The mission of 4K Land and Cattle Company is to raise a quality set of calves that will meet the markets’ expectations from year to year, while acting as positive stewards of our land and natural resources. Management strives to accomplish this by running a quality set of mother cows. The cowherd is predominately composed of Angus and Brangus cows. Angus and Brangus bulls naturally service these cowherds. The calf crop is predominately black hided. Calves are either sold straight off the cows at weaning, or depending on market conditions, the ranch may wean and background the calves. Afterward, they are placed on native and introduced grasses for additional gain, or are sold, typically by private contract.
The ranch uses aggressive vet/med programs to keep the cattle herd healthy. Calves are given a blackleg vaccination and an upper respiratory vaccination at the initial working. If the management weans the calves on the ranch, they are given another blackleg as well as another upper respiratory vaccination. At this time they will also receive a shipping fever vaccination. Cows receive an upper respiratory vaccination every year and are regularly treated for internal and external parasites.
The managers use a Merrill Rotation system across the ranch. Using a rotation allows the ranch to get better utilization of the forage in our pastures, in addition to preventing threats to the native grasses, such as spot grazing – typical in continuous grazing systems. By rotating the cattle, we also find that the cows are easier to gather when it’s time to work the calves. This helps reduce some of the stress in gathering and working, which improves productivity.
