03/03/08

Bullish On Bull Tests

by Dan Rieder

(This article about Powder Creek Simmentals appeared in the March 2007 issue of the Simmental Register)

Rodney Hilley, who along with his wife, Gail, owns Powder Creek Simmentals, Molena, Georgia, has capitalized on the state's abundance of bull test stations.

"Over the years, we have marketed nearly all of our bulls through bull tests," he explained. "Not only that, while I was still in college back in the 1970s, I got my start with this breed by purchasing a Simmental bull from the Rollins Research Center Bull Test at Berry College. Bull tests have been very good to us."

Following the acquisition of that bull from the Berry College test, Hilley bred up to purebred Simmental from a Polled Hereford base. A few years later, when numbers justified it, he began consigning to the tests sponsored by the University of Georgia, and marketed his bulls through the Bull Test sales. "We had the top-indexing bull at those tests seven or eight times," he reported.

About six years ago, Hilley and his close friend, Jessie Driggers of Glennville, realized that an opportunity existed for establishing additional bull tests. Together, they planned and organized the Canoochee Forage Bull Test, at Glennville, in collaboration with several other Simmental breeders and a couple of Angus producers.

"We just held our fifth sale and the sixth bunch of bulls are already on test," he says of the Canoochee program. "It has exceeded our most optimistic expectations and it has generated extra income for our consignors. It is a unique test based on the fact that there aren't many tests anywhere in the country where bulls are grown out strictly on forage. The number of bull buyers and the interest shown by this area's commercial breeders have been nothing short of amazing."

Recently, Hilley and Driggers came to the realization that they were victims of their own success. So many breeders were clamoring to consign bulls, they were outgrowing the capacity at the Canoochee site. "So we started another bull test," he says. "We named the new one the Optimum Beef Bull Program. It is located on the Chris Keller Farm, at Alma, with the sale held on the Larry Rodgers Farm at Valdosta, near the Florida state line. The Optimum test is different in that the bulls are grown out on soy hulls and free choice hay. As you might expect, Powder Creek Simmentals consigns bulls to both tests."

The Canoochee sale is held the last Friday in October, while the first Optimum Beef Bull sale was held in mid-February.

The Hilleys market between 20 and 25 bulls annually and all are sold through various test sales. "We've been doing that for more than 25 years," he reported. "We don't keep any bulls on the farm because our acreage and facilities are such that we're not set up to handle them. It is just easier for us to ship them to somebody else and let them take care of them."

A Family Operation

Powder Creek Simmentals, named for the small creek that flows through their farm, was originally purchased by Rodney's great-grandfather. His grandfather ran a Holstein and Jersey dairy until he encountered some health problems and began breeding his milk cows to Hereford bulls.

Hilley had been raised on his parents' small beef farm and began assembling a small herd of Hereford cows before he was a teenager. He graduated from berry College, in Rome, majoring in Animal Science. "At that time, Berry had one of the biggest and best Simmental herds in the state and I was really impressed with them," he recalls. "When I got out of college, I was able to take over this farm from my grandfather and started my own Simmental operation with the half-blood bull I had purchased from Berry College. We bred him to our Hereford and Hereford-cross cows and the difference in the calves was like night and day. The increase in performance was just amazing."

The farm, which is located about 60 miles south of Atlanta, consists of 70 acres. Hilley leases an additional 160 acres in the area. "We do no farming and no hay production. With the high cost of machinery and labor, it is cheaper for us to purchase our feed. We try to run pretty much year-round on grass."

The Hilley cowherd consists of 70 cows, plus 10-12 replacement heifers. "We're strictly a family operation and handle the cattle in the evening and on the weekends."

He finds it ironic that Simmental have come full circle in the last 30 years. "We've gone through all the changes: take the horns off, turned them black, got rid of the spots and now we're coming back to half-bloods. It gives me a bit of heartache because it was a long road to get to that level," he lamented. "Right now we're breeding our Simmental cows to Angus bulls to produce SimAngus, and without a doubt, it is the right thing to do. We had it right back in the 1970s, but we just didn't know it."

Both Rodney and Gail work off the farm for the State of Georgia. Gail is employed by the Department of Juvenile Justice, while he is an Environmental Health Specialist in the Department of Human Resources. Both expect to retire within a few years. They're the parents of three children: Nicole, 27 who is a nurse; Jimmy, 23, employed by the Perdue Poultry Company; and Ryan, 14, a high school student.

Industry Involvement

In addition to their interaction with the state's bull tests, Rodney and Gail are both heavily involved in several other beef industry organizations. Each has held long-time positions with the flourishing Georgia Simmental/Simbrah Association (GSSA). He recently went off the GSSA Board after serving two different terms as president, and Gail is currently secretary-treasurer, a post she has held since 1999.

He has served on the Georgia Beef Breeds Council, as president of the Mid-Georgia Cattlemen's Association (MGCA), and on the State Bull Test Committee. In 2006, Hilley was named Purebred Cattlemen of the Year by the Georgia Cattlemen's Association. Gail continues to serve as MGCA Secretary, a position she assumed in 2001. Jimmy and Ryan have also been active in the MGCA, Jimmy in president in 2001-2002, and Ryan as the organization's current secretary.

Rodney has contributed time, effort and money toward manning a booth at the annual Sunbelt Expo on behalf of the GSSA and the Canoochee Bull Test. "That has been very effective, since several hundred thousand visitors come through there in a three-day period. The GSSA has maintained a high profile through the use of cost-sharing advertising in the Georgia Cattlemen magazine," he said. "I don't think there is any doubt that Simmental are the most prominent Continental breed in Georgia and second only to Angus among all beef breeds.

The Hilley children have been active in the American and Georgia Junior Associations, serving as state officers at various times. "We feel that it has been an extremely good program for them, teaching responsibility and what it takes to properly care for an animal," he said.

"The image of Simmental in Georgia is improving steadily. We've been able to alter those negative, hard-calving perceptions of our breed," he concluded. "We can offer calving-ease bulls that will produce desirable carcasses. If we can do that on a consistent basis, we'll continue to have a good market."