality to our herd. We feel that utilizing AI and Embryo Transfer gives us the advantage of incorporating genetics into our herd from highly sought-after sires and dams. Capitalizing on these proven genetics has allowed us to catapult our program into becoming a solid producer of high quality cattle. We would love to visit with you about how far we’ve come and how determined we are to continue on this path of progress.