Third Day Ranch in Washington County, Texas, is a leading registered Brangus producer, using CattleMax® software since 2001 to assist in successfully managing their registered and commercial herds.

Owner John Traver grew up in the dairy business in Wisconsin and swore he would never go back into agriculture. Being the oldest child in the family, he found himself working year-round to help his family keep things going. But, following a move to Houston in 1991, John and his wife would spend a lot of time in the Washington County (Navasota, Texas) area to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

After selling his consulting business in 2001, the first purchase was a ranch. He commented, “I guess you can take the boy out of the country for awhile, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. The best part of all is my wife and kids absolutely love it!”

Third Day Ranch now is comprised of nearly 1200 acres with 200 Brangus females and 200+ commercial Brangus and Super Baldy females. The ranch is also a commercial hay producer with over 400 acres of improved Jiggs Coastal Bermuda grass under irrigation. There are four full-time employees and the ranch is growing steadily.

Traver made a commitment to focus on quality five years ago. That commitment required a tremendous investment of capital and labor, but in 2008 Traver can see the results of that commitment.

When the ranch was purchased the entire place was overrun with Huisache (a member of the Mimosa family). It took years of chemical applications to root it out and the introduction of improved grasses to make the ranch what it is today.

The cattle operation has shown steady progress as a result of key acquisitions of Brangus Donor females and key herd sire acquisitions. At the 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Third Day Ranch received first place for the Brangus breed and at the Texas Brangus Breeders Association sale in January, the ranch had the number one and number two ranked and selling bulls. Third Day Ranch had the top selling yearling bull in a bull co-op sale in the fall of 2007.

Also, in 2007, Third Day Ranch completed a “store front” where their customers can come to buy hay and cattle. Traver says, “It’s really been a labor of love, but even our customers have shown us the efforts have been worthwhile.”

Third Day Ranch first purchased CattleMax® software in 2001. The ranch has purchased each new version as it has been released and they love the progress which continues with each new version. Third Day uses CattleMax® on four networked computers. Traver says, “The key to this system is that there is no profit in gathering information unless you USE the information to help make critical decisions. When you do this consistently, you will profit. We love the fact we can touch our data one time and then electronically transfer it to our breed association’s online software. That saves lots of time and money!”

To other users of CattleMax® software, Traver gives this advice: “If you are a registered operation, be sure to leverage the integration CattleMax® offers. If you are a commercial operation, be sure to USE the information you are recording to improve your product.” To those cattle operations not yet using computer software for record keeping, he offers this: “If you haven’t automated your cattle record system, you are rolling a square wheel. The CattleMax® input screen makes this process so easy to enter information anyone can do it easily—and then be set to benefit from the data. The days of throwing a bull on some females and expecting a profit are long gone. That end of the market is disappearing as quickly as fuel prices are rising. CattleMax® opens the door to the present and the future of the cattle business.”

Third Day Ranch is located near Navasota, in southeast Texas. Their website is can be found at www.thirddayranch.com.