By Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University

The Bradley 3 Ranch is located in Memphis, TX and has a earned a reputation for producing high quality Angus and Charolais seedstock that are uniquely well-adapted to their environment. The Bradley 3 Ranch is famous, innovative and award winning.  The title of my article this is borrowed from James Henderson’s topic last week. 

The tough environment, the 600 head of registered cows live in at Bradley 3 Ranch is described by James as follows:

The tough cows were described as follows:

James Henderson encourages producers to do the math and manage their beef operation like a business. Hold cows accountable. Another interesting point he made was the donor cow selection criteria. In order for a cow to make the cut for the Bradley 3 Ranch ET program she is a 10 year old who has ratioed 105 or better on each calf weaned, each year she has been in production.  Wow! A very high standard.

​​​​​​​Bottomline: Your cowherd can achieve the benchmarks for performance that you establish and hold them accountable for.  If you will be growing your cow inventory in the future, take measures to insure your cowherd matches your production environment and intended marketing endpoint for the calves you will produce.