FARMER FOCUS: James Evans reflects on his trip to US beef farms

In my last article I was just about to embark on a trip to the USA and I’m pleased to say I was not disappointed.


Our trip was organised by Asda’s beef link group and we were hosted by Lee Leachman and his staff in Fort Collins, Colorado. After five days and nearly 1,500 miles we saw some fantastic Stabiliser cows and calves, extremely well-managed feedlots and a beef industry that faces similar issues to our own, with more than 50% of grain maize going into ethanol plants, pushing feed costs up.


Despite the scale of their operations it was apparent their attention to detail was fantastic. Every trait was measured for and new ways were found to improve them. Simple things such as measuring for increased eye muscle area were found to have a positive effect on reducing the mature weights of cows. The biggest effect on the group was the fantastic strides being made in feed efficiency. All breeding stock are now being measured for this trait and feed savings of more than 15% have been seen. This became more apparent when we visited a 40,000-head feedlot and the huge feed saving had been made with no loss in performance. We also visited a bull stud where Mr Leachman’s top bulls were housed, including a Stabiliser bull aptly named Leachman Prophet, which recently sold for $67,000. He ate 7.5kg DM/day – 2.7kg less than his contemporaries and grew an average of 1.6kg/day – 90kg more than his 800 contemporaries. Needless to say I have returned home with a new sense of enthusiasm and put in an order for some feed-efficient embryos from the Stabiliser Cattle Company. I must thank all those involved in organising the trip and the great bunch of farmers who trekked across the Atlantic with me.


As with any trip away, there is always plenty to do on your return. The tups have now been put in, all the cows have been housed and vaccinated against IBR and the calves weaned and vaccinated against pneumonia. We have had a new addition to our workforce and I’m pleased to say Dan has started really well and looks as if he will be a great asset. Let’s just hope the wet and mucky British winter doesn’t dishearten him too much, or me, for that matter!


James Evans farms 300 Stabiliser suckler cows and 1,110 Llen cross ewes across two units, totalling 825ha, in Shropshire. He was 2012 Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year


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