All Around Performance

By Kyla Nesheim

The Maine-Anjou breed is “it” for J&J Cattle Company. They look to Maine-Anjou to provide their operation with all-around good cattle to supply to the commercial cattle industry.

Top quality, commercially proven Maine-Anjou cattle is what Joe and Judy Ogle, owners/operators of J&J Cattle Company in Kinta, Okla., aim to breed and offer to their customers. Their extensive AI breeding program has brought them to the forefront of raising top quality Maine-Anjou bulls for the serious commercial cattlemen and has resulted in tremendous females to build their herd.

J&J Cattle Company consists of approximately 250 registered Maine-Anjou females, half of which calve in the spring and the other half in the fall. Each year about 70 to 75 bulls are marketed and sold to the commercial market. “We are committed to Maine cattle, ”says Joe. “We think Maine cattle really have a place in the commercial cattle market and in beef production and that ’s what we ’re trying to push for.”

School Ties —The Beginning
Joe is a 1961 graduate of Oklahoma State University where he received his Bachelor's degree in Education. Joe has taken his education to the highest level, receiving prestigious awards within the teaching and school communities for his support and dedication to education.

The honors Joe has received have been numerous. In 1968,he was named classroom teacher of the year by Bristow Public Schools. In 1990,he was named Oklahoma Superintendent of the Year and was also a finalist for the National Superintendent of the Year and has the honor of being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Schools Superintendents Association of Oklahoma.

For all of his outstanding achievements in the educational field, Joe was recently inducted into the Oklahoma State University College of Education Hall of Fame. Induction to the Hall of Fame is the highest honor at the College of Education at Oklahoma State University.

Joe has spent his life around agriculture, but cattle and agriculture were not always his central focus. For the past 45 years, Joe has been involved with public education in Oklahoma as a teacher, coach, principal, superintendent of schools and now an educational consultant. He has been and continues to be very active within the school and teaching communities. He currently serves as executive director of the Oklahoma Association Serving Impacted Schools. He is executive director of the National Council of Impacted Schools. He and Judy operate a very successful educational consulting company. His work within the educational field has provided the necessary their cattle operation.

Top Producing Females
The Ogle's started their cattle operation in the early 90's with an Angus-based herd and have now been involved with the Maine-Anjou breed for 16 years. The herd at J&J Cattle Company consists of 250 registered Maine-Anjou females. All of their cattle are 75%or higher Maine-Anjou. The Ogle's are strong supporters of the breed. Through an aggressive AI program, they have had tremendous success and have found their niche within the breed.

Countless time and effort has gone into building the program they operate today. They have focused on retaining all the good females within their herd. “We have built up a tremendous cow herd,” says Joe. “We ’ve bought a few cows, but most of our herd is what we've developed.”

The Ogle ’s have kept their very best females to speed up the development of their herd and to work toward their goal of holding a production sale. Over the past years, they have kept their top heifer calves to go back into their herd. All of their younger cows are products of their aggressive AI program and many cows in the herd are second generation AI products. “What we would like to do is get to the point where we are comfortable enough with our cow herd to start turning loose some of our better females through a production sale,” says Joe. “It has not happened yet, but it's in the making.”

Bull Power
Every year, the Ogle’s market approximately 70 to 75 bulls. The majority of their bulls go to the commercial cattle market, with a few selling to purebred breeders. They have had tremendous success on a commercial level and continue to get repeat customers. “We have had really good success,” claims Joe. “We have a lot of people who come back and buy bulls from us. The people who buy our bulls report back to us that they don ’t have calving problems, they add weaning weights and make them money.”

The Ogle ’s are getting more and more feedback on bulls they have sold. “One thing we are getting more feedback on is calving ease, and that absolutely delights us,” says Joe. “Word is getting around that half blood Maine calves top the market,” says Joe. “Not only do they top the market, but they weigh more at weaning than some other
breeds.”

Joe feels Maine bulls bring several advantages to his operation, the first one is their disposition. Secondly, the cattle contribute higher weaning weights. Thirdly, he feels a good Maine bull will increase the quality of his buyers cattle. Many cattlemen across the country are reporting these same advantages.  The disposition and weaning weights of the Maine-influenced cattle aretoward the top in the industry. Maine-Anjou cattle are easy to handle and are less susceptible to the stresses of shipping and sorting. Calf quality is increased with the use of good Maine bulls meaning calves achieve higher premiums at market.

Out of the 70 to 75 bulls marketed each year by the Ogle ’s,the top 15 in the spring and fall are taken to Oklahoma Beef Incorporated (OBI), Stillwater, Okla., for production testing. Joe is a strong believer and supporter of the importance of numbers within the breed as well as carcass EPDs. All his bulls on test will be ultrasounded. “We think that is important for the breed,” says Joe.

The Ogle's select a handful of bulls from their herd to consign in special sales each year. One of
these sales is in Bristow, Okla., and the other is at Connors State College, Warner, Okla.

Benefits, Advantages and Current Issues
J&J Cattle Company thrives to breed for three things; low birth weights and polled, homozygous black cattle. In Joe ’s mind, the breed offers numerous qualities. “We like the temperament of the Maine cattle, we like the phenotype of the Maine cattle, the way they look, the bone and the structure they have and they are good mothers,” says Joe. “To be honest, we feel that the Maine is almost like a super Angus. We like Angus cows, but we like Maine cattle better.”

A current issue facing the Maine-Anjou breed is the genetic defect, PHA. Joe believes the issue can be overcome. The breed simply needs to be conscience and careful. “We’re just going to have to be real careful with breeding decisions,” says Joe. “I think the breed will take care of it. ”The Ogle ’s have never had any instances of genetic defects.

Joe and Judy Ogle have worked their way up to a very successful cattle operation with J&J Cattle Company. Their cattle are working and are a testimony to the effort they have given over the years to build a great herd. This fall they will have their nephew, Tandy Baker work for them full time and help with management decisions. Tandy will graduate from Oklahoma State University in December with a degree in Agriculture. He has grown up in the cattle industry and will bring a lot of knowledge and experience to the Ogle operation. Maine-Anjou cattle have a place in the commercial sector of the industry and J&J Cattle Company is continuing to prove that with their repeat commercial bull customers and their tremendous female herd. Year after year they continue to produce top quality Maine-Anjou cattle. Maine-Anjou is fortunate to have such a high caliber operation as J&J Cattle Company standing behind it in all aspects of the breed.