A bright sun was peeking out last week on a cool morning with temps in the 20s but no snow on the ground as the Dolls put out bedding for their bulls.
Charles, David and Harlan Doll, who operate Doll Charolais and Simmental Ranch, lay out bedding for the bulls every three days, but it is nothing like last year at this time.
David said they’ve only used 10-15 percent of the bedding they had used at this time a year ago when 20-30 inches of snow had already fallen in the region, making cattle chores difficult.
There’s been only a dusting of snow so far this year, and producers are looking forward to a clear forecast for the next 10 days.
Bedding is a project that used to take two men and last an hour and a half.
“Now I can do it myself in 10 minutes,” said Harlan.
Harlan drove the bale processor which the Dolls purchased last year, and picked up a bale of straw and then distributed it evenly across the feed yard.
The bulls came running to the fresh bedding, laying soft, thick and even. They enjoyed nuzzling in it – and so did the farm dogs.
David said they bale both straw for bedding and hay for feed in the summer and store it for future use.
The North Dakota Simmental Association’s state sale, which the Dolls had bred heifers in, was a success last weekend at Farmer’s Livestock Exchange in Bismarck.
Charles said producers from states as far away as Nebraska and Wisconsin consigned bred heifers in the sale.
David added it was a “really good sale” with the average sales price being $3,400 on the bred heifers, and $2,900 on the open heifers.
During the sale, some of the Doll kids, Hailie, Krysten, Katie and Jacie, stood in the ring with the heifer donated by Joseph and Helen Doll, longtime members of the North Dakota Simmental Association.
“They were really proud of being able to donate a heifer to an association that they have been members of for many years,” David said.
The week before, the Dolls trailed the last of their cows home, then sorted and worked the cows the same day with a Scour Guard injection, and another dose of Ivomec.
The cows were out grazing stalks and grass in two groups across the road from farm headquarters. They have a nice open creek running through the fields bringing them fresh water daily.
“The creek hasn’t iced up at all,” David said.
A few shiny-coated cows were in a separate pen and eating a higher ration. Harlan said these were the cows they flushed for embryos, and they are fed extra mineral. They had 20 embryos flushed out of two cows and 10 out of another.
He added they decide which cows should be flushed based on if they are consistently having a nice calf year and have good mothering EPDs such as milking, good birth, weaning and yearling weights and they also check the carcass data, too.
The Dolls also went through their bulls a final time, making cuts, and castrating the cuts as steers.
They finished weighing the bulls in their sale and the heifers they are retaining. Charles likes to wait until he has the final 365 day weight to add to the other information, before he registers the animals. That way the data is complete.
“The bulls are averaging 3.8 pounds a day. They are gaining really well,” Charles said.
Meanwhile, their trainee from Brazil, Durval Neto, left to return home after nine months with the Dolls. It is an exchange program through the government that the Dolls have participated in before.
They had a cattle buyer from Minnesota come out looking for quality calves, and the Dolls took him around to some of their customers. Some weren’t ready to sell until after the first of the year, so he may come back then.
The brothers have been holding on to their grain and hoping the wheat market has a sustained rally soon. Harlan said it has been up some for six days in a row, but David said it seems to go up in a lot slower increments than it comes down.
Harlan added he is starting to look at rotations for next spring, and seed. He sent a sample of wheat in to get the germination level and see if it is high quality enough to use next spring. They will probably plant the same crops next year: wheat, barley, flax, corn and sunflowers.
The Dolls are also doing some end-of-the-year paperwork, and went over some numbers with their tax accountant.
David added, “After the first of the year, we will also start marketing our feeder calves.”
Harlan said they have had some people come out to the ranch and look at the bulls that will be in their March production sale.
“It is nice for us, too, because we like to visit with them one-on-one, and can spend more time that way,” he said.
David agreed. “We enjoy visiting with them and spending the time with them. On sale day, it get pretty hectic, and you don’t always get to visit as long as you’d like,” he said.
Charles added they will have about 80 Charolais and 50 Simmental bulls in their March sale.
They are beginning to send out some photos and advertisements to different magazines for the upcoming sale.
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