The summer is in full swing!  It is reaching 106 here in the valley and we are sure the cows are happy to be up in the mountains.  Our 2nd cutting is down and coming back up so that is keeping the “boys” busy.  The next generation of Vejraska’s (Kelsey, Kacie and Kady) are busy getting ready for the Washington Jr. Angus Show being held in Moses Lake the weekend of the 25th.  The girls are pretty excited but I am not sure about the 3 steers, 3 heifers, a cow/calf pair.  However, they are all ready to go.

Well it is that time again.  We are calving in the Sunny Okanogan.  All but 3 cows are home and the calves are coming fast.  We have had 3 sets of twins in the past week, there seems to be a pattern here!  This time of year may be our busiest as we are working on the bull sale for March and also in the heat of calving the registered herd of cows.   But that could be said about every season and every change.  Todd and Scott often comment about being behind and it seems as soon as we catch up there is another season or another thing that needs to be done.   It is a rewarding life and one we enjoy even on those tough days.

Well the sale is over!  Todd, Scott and Craig are busy delivering bulls and planning for breeding as well as branding.  It amazes me each time the calendar flips over and another month has passed.  How the time ticks away.  The kids are growing and become more of a help each day.  We rely on their help and enjoy all the time we spend together.  Todd is working hard at picking the bulls for this season of breeding.  As everyone knows there is a bunch of work that goes into just that one day sale.  Please call us with any questions or concerns.  The guys are always happy to help market your calves and answer questions.  The bulls will be delivered over the next month so be expecting a call from them to arrange delivery.

Thank you Pooty Dagnon for spending the day with us taking photo’s for the catalog.  It was a beautiful sunny day in our valley and we felt so very blessed to be able to spend it outside with a good friend getting some important steps completed.  The catalog will go to press by this Friday so look for it in your mail box within a week.  If you need a copy please email us and we will get one right out to you.

The calves are coming and we are finally cold enough to get out of the mud.  The Cows are doing their jobs, having calves with little to no assistance and keeping track of the babies.  It always brings a smile to your face when you get to see the little scamps out playing.  We shipped our commercial calves this past week and were satisfied with the sale.  The calves looked good and are probably happy to be headed someplace warmer.  Fair steers were chosen and will be seperated out later in the year.  As I work on the sale catalog I am reminded how quickly our year went and that we are already into 2013.  The temperatures have been staying very cold and while we like the solid ground the spring will be here before we are ready.  Mark your calendars for the bull sale, March 14th.  Catalogs will be shipped in a few weeks!

Well Summer flew by with a steer show and the Okanogan County Fair.  We just found out tonight that one of the steers we raise here for our kids plus a few extra’s won the carcass contest over about 60 steers here in Okanogan County, Congratulations Jeremy!  During the summer that was full of kids and steers, Todd, Scott and Craig were staying busy putting up hay, straw and corn silage in order to be ready for a Winter that seems determined to get here early.  We are officially at the end of November and wish we had a few extra weeks to go. The calves are all weaned and the cows are out of the mountians.  It seems to me we blinked and now the snow will begin.  The rain has been un-relenting and we seem to be knee deep in mud.  It is all Todd and Scott can do to keep up with the mucky mess here at the feed-lot.   Christmas is just around the corner and we are starting to lookforward to calves come January.  Hope this finds everyone in good health and settling for the cold months to come.

So excited to share that we placed 1st place at the Midland Bull Test.  We took 10 bulls, 5 Basin Payweights and 5 Rathbun Roadboss’ to see how we could do on the individual and sire groups.  One of our Payweights took the individual honors in group 2 ADG.  For the sire group competition ADG, we placed 2nd with the Payweight sire group and 5th for the Roadboss sire group. And yep, there were more placings!  In the WDA category we placed 2nd with a Payweight and 3rd with a Roadboss.   We are excited to take the girls over for the big sale to enjoy a Montana spring and bull sale.  All three girls have been ready to pack for a week, we waited to let them know so we could stand the wait!

Another year is done!  We would like to thank all our Buyers for a great sale.  Sunny Okanogan Angus strives to make your calf crop have the highest returns and best uniformity.  We stand behind our product and are always available to answer questions.

Sale Summary~

84 head sold with an average sales price of $3,510.00

High selling Bulls~

$7,100.00 Lot 58 ~ Gebbers Cattle Company, Brewster WA

$5,900.00 Lot 31 ~ Flying W Farms, Mesa WA

$5,750.00 Lot 71 ~ Chewilken Valley Ranch, Riverside WA ~ Top Volume Bull Buyer with 9 bulls headed his way

$5,750.00 Lot 15 ~ Flying W Farms, Mesa WA

$5,250.00 Lot 90 ~ Treiber Farms, Ephrata WA

$5,200.00 Lot 47 ~  Whitestone Cattle Company, Tonasket WA

$5,200.00 Lot 70 ~ Darcy Jackson, Tonasket WA

$5,000.00 Lot 42 ~ Ray Dagnon, Loomis WA

$4,900.00 Lot 11 ~ Gene Nicholson, Moses Lake WA

$4,900.00 Lot 75 ~  Wade King, Coulee City WA

The news is not over!  On March 7th we hosted an FFA Judging Competition sponsored by Cattle Producers of Washington.  There were 110 competitors in attendance from around Washington.  We had 7 Teams (Tonasket 1st place, Manson 2nd place, Cashmere 3rd place, Okanogan, Chelan, Bridgeport, Omak) join us to judge 2 pens of bulls, 2 pens of heifers and a pen of fair steers.  Awards were given for teams as well as individuals.  Tonasket took the Team competition for the 3rd year in a row with a Tonasket Student taking the individual Buckle home.