MARWAYNE, Alta. — Art Wheat says it feels like Christmas when the bull catalogues start arriving at his farm in eastern Alberta.
“I look for cattle that bend the curve,” he said, referring to cattle with low birth weights and high weaning rates.
“I want lots of weight in the fall because I get paid on pounds.”
He, with his partner and kindergarten teacher Kathy Kent, combine forces to operate T-Bone Cattle Co., renting and owning eight quarters of land and calving 300 cows in their commercial herd.
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They retain some heifer calves for breeding and steers, selling some of each in fall. As well, they favour low maintenance cows and avoid larger framed animals.
“Art is very selective,” Kathy said.
“We don’t want to touch anything if we don’t have to.”
An easy-care herd begins with good genetics.
This day, son-in-law Justin Hozack is preparing hair samples from his bulls for DNA testing. He and Art’s daughter, Dr. Joan Wheat Hozack, have launched their own operation by buying land with Art and acquiring cattle.
“We’re trying to figure out traits on the bulls, good and bad. Then we’ll know what we’ll use on our calves,” said Justin, who has worked on a sheep farm in New Zealand and a cattle farm near Calgary and has taken courses in artificial insemination.
It’s early days in the Wheat farm succession plan, but the couple currently resides on an acreage closer to Marwayne and keeps their animals at the family farm.
Art’s three daughters pursue careers off the farm. Kate is helping on the farm while doing an instrumentation apprenticeship, while Joan is an orthopedic surgeon in Lloydminster and Jill is a lawyer in Edmonton.
Kathy has two adult children who are not involved in the farm.
Over the years, family and friends have gathered to help with branding and cattle drives.
“I like to move my cows slowly,” said Art, who uses horses almost exclusively for cattle chores.
These days, Art trails cattle partway to distant pastures and trucks them the rest of the way because of increased traffic and lack of labour.
He shows off a double alley Bud Box handling area that allows for a good flow of cattle into the squeeze chutes and back out to the pens.
Art has his oats and corn custom seeded, harvested and silaged.
“I don’t have time,” said Art, whose cattle graze standing corn in the fall and winter.
Kathy assists with farm chores, which can include checking cows, making ear tags, preparing medications and overseeing meals when large groups gather to help out on the farm or enjoy a barn dance and gymkhana.
The farm’s origins date back to Art’s mother’s uncle, who came here from Ireland in 1903. Without children of his own, he passed the farm on to Art’s parents, Margaret and Frank, who operated a mixed farm here and raised six children.
When Art started farming, he chose the T-Bone Cattle name because it’s memorable.
“When you hear it, you associate it with cattle and ranching,” he said.
Keen to farm from an early age, he prepared by studying farm and ranch production at Olds College and briefly did artificial insemination work on hockey legend Bobby Hull’s cattle farm near Winnipeg.
T-Bone maintains a website, www.tbonecattleco.com, selling cattle online and young steer calves to a small family feedlot. He previously exported semen from a commercial bull to Ireland.
The family is active in ranch rodeos and cow horse events such as reining, calf (chalk) branding, trailer loading of heifers and penning.
Art said it’s a way to hone their skills and promote the horses they raise, train and sell. They have 25 brood mares, colts and yearlings, of which eight are used in their operation.
“It’s all done with horses, we like to keep it that way,” said Art, who grew up riding horses.
His daughters were also involved in 4-H light horse and cattle programs.
“They knew more about horses than I did,” said Art.
Kathy praised 4-H for instilling in participants a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility in caring for stock.
The last two years have been decent for cattle, said Art, who cited BSE, poor cattle prices and drought among the farm’s many past challenges.
He managed BSE simply by cutting spending.
“It set you back,” said Art, citing deteriorating vehicles, equipment and corrals as a result of such austerity. No new genetics were introduced, and animals were also kept longer than they should have.
“We’re still working our way out of it,” he said.
Off-farm activities for Art have included sitting on Alberta’s Livestock Identification Services board, serving as president of a local community pasture and belonging to a grazing group.
Kathy said Art has much knowledge to impart to the next generation.
“It’s a time in Art’s life when he’s ready to pass that knowledge on,” said Kathy.
That includes a good eye for cattle.
“He knows how to read them, work them properly,” she said.
The couple plan to be involved with the farm in some way for another five to 10 years, maybe with fewer cattle.
They took a warm weather holiday this winter and think more of that may be in their future.
“We may holiday more because Justin is here and we are able to get away,” said Kathy.
“It’s hard to leave this property. Old ranchers are all the same,” said Art.
