Fall 2011 Show Success

It's been TOO long since I posted an update!  Hope everyone is having a great fall!  Fortunately we don't have any of the white stuff on the ground yet...but it can't be far off.  It's hard to believe that we'll be calving cows in less than a month!!! 

We've been busy hitting the show road watching our customers and sharing in their success.  Cattle sold by us were exhibited at World Beef Expo, Louisville and the Badger Kick-Off Classic.  Results are below:

Justin & Amanda Bacon of Arkansas with MCF S109 Pearl 10Y ET.  Named Calf Champion at the Louisville Jr. Show.  "Pearl" is a February daughter of GO 3196 Advance S109 out of our Online donor, RRR 122L Giselle 0408 ET.  See her in Denver.  CONGRATS!

Kendra Snyder of Illinois with MCF Enuff Envy 25X

"Envy" wrapped up a super show career by winning her class at the Louisville Jr. Show.  Kendra and "Envy" had a fun year and accomplished quite a bit!

• Lousiville Jr. Show Class Winner
• World Beef Expo Division Champion
• Midwest Regional Jr. Show Division Champion
• Reserve Champion Hereford Pioneer Showdown
• Undefeated Hereford Champion at 4 county fairs

CONGRATS to Kendra and her family!

Huisheere family of Wisconsin with
MCF L18 Last Call 45Y.  Class winner at the Badger Kick-Off Classic.

This May heifer is a L18 granddaughter that traces back to the Kella cow.

Look forward to following her in the coming year.  Congrats! 

Continued thanks to all of our customers!  Your success and satisfaction is what we strive for.  Let us know if we can be of any help.  Merry Christmas!

Exciting News!

We are very excited to announce that our lead herd sire, AA Airline 972 ET, was recently named the Northeast Region Show Bull of the Year!  Airline was Champion Bull at the 2010 Illinois State Fair, Reserve Grand Champion Bull at Keystone and Division Champion at Louisville.  His first set of calves were exactly what we expected and hoped for...stout, big bodied and sound...true cow prospects.  It's never too early to think about breeding season.  Semen is for sale at $35 per straw. 

AA Airline 972 ET

Online x Airwave

Owned with Thousand Hills Herefords and Able Acres



World Beef Expo Show Results

Catching up on old but exciting news.  World Beef Expo was the week before our sale and so I haven't had time to get pictures up.  We had a great weekend...no, a fantastic weekend!  Thanks to our partners and friends who helped make the weekend unforgetable!

PHH PCC 812 True Grit 002

Supreme Champion Bull

About Time x 417L x Boomerang

Owned with Pierce's Hereford Haven

Semen for sale $30

See him in Louisville & Denver

H GH Elegance 0111 ET

Champion Hereford Heifer

L18 x Paula

Owned with Lauren McMillan - Rustic Oaks Farm

Flush Inquiries Welcome

MCF Enuff Envy 25X

Division Champion

Owned by Kendra Snyder

Purchased from MCF

 MCF 19N Nitra 06Y ET

Reserve Calf Champion

Owned by Miranda Edenburn

Purchased in the Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale

Sale Wrap-Up

The 2nd Annual Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale is officially in the books, and what a weekend it was!  Awesome people and great weather helped make it a memorable weekend.   

We were thrilled with the turnout and interest that everyone showed in our program.  The bidding action was strong and sale results were the best we've experienced. 

Thank you to all who purchased cattle and a special thank you to all of the contending bidders!

All together, we sold:

11 heifers

5 steers

3 embryo packages

1 flush

2 semen packages 

Cattle are heading to great homes in 5 different states.  Full sale results can be found on the website,

mudcreekfarms.com

We can't forget to thank all the folks that had a hand in helping us get ready for the sale:

Linda G, Christy G and Grandma Gitz for the food preparation...I don't think anyone left with an empty stomach.  

Jake Snyder, Caleb Ahrens, Addison Storey and Cole Baker for all the clipping, washing, blowing and cattle prep.



Cassie Bacon, Rural Route Creations, for the photography, catalog and advertising.  http://www.ruralroutecreations.org/

Chad "Slurpy" Bicker for the crooked fences...

All of our sponsors including Farm Credit, VitaFerm, Purina Feeds, Hueber Feeds and Orangeville Animal Health Services.

And last but not least...Rick G for everything else in between!

We hope you can make it to the 3rd Annual Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale next year!



Crunch Time - Sale Week

Sale week is here!  Everything is coming together nicely for this weekend and we look forward to hosting everyone Saturday and Sunday for the 2nd Annual Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale.  The cattle look great and we are anxious to display the cattle.  There is definitely something for everyone, whether you are looking for next year's show heifer or steer prospect, your next foundation female or flush/embryo/semen packages.  Details and information on all sale lots can be found on our website, http://www.mudcreekfarms.com/

The past few days have been unbelievable for us as we had quite a bit of success at World Beef Expo and also received exciting news today from the AHA.   

- Friday began by earning Reserve Calf Champion with MCF 19N Nitra 06Y ET.  This heifer is Lot 1 in our sale this weekend!  
- Kendra Snyder exhibited MCF Enuff Envy 25X, a May yearling, and was Division Champion.  Congrats Kendra and family on doing a great job with Envy.  She was purchased in last year's Football Frenzy Bid-Off.  
- To top it off, our April heifer, H GH Elegance 0111 ET, was named Champion Heifer!  We own this female with the McMillan family, and Lauren did an outstanding job showing her all year!  A flush and embryo packages sell in our sale on her full sister, H GH Adin 9019 ET.

Our great day continued in the bull show as PHH PCC 812 True Grit 002 was named Champion Hereford.  On Saturday evening he was named Supreme Champion Bull.  What a thrill for us and the Pierce family!  Great job to Travis and his crew!  A semen package sells on Grit in the sale this weekend.

Today we received a letter from the AHA informing us that AA Airline 972 ET, our senior herd sire, had been named the Northeast Region Show Bull of the Year.  A semen pacakge sells on Airline this weekend in the sale.  Needless to say, the past few days have been incredibly memorable!!!  Thanks to everyone who complimented and congratulated us!

Short video of the Supreme Champion Bull Drive at World Beef Expo

Peyton was anxious to drink from the big trophy cup!

More Sale Updates

Less than 3 weeks away from our 2nd Annual Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale.  The cattle are really turning it on and are looking great.  It's very cliche to say, but we feel this is the best set we've had to date.  From top to bottom there is quality for everyone to sort through. 

If you can't make it to the sale October 1st and 2nd, but would like to view the cattle...we would love to show them to you.  If you are in the area for DelHawk or Lowderman's sale this weekend please stop by, we are not far from them.  Call Andrew @ 815-238-2381 to set up an appointment. 

SALE FEATURE:  Not only are we excited to sell our heifers and steers, but we are equally thrilled to expand our offering this year to include flushes and embryo packages on two of our lead donors, Kella and Adin.  This is a great opportunity to build your herd from the ground up with proven and exciting females.  You have the chance to buy a flush on both and breed them to the bull of your choice.  Flush details on the website. http://www.mudcreekfarms.com/    

Purple Lagrand Kella 19N
Masterkey x 19D
(pictured at 8 years)

3 grade 1 embryos
TH JWR SOP 16G 57G Tundra 63N x Kella

Embryo Floor Price: $500
Flush Floor Price: $3,000

H GH Adin 9019 ET
L18 x Paula
(pictured as a yearling)

4 grade 1 embryos
Remitall Online 122L x Adin

3 grade 1 embryos
MSU TCF Titleist 2T ET x Adin

Embryo Floor Price: $500 
Flush Floor Price: $3,000


H GH Belvakay 9014 ET
(pictured at left)
Full sister to Adin & National Champion

H GH Elegance 0111 ET
(pictured at left)

Full sister to Adin and owned by Mud Creek Farms and Rustic Oaks Farm.  Shown by Lauren McMillan in 2011.

Sale Pictures!

All of our sale pictures are done and will be up on the website tonight!  Catalogs go out in the mail the end of this week.  Email me your mailing address to make sure you get one! garnhart@gmail.com

Here is a sneek peak at this year's sale offering...

Lot 1 - MCF 19N Nitra 06Y ET - January Nitro x Kella

Lot 3 - MCF 122L 19N Kandy 27Y ET - March Online x Kella

Lot 7 - MCF S109 Pearl 10Y ET - February S109 x Giselle (Online donor)

Sale time is approaching

One of my greatest sports memories was back in the mid-90's when Michael Jordan announced he was coming out of retirement.  For all of us Bulls fans, it was like Christmas had come early.  He put everyone on notice with two simple words..."I'm back".  Well, today I feel like MJ saying the same thing..."I'm back"...to updating the blog.  I took a short two month sabatical from the blog...not intentionally...just so much going on at Mud Creek Farms this summer.  Our 2nd Annual Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale is right around the corner so I will be updating this more frequently to keep everyone up to speed on the latest happenings.

First things first.  I need to ask everyone to keep my great friend, Mike Deppert, in their prayers.  Mike was in a serious car accident a couple weeks ago and is currently in the hospital in Peoria.  He's making improvements everyday, but has a long ways to go.  It sounds like we might have turned him into a Cubs fan during the process (for better or worse), and even though he loves the wrong breed of cattle, we still love him.  Get better bud! 

Back to the cattle...what a summer!  We've been all over the midwest to a number of shows watching our customers and friends.  All together we hit Junior nationals in Kansas City, Illinois Preview Show, Midwest Junior Regional, State Fair and numerous county fairs.  A number of our customers had a lot of success this summer.  Kendra Snyder's heifer won her division at the Midwest Junior Regional, Reserve Champion Hereford at the Pioneer Showdown and is undefeated at 4 county fairs.  Look for her at World Beef Expo.  Great job Kendra!   

Chad Frost had a great summer with MCF Nitra 9X.  His heifer won Champion Hereford at the Pioneer Showdown and was Supreme Champion Heifer at his Section FFA Show.  (Two full sisters sell in this years sale).  I don't have a picture of her from this summer, but here is her class winning picture from Badger Kick-Off last December -

CJ and Chapin Sweatman were repeat customers last year and continue to improve their showing skills every time out!  They didn't get to show their heifers as much this summer but sure had them looking nice!

This year's sale is rounding into shape, and we pictured/videoed all sale cattle yesterday.  That's always such a relief to have that done.  It always helps to have great help (and a lot of it).  Thanks to Cassie Bacon for her outstanding photography work, Jake Snyder and Addison Storey for their clipping skills, and Dan Irwin for his picture pen cattle moving ability!  Last but not least, thanks to mom and dad Garnhart for all their work washing, rinsing and dragging cattle around! 

I am real excited to share the pictures with everyone in the next week or so.  It seems cliche to say, but I think this is our best set of heifers and steers yet!  The depth of the heifer quality is exciting, and we will be able to meet your needs whether you are looking for a top-notch show heifer prospect or a female that will be a building block for your cowherd.  Last year we sold cattle in all price ranges, and we are confident we can meet your budget.  

This year we will be printing a sale catalog.  Forward me your email address and mailing address so I can make sure to get you a copy.     garnhart@gmail.com 

That's all for now.  If only I could have played ball like MJ...

AG

Multi-Tasking...

Multi-tasking.  That seems to be the word of the day (or the month) around MCF.  May and June always seem to be one of the busiest times of year around the farm as we wrap up calving and spring planting.  Now it's on to hay making, show season and the Football Frenzy sale preparation.

Travis Pierce and I were able to sneak away over Memorial Day weekend for a 3 day cattle tour in Indiana.  What a blast!  Going from farm to farm looking at cows and calves probably isn't the most desirable vacation for the average person, but for cattle junkies nothing is better.  We had the pleasure of viewing cattle at 8 different operations and saw a lot of quality cattle.  Thanks to Albin Farms, Lorenzen Farms, Beck-Powell Herefords, Kottkamp Herefords, Ramsey Herefords, Showtime Cattle Company, Miller Herefords and Able Acres.

The summer show season kicks off in the next week as we head to the Illinois Junior Preview in Salem, IL.  Good luck to all of our customers showing there.  The following weekend we will be in Monroe, WI for the Regional Junior Preview and then Junior Nationals in Kansas City.

It's hard to believe that our 2nd annual fall sale is only 4 months away! We're going to have a nice set of heifers and steers for everyone to evaluate and select from.  The plan is to get some pictures up on the blog and website as the month progresses.  Thanks to all the visitors that have already stopped by.  There's nothing better than walking the pastures and showing off our herd.

Last, but not least, thanks to everyone that participated in our "contest" on the last blog post.  We had a great response with people signing up to follow the blog.  Hats are going out to Cole Baker, Cassie Bacon and BJ Jones for being the fist few to sign up.

For more information on our operation please visit http://www.mudcreekfarms.com/

Thanks and talk to you soon.
AG

Big Milestone at MCF!

We reached a historic milestone here at MCF during the past few days.  We now have 1 follower on the blog! LOL!  At least I know one person is reading this!  Now that one person broke the ice and jumped on board, let's see how many more readers can become followers.  To give a small incentive, I will send a new MCF hat to the next two people that become followers of the blog!  Shoot me an email after you join and let me know your address.  Who says nothing in life is free?

Lot's going on around the farm lately.  Just wrapping up calving season, and we have continued our run of heifer calves!  To date, we've had 26 out of 40 total calves!  Unbelievable...most years I'm griping that we have too many bulls!

The Airline calves continue to impress as they look to have the power and depth of body that he has.  Our ET's out of Nitro x Kella and S109 x Giselle look to have the style and balance that we expected.  Some of the April and May calves are sired by RRR L18 Surrender 914 ET, a horned L18 son out of River Ridge's donor Molly.  The calves are coming out horned and polled and talk about style!  We are excited to show these calves off to visitors. 

Breeding season continues in full force with another group of ET recips coming up next week.  Going to be flushing H GH Adin 9019 ET at the same time.  She is an L18 out of Paula and is a full sister to the many-times champion, Belvakay.  Expecting big things out of her.  This year we are AI'ing to Airline, Bailout, Shock-N-Awe, Authentic and True Grit.  Airline and Grit will clean everything up. 

We will be on the road this summer to hit a number of shows where we will be helping our customers get cattle ready for the showring.  As of right now we are planning to hit the Illinois Junior Preview Show, Wisconsin Jr. Regional, Junior Nat'l, Illinois State Fair and a bunch of county fairs.  Looking forward to watching our customers lead MCF cattle into the ring...best of luck! 

Plans are underway for our 2nd Annual Football Frenzy Bid-Off Sale, which will again be held on October 1st and 2nd.  We will again be selling our top show heifer and steer prospects along with a few other lots.  More info in the coming months. 

Going to wrap this up...had a lot to write about today!  As always, call or email if you want to talk cattle!

AG

Spring is coming...right?

Spring will be here eventually...at least we hope so!  Lots of rain in northern Illinois over the past week and it sounds like more is in store for the coming week.  Not much corn (if any) has been planted.

Lots of things happening around the farm.  Wrapping up calving here the end of April and into the first part of May.  The Jan/Feb. calves are really starting to take off.  Breeding season is in full swing as well, and our first round of embryos went in this last week. If you are still deciding which bulls to use this spring, give the MCF bull lineup consideration. We have semen available on Airline, the 2010 Res. Grand Champion at Keystone.  We also have a limited amount of semen on our newest herdsire, True Grit.  He is an About Time son out of a 417L daughter.  Lots of maternal, style and low birth weight!

Best of luck to all of our customers as the 2011 show season begins to pick up.  We are planning to be up at Lancaster next weekend for their jackpot show.  This year the Wisconsin Hereford Association is sponsoring a regional junior show in Monroe.  That is only 40 minutes north of the farm, so if you are making the trip to the show please plan to stop by!

Last, but not least, Happy Easter to everyone!

AG

2011 Calves

Hey everyone! Follow what is going on at Mud Creek Farms with our new Blog. I will update this periodically with news and important info.  As always you can visit our website at http://www.mudcreekfarms.com/ for information about our Hereford operation. 

2011 spring calving is going well! Approximately 30 calves are on the ground as of 4/15 and we are excited about the matings.  The Airline calves look good...very stout and should be deep bodied, easy fleshing cattle. 

We are really excited about the matings on the ground by our two main donors, Kella and Giselle.  As of today we have 7 calves out of Kella: 4 out of Nitro, 2 out of Online and her natural calf sired by Airline.  We have two heifer calves out of Giselle and S109, a horned bull that came from Oschner's...talk about style!

Going to wrap up this innaugural blog post...anxious to get your thoughts on it!  Call or email anytime to talk cattle! 

Andrew
garnhart@gmail.com