Our Program
At Huth Polled Herefords, We’ve Been Producing Excellent Cattle in East Central Wisconsin for Over 60 Years
Huth Polled Herefords is a family-owned seedstock producer and beef cow-calf operation that’s been raising cattle since 1962.
Over the years, we’ve maintained an established herd of high-quality Hereford cattle that our commercial customers know they can depend on. We provide genetics and cattle to local and national cow-calf operations, as well as sell freezer beef directly to consumers in Wisconsin.
Our Hereford Cattle Breeding Philosophy
At Huth Polled Herefords, we adhere to a philosophy of efficient cattle management. We keep our cattle well-fed and living in quality surroundings while they convert the abundance of food we provide into high-quality meat.
The Hereford cows in our herd must be:
- Fertile: A calf every year is a must.
- Strong mothers: Able to calve unassisted and produce enough milk for her calf to reach its growth potential.
- Docile: Have a disposition that doesn’t cause danger to those who work with her.
- Structurally sound: Have no feet or leg problems that prevent movement with the herd.
- Efficient: Moderate in size and able to avoid excessive feed consumption.
- Low-maintenance: Our cows never go into a barn.
We realize we’re breeding for a number of antagonistic traits – genetic traits that don't necessarily go together – which is where our use of expected progeny differences (EPDs) comes in. We collect careful records on all of our cattle and use the EPD data calculated by the breed association to help us measure and balance the tradeoffs between these traits in our cattle.
Our Cattle Management Practices
We achieve our breeding goals through a management plan that’s based on minimizing inputs while maximizing the use of grass and grass hay in the diets of our cattle.
Our first calves are due on April 20, and we continue to calve into June for a 60-day calving season. We calve at that time of the year to take advantage of the lush spring growth of grass, which helps to get the cow back into condition for re-breeding while getting her calf off to a fast start.
We calve on pasture and supplement hay, protein, and mineral until the grass growth can maintain the cow (sometime between May 1 and May 15). After that, the only supplement is a high-quality mineral product.
We rotationally graze our cows and move them every one to three days while resting pastures from 20 to 30 days after grazing. This allows the grass to establish excellent root structure and enhances soil productivity. This not only provides nutritious feed for the cattle but it maximizes photosynthesis for the sequestering of carbon while encouraging optimal development of various beneficial “critters'' that live in the soil. We pasture cows as long as possible, which usually goes into November on stockpiled grass.
After the pasture grazing season, we let the cows forage in corn stalk fields with supplemental grass hay for the winter. You can read more about our Hereford cows and find statistical information by visiting our herd page.
AI (artificial insemination) season starts July 15 and goes for 21 days. Historically, we AI over 90% of our cows by visual observation and obtain a 70% conception rate. We turn bulls out after the AI season and pull the bulls from the cows on September 15.
The calves run with their mothers until they are weaned on November 1. Up to weaning, the calves thrive on their mother’s milk and the lush clover/grass pastures. Prior to weaning, the calves get two rounds of vaccinations, and we start a creep program on October 1. After weaning, the calves are grouped by sex.
The heifer group is maintained as a fairly pure contemporary group up to a year of age. They are fed to express their genetic potential without getting fat. The heifers are developed with high-quality hay, protein/mineral supplement, and a minimal amount of a grain mix. We feed for an average daily gain (ADG) of around 2 lbs/day. This brings the heifers to 750-950 lbs at a year of age.
After taking yearling weight and getting ultrasound information for rib eye size and marbling, the calves are turned out on pasture with grass and a mineral supplementation. They are bred at the same time as the cow herd.
You can learn more about our Hereford cows on our cow herd information page.
The bull calves are treated fairly similar to the heifer calves. After we get weaning weights, we select the top end to remain as bull calves, with the balance castrated and sold as feeder cattle. We take DNA samples on all our bull calves. The bulls are developed with high-quality hay and a grain supplement. They are fed to gain 3-3.5 lbs/day. The bulls are available for sale after we get their yearling weight, ultrasound information and they pass a BSE (Breeding Soundness Exam). Historically the bulls wean at 600+ lbs and have a yearling weight of 1,100-1,350 lbs.
You can learn more about our Hereford bulls on our herd sire information page.
Deuteronomy 11:15: “I (the Lord) will provide grass in the fields for your cattle…”
Just as the Lord has made a promise to the Israelites, He still is the one that provides the feed for our cattle! We thank the Lord for the opportunity to be caretakers of a little piece of His creation for a short period of time.
How Huth Polled Herefords’ Sires Are Influencing the International Market
Herd bulls from Huth Polled Herefords are influencing Hereford genetics around the world. Huth Prospector K085 and Huth 813 Revolution 4R Y001 are owned with Accelerated Genetics. Both bulls qualified to ship semen to the European community.
The accompanying picture was forwarded to me from Don Trimmer, Accelerated Genetics Director of Beef Programs. K085 semen has been marketed in Turkey by an affiliate of Accelerated Genetics and he has had a large influence on the Hereford breed in this country. Y001 is following his lead with semen being distributed throughout Europe. We had a nice note this spring from a breeder in Sweden saying how he liked his Y001 calves out of K085 daughters!
Huth Enhancer 2D and Huth Homerun were owned with ABS Global and marketed heavily in the South American market. It is truly humbling, and we are appreciative that these bulls have had international success!