Minerals can play a big role in helping beef herds make a profit

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Emanuel Glockzin (center), owner of a 1,600 cattle ranch near Wheelock, gives an overview of his ranch at the Brazos County Beef Tour, Sept. 20.      -- Photo by Mindy Poehl

Sept. 29, 2005 - On a 1,600-acre ranch, 20 minutes north of Bryan/College Station, near Wheelock,  Emanuel Glockzin and his staff are busy raising 2,100 head of cattle.

"I breed to low-birth-rate Charolais and bulls are pro-cessed and fed here," explained Glockzin.

The Annual Brazos County Beef Tour was held at the Glockzin Family Ranch on Tuesday, Sept. 20, where Glockzin gave an overview of his ranch.

The first stop was looking at hearty February/March steers received off of first-calf heifers. The steers came from Charolais sires and Brahman-cross cows.

"Their average  weight is 565 pounds," Glockzin said. "They gained an average of 3.5 pound a day." 

Glockzin said he backgrounds the cows and then puts them on a ration when they are three to four months old. "They eat two percent of their bodyweight," which costs $0.45 per  pound of gain on feed, Glockzin said.

Left to right: Antonio Cristerna, Chad Ezzell, Emanuel Glockzin (owner), Nick Philipello and Bryan Brown all work on the ranch, helping raise 2,100 head of cattle. -- Photo by Mindy Poehl

The next stop was looking at 2nd calf heifers, which Glockzin purchases rather than raises.

"They have to have the right body condition, health and maturity," Glockzin said of the 2nd calf heifers.

Glockzin cuts his own hay to feed the cattle and he feeds corn silage to his replacement heifers and bulls.

John Regmund, beef nutritionist with ADM Nutrition, helps Glockzin feed the correct amount of minerals to his cattle. Glockzin's cattle eats a corn ration mixed with a protein mineral supplement. 

Regmund spoke about how the digestibility of sudan grass hay is improved with minerals. He explained that a 1,000-pound cow must eat 24 pounds of food, without added minerals to stay 1,000. When minerals are added to the feed, the cow must only eat 20 pounds of food to maintain its weight.

"And there is a big difference in those four pounds," Regmund said.

The body condition at calving is the most important factor influencing the reproductive performance and profits in beef cows, Regmund noted. A cow with a body condition of less than 5.3 only has a 66 percent chance of calving, while a cow with a body condition over 5.3 has a 90 percent chance of calving.

"It makes a lot of difference if a cow calves at a body condition of 4 than if she calves at a body condition of 5," Regmund said. "That's how minerals pay for themselves." 

When selling his calves, Glockzin markets them through video. Gerald Yeager, with Superior Livestock, was on hand to explain marketing through video.

"You contact one of our representatives. We'll come to your ranch and video the cattle on your place," explained Yeager. "We send the tapes to Fort Worth and we have you on the phone while the cattle are selling. You will receive a partial contract and a down payment in the mail. When the cattle are ready to ship, we will come and sort your cattle and give you your check. September through May, we have a sale every two weeks."