Agricultural News
Travis Sherfick of Kan. Says When It Comes to Growing Top Quality Angus Beef Never Limit Yourself
Mon, 27 Nov 2017 12:24:56 CST
Travis Sherfick was a paperboy in the late 1990s before earning a reputation for mowing lawns in his northwestern Kansas town. That led to jobs, on farms, with COWS-he dreamed of having his own for years, until a neighbor offered the chance to take over through a lease.
"Once I did have my own, I wanted to take and do as much as possible to make it the best that I possibly can today," Sherfick said. "That's probably what's driven me the most is, is somebody at that young of age, when somebody will give you something of that size and let you take over for them, you want to do as good as possible with it to be able to show people that you can have a lot of responsibility dumped on your shoulders and hopefully you'll be okay with it and grow with it, and that's exactly what I'm trying to do."
To watch a video clip featuring Travis Sherfick, a young commercial Angus cattleman from WaKeeney, Kansas, talk about lessons learned and an attitude to keep pushing for better, click or tap the PLAYBOX in the window below.
It helped that the Angus cows were already high quality, but Sherfick moved ahead by using artificial insemination, or A.I. to the best Angus bulls.
"That was one thing as soon as I decided that I wanted to get into the carcass side of cattle, and just get into good genetics of cattle period, was A-I-ing was one thing that was going to have to get me there," Sherfick remarked. "As a commercial producer, people can't afford to go out and buy two hundred-thousand-dollar bulls just to go throw in a pasture to try to get the best quality you can. The best possible thing anybody can do is to get into A-I."
The first calf crop from that beat 100% Choice, with 62% for the Certified Angus Beef brand, including 34% Prime. That's OK as a place to start, the young producer says.
"We never can be happy with the genetics that we have," he said. "There's always something new and better out there, and... Being able to supply the world with as good a quality beef as possible, that's what we're trying to do by finishing our own calves and hit primes and high choices and do all that kind of good things."
Lessons learned through hard work and focus, Sherfick seeks wisdom from older generations.
"My dad always taught me in life to 'never do anything just halfway, always do anything to full, otherwise don't do it at all', is what I was always taught in life," Sherfick explained. "So, me taking off in the cattle business I want to try and do as best as possible to supply the world with the best beef as possible.
"As long as you don't want to quit, you'll learn every day of your life. So that's what I hope to do. I hope I'm never fully satisfied with what I have. I hope I never am, because that's what's gonna keep driving me to move forward with the genetics and cattle."
Some say the sky's the limit-but is it really just a window to limitless opportunities?
Source - Certified Angus Beef
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