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President: Ryan Lundberg (306) 295-7999Secretary: Carolyn McCormack (306) 697-2945Box 591 Grenfell, SK S0G [email protected]
2015 SSA Commercial Breeder of the Year Dave & Crystal Raymond & Family, Alan & Elva Raymond receiving their farm sign from SSA Pres. Ryan Lundberg at Agribition
WIN a $2000 Bull Sale Credit!
Buy a bull from any current Saskatchewan member, transfer the papers and your name will be auto-matically entered for a $2000 sale credit to be used to purchase a bull or female from a currrent Saskatchewan
member. Draw will be made in July 2016.This program is sponsored by the
Saskatchewan Simmental Association.
Upcoming sales listing on:www.sasksimmental.com
SaskatchewanSimmental Association
Simmental GeneticS excel in the Fall commercial ShowS & SaleS!Congratulations to all exhibitors of Simmental influenced cattle at Edam Fall Fair, Yorkton
Harvest Showdown and Canadian Western Agribition on strong shows & sales last fall!
Congratulations to Raymond Land & Cattle!Dave and Crystal Raymond own and operate Raymond Land & Cattle Ltd located 10 miles south of Aneroid, Sk along with their 3 young children Tristen, Brooke & Owen and Dave’s parents Alan and Elva Raymond. The operation is a 6th generation family farm that be-gan in 1907. With a long history of raising livestock, Dave’s grandfather made his mark in the industry in the 60’s with Horned Herefords. Today the operation has grown to 20, 500 acres; 7000 acres is farmed for cash crops and feed while the remaining land base is grown for hay and houses nearly 900 breeding cows and 350 open replacements.
Alan and Dave began raising and selling commercial bred heifers in 1995. They were not afraid to cross breed using continental cattle in an area of predominately British origin. They quickly discovered cross breeding improved productivity in the calves they were weaning off of a largely Hereford based cowherd. Hybrid Bulls consisting of 3/8 Sim-mental and 5/8 Red Angus were purchased in an attempt to acquire all of the desired characteristics that each breed could contribute to the calf crop. Dave knew his cow herd well from a young age and it didn’t take him long to realize the inconsistency the hybrid bulls were creating.
In 2006 Dave married Crystal Blake of Wood River Charolais at McCord, Sk. Together, they strategized over the perfect cowherd, and while they both believe they are still not quite there, they have progressed considerably. In 2005 they started seeking easy keeping registered purebred Simmental bulls to use on their commercial cows with now a largely Red Angus base. Currently they are backgrounding 875 calves that need to prove themselves as both breeding females for their annual Bred Heifer Sale that takes place the first week of December and as finished steers. Calving of the Cowherd takes place in late March and early April on open pasture. These cows have little to no problem calving out on their own. Cow calf pairs are then grazed on summer pastures and are weaned in late October then backgrounded to the following March. This March a handful of these steers were taken to finish due to their impressive size and rate of gain.
Production is not the single most important trait they are looking for though. With females raised to be sold as bred heifers, it’s equally important to have easy keeping females with fantastic udders, good feet, and the eye appeal to boot. Dave and Crystal have been taking bred heifers to Agribition since 2009. In 2014 they took home the banner for the Champion Pen of 5 Commercial Bred Heifers and sold that group for $3550 a piece. They couldn’t have been happier with the success that they have had the last few years.
