With Thanks

How do you thank someone who has done so much?

Lance Carter came to Gizmo Angus Farm on November 1, 2002. We called it a farm, but in reality, it wasn’t. We had 100 head of bred heifers. There were no working pens. When it came to doing anything that required a working pen, we improvised. It wasn’t pretty and it sure wasn’t fun. To add to that, all of the fences that were supposed to be erect, weren’t. None of this frightened Lance. I wish I had pictures from the beginning because it’s hard to explain how much work has been accomplished since Lance came to Gizmo.

In the years since Lance has been working with us, we have all worked hard, but Lance has been the backbone of the operation as well as Ronnie’s right hand. If you saw the before and after pictures, you would see the story of a man who worked hard every day and one who helped turn a farm in need to one to be proud of. What never shows in a photo is the heart of a man, his dedication, and the love for what he does. These things are there in everything Lance touched – the fence, the pens, the barns, the animals, and most of all in the hearts of Ronnie and I who will forever be thankful for Lance and all he has done for us and Gizmo Angus Farm.

Enjoy your retirement but remember, the coffee pot is always on, there’s an empty chair on the porch waiting, and it might be nice to sit with friends and enjoy what you helped build.

2012 Florida Bull Test

Wow it is hard to believe that it is already time to deliver bulls to Marianna for the 2012 bull test.  They have a record number of bulls consigned this year so come sale day buyers should have a really nice set to select from. 

Last year we consigned three young bulls two of these were out of our senior herd sire Coleman EXT 6149 and one was an AI sired calf.  Out of the 63 calves entered into the test our calves placed 20^th (6149 calf), 27^th (HA Image Maker 0415 calf) and 39^th (6149 calf).  We don’t enter the calves with the expectation of winning; we breed for balance not explosive growth so we probably will never have the lead off bull in one of these sales.  For us the bull test is about the information that is gathered on the animals.  Learning how our calves perform against other animals from other progressive breeding programs is a valuable tool to have in the tool box. 

This year we are only sending two young bulls both out of our junior herd sire Sinclair Rito 9R9.  This is a young bull that we have been really excited about.   The two calves we have selected to send are:

Sinclair Rito 9R9 Sire of 1106 & 1136

Gizmo Rito 1106 S023 9R9 Registration #17226615 this young bull has an impressive pedigree his dam is out of a full sister to Morgan’s Direction a bullet proof calving ease bull and a bull that was in the top 10% of the breed for REA.  His sire Sinclair Rito 9R9 was a stand out in the Sinclair program and is a grandson of the breed legend Rito 707.

The second bull is:

Gizmo Rito 1136 717 9R9 Registration #17227360 this is another young bull with a royal pedigree his sire is out of Rito Revolve OR5 a very impressive son of 707.  This calf’s young dam has been a standout since birth in the Gizmo program.  She is out of BC Matrix and Gizmo Pride 314 which was the natural daughter of our donor cow Finks Pride 6211. 

The test schedule is:

Nomination deadline – June 15, 2012

Delivery Date – July 31, 2012

Test begins (initial weights) – August 21 & 22, 2012

28 - day weight – September 19, 2012

56 - day weight – October 16 and 17, 2012

84 - day weight - November 14, 2012

Test ends (final weights) - December 11 and 12, 2012

Bull Test Sale -January 19, 2013

Results will be posted on the Florida Bull Test site after each weigh in.

Reason for Missing LIsts!

      When it comes to writing our blog I have been seriously slacking.  I started the year with a plan to write a list blog each month.  Well I made a list in January, February and March.  I swear I don’t know what happened in April.  Ronnie was the sale chairman for the Florida Angus Association sale and that kept us really busy.  The sale was April 28^th so I am going to blame the lack of an April blog on that.

      May is the month our lives really changed to help you understand why I will need to provide some history.  We moved my Mother out to the farm eight years ago, her vision was failing due to macular degeneration, and the doctor said it was only a matter of time before she would not be able to see well enough to drive.  The move to the farm was a difficult one for her giving up the home she and my dad had built together over 40 years ago.  Our first idea was to build on to our house, but Mom would not hear of it, she said she I am 83 years old and won’t be here much longer and I don’t want you to have all that house to take care of when I am gone.  Our next idea was a mobile home, when I mentioned that to her she said she was going to be in a box soon enough and she didn’t want to start now.  I asked her when was the last time you looked at mobile homes she said oh maybe 50 years or so.  I was finally able to convince her to look at mobile homes; she was amazed at how much they had changed in just 50 years!  She found a home she just loved and she agreed to the move to the country.  We carved a spot out of one of the cow pastures and she got such a kick out of telling her friends that we had put her out to pasture.  When folks would say oh no not really she would chuckle and say I mean literally I am in the middle of a cow pasture I have cows on three sides of me!  I have to tell you moving Mom out to the farm were one of the most stressful times of my life, I was so afraid that she wasn’t going to be happy and she would regret the move.  One of my fondness memories was the day that she told me she only had one regret about moving to the farm, and that was that she had not done it sooner.  Well back to May, the doctor had been correct mother’s eyesight did get much worse she lost the ability to drive within six months of moving to the farm.  The family managed to get her to doctor’s appointments and her social activities for the next four and a half years.  Unfortunately not only her eyesight but her overall health was failing and she was no longer able to be by herself that was when our sweet angel Tammy came into the family.  Tammy was her companion and caregiver for the last four years.  The 4^th day of May Tammy had a stroke, we thank God that she is recovering but complete recovery will take time.  Three weeks after Tammy’s stroke Mother was admitted to the hospital and passed away on June 18^th.  Needless to say May and June were not good months for us here at Gizmo , I have almost made it through the month of July and really don’t know how.  Mother was such a hoot, she always had a smile.  She raised us to have a deep faith her favorite saying was “God won’t bring you to it without getting you through it” so I know that God will get us through this very sad time in our lives.  As I have said mother lost her ability to read some years ago but she always had me read my latest blog to her, I think that is one of the main reasons I haven’t been able to get this chore done.  I guess I don’t have to read it to her anymore where she is her vision is 20/20!