Earlier this month, Select Sires MidAmerica (SSMA) Beef Specialist Jay Hill of Sterling, CO coordinated a trip for me to ride along with he and his University of Missouri intern, Daryl Glenn, to assist in timed breedings for a few ranches in Colorado & Wyoming.

Jay Hill is a one of a kind individual with a wide-open personality. In every conversation, he has a joke (or 4) and can tell stories like few that I know. However, like many of his SSMA peers in this part of the world, he is very dedicated to his customers and their success with genetic progress from Select Sires. Jay told me that he has been running hard since March 23rd and has only had 2 days since then to spend at home and tend to personal activities. And at this point, there is no slowing down for the next 30 days as he plans to continue servicing a few thousand more head of beef heifers between now and the end of July.

Our first couple of days were spent sorting and breeding nearly 500 head of commercial cows and heifers for the Dave Guenzi operation near Atwood, CO. Dave’s son, Carson, and the rest of their team along with the cow boss, Joe, proudly showed me the cow herd made up of several generations of Select Sires genetics. The calf crop this year was by MISSION, BEXTOR, and 7SP33 Gauge. What a set! This year we bred the heifers to 7AN278 Selective and the cows to 7SM54 Stetson. Jay had me on several tasks as I was needed. We started with the cows that needed time bred and I launched my day pulling Kamar patches and giving GnRH. Next, as the second batch came through, I ran the chute or helped breed cows, then by the end of the day as some team members had to tend to other ranch activities, I sorted groups and pushed cattle through the corral. Although none of these activities were new to me, it was a lot of fun moving so efficiently; in one situation we were able to breed a lot of 80 females in 1.5 hours.

The next day we worked in Torrington, WY where we met up with SSMA staff Oly Olsen & Doug McLean, and Doug’s assistant, Dusty Buffington. These heifers were being custom fed in Torrington and will soon be turned out on high altitude pastures in the western part of the state. I filled A.I. guns the entire time and we serviced about 340 heifers to 7AN300 Ram Nation in about 8 hours. I really enjoyed getting to know Doug & Oly in a working setting. These guys, like Jay, are truly committed in doing a first class job for their customers. They are really hitting it hard this time of year and their efforts certainly do not go unnoticed or under-appreciated. They are not only enhancing the investments of ranchers, but they are also improving the US beef industry, one straw at a time.