_ /—*, , , .. ■— •" 1 ~ " 11 • - Pa. beef cattle bring honors home from NAILE *) By Donna McConaughey LOUISVILLE, Ky. Penn sylvania beef cattle left their marie at the North American In ternational Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. Genetics Unlimited Inc. of West Grove brought home Grand and. Junior Champion Female ,honors in the Angus show. In the Polled Hereford division, Falkland Farm of Schellsburg exhibited Champion and Reserve Champion Heifer- Calves. Two Western Pennsylvania Charolais firms made almost a clean sweep of the bull cham pionships at the National Charolais Show held in conjunction with NAILE. Royal Charolais Co. of Green sburg showed the National Grand Champion Bull, Hickory Lane Professor. "Professor” ‘is co _ owned by Royal Charolais Co., Dr. w Roger Hunsley of Purdue University, Wat-Cha Charolais, Romanelli Charolais, and Shada Charolais all of Canada. Royal is particularly proud that Professor was the National Reserve Champion last year and came back to take top honors this year. And, Royal Charolais’ winnings did not stop there. The firm also exhibited the Calf Champion Bull, Reserve Senior Champion Bull, first place Junior Bull CaS, first place Pair of Bulls, and won second in most of the remaining group classes. One factor in the consistency of Royal’s winnings was HRC Ex pectation 2(59, the sire of every one of their entries. Expectation was the 1978 National Champion bull,- most definitely a bull that is "breeding-on.” J.C. Enterprises of Ringgold, Jefferson County brought home the National Reserve Junior Cham f pion Award with JC Kruger 035, a ' May yearling bull. This was not the first championship for Kruger. The 1,705-pound, 18-month-old bull also was Reserve Junior Champion at Timomum, Md. this year. Kruger was sired by Riverwood Gallant 2856, J.C. Enterprises’ herd sire and the 1977 Reserve National Champion.-The National Reserve Junior Champion has been sold privately to Hamilton Farms of Morehead, Kentucky. Other winnings gomg to the Ringgold farm mcluded: second place cow and calf with half in terest in the cow selling for 820,000 in the National. Sale, and third place to a spring heifer calf - the youngest in her class. Although J.C. Enterprises is a name that may not be as well known as Royal Charolais Co., high quality cattle can also be .✓-' f ”■4*^ . •• -, 's. A J » * . - sMi&zm- ■ -/ V» ~ 5* «■ Back home agaitrfrom Louisville, J.C.’s second-place cow and calf have the National Charolais Show behind them now. But, the show left it's mark on this fine female one-half interest in her sold for $20,000 at the National Sale quite a price tag. found at the Ringgold farm with its row of silos that have/become a trademark in - “this neck of the woods.” Although farm manager, Les Haller, has only been at J.C. En terprises for a few months, he certainly knows this 3,000-acre farm and its rolling hills. Les tells how he felt when first approached about taking care of this expensive cow-calf operation. , When told that the majority of the acreage was reclaimed strip mines, he admits he was less than enthusiastic. However, the sight is not huge waste piles and only Christmas tree%as many imagine, instead it is pastureland ideal for beef cattle and complete with ready-made ponds. Along with the herd of nearly 75 registered Charolais cows, J.C. Enterprises also maintains a commercial herd of 78 Charolais crossbred cows and a self contained feedlot. The commercial herd allows them to try herd sires before using the bulls on the purebred herd, and then to feed the calves out to market weight in the feedlot. They sell many top club calves in addition to marketing finished steers to a local packer who pays premium prices because he is assured of high quality beef. Les also mentions that any cattle not of high enough quality to stay in the purebred herd are put into the feedlot. J.C. Enterprises’ cattle are fed a high moisture com and silage mixture along with free choice hay in round bales, all of which is raised on the farm. The silos are set up to make it possible to load silage and com on the feed truck at the same* time. - This is fed in concrete bunk feeders in the fields, and a circuit with the feed truck to the five different farms can be completed in about two hours. The only, part of the feeding program coming from off the farm is vitamin and minerals added to the feed and specially ground feed for the show Cattle. The beef cattle are only a small part of J.C. Enterprises which is owned by Jim and Carl Dover spike. Cattle were started as a sideline to utilize the land they owned after it had been "stripped” for coal. Presently J.C. En terprises is involved in drilling for natural gas, owns a small house building crew, and Carl Dover spike is the president of Keystone National Bank. Although begin ning as a sideline, it is evident that J.C. ■ Enterprises considers the Charolais business to be important by the investment made in cattle and hiring top management. .Srv ~ «' ->• - «V 1,. ,l| .li. 4* ” In visiting with the men who work on the farm, there is a feeling that this is a unique situation. As Les says, "There is no boss here. We all work back and forth. ’ ’ "We” he explains is himself and Randy Blose, who ..work mainly With the cattle, and Paul Dover spike and Bob Sailor, "the crops men.” Paul is an uncle of the “Doverspike boys” who own J.C. Enterprises. "I’ll put Paul’s more than 200- bushel-to-the-acre com grown on some of this reclaimed land up against that grown in Lancaster County any day,” boasts Les. “Paul is just a top crops man.” Les estimates that their 300 acres ot corn averaged 150 bushels per acre this year. Not bad for old strip mines! Royal Charolais' Hickory Lane Professor was International Livestock Exposition held in awarded the National Grand Champion Bull Louisville, Ky. title during competition at the North American i 1 *■- V«;:; - ~U\ -‘ >'-'‘ r'-V‘ V <•■ This row of silos marks the spot for one of the National Reserve Junior Champion bull, western Pa.’s fast-growing, award-winning Kruger. Charolais farms J.C. Enterprises, owners of The nucleus of the J.C. Charolais brood cow what was once scarred, strip-mined land and is herd weather the first snow of the year on now rolling pasture fields. tfA'q > v, '<•?> ■* V 2 V 'S mcaster Farming, Saturday, November 28,1981—A41 Bob Sailor has a.special job in addition to the regular crops. He is responsible for the apple orchard which-is another sideline. Les is quick to point out that no one is afraid of doing more than his share of the work. If Randy and Les need a hand with the cattle, Paul and Bob come to help. Les says that is one of the advantages, "I also have a chance to get in a tractor seat a couple of tunes a week, and 1 like that.” ' But how do they coordinate all of this! Over coffee, of course. After chores are done they try to get together and line up the tasks for the day or week. In talking with Les about future plans for J.C. Enterprises it is easy to see he has his thoughts m line and doesn’t hesitate to start in on a list. Les says he-plans to be doing a lot of artificial insemination yC< ? ' breeding on the present purebred herd which includes several "495” daughters, offspring of the Reserve National Champion Bull m 1974. He plans to use Gallant semen in the program. Plans also include beginning embryo tran splants on four or five of the best cows, and traveling this winter to look for a few foundation cows and possibly a new herd sire. And competing in the showring will continue, but only at a few of the more important national shows. “It just isn’t feasible to travel to a lot of shows anymore,” says Les. The future of the J.C. En terprises Charolais herd looks bright, for both their show cattle, winners in Louisville, Kentucky and the home herd in Ringgold. J.C. Enterprises Charolais will be a name to watch for in the future. *■ v<
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