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PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! DayThreeoftheTexas "Legacy" Tour and we were on our buses at 8 a.m. for a 75 mile trip from Wichita Falls to Throck- morton, and the RA Brown Ranch with their breeds of cattle Angus, Red Angus, SimAngus. It had rained a quarter inch during the night, but clear and warm in morning. The ranch billboard out on the highway, welcomed Western Livestock Journal tour. We were met at the brand new reception cen- ter built near the home of Donnell and Kelli Brown, overlooking a large pond or lake. Inside the rock-brick building there were large tubs of iced bottled wa- ter, fans, tables and chairs with foam RA Brown Ranch seat cushions, a stage, video screen and ex- cellent public address sys- tem. On each side of en- trance were restrooms, and small offices. Donnell was attend- ing the Beef Improvement Federation meeting in Kansas but his wife Kelli made us feel welcome as she introduced her father- in-law Rob Brown and members of the staff that were present. She told us the history of the family. Robert Al- exander Brown came to Texas at age 17, in 1850. Returned to Virginia and fought in the Civil War, and returned to Galveston, Texas. Robert Herndon — RH — the oldest son was in cattle business and sent a boat load of cattle to Cuba in 1895. "RH Brown moved to Jack County, TX where he had a small ranch and son RA was born in 1902. When the Fort Worth Stockyards opened in 1903, RH sold the ranch and bought an inter- est in a cattle commis- sion company there. That same year he started buy- ing land in Throckmorton County. "1906- RH Brown brought the first regis- tered Herefords to Throck- morton County. In 1917 RA Brown at 15 years, stayed at the ranch instead of re- turning to Fort Worth dur- ing the drought. "Feed was scarce and cows were thin going into that extremely cold winter and cows be- gan to die. RA helped skin cows (instead of going to school) and hauled wagon loads of hides to Abilene, some 60 miles away, trad- ing them for cotton seed cake to feed the remaining cattle." We saw an excel- lent video about the ranch from Texas Beef Council. The RA Brown sale cat- alog for their 41st annual bull sale on Oct. 13-14, 2015 was full of history of this ranch, the horses, the family news, herd health protocol , traditional sale information, and of course, the pedigrees of 21 weanling colts and fil- lies, and two ranch horses plus 500 bulls. Not to men- tion the registered females and 800 commercial heif- ers. It was 194 pages of in- formation. We visited the AI cen- ter, where Todd McCarthy, who works with the com- mercial herd explained cattle handling by remov- ing the stress. The goal is to move cattle by sight, not sound. "The industry forgets a cow cannot see behind them, when she sees, she reacts, so sight is huge." "Work from the side and front, when moving cattle. Let them see you, because cattle want to see you." Standing in back of them, they keep looking back instead of moving forward. They will move away from you. Touch is important when giving shots, so touch your hand to the neck before jabbing with the needle. The motor for the Si- lencer squeeze was outside the building, and couldn't be heard by the cattle. Then we visited the bull pens where there were 550 bulls on test. They are looking for feed effi- ciency, good feet. The feed lots were open on back- side, while feed and wa- ter were the road side. The shade was mile away, up a rocky West Texas hill. They are fed two times a day, and they get exercise. Several pens of bulls were RFID ear tagged for the Grow Safe Systems feed measuring. The bulls eat feed free choice, and they found some bulls ate 15 times a day. All data goes to the office com- puter. There was a big differ- ence in intake and gains over the 70 days. Some bulls ate 500 pounds more feed than others. With one bull four pounds of feed resulted in one pound of gain, while another might need 13 pounds of feed to gain one pound. Travis Moore had 105 registered first calf Red Angus and black An- gus heifers with their Jan. 30th to April 10th spring calves for us to see. The calves will be freeze branded after weaning. Then we drove past Rob and Peggy Brown's home, to see the mares and foals in a pasture. He was pres- ident of American Quarter Horse Association in 1995, and inducted in the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2004. His father RA Brown, Sr. was a founder of AQHA and named to the Hall of Fame in 1988. RA Brown Ranch is one of only 16 ranches in the nation that has registered a foal every year since AQHA began, 75 years ago. They foal on pasture, with wheat grazing for win- ter. Take a Pick, Colonel Jazz and Jeotea by Shining Sparks were mentioned. Before we had a beef enchilada, refried beans, rice, chips with guaca- mole, salsa and ice tea lun- cheon, Kelli Brown led the group in the blessing. The Truscott Post Office was a roof over a bank of locked mailboxes, on the street by the bank build- ing — this is now the Cir- cle Bar Ranch office. Once Truscott was a busy farming town, and now it is a well-kept ranch headquarters. The church is now a hunting lodge, and a home is the cook house for the hunters. We were greeted with ice cold lemonade and homemade cookies, on an extremely hot and humid afternoon as we met on an open-air pavilion. Circle Bar Ranch was founded by Jerry Bob and Eugenie Daniel in 1982, but her family founded the Pitchfork Ranch in 1883, near Guthrie. Jerry Bob's family ranched in the Truscott area since 1935. Their son Colton Dan- iel is now on the ranch af- ter graduation from Texas Tech, and had been on the combine until we arrived, since they farm 6,000 acres of wheat. The calves are sold in the spring at 850 pounds, after grazing on wheat pastures. They started a hunting program in 1998 when rev- enue sources were needed. They graze their cattle with quail and deer, fig- uring 38 acres per cow, so it isn't overgrazed. Jerry Bob called it brush sculp- turing when they don't clear all the mesquite, but leave brush for the game in strips. It cost between $100 and $350 an acre to clear mesquite. They have a hunting guide, and the previous night they had seen their first juvenile covey of quail. Counting 22 coveys of birds. Feral hogs are terrible on the wheat fields, as well as the pastures. They had shot 1100 hogs in two days, and when someone asked what they did with that many carcasses, the re- ply was "the buzzards, and predators have to eat, too." Circle Bar Ranch hosted 32 veterans and their fam- ilies in the Wounded War- rior project for three days this spring. They rode horseback and hunted the feral hogs. April 2017 they plan to repeat the experi- ence. The drought was terri- ble. Between October 2010 and September 2011, the ranch received 1.8 inches of rain. Average rainfall is 21 inches. Eugenie raises Austra- lian Shepherd dogs, and manages the horse oper- ation. Dick Keeper trains peo- ple with horses, and has an intern learning his methods. Keeper has en- couraged the owners to di- versify the horse program and now they have cut- ting horses that Jerry Bob shows as non-pro, as well as team roping and horses for horse show events. We saw the mares and foals. Circle Bar Pistol was a son of Playgun, and his daughters were kept by Circle Bar Ranch as brood mares. Playgun won $196,000 years ago with Keeper as trainer. A son of Pepto Boomsell is the cur- rent stud. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEANBARTON Day Three brings visit to RA Brown Ranch Tri County Bee Notifica- tion service will offer Satur- day service starting Satur- day, July 16. Notifications on Satur- days are available only un- til 11 a.m., so be sure to call before 11 a.m. if you intend to spray. Saturday notification ser- vice will continue through September; call 934-6666. PESTICIDES BeenotificationbeginsSaturdayservice Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently signed a proclamation declaring Aug. 7-13 as National Farm- ers Market Week. This year marks the 17th annual National Farmers Market Week to honor and celebrate the important role that farmers markets play in local economies. "Farmers markets are an important part of strong lo- cal and regional food sys- tems that connect farmers with new customers and grow rural economies. In many areas, they are also expanding access to fresh, healthy food for people of all income levels," said Vilsack. "National Farmers Market Week recognizes the growth of these markets and their role in supporting both ur- banandruralcommunities." Throughout the week, USDA officials will celebrate at farmers market locations acrossthecountry.OnSatur- day, Aug. 6, Elanor Starmer, the Administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Ser- vice — which conducts re- search, provides techni- cal assistance, and awards grants to support local and regional food systems — will kick off the week visiting a farmers market and wrap up the week at USDA's own farmers market in Washing- ton, D.C., on Friday, Aug. 12. "Farmers markets are a gathering place where you can buy locally produced food, and at the same time, get to know the farmer and story behind the food you purchase," said Starmer. "These types of markets im- prove earning potential for farmers and ranchers, build- ing stronger community ties and access to local foods." To help farmers market managers across the coun- try promote and celebrate National Farmers Market Week, USDA is sharing on- line free farmers market re- lated graphics that market managers and others can use to customize posters, e-mails, websites and other promotional materials. The graphics, along with a short demonstration video, can be found at: www.ams.usda. gov/resources/NFMW. Over the course of the Obama Administration, USDA has invested close to $1 billion in 40,000 local food businesses and infra- structure projects. Farmers markets provide consumers with fresh, affordable, con- venient, and healthy prod- ucts from local producers. With support from USDA, more farmers markets of- fer customers the opportu- nity to make purchases with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; the Women, Infants, and Chil- drenNutritionProgram;and the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs. Supporting farmers mar- kets is a part of the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2) Initia- tive, which coordinates the Department's work to de- velop strong local and re- gionalfoodsystems.USDAis committed to helping farm- ers,ranchers,andbusinesses access the growing market for local and regional foods, which was valued at $12 bil- lion in 2014 according to in- dustry estimates. PROCLAMATION August 7-13 named National Farmers Market Week RUNNINGS ROOFING and CONSTRUCTION SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 No Money Down! 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