Epley’s honored with BBU’s 2010 Environmental Conservation Award

published: December 10th 2010
source: BBU

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Arthur “Bub” and Nancy Epley III, Rancho Tres Hijos, Tilden, Texas, received Beefmaster Breed-ers United’s 2010 Environ-mental Conservation A-ward at BBU’s 50th An-niversary Convention Oct. 28-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rancho Tres Hijos is a combination cattle and hunting ranch that began operations in 1995 in South Texas’ brush country. In 1997, the Epley’s became registered Beefmaster breeders with a cow/calf operation and now keep a closed herd of approximately 110 mother cows. All outside genetics are brought into the herd utilizing virgin bulls and an extensive AI program with carefully selected Beef-master sires. A quality cow herd was established by starting with heifers obtained from one of the oldest, closed Beefmaster hers in the brush country. Since then, the ranch has carefully selected the genetics and phenotype for a cow herd that can live in the harsh South Texas environment. The ranch uses one 75-day breeding interval per year with the breeding season beginning in February so that there are no births in the hot summer months. After a one-time AI, cows are placed in breeding traps with a herd bull and after 75 days have elapsed, all bulls are picked up and moved to a bull holding pasture. The cows are palpated about 120 days after the breeding season, and any open cows are eliminated from the herd. Ranch Tres Hijos has participated in BBU’s weights and measurements program for many years and now utilizing whole herd reporting. For the past three years, ultrasound has been used as a measurement tool. Rancho Tres Hijos is both a Brucellosis Free Herd and Tubercu-losis Free Herd. The Epley’s have built an outstanding cattle operation without sacrificing the native wildlife on their ranch. The ranch consists of a mixture of brush, cleared native grass and buffel grass pastures totaling about 3,400 acres. An active shredding program controls guajillo, a native grass, and other brush so the land can be utilized by both cattle and the native whitetail deer herd. The ranch is divided into 12 different pastures which are used to carry different classes of cattle and so that the pastures can be rotated. “The Epley family is very deserving of such a prestigious award,” stated Dr. Tommy Perkins, BBU Executive Vice President. “The Epley’s are not only great stewards of the land and water, but they are great friends of the Beefmaster breed.” For more information and results, please call the BBU office at 210/732-3132, or visit the Web site www.beefmasters.org.