BIF Commercial Producer of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Angie Stump Denton, Beef Improvement Federation Communication Coordinator, angiedenton@ksu.edu or 785-562-6197

June 23, 2018

Woolfolk Ranch Named BIF Commercial Producer of the Year

LOVELAND, Colorado – The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Kent and Tyler Woolfolk of Woolfolk Ranch near Protection, Kansas, the BIF Commercial Producer of the Year Award June 21 during the group’s annual meeting and symposium in Loveland, Colorado. This national award is presented annually to a producer to recognize their dedication to improving the beef industry at the commercial level.

Woolfolk Ranch LLC is located in southwestern Comanche County, Kansas, and northeastern Harper County, Oklahoma. Kent Woolfolk and his son, Tyler, represent the fourth and fifth generations to operate the ranch. The ranch encompasses about 17,000 owned and leased acres of grass and around 1,000 acres of cropland.

The Woolfolks maintain around 1,100 Angus-based cows that calve in the spring, starting about March 15. They also take in nearly 150 Angus cows year-round on a custom per head basis. The cows are managed alongside their personal herd. Depending on moisture availability, the ranch will custom-graze 750 to 1,200 yearlings each year. In 2014, the Woolfolk family began the process of constructing a feeding facility to use for weaning purposes and as a drylot for cows during the fall and winter months, which would allow them to feed a low-cost maintenance ration.

The feedyard lets the Woolfolks develop and market their own replacement heifers, grow steers to feeder weight and custom-develop heifers for other ranches. It also is used as part of a drought plan put in place by the family, allowing the ranch to destock pastures much more quickly if the need arises.

The cow herd is rotated during the grazing months using a three-pasture rotation system. This provides adequate rest between grazing cycles prior to weaning, which begins in early September.

All cattle are handled horseback using low-stress cattle handling techniques, which allows the growing sixth generation to help when available. Woolfolk family members, while always looking for new management techniques and technology to improve cattle efficiency, still pride themselves on ranching traditions passed down from previous generations.

More than 600 beef producers, academia and industry representatives were in attendance at the organization’s 50th annual convention. BIF’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.

For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of the meeting and tours, visit BIFconference.com. For more information about BIF, visit Beefimprovement.org.

The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) is an organization dedicated to coordinating all segments of the beef industry — from researchers and producers to retailers — in an effort to improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of beef production. BIF was initiated almost 70 years ago to encourage the use of objective measurements to evaluate beef cattle. Continuing the tradition, BIF is now the clearinghouse for developing standardized programs and methodologies for recording of performance data for all traits, from birth weights to carcass traits. Its three-leaf-clover logo symbolizes the link between industry, extension and research.

Cutline:
Woolfolk Ranch, Protection, Kansas, was named the 2018 Beef Improvement Federation Commercial Producer of the Year during an awards ceremony June 21 in Loveland, Colorado. Pictured (l to r) are: Donnell Brown, 2017-2018 BIF president; Kent and Stephanie Woolfolk of Woolfolk Ranch; and Burt Rutherford of BEEF magazine, award sponsor.