cattle management software

For more than 80 years, Brown Ranches has stocked a capacity herd in the South Texas brush country, near Beeville, TX. They have made a great deal of progress since the 1920’s when the foundation for their ranch began, and Brown Ranches is now home to five generations born and raised on the family land.

Their progress has always been based on combining the cowboy ways of the past with modern technology and the best management practices. Brown Ranches is currently running 400 to 500 head of registered and commercial Hereford cows and Brangus bulls on native brush country and Coastal Bermuda and Kleingrass improved pastures.

Nearly a decade ago, Austin Brown III (the fourth generation manager) and his dad began building a backgrounding operation on Brown Ranches.

“We had been backgrounding our ranch-raised calves forever and decided to branch out and offer this service to others,” Brown said. “We offer several different services from bull and heifer development and gain test programs to high-risk auction ring cattle backgrounding.”

Brown said they even have a consulting nutritionist and feedlot veterinarian who monitor their medical and feeding programs. Brown Ranches is able to tailor their backgrounding services for any client, which is achieved by purchasing bulk commodities and milling their own feeds.

“We have customers from Texas to Florida,” Brown said.

He said that recent events, such as the drought which plagued South Texas for two years and the rise in commodity prices, has led to streamlining operations on Brown Ranches.

“We try to be as innovative and efficient as possible, spending more time on the $100 an hour work and less on the $5 an hour work,” he said.

Brown said he first learned about CattleMax at the TSCRA Convention, after using another software program for his record keeping.

“This program has cut down on the time I actually need to sit in front of the computer,” he said.

He has used the CattleMax software for nearly one year, and said he has found the production years feature to be helpful in his record keeping.

“After you fully understand the thought process behind it, it can add an important level of detail in your records,” Brown said. “Production status and history is easily accessible through this feature.”

He said he also appreciates the ability to create his own reports through the custom reporting feature. He has been able to track specific events and details important to his record keeping, such as pregnancy status or months bred. He said he even creates simple pasture inventory reports often which include only location and ID number.

“You can produce as little or as much information as needed,” Brown said.

Brown recommended that others just starting out with CattleMax try to learn as much as possible about the program.

“Use the program every day. Search every category and field and look at and study all the reports,” he said.

In today’s industry, information is the key to having a successful cattle operation, and Brown knows this.

“We are all responsible for our own knowledge acquisition. Constantly study the cattle business, talk to industry leaders and market analysts to find a way to add value to your product,” Brown said. “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake.”

To learn more about Brown Ranches and their backgrounding services, visit them online at http://www.brownranchgroup.com