Keith and I went to embryo implanting school last month in Cody, Wyoming. It was put on by Cow Country Genetics, Dave Winneger. We are both having a super good time doing this and this weekend will also be the time that we both find out how well we are at implanting embryos. I do believe that we will do alright and with a little bit more practice I think it will be a piece of cake.

The calves are really looking super, I am quite proud of our Enterprise calves, they are so thick and full of muscle, I think he is every thing I have hoped for and maybe even a little bit more. The Dutch calves once again look super and also a son of him, VDAR Dutchman 2119. The Vermillion Dateline 7078 calves look real good, I think they have super growth as well as good looks.

My goal is to get back in the routine of doing ranch news so hang in their with me, someday I will not keep you waiting anymore.

Our center pivots have been installed, it is great fun to go look at them thinking of all of the work that I will not have to do this summer. Keith is getting one on his place as well, he had to remove allot of fence so he will have a fairly busy spring.

Here are the results of our bull sale.
116 lots sold average $2673
High selling bull, Lot 75 VDAR Dutch 4240 $10,000 to Lena Farms of Mississippi
Lot 39 VDAR Frontline 1280 $7250 Lena Farms 
Lot 36 VDAR Frontline 1290 $9750 to Sand Lilly Farms of Utah
Lot 1 VDAR Lucys Boy 1220 $8500 to Steve Moore, Montana
Lot 2 VDAR Lucys Boy 1010 $5500 to Steve Moore, 
Lot 102 VDAR Lucys Boy 2690 $7500 to Tri- Mountain Angus of Montana
Lot 147 VDAR Rito 2820 $6250 to Star Dust in Florida
Lot 11 VDAR Lucys Boy 1390 $5500 to Heart K of Tennessee
Lot 42 VDAR Traveler 2150 $5000 Jeff Thomas, Idaho
Lot 27 VDAR Lucys Boy 2130 $4250 Jeff Thomas
Lot 9 VDAR Lucys Boy 1110 $4750 Don Heukert of North Dakota
Lot 21 VDAR Lucys Boy 1809 $4500 to Don Heukert 

We would also like to thank volume buyers Diamond T Ranch of Idaho with 17 bulls, J & P Limited of Wyoming with 9 bulls, Ed Brainaard of Montana with 13 bulls, Allen Martinell of Montana with 8 bulls, Lazy J-Bar C of Montana with 7 Bulls, and Ickes Ranch of Montana with 4 bulls. We would also like to thank all of the other buyers and bidders as well for another successful sale of a very dry year. 

Thank You very much

The scours on our calves have cleared up, I think it was coming from the silage we were feeding them, as soon as I took them off of the silage all of the scours cleared up. The calves look a million times better, I am beginning to think that maybe they will amount to something yet. The Enterprise calves are just super, they have excellent capacity and muscling. A 7/8 sister to Enterprise that was purchased by Dr. Phil Keeter of Oklahoma was our heaviest heifer at yearling, she weighed 1036 lbs. on last week Saturday. We calved in a couple of Traveler 275 cows this year and they are really exciting, I have a feeling that he will make some of the finest females that we have ever had.

Winter continues out here in our part of the world, it started the first week of November and has really never let up. Last week we had 30 mile per hour winds with 10 below zero, that is about as cold as I have ever felt. We had one calf get laid on and another was stepped on and broke a leg during the night. It has warmed up again the last couple of days so hopefully we will have nice weather for our bull sale next week. 

If anyone needs a catalog or any information concerning the bull sale you can contact me by my e-mail or by phone (406-282-7336) and I would be more than happy to answer any questions or send a sale book. We have received good interest in the bulls and the people who have stopped to see them have all been very pleased.

We made a trip up to Springdale Hutterite Colony last week, while we were their they dressed up my little girls like themselves. When I went into their house I did not even recognize them but there were two of them that were grinning very hard at me and after a few good looks I realized that they were my daughters. I went out and looked at all of their ET calves, they look super, the owners of these calves will be super pleased come this fall.

We are getting some exceptional calves this year, all of the sire groups look real well. Birth weights have been lower this year on the average, I kinda thought they would be higher since we have had to feed for so long but such is not the case. We do have some scours in our calves right now, but we are having fair success at getting them over it.

The weather has been real good, as you can tell by the picture, we have a lot of snow on the ground. The last couple of days we have had fog in the mornings, but it seems to burn off around 10:00 AM. Highs have been around 35 and lows have been around 0.

Our bull sale catalogs are being printed right now, if you would like a copy of one let me know and will make sure you get one. If you are already on our mailing list you will get one also.

We are hauling in round bales today, early next week we will grind them up for feed. we usually try and grind around 100 bales at a time.

Some time I will get some pictures of calves on here, I just been to busy to do to much of anything extra. Hopefully things will ease up some in the next couple of weeks.

We weighed the bulls off test last Friday and I sent the information to the Angus Association today so hopefully I will have it back tomorrow and in the catalogs the next day. The heaviest calf was a Dutch son of Hazel 4168 at 1320 lbs. He is a full brother to the second high selling bull last year, VDAR Dutchman 2119.

My Father had a good time down in Denver.  He said they had super interest in Enterprise and they sold quite a lot of semen. We are getting our first calves by him right now and they are about as thick of calves as we have ever had. 

I have been having a great time watching the auction going on at www.advantagecattle.com and people have been bidding on our heifer.  Every time I come in the house I check to see where she is at. I think that it is going to be a pretty good deal after this thing catches on more.

Our new motto for Van Dyke Angus is "we deliver- anywhere".  Actually I fixed up the tractor so it could pull the cattle trailer.  We take our cows out to the field and there is to much snow to get there with the pickup.

We have started getting calves here the last 2 days, had a super nice heifer calf sired by Lucys Boy out of Larry Snell's SAF Forever Lady 6011 cow, we have 3 more coming yet, hope the heifers continue. The first calves are not due until the 12th of January so I suppose here in about 1 week we will really start getting the calves.

We have VDAR Enterprise ready for Denver, my Dad will be leaving early Sunday morning with him. He looks super, if you are going to Denver stop by and have a look at him and pick up a free Enterprise hat! We weighed and measured him just the other day, he was 56 and 1/2 inches tall and weighed right at 1900 lbs. We are really super pleased with how he has grown out and have a lot of high hopes for him.

We consigned a super good Lucys Boy daughter to Advantage Cattle's female sale, she is from our Elluna cow family, if you are looking for a good donor prospect, I think she will really fit the bill. You can find her at  www.advantagecattle.com and look under auctions.

Hopefully by next week I will have some good calf pictures to show you but till then, you will just have to look at my Dad and Enterprise!