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Greg and

his

dad

Richard,alongwithAdvisor

Mike

Tyrrel,survey thegrowing herd ^{PhotosbyAuthor}

Choquette Herefords: Headed ^{For the} Top

On ^the road of expansion, Greg Choquette faced a few obstacles. But now he's on course.

Greg's preventivemedicinepractices includefeedingdrug

boluses.Greg'sfather, Richard,tends thechute.

By

Jeffrey

Tennant

GREGORY

^{Choquette sayshe'll}never reach hisgoals in hislifeas acattlerancher.Notthathe doesn'tsetany.It's just that once he reaches a goal, he's not satisfied until he progresseseven further.

"Oh, Ido havea goal," says Greg, an 18-year-old

FFA member

fromFranklin, Nebraska. Setting hisambitionsnone too low, Greg reveals his goal "is to build one ofthe top Herefordherds in Nebraska."

Greg confesses that saying itis one thing, doing it an- other. Butfromthebeginning,theherd hasbeentreated asifit

were alreadythe best.

Even

back

when

Choquette Herefords consistedoften registeredcows.

"Dad

oncerannothing butcommercialfeedyardcattle,"

remembers

Greg,

now

a partner withhisfather, Richard,in a 285-head breeding beef farm.

"He was

sending a double- decker semi-truck load out of here every

week

fullofcattlefor slaughter. But since I bought the ten Herefords we've been phasing out ofmarketcattleandintothebreedingbusiness. It

offers good economic stability."

Soon

afterGreg'spurchase ofthe Herefordcows,he and his father entered into partnership that

would

enable herd expansion. With an initial 1,800 acres of good pasture, the Choquettes set a goal of 150 registered purebred females.

They're at 125 head andstill expanding. Additional acreage, bringing thetotal to 2,293,

now

harborsthe growingstrong- hold ofChoquettebulls.

"Together

we

decided on a 50-50 partnership," shares

Greg, recalling the arrangementwithhisdad, an

FFA

alum- nus.

"We

borrowed

money

from the bank and bought 120 cows. That's

when

ChoquetteHerefordsbegan."

As

in

many

newly established farms, Choquette Here- fordslost

money

init'sfirstyear.Forcedtokeepandbreedthe newly purchased cows, simply no stock existed to sell. But Greg and Richard, with help from

mom Donna

and sister

Gwen,

stuckitout and are

now

reapingprofits everyyear.

"We've

paid back practically all the loan," says Greg, computing

some

quick figures outofhis

FFA

record book.

"Our

income isproduced in several ways.

Much

ofthedebt has been repaid

by

marketing yearling bull calves and coming-twoheifers(animalsapproaching

two

yearsold).

We

recently sold a three-quarter interestin a bull for$5,000 and

stillretained

semen

rights."

It'sthatkind of dealthatpaysoff debts. Butthe acquisi- tion offine, breeder

demanded

animals starts froni the first visual appraisal

—

^{andoftenendsinthe showring.}

"Our

goal is to

show

prospective buyers fine breeding stock." continues Greg. "These animals are notfor market.

We'rebuildingcertifiedseedstock.

"Our

best heifers arekeptasreplacementsas

we

sellolder cows.

We

figureevenan exceptional

cow

is

good

fornotover ten years. In selecting heifers to keep,

we

look for a long, tall-typeanimal.

Now

we'reartificiallyinseminatingour

cows

tothe nation'stopherdbulls."

Semen

ampulesusedbytheChoquettescostfrom $100to

$300percertificate,higher thantheusual provisionbutcarry- ing a"guarantee" of a^{live calf.} Presentlyalocalveterinarian handlestheinseminating butGregisheadedfor

AI

trainingin college. Choquette

cows

arebredtocalve in springand fall.

"We

havealimitedexpansionplanned," says

Greg

^ofhis calving goals. "We'realready engaged in constantherd im- provement. Total performance records

(TPR)

provided through the

American

Hereford Association

show

the true qualityofour cattle.

"These kinds of records are very useful. Each printout sheetgives acow's productionrecord, hercalf's weightand weaning age. Efficiency factors such as

TPR

ratios, a cow's comparisonwith otherstock,indicate

how good

ananimalis."

Producing andmaintaininghighqualityHerefordstockis

only half thebattle in thebreederbusiness.

The

othermajor facetis

won

orlostintoughcompetition with ashowringasan arena.

"Participationin

shows

has increasedGreg'sproficiency

I.

^his

homemade

contraption, designedwithaball

and

hitch,

can

be

pulledby a pickupforeasyjoggingof

show

animals.

as acattleman," says

Mike

lyrrel,

FFA

advisorat Franklin.

Writing in Greg's state-winning BeefProduction proficiency award,

Mike

asserts, "Throughthe ring and otherlearning,

Greg

hasbuiltasoundmanagerialprogramthat willcontinue toupgrade his entireoperation."

"I've always wanted

him

to be a

showman,"

adds Richard, looking squarely athis son, "and he'sproven him-

self.

He

hits around20 showsa year.

He

doesn't win allthe time buthe_{gets his}share."

Sitting in a

room

with walls plasteredby blue ribbons,

Greg

adds,

"You

winevery time you show, especially in the registered breeding business. If

we

wina trophy, people re-

member

thename. But evenif

we

don'twinabigprize,we've

still gottenexposure.

We

wantour stock

known

statewide."

Coming-two

bulls are the Choquettes' best sellers.

The

reason?Exposurefrom shows, sayGreg andRichard.

And

^if Choquette bulls keep going to prestigious regional consign-

ment

sales, where the animal is

shown

and sold, the herd's

good

reputation will continueto grow. Building a

name

for yourcattletakeselements besidesquality stock.

"Grooming

is most important forsuccessful showing,"

advises Greg. "Properly done, grooming adds conformation and class toan animal.

Many

times it

makes

the decision in close placings.

"Butgroomingisn'tthewholestory.Properly preparethe animal long beforegrooming.Since

we

keepour

show

cattle in a barn, they'rejogged about a mileevery day for exercise.

Then

theirhairis

blown

outandwettedforcoolnessandfaster hairgrowth."

Two

unusualmethods

become

obviousasGreg worksout his

show

cattle.

Most

noticeably, an

AM

radio blares in the barn,atrick thatGregsays "keepsthestockcalm even

when

strangers walk in." Secondly, the cattle are jogged behind Greg's

moving

pickup,harnessedtoa two-wheeled

gizmo

that attaches tothetruckbumper.

Besides showing,

Greg

busies himself with the not-so- glamoroussideofcattleranching. Herdtaggingandtattooing, vaccinating, dipping, hoof trimming

—

^{allnecessarydutiesin}

Greg'slineofwork. College-boundwith adesireto

become

a certifiedpublic accountant,Greg hopestoreturntothe ranch with not only

cowboy

skills,butbusiness smarts, too.

Havingattained

numerous showmanship

awards,cham- pioncattleandaNebraskastate

FFA

office,you'dthinkGreg

would

havereachedat leastonegoal. Well,

maybe

hehas.But haveyouever spedby somethingsofast you missedit?

The

showringisvaluable"advertising"forGreg'scalves,so carefulattentionisgiventoan animal'spreparation.

Milestones in FFA History

Fourteenthinaseriesofarticlesabout the history ofFFA,