J-C Angus Ranch
John and Cathy Heckendorn
Rebecca, Sarah, Joshua & Caleb
75-A Pueblo Road North
Moriarty, NM 87035
Toll Free: 1.888.jcangus
Home: 505.832.9364
Cell: 505.379.8212
john@jcangus.com
www.jcangus.com
Directions to ranch
From I-40, 6 miles east of Moriarty, take exit 203. Take North Frontage Road (Abrahmes) east 1/4 mile, look for J-C Angus sign on north side of road and turn north for 1.5 miles to headquarters.
Owners
John and Cathy Heckendorn with their four children – Rebecca, Sarah, Joshua, and Caleb (lovingly called the Heckendorn Herd).
Ranch Location
The Ranch is located 6 miles east of Moriarty (45 miles east of Albuquerque) just north of I-40 near exit 203. The elevation varies from about 6,200-7,000 feet in elevation with pinon and juniper trees scattered around. The terrain is mostly flat and gently rolling hills with a few canyons and steep roads that the kids have nicknamed “loose tooth lane” (our pickup is a very rough 1 ton).
Ranch History
In 1980, John's dad, Harry Heckendorn, and his grandfather, Ralph Bell, started raising registered Angus as B&H Ranch with the purchase of 7 pairs from Franklin Flint. They later purchased a few additional cows from Hinkson & Lust. The cow herd grew steadily over the years with careful selection.
John was actively involved in FFA and 4-H during this time, and participated on judging teams that won the state livestock judging contest in both FFA and 4-H in 1983. He always had a keen interest in the registered herd, and was actively involved in the selection of herd sires and replacement females as well as keeping and tracking performance data on the herd. The thing that he didn't realize in 1980 was that Cathy Skelton, the redheaded friend who came over to visit his sister that year, would become his high school sweetheart and, due to some way over-selling on his part, eventually agreed to become his wife in 1986.
John graduated from New Mexico State University (NMSU) in 1988 with a degree in Animal Science and judged livestock on the NMSU team while Cathy graduated with her degree in Elementary Education.
Breeding Philosophy
We feel that as a registered breeder we have a responsibility to raise the most profitable cattle that we can for the commercial cattle industry. We believe that profitability starts with fertility. The next most important trait for us is calving ease. We have found that calves that die at birth do not have very good weaning weights!
Once that live calf is on the ground we want it to grow rapidly and efficiently. We have been performance testing bulls at the NMSU Tucumcari bull test for over 30 years. It was often a humbling experience as we competed against other breeders. We have focused on rapid growth genetics (High Yearling EPD) without sacrificing calving ease (Low BW EPD) since 1980. In 1985 our pen of bulls at Tucumcari averaged 3.25 lbs per day of gain and it took 828# of feed per 100 lbs of gain. Our pen in 2003 averaged 4.91 lbs per day and converted 555# of feed per 100 lbs of gain! Now that's progress! Performance testing bulls every year will make you a believer in EPDs!
After testing bulls and observing the Tucumcari bull test for 30+ years, we have noticed that the fastest growing calves are almost always the most feed efficient. In 2012 the slowest gaining Angus pen converted at 7.66 lbs of feed per lb of gain on a high roughage diet, while the highest gaining pen - from J-C angus - converted at 5.28 lbs - OVER 30% LESS FEED!! There is a very high correlation between rapid growth and efficiency of feed conversion and studies show a 70% correlation between feedlot efficiency and cow efficiency on pasture. We tested bulls at the Oklahoma Panhandle State University Test in Goodwell the last two years and were blessed to have the high gaining bull on test in 2013 out of our natural herd sire, J-C SS Objective 0852. He also sired 2 of the 3 bulls tested there in 2014 and they were the high gaining and most feed efficient pen.
Would saving 30% on feed and/or pasture usage be of benefit to you?
Once these calves grow out, they need to provide value for both the packer and the consumer with high quality carcass characteristics for the benefit of the industry, and the females kept as replacements need to be moderate framed, efficient converters of grass to produce adequate milk to raise heavy, soggy calves and breed back every year.
This is why J-C Angus is utilizing bloodlines that excel in the traits of Fertility, Calving Ease, Rapid Growth, Feed Efficiency, and Carcass Quality.
We believe you can't improve what you do not measure and, while looks are important, I don't know anyone who would be foolish enough to buy a vehicle based solely on looks without knowing what the horse power and fuel efficiency is. Why invest in a bull based solely on looks or without any performance data?
We strive to do everything we can to improve our genetics, and want our buyers to look under the hood and have confidence knowing that our bulls come from the Southwest and have adapted and selected for over 30 years to perform in our tough environment at 6,500 feet elevation, have been developed on a high roughage diet designed to produce healthy bulls that are not over conditioned and that can adjust quickly to grass. They have been vaccinated at branding and at weaning with Bovishield Gold as well as a 7-way with Somnus, and are also treated at weaning with a generic Ivermectin. They have been weighed by scale at birth, weaning and yearling. They have been performance tested against other breeders/bulls in an unbiased third party gain/efficiency test, measured for feed efficiency within sire groups/pens, ultrasound measured for carcass quality, fertility tested, PiBVD tested, trich tested and are READY TO WORK!
We pray that our cattle work as well for you as they have for us, and we greatly appreciate and thank past buyers who have invested in J-C Angus genetics.
J-C Angus – Feed Efficient Reference Sires
J-C SS Objective 0852 – Natural Sire – 6 sons sell in 2015
This gentle son of SS Objective was our favorite from our '08 calf crop, and his calves have been outstanding. This bull offers exceptional calving ease along with explosive growth and strong carcass traits. His calves have historically been our lightest at birth and heaviest at weaning, and we have never pulled a calf from this bull. He sired the high gaining junior bull at the 2012-13 OPSU Bull Test in Goodwell. OK and he sired 2 of the 3 bulls in the high gaining and high feed efficiency pen at the 2013-14 OPSU Bull Test. He also had the high gaining, high feed efficiency sire group at the Tucumcari Bull test in 2014!
EXAR Emblazon 1010B – Natural Sire – 14 sons sell in 2015
This son of Rito 6EM3 of 4L1 Emblazon out of a 263C daughter was our pick from the 2012 Express Ranch Sale in Yukon, OK. He is a thick calving ease bull with good growth performance and excellent eye-appeal. He sired 31 calves this year, and they were all unassisted births with an average birth weight of 69 lbs. His 50K DNA profile ranked him in the top 1% of the breed for RFI (feed efficiency).
Connealy Shrek 4242 – AI Sire – 5 sons sell in 2015
We have always been intrigued with GAR EGL Protégé after he won the Sire Alliance progeny test ranking number 1 for total profitability and feed efficiency for several years. Connealy Shrek may be his best son and offers an EPD profile with exceptional calving ease and tremendous growth. Few bulls can match his birth to yearling spread as you can see below. According to the Angus Association, the best predictor for feed efficiency is the RADG (Residual Average Daily Gain) EPD. "Shrek" has a .24 RADG EPD ranking in the top 10% of the breed!
A A R Ten X 7008 S A – AI Sire – 3 sons sell in 2015
This son of Mytty in Focus continues to gain in popularity with progeny proven performance. He combines calving ease with explosive growth, and has terrific carcass characteristics and his scrotal EPD is in the top 10% of the breed. According to the Angus Association, the best predictor for feed efficiency is the RADG (Residual Average Daily Gain) EPD. 10X has a .27 RADG EPD ranking in the top 4% of the breed!
Please give us a call and stop by anytime! We would love to see you!