MAKINGANGUS

MEASUREUP

by Linda Wells Kigerand Doug Perkins

December 1979 / ANG US J OUR NAL 19

Long-time Angus breeder Ned Biffle ofAllen, Okla., was severly injured by a silagebin power take-off mechanism Oct. 25, ap-proximately one month after the following in-terview took place. One leg was severeddirectly above the knee and the other leg wasbroken. in the struggle to free himself from thegrinding force of the machine, Ned's handwas severely lacerated but, fortunately, doc-tors were able to repair itFriends and relatives reported that only 24hours after the accident occurred, Ned, in hisstubborn yet determined manner, wasdelegating ranch duties to those at his bed-side. Six days later, Ned was taken intosurgery to remove more of his remaining leg-gangrene had been discoveredAs of Nov. 7, Ned was still recovering atValley View Hospital in Ada, listed in criticalbut stable condition. However, optimistic doc-tors report that the odds are in Ned's favor.He will survive.The ANGUS JOURNAL staff wishes NedBiffle, a man with a strong will and an evenstronger determination to live, a fast and suc-cessful recovery.

Measurements don't lie-at least not atBiffle Angus Ranch in Allen, Okla.,where measurements mean profit in theAngus business.Ned Biffle is a devout believer inmeasurements. Says he can go into a man'sherd and buy the best ones without lookingat them-merely by relying on mea-surements. That's why nine years ago hedevised a system of measuring his Anguscalves at birth. The measurements tell himwhether or not the calves will become fer-tile breeding stock when they mature. Hissystem has been immensely successful forhim. He can channel his money toward thecalves that show potential.It all started 18 years ago. Just bymeasuring the length of a calf's leg fromthe point of its elbow to the extendedlength of its leg, which includes the hoof, Biffle can ascertain which animals will be livelybreeders in his herd. "We measure the calfat birth, as soon as the slime is off," Bifflesays. "We flank the calf and stretch its legout and with a yardstick take ourmeasurements."

Length of Leg"I've found that the best breeding heifersare from 18.181/2 inches long at the leg.Bulls must be 181/2-20 inches long to besaved as bulls. Calves that are born 171/2-18inches can never catch up to a 19- or20-inch calf. Occasionally a bull thatmeasures 18 inches will make it, but thatdoesn't happen very often. If he is under 18inches, we put the knife to him." After 10years, however, Biffle discovered that hehad extended the hook to pin mea-surements from 20 inches to 22 inches. Foreight years now, he has measured for com-parison.Through Biffle's measurements, a briefglance at the future breeding potential ofthe animal before him becomes possible."Height and measurements at birth can tellyou immediately if the animal will be anygood. You don't have to wait until they'regrown," says Biffle. If the animal makes theaverage, Biffle pours more money into itscare and handling. If the animal doesn'tmake it-well, it's just an extra freeloaderwhere only the top animals are wanted.

Ned Biffle

These are part of the cows at Biffle Angus Ranch.

A Living LaboratoryNed Biffle is a man of high standards andboundless ingenuity. That's why his ranch,located a few miles south of Allen in thewoodlands of south central Oklahoma, is alaboratory in which he experiments withconservation, breeding Angus, ranch im-provement and grass development.Nothing on his ranch, including his herd ofregistered Angus cattle, escapes his intensescrutiny. He owns a Midas touch that im-proves the land, the animals and the ranch.His system of measuring, a crystal ball ofsorts, is just one of the many improvementsthis amazing man has introduced to hisbusiness."In this herd only," Biffle stresses,"measurements tell me which bulls I can af-ford to creep feed and which heifers will befertile. I have never had any reason to doubtthe measurements."The extent of his measuring goes evenfurther on his bulls. Just like heifers, thebull calves have their legs measured at thesame time they are ear tagged. But theyundergo one more measurement beforethey are legitimate members of the Biffleherd. Once the bull reaches 13 months ofage, Biffle measures the circumference ofhis testicles. If the bull passes this test,Bifflethen has on extra indication that the bullwill be a hearty breeder.Measuring Tape"A company in Denver, Cob., manufac-tures the tape I use to measure the bull'stesticles. It says that the circumferenceshould be 38 cm., but that company is notusing improved bulls. I'm now producing14-month-old bulls with a 40-cm. testiclecircumference.Anyone that knows anything about thecattle business understands there is a directcorrelation between the circumference of abull's testicles and the volume of its semenproduction. That's the reason we measure.Anything below the average circumferenceis culled as undesirable."A driller of oil wells for most of his adultlife, Biffle bought some $19-an-acre landback in 1957 and started making his debutin the Angus world. BillIe says peoplethought he was crazy when he started rais-ing his kind of black cattle in Allen.Described as "horsey," the cows rangedfrom 1,400-1,600 lb. He says he had to buytwo different herds to get the type of cattlehe wanted. The results from his new herdwere not to Biffle's liking-"good calves butthey didn't wean out like I had hoped."Started TestingPerformance testing was getting under-way in Oklahoma and breeders were get-ting weight-conscious. A bull was foundthat would turn the trick. He was StidhamEibeenmere King, by Eileenmere of Eufala.'His first crop of calves averaged well over100 lb. heavier at weaning than those bythe other bulls. He made some changes in ahurry." Then immediately after establishinghis herd, he joined Performance Registry In-ternational.

"I've been performance testing since thefirst test was held," Biffle says. "I'm theonlyman in the world that I know of thatmeasures bulls' testicles and places this in-formation on the animal's performance in-formation."How did Biffle begin measuring in thefirst place?"You just wonder how you come aboutthings like this," he replies. "I guess I firstgot the idea when American Breeders Ser-vice came to the ranch about 10 years agoto buy some bulls."I've been measuring nine years and Ifind it a useful tool in predicting fertility. Ifyou don't measure the legs of Angus, youmiss a lot. I knew that extremely largeAngus cows were hard to breed and foundthat largeness was highly hereditary. Heifersthat exceed 19-19/2 inches at the leg whenthey are born have problems with fertility,and when you get Angus bulls too tall youlose their testicles."Same Conclusions"The only other man that I know of whois measuring Angus cattle is Dr. J.T.

Pinkerton of Tyler, Texas. And he hasreached the same conslusions as I have onmeasuring."Naturally, one would think that somecows would consistently produce the bettercalves while others didn't. Ned says thismay be so, but he hasn't noticed any dif-ference. "I don't know which cows are hav-ing the best calves," he says. "Man can'tplan for a perfect calf. Mother nature has alot to do with it. I know some cow familiesdo better than other cow families, but that'sabout the extent of it."Cows whose bull calves do not meet therequired measurements are separated, andonly the top calves are put on creep feed.The cows with sub-par calves are returnedto the breeding herd next time around. AndBiffle adds that he has never been con-fronted with the problem of a female whohas consistently delivered calves that wereeventually culled.Cow NutritionDoes cow nutrition enter into the pic-ture?"That's a complex question to answer,"Biffle says. "You just have to assume that allthe cows have good nutrition. You can'thave a good calf without nutrition but, onthe other hand, the genetic ability of theanimal gives it the good calf rather than thenutrition."The measuring system works, Biffle says,and he has statistics to back up his con-fidence. For instance, a 3-year-old son ofEmulous TN 70 measured a 19 1/2-inch leglength at birth. He has proven to be "thebest improvement bull in my herd," Bifflesays. Another bull, Biffles Emulous 007,consistently sires progeny with the largesttesticle circumference ever measured inBiffle's herd bull prospects. In addition,there are scores of females that exhibitfemininity. In fact, all the Biffle cattle arebreathing testimonials to the accuracy ofhis measuring system.Sire of the YearIn 1970 Emulous TN 70 was named Sireof the Year. Biffle owned the bull in partner-ship with UT Farms, Tuttle, and AnkonyAngus, Highmore, S.D. At that time nobull's progeny had set more records in bothperformance and show ring winnings.Within a year's time, his calves shown by

December 1979 / AJ '? G US J OUR NAL 21

LIT Farms had won 52 championships and58 class blues. At eight shows, includingthe International, American Angus Futurityand American Royal, TN 70 calves tookboth the get-of-sire and junior get-of-sireawards. Another record was set at the Inter-national when TN 70 sons and daughterstook all four calf championships.In addition, Biffle is an intense conserva-tionist. In fact, he has won every conserva-tion award given by the National WildlifeFederation. The mantle in his living roombends under the weight of his awards. Bifflesays he doesn't take anything from the landthat it can't do without.He is also a grass farmer. His theory isthat grass, not heavy amounts of grain,should make red meat. He calls himself a"coastal man," but he also has pastures offescue and clover."1 also double-crop Bermuda grass byplanting wheat, then take the wheat off inthe form of silage and feed it to cattle withhay."Test StationHis bull test station is another wonder tobehold. It too is of his own invention. Hecan gain test approximately 50 bulls in it.The test station is probably one of theaeriest and best you'll ever come across. Inthe winter, doors come down to protect thecattle. And it all cost him less than $10,000to construct with salvage pipe.Close to retirement, Biffle sold his herdin August to former Okie Billy Yarbrough, aland development and concrete tycoon inFairfield, Calif. The sale involved approx-imately 150 registered Angus cows bred toWandering Creek Dynasty, Bon View Con-nection, Masterpiece, Byergos BlackRevolution 36, Powerplay, Patriot and EarlySunset Emulous 60E. Ned's wife, Mae, kept28 cows of her own that she manages andcares for herself. Yarbrough purchased landjust 8 miles northwest of the Biffle ranchwhere he plans to keep his new cow herd.The cows will stay at Biffle's for the winter,however, since plans for the Yarbroughranch will not be completed till next spring.His PlansWhat does Biffle plan to do now?

I've got 600 bales of rolled hay and twosilos full. I've kept some bulls that I wouldeventually like to breed some commercialcows to. Guess until then, I'll just set backand let the grass grow for a while," Bifflealso plans to act as a consultant, con-tributing 22 years of experience to Yar-brough, a newcomer to the Angus business.Better cowmen than Ned Biffle are few

and far between. Known to some as can-tankerous, stubborn and set in his ways, atougher gutsier individual would be hard tofind. And if you ever visit Biffle at his ranch,look at everything and you'll see that his in-genuity has no boundaries. But be sure totake a long look at his Angus cattle. Everyinch will measure up to your expectations.

Former Okie Billy Yarbrough purchased the Biffle herd this past August.

Emulous TN 70 was named Sire of the Year in 1970.

Billies Emulous 007 consistently sires progeny with the largest testicle circumference among Bilffles herd bull prospects.

Billies Emulous 007 consistently sires progeny with the largest testicle circumference among Bilfflesherd bull prospects.