SUMMER 2023


The State of the Country-
The consensus of economists is that interest rates need to stop being raised in order to avoid a late 2023 or early 2024 recession. Hopefully, the Fed will take that into account at their next meeting. We also need to decide if an overzealous US green energy policy in 4% of the 8 billion world population is really worth destroying our energy independence and adding to higher energy prices to the consumer. Maybe common sense will prevail. Maybe not.

The State of the Longhorn Business-
The early 2023 sales have been successful with consistent good prices for good cattle. The quality of the cattle goes up every year and we try to upgrade our program annually. Failure to do so has proven to be punishing at highly competitive futurities and sales. This is what makes the industry challenging and exciting.

The State of the Herd-
We had 20 embryo heifers and 10 AI heifers and 2022. Our next set of embryo calves will be in the spring 2024 while our 2023 calves by BR Cracker Jack, PCC Cactus Jack, HL Higher Ground and MC Hangin' Tuff mature.We will be breeding to Blue Moon GLR and Tuff Jam ( full brother to Drop Box) this summer and PCC Cactus Jack in the fall. We have 2 remaining sales this spring season-- The Midwest Sale and the Hudson Valentine Ft Worth Stockyards sale.

Hope to see you soon,
Charlene and Mark Gilliland MD

Midwest Sale

Hudson/Valentine Fort Worth Stockyards Sale

 

GILLILAND LONGHORN RANCH

We have a herd of  150 registered Texas Longhorns in the Kansas Flint Hills at the Oklahoma border. We combine the art and science of breeding using artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer to create the best animal possible. Our goal is the complete package prioritizing a low twisty hornset  with great tip to tip measurements along with correct conformation, color, and disposition. That said, the most important trait is the ability to reproduce those traits in progeny. We have gone through each animal in our herd for several generations back to document the number of 80ʼʼ–90ʼʼ-100'' TTT ancestors in each pedigree and see if one ancestor transmits a dominant horn set. We try to genetically fix  that low twisty lateral horn length into each animalʼs blood line without compromising the total package. A pedigree with many high TTT ancestors indicates  a higher heritability factor with more predictability. We also experiment with line breeding and  periodic outcrossing to stack genes from similar and different pedigrees for additive effects.We have discovered certain  pedigree combinations which are synergistic. When we discover them, the cow goes immediately into our OPU/IVF program to enhance our  future results. We hope there are some animals in our herd that could enhance your program.