About 20 bulls are chosen for development at home. She says she hasn't identified the ideal ration yet, but the mix of corn silage, ground milo and protein pellets is working well. Shooting for 3 pounds of gain and plenty of skeletal growth, Marian says the bulls will weigh 1,200 pounds or so by April and May when most of their private treaty sales take place. Replacement heifers are grown on a similar ration and usually weigh close to 1,000 pounds by breeding season. Encouraging feedback from bull customers and the performance of their own fed cattle indicate that Zanobia selection criteria are on target.
Performance heads the list, followed closely by maternal strength.
Disposition is important too, since Marian often handles the cattle alone. She says Hi Spade and Valedictorian are two prominent bloodlines that really seem to fill the bill. In fact, their main herd sire is Hoff Dakota, a Valedictorian son. This cattlewoman is careful not to discount the importance of easy-keeping, good producing females, but she is determinedly focused on how their calves do in the feedlot and beyond. With the same genetics at work, the commercial herd tests the Zanobia selection process through retained ownership of the calves.