← The Championdrive Podcast
The Championdrive Podcast
Episode 2.9 - Female of the Year week! Guests Cooper Newcomb (Show-Rite) & Jordan Amburgey (RSG)
00:46:01
Listen to who we have up as our Female of the Year nominees. Cooper Newcomb sat down with us, to describe helpful hints and feeding tips on what all Show-Rite offers. We also caught up with Jordan Amburgey, who talks about flushing, AI work, RSG Nutrition products and more!
Loading summary
Transcript59 lines
- [00:02]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Now entering the ring, another episode of the Champion Drive podcast, presented by Novel Designs with your hosts, Katelyn Sister Urban and Steva Robinson.
- [00:22]
Steva Robinson
Well, Steva, I know it's a busy time of the year. There's been lots of Fallborn sales, and I know you're lamming. So how's it all been going?
- [00:29]
Cooper Newcomb
It's actually been going really good. We're about done with our big December AI group, and it's gone very well, so very fortunate for that. And minimal train wrecks, which I think we all know, like, no matter how whatever you do, there's always going to be a few things that don't go right. But as a rule, it's gone pretty good. In true Wisconsin weather, it has gotten cold as hell. And so I'm very appreciative that we have heated barn, but I've been keeping the Starbucks in business in town and I think I might be a part owner in Celsius by the time this week is over because I've been putting in a shift on those. But it's going good. So what have you been up to?
- [01:11]
Steva Robinson
Well, I actually came to Ohio this week. I've been here. I will say it's been very cold and I've not been a huge fan of that. And, you know, we had a bus walk waters and stuff, and you don't have to do that in Oklahoma much, so. Yeah, but it's been good. I've. We've just kind of hung out, done a few things in the barn. I've been podcasting a lot. I actually caught up with a few different people. I got recorded for this. Then the end of this season, I caught up with Cooper Newcomb, which he will be on this podcast for show right being our show right representative for our show Lamb of the Year sponsor. And then I also caught up with Jordan Amber. He's on for RSG for their sponsorship for a Female of the year. And then I also caught up with Maddie Haynes, which, spoiler alert, she's going to be on a few in a few episodes. But I thought hers was really, really good. She's a livestock judging coach in Oklahoma and her insight on it was just really good. So I'm really looking forward to everything we have coming up. And yeah, I, I know that you've been thinking a lot. You've had a lot of time to be thinking in the lambing barn. So what do you have up your sleeve?
- [02:11]
Cooper Newcomb
Well, I know we've talked before. Like, I get a lot of ideas when I'm lambing. Like I feel like that maybe makes me better at marketing. It makes me better at my other jobs or businesses because you have a lot of time to think and a lot of times you don't have that, you know, like you're always pulled different ways. Well, when you're sitting in the lambing barn, you have a lot of time to think when you can't be on the computer. And actually the other day you had mentioned like, oh, we should do some sort of a social media add on package for our web customers. So I've been thinking a bunch about that. And so starting in 2025, if you're a web customer with Novel Designs, we're going to be offering some add on packages. It's kind of like if you go to a restaurant and order something, like if you want to add something onto it, you can do that now with Novel Design. So we've had a lot of people reach out wanting help on social media and in last week's podcast we talked about having a marketing mix. Our staff at Novel Designs, the one thing that's really nice is we have, there's several of us, all of us are livestock people. And so like we can help you with your social media and with your website and with a presence on Champion Drive all by going through the same person. So we're going to have some different packages that can get added on to your maintenance, which will include having X number of social media graphics per month or per year, however you want to do it. And we also offer everything from just executing what you tell us you want. Say, hey, here's the three lambs that I'm selling that I want to highlight. Can you put these on one graphic for me? We also are going to offer packages where we kind of help you come up with some ideas. Like, hey, let's put up some pictures from your lambing barn. Or let's put up a picture showing your location so people know where to come find you at or who you're in close proximity to. Or let's highlight some past winners. We can also help from everything from execution to coming up with the actual marketing plan for you. Because like I said, as we found out, our so you suck segment started because so many people came to us like, we need to do a better job at marketing. So sister actually came up with the idea. She's, you know, maybe work, maybe working for a second employee of the month she wanted in November. I mean, I don't know that it's an official award, but she's pretty proud of it. But this is Sister's idea. So we're going to add it on as a add on package, as on for any of our website customers. If you don't have a website through us, you're also more than welcome to purchase a social media package through us. It's just at a different rate. We give a benefit to our customers who have a website with us, a client rate and a non client rate. So if there's something that you guys need help with going into 2025 for marketing, I know it's been a busy fallborn season and we're starting to head into getting some more babies on the ground and another sales season as well. So be sure to reach out to any of us. You can find our information on Champion Drive. I believe there's a tab for Novel Designs. That's us. Click on that and you can fill out a form that will get us in contact with you. Or you can give us a call at any time. Let's get right into this week's episode. The first one we have is Cooper Newcomb, which is like a sister said, our Show Show Lamb of the year sponsor. He's with Show Right and answered some really good feed questions. Let's go right into him.
- [05:19]
Steva Robinson
Cooper, thanks for joining me. For those of you that don't know, he works for showright and Show Right was our Show Lamb of the Year sponsor. Cooper, do you mind telling me a little bit about your history getting into Show Right?
- [05:31]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Absolutely. You know, first and foremost, I would say on behalf of Show Rite, we would like to congratulate all the exhibitors that were nominated and you know, and the best of luck to you here in the future on the results. But I think it's a huge feat to those exhibitors and breeders just to be nominated for this award and certainly, you know, honor for us to be a part of it and certainly enjoy watching it and follow along here and the anticipation of seeing the results. As far as me, I started back in the fall of 16 with show right and that was, you know, shortly after All Tech had actually purchased Hubbard, which I would say Show Right would be like an umbrella company for Hubbard. Now we're all part of all Tech and that's, that's been one of the best adventures to be a part of and you know, the people that we get to work with on a daily basis. But I can, I can say that it's certainly been a joy here for the past eight years. And I guess the reason why I went with Show Right whenever I did in 16 was the fact that whenever they asked me to come on board, they said, you know, we've got a sheep feed that we really like and you know, we'd like for you to help us position it and get it going and actually look at the feed and it fit some of it in the past. And I actually asked them if we could just start from the ground zero and that's what they allowed me to do. And that was eventually what swayed me to go with show, right. There was actually a couple companies pursuing me at the time and just their willingness to try to make the very best feed and utilizing all tech and the technologies that they've got and the capabilities, you know, for different technologies to go into that feed really has made this experience, you know, unforgettable and unimaginable. And the results that we've had with like a Newco lamb feed, you know, being our primary base feed there. So that's been great. I would be remiss to not mention, like Rob Zielinski is our small ruminant nutritionist and on the sheep and goat side, very, very influential and very knowledgeable. We couldn't do what we do with show, right. Especially on a small room in a room inside in general without his knowledge and help along the way. Certainly he's been there every time. His day to day priorities, I would say, is more with the blueprint mineral and the tubs and that kind of stuff. And he's got all different lines there that he draw. On the commercial side, we actually utilize that ourselves because I do think it's very, very good. We use that at home there at Alanu, on our donors and our ewes and so forth. So he's certainly busy with that and helps us along the way too. I've actually got to be a part of the goat stuff. So I started as a sheep specialist and then actually kind of bled over into the small ruminant specialist. But I would say Glenn Martin is, has been a huge part of our goat side for years and he still is of the backbone and the one we go to for any goat questions there on our goat programs as well. So we get to work with a great set of people there on the small room inside. And then there's eight or nine of us that work with show, right, on a daily basis. And we're all kind of specialists in our own regard. But we sit here and train and we do all these dealer trainings together. So we're very polished on, you know, a multi species and we kind of pride ourselves there at show rite to be a multi species brand and something that we're probably as proud of as anything with the accomplishments of the pink and purple there. So yeah, that's a little bit about show right where we're at.
- [09:11]
Steva Robinson
Well, thanks for that, Cooper. So, you know, we just came off of Louisville and we're getting ready to go to Denver soon. Do you mind telling me some advice for feeding from Louisville to Denver in the Midwest or colder state?
- [09:22]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Yeah, I think that it's really important there in the Midwest states, you know, to make sure that you've got a lot of energy in those lands because you gotta, you got to remember that the colder it gets, the more calories they're going to burn there. And if you don't watch it, those sheep will start to burn muscle. After they burn too many fat calories, they start to burn muscle as well. And so you really got to keep your energy levels up. I think that's extremely important. It can be different, you know, state to state, but at the same time, the biggest differential there is going to be the weather. Mother nature plays a huge role in the way we feed these animals and present them and different things like that. I mean, you got to be cautious on, you know, maybe even on an exercise program to make sure that you don't exercise one inside, get them hot and sweaty and then take them out. And you know, in any kind of freezing conditions, even if it's just 32 and you want to go maybe hand walk on and work with it, that lamb can still get frostbite. We see that year in and year out at Denver, especially a lot of sheep from the northern states, even if they're barn, if it gets extremely cold and you really can't do anything about it besides just do your very best to keep them warm. But we see those sheep with kind of a blue tint all over them or especially on their hips and things like that. And 90% of the time that's what that is, is some frostbite there. So really got to watch that because it makes a difference from the presentation side in the ring. But I think the biggest thing if you are fighting those cold temperatures really got to keep your energy level up. And as always, water is superior to anything. And they're going to go through more water whenever it's cold than it is when it's hot, if you really pay attention there. So that would be my tips.
- [11:02]
Steva Robinson
And you know, you've mentioned that people feed show right across the country. So what do you see being the biggest difference across the board, you know, feeding from Oregon to Florida and everywhere in between.
- [11:15]
Katelyn Sister Urban
You know, it, it would go back to, you know, your temperatures and that kind of thing. But I would say, you know, feeding the ages, the age of these lambs that we're showing, I know in California you'll see a lot more, you know, six to eight, nine month old sheep, you know, nine months old, the old one in California. A lot of times, as far as the masses go and say in Oklahoma, you know, it's nothing at the Oklahoma Youth Expo to be over a year old. I mean, a lot of those sheep are every bit of a year old, if not 15 months old. So I think, I think age and just your, your end point and really knowing the rules to the show is probably as important as anything to know what you should start with, you know, maturity. We'll talk some more about that in a minute. But it really dictates a lot of how far along they are, how smooth they are, how they're ready, you know, how massive, how staff. That has a lot to do with maturity and you know, starts with genetic potential before that. But I would say as far as showing with the age and you're pushing on those younger sheep and you're sitting on those older ones and trying to keep them youthful, you're really trying to push maturity on those young sheep. So that's probably one of the biggest differences there is just, just the maturity and the way we're feeding from a maturity standpoint.
- [12:34]
Steva Robinson
So kind of going off that a little bit. Do you mind telling me kind of about what products you would use, when and why you would use them?
- [12:42]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Yeah, so I would say beyond the Newco lamb feed, just talking some supplements here that we, I kind of three of them that utilize a lot and they're three tiers, I would call it. And if you're really pushing on one early, the first one that we would feed and recommend would be Muscle in Motion. You know, feed about 4 ounces, that's a pelleted feed and you just supplement it with your base feed. And it doesn't matter what your base feed is if you just want to feed that supplement, but it's going to help with dimension, it's going to help overall mass and just really push on that maturity. And you're trying to get them mature as fast as you can to go jackpot or go to an early state fair. Essentially that's what you're trying to do is, you know, speed up the maturity curve after that. I would tell you that starshine's the next one and it's just a little higher protein, not as high in fat, but it's got more fiber. So that's whenever we're, we're chubby enough, we're wide enough, we're pretty much smooth. But we need maybe start to drop some flank and we might need to harden up just a little bit or we've got one that's just not growing as good. It's kind of shutting down on us. We really like to feed Starshine, you know, on the early side in that regard. And then we feed it a lot of times too as we're getting ready for a show. It's got some extra sugar in it so we really try to keep those things fresh. That's a red pellet that we feed, you know, four, four ounces of feeding, eight, four to eight ounces a day. And that kind of goes for any of these three that I'm mentioning right now. And the other one would be Sculpt and that's the one I would call the ultimate fat burner. That's a really dark kind of almost black pellet. And you know, that's the one that we try to clean them up through their chest floor. We're going to harden them up over their ribs or foreribs there. They're starting to get kind of chunky and mature in the base of their neck. That's the one that we feed a lot of females to to try to keep them feminine and keep those older market lambs youthful. Even those yearling used to try to keep them as, as neat and tidy as we can without just letting them get too mature and, and far along there in their front end. So that's the three go to's as far as feeding and trying to change from a protein fiber level that I would recommend. The one thing that I would say too is that Right Time is a product that we feed along the way. If we're trying to go to a show, get ready for a show, we've got them on right time. Whether it's early and we yo, yo, that product, we'll come off of it, go back onto it. Just depending on the show. I think if you're on it three or four before you show, that's about perfect. And if you need to take a little break of it then come back to it, you know, maybe you want to get ready and jackpot early, then you're going to put them away for your state fair. But whatever the case may be. But I think that one there you can use it in any of those three different feeding phases. And I think it's very, very good. It helps their hide their touch. Just their overall shape really focuses on overall handling quality. Really remarkable, the way that one that put together and the way the results that you see from it.
- [15:36]
Steva Robinson
Yeah. And I know you guys have a few other products like Right. Flex, Stretch and Stamina, so do you mind telling me a little bit about those as well?
- [15:44]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Absolutely. So one that's really, really fun for me is, is Stretch. I really like that product. If we're trying to get that swoopy belly, that underlying quality that you hear judges talking about, that's the go to product to try to soften them there. And that rear ribbon flank really makes a balanced look from the side. And that one there is one that a lot of sheep, a lot of goats, different species, they could all utilize that because we can anytime we can make ones balance better. They usually. They usually place better or place higher. The next one there that I discuss is Right. Flex, and that's one, you know, flexibility. That's where it's supposed to help. That's what it's called, you know, Right. Flexible. But I would tell you that when there whenever we start trying to push on that maturity and we start trying to cram that protein and really get those muscles big, that's whenever we start to notice some issues maybe that we didn't notice before, whenever they were young and green and you had, you know, for instance, the junior high kid. But now you're getting into high school, we're starting to get closer to ready and. And we start to see things pop up. Maybe their hind leg starts to get straight or their spine starts to come up in them, really like feeding a little bit of that one along the way to try to prevent issues like that. But then if you see those kind of issues and almost go to like a higher feeding rate, double down on it just for a minute, get it back in line, and then go back to that lower feeding rate. I try to keep them, you know, on. On feeding on. On task with that without letting them get tight. And if we start going to a show, we start some electrolytes, things of that that are going to tighten them down. Hey, we add a little bit of that, you know, up our dose a little so we can try to keep those animals flexible. And stamina is one. You know, we talked earlier about upping our calories, and a lot of times guys want to up their calories if they're in colder atmospheres to Try to, try to keep, keep them warm and all that and that's, that's great. But whenever you start feeding them four pounds a day on a, on a, on a yearling weather, they're going to gain weight, they're going to get big, they're going to get huge. And so to try to offset that, we use those calories from like a product like stamina, that is a liquid fat so that they, they don't sit there and turn all that into growth and, and just get bigger and bigger on you. You can maintain some size. So I really like that one. I love that one. In the winter time we actually mix it with our yeti sauce there at the house and drench those lambs that we're trying to make their fuzz bigger and, and stouter and all that at the ground. I think the vitamin pack and the things that are in stamina, I think it's great for their skin and hair. We really notice it in the pig barn as well. So that's another thing that we use. Not, you know, just a little different, but I think it works really, really well. But that one there, you'll notice some skin hide. They're all rack shapes and really stand up in them.
- [18:35]
Steva Robinson
So to wrap this up, I have a few fun questions for you. I know you mentioned already about exercise programs and how important they are. So what do you recommend to get the most out of your animal using an exercise program?
- [18:49]
Katelyn Sister Urban
I think exercise programs are a must have to really get to the next level. I would start with that, you know, we mentioned earlier genetic potential and then having, you know, ultimate feeding program to get that genetic potential. But I would say the third key there is an exercise program to really maximize that genetic potential there with the combination of the others. And I would say, and we did it for years with just the treadmill and I think you can totally do that if you have the. You maybe pick one. To answer your question, I would tell you a treadmill is a must. That's going to help with, you know, that lower leg, that width, that dimension. People say all the time, well, it just makes their booties bigger and it doesn't really, you know, doesn't help their back. What helps their back. That that's as false as you could get. Your, your abs are sore, you know, after you go run or you know, if you ran backwards, I can promise you every muscle in your body probably would hurt. You can watch those muscles when they're running backwards on a treadmill really flex and work and it that's just building mass and it doesn't happen overnight. I mean it's no different than in a feeding program. There's not a supplement that we talked about that you can go, you know, throw it in there and you're going to see, you know, 24 hour difference. I think in a ruminant animal, I think it takes about two weeks to see any kind of, you know, feeding change or exercise change really take effect. And that's whenever we like to make changes by the way, is, you know, about every two weeks. Let them, let it have time to work. Don't just start changing their feed because it's not working or their exercise program. But I would tell you that a treadmill is awesome in that regard. You can turn around, around forward and they're gonna, they're gonna burn fat and do the things you want them to. From a conditioning standpoint there from, you know, three to five to seven, 10 minutes forward. The biggest thing is time management. If you've got multiples on feed, yeah, a track is awesome and that's the reason why we did actually invest in a track and the dogs was, you know, just from a time management standpoint with all the kids around there showing now at home in that regard is awesome. I mean that, that makes life really nice whenever you can track the whole barn and be done in a half the time or less that it would take to treadmill, you know, a lot of those sheep. So I guess that's, that would be my 2 cents on an exercise program.
- [21:05]
Steva Robinson
And I know you mentioned a lot of different products that show right has. So what is your favorite product?
- [21:12]
Katelyn Sister Urban
My favorite product would have to be the Newco Lamb Grower show, right? Newco Lamb Grower. That's, that's been the baby since the beginning. I guess whenever I started, as I mentioned in my opening there, that was, that was the product that kind of got it all going. I feel like we snowballed from there. Really built some awesome supplements to go around it utilizing some of the same technologies that are in that feed and they're just, you know, ramped up versions. I don't know if it holds true today, but I know in the show right arsenal of, you know, base feeds or just complete feeds, maybe I should say that product has the most different technology. Hand ads, if you will, that the plant guys absolutely frown upon very complex feed. I tell people all the time, feeding, feeding, show right. Newco is, is very similar to eating a brownie. Doesn't take much and it gets you filled up and you Know, it's. It's a very dense feed, very rich feed, if you will. And, you know, I get the question all the time, boy, you know, why is it so expensive? Well, guys, that's why it's expensive. I mean, that's. That's why it's a little higher than some of them you might see on the marketplace. Not that much higher for what's in it, I can guarantee you that. And at the end of the day, whenever we break down feeding these things, it's actually probably cheaper because you're not feeding as much of it. You know, there we start those things at £4 a day, and then by the time we're showing them as a yearling, they might be on a pound a day versus some of our competitors feed where you're always seem to be feeding, you know, two, four, six pounds a day. They won't eat six pounds a day of that feed. That's how dense it is. But it's extremely fortified. Everything about it is. Is over the top. And that's the way we've kept it even. Even when the marketplace got pretty high, we actually, you know, we took a part of it from our side just so we didn't have to move anything to change that feed, because that's how important it is to us to make sure that that one there ranks supreme. And I absolutely love that feed, and it's been awesome for us.
- [23:23]
Steva Robinson
And my last question I have for you is, what is the biggest feeding mistakes you see people make across the country?
- [23:31]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Yeah, I would hope my regulatory group is probably not listening at this point, but I can say, you know, with. With the medication in the. In the feeds, we've got to have like a nucleolamphi. There's Deadcox, which helps with Coccidia, and that's just part of it, you know, that we've got all these different, all natural Coccidia stats in there as well from a health standpoint. But when we start talking about medications that are regulated and all that kind of stuff nobody wants to talk about, it's not fun at all. They got. They got to put on there, you know, pound per hundred maybe or something like that. I think what like Newco says for an example, and. And that absolutely drives me crazy, because whenever these lambs weigh the least, we should be feeding the most. And when they weigh the most, we should be feeding the less. And I think that's something there as a feeder that a lot of especially, you know, newer feeders, younger feeders, don't understand they look at that, they read. You know, I tell people all the time there was no book written that tells you how to feed any kind of livestock. It's all, you know, kind of hands on and make the call there, I guess, if you will. But that is one thing. Whenever these animals are young, you should be feeding them. You know, we're creep feeding them. They're a self feeder. We take them home, we keep pushing, we keep feeding on, you know, 85 of them. Now some of them may be different growth curves, you know, and that kind of thing and starting to shut down that we need to lean those up so that they will grow. But whenever those lambs are young and they're growing, they should be eating, you know, four or five pounds a day, whatever you can get in them. And then as they start to get chubbier or softer or what have you, then we start to slow them down. We might add a supplement in there, different things like that. But like I said earlier, in the end, if you're feeding one of those yearling weathers for Oklahoma youth Expo, you know, he's feeding a pound or two a day to 180 pounder where you know, whenever he started he was getting five pounds a day as an 80 pound lamb or four pounds a day as an 80 pound Lamb. So that would be my, my big, I guess maybe my pet peeve from the feeding side of things and trying to, trying to really, you know, get that across to the general public that are starting that, that may not understand that.
- [25:40]
Steva Robinson
Well, thanks for joining me today, Cooper. We really appreciate your advice and show right for being our show lamb of the year sponsor.
- [25:48]
Katelyn Sister Urban
Absolutely. Hey, we appreciate you guys very much. Thanks for having me on. Best of luck to all those exhibitors out there on behalf of show right. If you didn't get it, hey, don't be afraid to work hard next year. There's always another opportunity.
- [26:04]
Cooper Newcomb
Well, thanks Cooper for being on. Let's move into what we've got going on on Champion drive right now. Bogulka livestock has their full born online sale. Donnie's had a fall set for as long as I can remember and this might be one of my favorites he's put up. There's some unicorns, some 2.0, some 10 bears, maybe some most wanted weathers, UAMs, RAM options. Definitely a sale that's had its fair share of winners come out of that sale is December 15th and be sure to check their sale out. That's for bulka livestock. Other than that, we have a pretty big week. The whole Reason for this week's podcast is to highlight the female of the year candidates. As sister mentioned, it's sponsored by Reproduction Specialty Group or rsg. Let's go over who the top nominees that are featured on Champion Drive are.
- [26:50]
Steva Robinson
So the grand commercial you at Louisville this year was shown by Bella Tim. That's a rule you that they called Cinnamon. She has a walk this way break the Internet. I know she also won the Cheyenne Livestock Expo if I remember right just recently. So that's been a pretty good you for Bella Tim. So you should check her out on Champion Drive. And then also the platinum Shelton donor 22 140. She's a saving queen. She was actually the oye class winner at 2023. She's been pretty successful for them guys. So it's exciting to see what all she will produce this year.
- [27:22]
Cooper Newcomb
Yeah, I always think it's interesting on the female of the year it's different than any other contest because we get sometimes show use and then we get sometimes yous that have already been in production and I think it's important that we have both. And I think it's really interesting. I know that Platinum you I think she's the mama bloodline, Lonely Gringo hat trick and several others. But I think it's interesting that she got recognized in there because like I said sometimes it's only show used and sometimes it's also used that are in production. The next one is also a Platinum Shelton you gabby routes spec you that they called cheese. She was the reserve overall you at Louisville. The reserve champion jackpot lamb and reserve grand breeding you at the show in Reno. I think this you held her own on the Indiana circuit and several other times that she's been out. She's bred by Platinum Shelton and is a return Johnny machine.
- [28:12]
Steva Robinson
And then the next one we have up is Darlene that is Johnson family show stocks you it's a Seiwin unicorn Roxanne. And I know she's been pretty successful for about four different showman. So it's exciting to see kind of what all she did in the show ring and I'm sure they're really excited to see what she produces also going forward. We had Pop Tart on there. She's a truce bombshell. She she was actually bred by Harold and she's owned by Owen South Downs there in Oklahoma. Ruby Jensen showed her and she showed her all across Oklahoma. I know she won several jackpots and then she ended up being supreme you at Tulsa State Fair and reserve you at Eyo and I know they are pretty excited for her. So that was a good one to get up as well.
- [28:52]
Cooper Newcomb
Next up is Al Newcomb. P640. We kind of talked about the platinum you that's in contention but this P640 is a mature you that's had a really good run this year. She's the mom of Donna, which Donna is the grand champion you at Oklahoma State Fair and American Royal and then the third overall at Louisville, which we'll talk about that one a little bit more in a second. But then she also is the mom of the fourth overall Market Lamb at Louisville and she's the dam of Open the Gate. So definitely one that's in production that made the top nominees for Female of the Year. The next one is Sadie Allen's Donna, which is the Ulam we just talked about. Talked about. That is out of P6.40 like we mentioned, she was the grand at American Royal and at Oklahoma State Fair and then also the third overall at Louisville. She's a mythical P640.
- [29:42]
Steva Robinson
Platinum Shelton has another you up. Braden Bowers actually showed her and they called her Mimi. She I know she was very successful for Braden winning grand champion prospect at Spring American Royal. She was multiple time champion grand grand U. And then she also was supreme breeding you at Exorbitant. She was a return Johnny Phoenix. And once again that was Platinum Shelton shown by Braden Bowers. And then the last one we have up is Black Betty. She's an Italian stallion. 520 that's that was the grand breeding you at the Iowa State Fair Reserve grand breeding you at Exarbon. And then she was five time grand and two time reserve in the show series up in Iowa. I know that she was a maternal to Cocky Rocky and Golden Glove raised by Berry Farms and shown by Wayland Gamberling. So I know that these are some pretty successful use that we have up and I'm excited to see honestly who wins. I've gotten a lot of questions about who won show Lamb of the Year and we don't calculate until the very end. So I'm excited to see who wins. And let's get right on into Jordan Amber's part with rsg. Well, Jordan, thanks for taking the time to be on the podcast on behalf of rsg. RSG is our female of the year sponsor and we really appreciate appreciate you guys doing that. So let's kind of get right into this. Tell me a little bit about how you got started with RSG and kind of what led you down to the reproductive side.
- [31:05]
Jordan Amber
Yeah, Absolutely. Thank you guys for letting RSG be a part of the voting at the end of the year for Champion Drive. It's something that we look forward to every year and we appreciate seeing all of our clients success on any portion of the voting at the end of the year. So it's something fun that we always look forward to. But yeah, about myself, been with RSG since January of 2022. Been in this industry all my life. And kind of the stars aligned and, you know, all the cards kind of fell where RSG was looking for expansion and to grow the sales and marketing side of the business as well as other portions of the company. So came along with Dr. Tad and Amanda and his family and the RSG team to kind of head up the business development side of stuff.
- [32:04]
Steva Robinson
Yeah, so tell me a little bit about what all RSG offers.
- [32:07]
Jordan Amber
Yeah, so RSG offers a very innovative total program management approach to all things small ruminant from January 1st to December 31st. So we look at the holistic side of things, raising not only the show stock side of stuff, but the commercial side of sheep and goats all year long to set up our clients for the best success that we possibly can. And that's based on, you know, the four cornerstones of our success that Dr. Tad and Amanda and RSG team has implemented. And that is the breeding services side of stuff, which is our lap AIs to our embryo transfers to the ivf. And then we start looking at our animal health, the nutrition and the genetics, which is the semen storage and collection side of the business.
- [33:00]
Steva Robinson
So kind of going off that a little bit. Let's talk a little bit about like if somebody brings their buck there to get collected, what is the process that you guys go through to kind of making sure that they get everything that they need?
- [33:10]
Jordan Amber
Yeah. So once a client or a breeder decides it's time for their sire to get collected, we encourage everybody to reach out to their account manager, manager at the time. Excuse me. Or if they don't have one, call the office and we'll be glad to introduce you to one that you'll be working with throughout the whole process of that, as well as our great genetics team for scheduling at that point that you tell us that you are ready to get that desired number of target units and that your sire has a certain availability in terms of a window that he could leave your operation at home and come to our location in Indiana or our new location in RSG Texas there in Ballinger. And that sire is healthy and ready to roll. We Strongly encourage you to follow our clean out process online, which you can access@proplecess specialty.com. and what that clean out process looks like is just getting that critter trained around, just being around people and getting used to and adapt to getting hand mated more frequently than he probably is already. And then going into the clean out process, that's when that male will ejaculate multiple times that with hopes to clean out and get those abnormalities removed off those cells. And we strongly recommend once you have that desired date and that set in stone, letting him sit for approximately 72 hours prior to him coming into any one of our facilities and getting those collected units.
- [35:03]
Steva Robinson
And I know you guys are putting up a new RSG sire center. So tell me like a little bit about kind of what your guys hopes and dreams are for that and kind of what you see the program.
- [35:13]
Jordan Amber
Yeah, so that is something very, very exciting that is still under construction here as we speak. We're hoping to have a open house scheduled around February of 2025. So that's something that we all look forward daily just to seeing the construction phases and seeing that process move along. Something very exciting. It is two levels. It will have the capacity to hold 86 animal pins. Like I said, it's two levels. With a hog slap plastic flooring system that has been implemented over here in the United States. Six foot off the ground. Some fun facts about that. That hog slat system. It is actually very comforting for those animals. There's a lot of give to where it's actually very good and gentle on their joints and feet. But I think my favorite part about it is just how sanitary and healthy it is. The easability to clean it and just the biosecurity purposes of it I think will aid in the overall health and the process for the animals going on into the holistic side of that facility. It'll be the largest small ruminant semen processing and storage facility in the world. Which I think is very awesome to have that not only in the United States, but here locally. I think another interesting fact about that is there's actually a 30 pan quarantine space. When we start talking about the export side of things, focus on not only our domestic work, but exporting genetics over the big pond, if you will.
- [36:44]
Steva Robinson
Yeah, that sounds like it'll be like pretty cool and pretty big. So I'm excited to see that kind of come to life and what all that entails for you guys.
- [36:51]
Jordan Amber
Yep.
- [36:51]
Steva Robinson
So kind of going forward into the reproductive side of things. I know it's always changing. And success on reproductive days, it has a wide variety of factors. So what is some advice you would give someone and like to reach their full potential on, you know, AI days, flush days or anything in between?
- [37:10]
Jordan Amber
Yeah, so much like anything when we talk successes and failures, get a good circle or a network of people and in this case breeders or mentors or your local veterinarian that you work with or you know, your account managers here at RSG or your team at rsg. That's what we're here for, is to hopefully put our clients down the best road for success. And obviously there's internal and external factors on successes and failures of everything, which is stuff we can or can't control, obviously. And the stuff we can control when it comes to successes of a reproduction program is our animal health. Are those females in the right kind of body condition score or the alert chewing their cud, Are their eyes perky, are their ears up? Stuff like that environment, do we have the right kind of airflow in our housing facility? Is it a low stress environment? Do we have the right kind of or an ample amount of feeder space when we go to do chores, go into tune our nutrition. Is our nutrition at the right kind of levels that will set them up for good reproductive success or going on into the phases of production whether if we're in the lactating phase, are we feeding them at a high enough level of protein that we can get that ample amount of brown fat on them to pass the antibodies down for healthy babies, are we having a free choice mineral out 24,7 as the water's being cleaned daily. So is our, is our pasture ample? Is our, is our hay free of toxic weeds? So just stuff that we can control from a nutrition level? I've heard Dr. Tad, you know, say it till you know he's blue, blue in the face. That 80% of our animal successes and or failures come from our GI track. And I always relate it to sports. You know, I don't know if Patrick Mahomes is eating a large pepperoni pizza at halftime, maybe Steve, as Wisconsin Badgers teams do that. But I don't think any kind of successful athlete or people that are taking their, whether it's show stock or animals seriously that do not want them to have the right kind of nutrition in their body when they want to peak at a high level. Outside of that, are we, are we selecting these animals for reproduction? Are we using the ones that have a history of good reproduction success stories?
- [39:37]
Steva Robinson
Yeah, I thought that was very good insight on that, do you mind telling me a little bit about, like, what external factors you see kind of playing part of the success or failures as well.
- [39:45]
Jordan Amber
Yeah. So external factors. Sometimes it can be stuff that we never even dreamed of, that we don't know that is an external factor until it pops up. You know, obviously, you know, I. I wish we can control the weather. I Wish it was 75 and sunny right now, and I think along with everybody in the country when they're out breeding sheep. So the weather, or is it constant? Is it storming where you're at? Is it hot? Is it humid? Stuff like that, as far as the climate is obviously stuff that, you know, I wish we could control, but unfortunately, we can't. Semen and logistics, you know, now more than ever, it seems like with the trend of shipping, as, you know, the fresh, chilled semen, not only is the semen quality something that as breeders or humans, that we can't control, but getting it there as, you know, can. Can be a headache of its own with, you know, FedEx and UPS or even driving it, it seems like, you know, there's so many times that just when we think we can count on it getting there, just something happens. As far as a bump in the road to kind of humble us outside of that, I had to deal with this on my own. You know, predators are always one that is an external factor that, you know, we don't ever plan for as far as coyotes or dogs getting in and creating a stressful environment to your operations. So just little external factors like that that, you know, always can kind of put a wrench into your game plan.
- [41:14]
Steva Robinson
Yeah. And kind of like looking at everything that we have to overcome, it's. It's almost like a miracle that we do get live babies and healthy babies as much as we do.
- [41:21]
Jordan Amber
We say that every year. It's just like, you know, whenever there's a live baby on the ground that's. That's healthy and, you know, it seems like when we can get them to the weaning stage, it's a miracle, you know, because sheep are sheep. Right. So. Or goats, I should say. You know, it's just a miracle. Sometimes we can get them from start to finish, from the. From the breed days to the weaning gauge to the end. Goals.
- [41:46]
Steva Robinson
Yeah. I think there's a saying that I hear people say a lot that sheep are born looking for a place to die, so.
- [41:51]
Jordan Amber
Absolutely. Absolutely.
- [41:52]
Steva Robinson
I use that every single day.
- [41:54]
Jordan Amber
Yep.
- [41:55]
Steva Robinson
So I know RSG has a nutrition cornerstone, so kind of how does that Go hand in hand for a good flush day.
- [42:01]
Jordan Amber
Yeah. So the RSG Nutrition and the Nutrition Cornerstone, you know, as Dr. Tad that I mentioned stated, 80% of our successes or failures of our body is based on our gi. So with the hopes of RSG nutrition, it is to improve the animal's biological system and the functionality of it. And the goal of this whole product line is to build a platform for success for the small ruminants, showstop or commercially, so that RSG Nutrition and the SS Breeder Balancer line is a complete source of all the essential micronutrients as well as somatic technology to improve that GI system and function. And then once hopefully those are conceived, it also goes ahead and puts them in the best case scenario to hopefully reduce that risk of a abortion.
- [42:55]
Steva Robinson
Yeah. So kind of going off that a little bit, if somebody has a poor AI conception or a poor flush experience, kind of what do you see going forward that they should do or what? What's your advice for them?
- [43:06]
Jordan Amber
You know, I think a self assessment would be where I would start. You know, go back, going to those internal factors that you can control. The first thing that I think you probably should look at is that animal health or your herd health. And that's when body condition scores just so vital, in my opinion. You know, are we worming at the right kind of time? Are we vaccinating on schedule? And most importantly, are we putting high quality ingredients that are bioavailable and absorbed at the right levels into that body of the females to put them in the best case scenario for success?
- [43:45]
Steva Robinson
What is a successful flush considered? I know that there's, you know, it kind of depends probably where you're from, where you're at, what your herd health is like. So what do you guys consider a successful, successful flush number wise?
- [43:55]
Jordan Amber
Six and a half average has been the average going on for five years now. And it's always subjective. And, you know, you see it daily. People that have never had a embryo or never been a part of an embryo transfer program that are doing it just to get more than the 1.6 average of babies. And then there's breeders that are, you know, doing the 20 donor days that may have high expectations of getting 15 average. So I think it's very subjective going on breeder to breeder. But if we want to base everything on averages, that six and a half transferable average seems to be a very good day for the industry from coast to coast.
- [44:43]
Steva Robinson
So my last question I have for you is what is your favorite part of working with rsg.
- [44:48]
Jordan Amber
This is easy. I get to wake up and do something that I've always dreamed about and that is to be within the industry and get to work with people that have the same passion for the industry that I do.
- [45:01]
Steva Robinson
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a good thing and I'm glad that you get to do what you love. So thanks for joining me today, Jordan. We really appreciate your insight and once again, thanks for sponsoring our Female of the Year contest.
- [45:11]
Jordan Amber
Thanks, sister. And I appreciate all you guys do.
- [45:17]
Cooper Newcomb
Well. Thanks for joining us today. As we mentioned, Female of the Year voting is going on at Champion Drive this week that's sponsored by RSG. Again, that voting ends Sunday night, December 15th. So be sure to go over and cast your vote for who you think is the most deserving. Other than that, after that, we've got a couple weeks coming up of Rookie of the Year and Man of the Year and we will catch you back next week.