Today, Solid Ground Farms produces 200
Angus-based commercial calves, 40 registered
Angus calves, and 10 Wagyu calves yearly. “We
sell the pre-conditioned commercial calves to
different feedlots throughout the U.S.,” said
Kirk, “and registered Angus calves to private
treaty or keep them for replacement heifers. The
bulls and Wagyu calves are sold to individuals
for butcher beef.” (“Preconditioned” are calves
that have been weaned for 60 days, received all
vaccines twice, been dewormed, and are “bunk
broke” meaning they eat from a trough.)
Seated in front of his computer, Kirk
pointed to a complex list of percentages and
calculations. “These are all my registered cattle.
This tells me the bloodline and EPD percentiles.”
EPD, he explained, stands for Expected Progeny
Data or Differences. Pointing out one entry in
particular, he said, “She's in the 20th percentile
in docility. I’d like her to be more toward the
5-percentile, so maybe I’ll breed her with this
bull,” he said pointing to the low docility EPD
number of one of his best bulls.
“For everything there is a season,” wrote
wise King Solomon, and never were truer
words spoken than when it comes to raising
livestock. In order to determine the best time to
sell at market, Kirk studies the CME (Chicago
Mercantile Exchange) Feeder Cattle Index like
a Wall Street investor. “A cow’s gestation period
is nine months, so I had to look two years
down the road. We chose to breed our cows the
first week of December, so they will calf the
first week of September. I have until the first
Thursday in August, about 340 days, to get my
calves up to 650 to 700 pounds, which means
I will work every single day of the year for that
one sale day.”
Buyers start calling with bids about a week
before the official day of sale. “I sell through a
company called Hodge Livestock Network out
of Tennessee,” said Kirk. “My broker, Romain
Cartee, takes pictures and videos of my calves
and posts them online so buyers can see what
they’re bidding on, and the pictures go in a
catalog that goes out to about 500 buyers
throughout the whole country. When I first
started doing this, I thought I needed to get in
with one feedlot that would buy my commercial
calves every year. But my broker said, ‘You don’t
want to restrict yourself to a contract with one
buyer. You want all the feedlots bidding on
BOTTOM There is nothing better than a good steak cooked on an open flame by a pro. Kirk, Lisa and friends
share a meal prepared chuckwagon-style by Troy and Cindy Reddick of Skillet & Spurs Chuckwagon. On the
menu: peppercorn crusted filets with a bourbon cream sauce. (Facebook/Skillet & Spurs)
54 TOOMBS COUNTY MAGAZINE