Page 99 - Hereford Magazine 2021

Dale from Montana

United States Hereford breeder Dale Venhuizen
loves the people side of World Hereford
Conferences. He went to one in Calgary as a
child in 1976 and thinks his parents attended
the 1984 conference in Christchurch, because
they spoke fondly of New Zealand.

“I was a delegate at Armidale in Australia in 2004 and
have attended ones in the US as well as in Uruguay four
years ago,” he said during a break in the 2020 conference
proceedings in Queenstown.
“I love to visit ranches and find out what’s involved in
their methods of production and what their challenges and
opportunities are. Because we regard ourselves as a global Dale and his wife, Nancy Venhuizen.
leader in this business, if I’m selling semen to someone in
Australia or New Zealand or Uruguay, I want to know what’s will develop a tremendous hair coat for winter. We also
important to them, and how can I best fit their needs. I love to provide them with a lot of nutrition during the cold, upping
meet people from other countries to hear their stories and hear their calorie intake when it’s extremely cold.”
how their world works. I have loved seeing New Zealand and He says the Hereford breed has made a lot of strides in
visiting the herds, but for me, it’s about meeting new people.” America.
Dale owns the Churchill Cattle Company in Manhattan, “It’s on an upswing, there’s a lot of enthusiasm. Our
Montana, which is a US mountain state just below the association has done a good job. We’ve worked very hard
Canadian border. at our own ranch; we have more cattle on inventory than
The Churchill Hereford stud started in 1980; it now owns we’ve ever had. We’ve utilised a lot of technology, both in
200 hectares and leases some property as well. They irrigate reproduction areas and also in evaluation and testing, like
as much as possible as they’re in a 305mm-only annual genomics, but we also have a common-sense approach. The
rainfall area. eyeball of the breeder is definitely used in our operation. We
“But we would raise a cow and a calf per acre during our have a practical, everyday approach, but also use the latest in
growing season in their summertime, so it’s a pretty intense technology where it can help us improve.”
grazing situation. There’s part of our state of Montana where Churchill Cattle Company registers about 400 calves a year,
it’s all spread out, big country where there’s a cow for every of which about 150 are sold as bulls. “We choose our own
10 or 20 acres. But that’s not us.” replacements and sell about 100 females as well,” he said.
The operation is pasture-based but they feed out a lot of Most bulls are sold to local ranchers raising beef for the
hay during the four- to five-month winter season. Cattle stay steak market.
outside except if it’s colder than usual or while the cows are “We do sell some bulls to my peers, other Hereford
calving. A temperature of -40 degrees – the same in both breeders, and we also market semen and embryos
Celsius and Fahrenheit – is common. throughout the world. We have sold semen and embryos to
“The Herefords cope very well with cold weather. In our fall most of the countries represented at this conference. But
or autumn when the weather cools down … the Herefords most of the cattle sell within a day’s drive of our ranch.”

Year 2021 HEREFORD MAGAZINE 97
World Hereford
Conference 2020
Queenstown NZ