12/10/08 Double R Ranch bulls

What do you get when you combine good genetics, good management and range conditions providing the proving grounds? I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to answer that question. When you mix good genetics, good management in a rugged range crucible, you get great bulls and excellent beef. Those are the products of Howard Asmussen's Double R Ranch. Double R Ranch, an affiliate of Agribeef is located in Okanogan County, Washington, a county known over the years for outstanding beef cattle. The ranch produces plenty of good feeder cattle that contribute to the Double R Ranch brand beef sold in retail stores with the upper 10 percent supplying top end restaurants like at the MGM in Las Vegas and Seattle's Space Needle. But, I talked with Howard recently and I could tell he was most proud of the Angus bulls this mountain-range ranch forms and forges. These bulls get no special treatment since their mothers are managed under the same conditions as a herd of commercial cows. After a summer with their mothers, the young bulls are wintered on a high roughage ration and then turned back on dry land range. The yearlings have ultra sound measurements for rib eye area, marbling, and back fat. By sale time these Angus bulls have been tested for BVD, trichomoniasis, rate of gain and semen quality. Some won't pass these exams, but the real test is the approval of the range itself and Double R Ranch management that combine to cull at least 50 percent of the bulls born. You know, if all enterprises were so closely monitored there would be a lot less recalls. I'm Jeff Keane.