Ranch to Host Two Cattlemen’s Groups Oct. 20 & Oct. 27

The Ranch will be busy at the end of October. With sale efforts well under way, the Ranch will host the
Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s NE District Fall Gathering Meeting on October 20, followed a week
later by the SW Missouri Cattlemen’s Association on October 27.

“In addition to finding out the issues relevant to cattlemen in your area, it’s a great opportunity to get
an in-person preview of the sale offering, as all the bulls will be at the headquarters along with a large
offering of the females,” said Ratcliff Ranch Manager Heath Kohler.

The OCA Fall Gathering event will begin 5:45 p.m. with an open tour of the ranch and the sale cattle.
The meeting will begin with dinner and entertainment at 6:30 p.m. The OCA staff will advise members
of issues they feel relevant to the cattle industry and the legislative issues they will be addressing in the
2012 legislative session. The “Gathering” will also feature a theft update and prevention tips as well as
an animal health presentation sponsored by Merck.

This is the kick-off to the OCA’s annual membership drive. Ratcliff Ranch encourages OCA members and
non-members to attend this informative and informal meeting. Any new members joining during the
OCA Fall Gatherings will be entered to win an ultimate grand prize courtesy of the OCA.

The following Thursday, Oct. 27, the SW Missouri Cattlemen’s Association will also visit the ranch and
tour the Temple Grandin Blackwell working facility around 4:30 p.m., just outside of Vinita. The group
will return around 5:30 p.m. to the sale facility to view sale cattle and to enjoy a meal at 6:15 p.m.
Both events will feature Heritage Ranch Brand meat and more information about the program will be
presented. Representatives from both the Ranch and Heritage will be available for any questions.

We look forward to seeing some of you in attendance. If you are interested in attending, please R.S.V.P.
to the girls at the office at 918-256-5561.

A Career Born of Autism: Grandin Leaves Legacy of Change

We hear a lot these days about people who turn tragedy, illness or disease into a winning situation. In
this case, Temple Grandin turned autism into a career, one that has been filled with success, much in
part to her ability to see and sense as animals do. Although misunderstood and ridiculed most of her childhood and adolescence, Ms. Grandin found her purpose in life while in college, touring slaughterhouses and feedlots. Even going as far as figuring out a way to fit in where only men had fit in before.

Temple was born with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others. As displayed in the movie Temple Grandin the noise of a fan or the simply swaying of a curtain would not frighten or evoke unease in others, but to Temple it was terrifying. While on her aunt’s farm she watched the cattle being worked and saw how quickly they calmed down while in the squeeze chute. One day, although very unorthodox, she used the chute to calm herself down and found it to be extremely soothing and relaxing.

While working on her college degree she had the opportunity to tour several slaughterhouses and feedlots and identified areas in which both needed to be improved to handle the animals in a manner that was not frightening or dangerous to their well-being. Over time she started to design working facilities and feedlots and through her connections was able to slowly integrate those plans into actual designs that are still utilized today.

It can be as simple as the radius of a turn in a tub of a working facility or in a feedlot the grid pattern in the concrete floor, but those simple attentions to detail have earned Temple Grandin a reputation second to none on being a foremost expert on animal handling and animal sensory perception. That is why in the late 90s Ratcliff Ranch approached Ms. Grandin about designing the new beef working facility for the Blackwell Ranch north of Vinita, Oklahoma.

“Prior to building the facility, we researched various designers of working facility and determined that Ms. Grandin saw things the way we saw it. We wanted her to design a facility that made working the cattle easier, more efficient with the least stress possible on the animal going through the chute,” said Ratcliff Ranch Owner Jim Ratcliff. She designed the barn, the tub, helped us with the choice of chute and then the half-moon of traps with five doors operated by hydraulics.

The facility is used for everything including weaning, yearly and routine calf working/processing, sorting and readying calves for the feedlot, artificial insemination, pregnancy checks and occasional embryo work.

According to the ranch hands, the attention to detail that Ms. Grandin put in the facility goes as far as even the height of the barn and the length of tin from the roofline to promote an area free from changing shadows based on the time of day the cattle are worked. Those details seem so minute to others, but yet to her are so important and are important to the animal’s comfort as well.

Ratcliff Ranch is planning on utilizing the services of Ms. Grandin again in the near future when they enlist her help in reworking the backside of the sale facility. Auctions are very loud and very quick with lots of abrupt sounds. The more that can be done to keep an animal calm prior to it entering the ring, means ultimately more money in the ranch pocket and less stress to the animal. In addition, a portable working chute and tub will be added for work around the headquarter facility.

It wasn’t inexpensive to build the Blackwell facility, but it has proved to be money well spent and Ratcliff Ranch is proud to have such a premier working facility that is both functional and practical. And more than that Ratcliff Ranch is proud to join Temple in her efforts to promote calm and humane cattle handling. Each of the calves on the ranch are born with a purpose, rather it be to be seedstock, semen sires, replacement females or ultimately a steak on a plate.

But no matter their lot in life, it is the Ranch’s goal to do it in a manner that is non-harmful and stressful to the animal. Ratcliff Ranches is glad Temple Grandin and her family didn’t let people’s perception of autism
deter her from not only a rewarding career, but a blueprint for the humane treatment of animals.

2011 Ratcliff Ranches. All rights reserved.

Grass Master & Okla. Sec. of Agriculture Spark Interest in Argentine Breeder’s Minds Offspring displayed in Genex Tour; Jim Reese speaks to Agriculture’s importance

Ratcliff Ranch was a part of a multi-state tour that was a joint venture between Genex and a major semen distributor in Argentina. Nearly 50 people, including the Argentines, Genex representatives and various legislative staff members joined Ratcliff Ranch to see first-hand the results of the genetic and phenotype footprint that Grass Master is leaving on his progeny.

The group was met by a driveway lined with flags from both Argentina and the U.S. The tour began with a brief welcome from Ratcliff Ranch followed immediately by a field trip to the Blackwell facility located just outside Vinita. This premier livestock handling facility was designed by well-known animal behavior specialist Temple Grandin. The Argentines and guests watched as the cowboys worked through a set of cows in a quick and quiet fashion.

“Building the Blackwell working facility was one of the best investments we have ever made. By handling our cattle in a humane and calm manner allows us to have higher conception rates during breeding, less trauma and stress to the animal at working time and ultimately leads to more dollars in our pocket,” said Ratcliff Ranch Owner Jim Ratcliff.

Upon returning to the RR headquarters, the group was able to truly see the impact of Grass Master through both his daughters and sons that were on display.

Representatives from Sinclair Cattle Company and Ratcliff Ranch were available to answer specific performance questions including the remarkable carcass data his first progeny to be graded have turned in.

Following the viewing of the Grass Master progeny, the group was introduced to the Heritage Ranch program and Unger Meat through a multi-course dinner. This dinner featured some of the fine meat available through this premier source and age verified program prepared by Unger Meat Executive Chef Damion Tittle. The chef prepared meals local in flavor to Argentina. Heritage Ranch Brand Director of Cattle Operations and Ratcliff Ranch Advisor Billy Hall spoke to the group about the premiums available and the quality of the cattle that are a part of Heritage Ranch program.

In addition, he also talked about the ability to trace food from the hoof to the plate, as well as the marketing opportunities to available to ranchers participating in this program. Restaurants and grocers have the ability to “tell the story” of the ranch through various promotional items and menu inserts. Each box has detailed
traceability through a unique bar code that can be scanned. This bar code will identify the exact ranch that produced the cattle that will be served.

The evening concluded with featured speaker Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese. Recently appointed by Gov. Mary Fallin, Reese has previous experience at a national level with the USDA. He spoke on the importance of agriculture in general as well as its direct impact in Oklahoma. “Some industries in Oklahoma just pass around money to each other; but agriculture actually creates money by producing food and fiber,” Reese said. He also stated that the possibility of increased exports of cattle and beef genetics is good for Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma is the second-largest producer of beef cows in the nation at a little more than 2 million head, and we are the fourth largest producer in the nation of cattle and calves at 5.4 million head, said Associate Agriculture Commissioner Blayne Arthur.

The evening concluded with Ratcliff Ranch owner Jim Ratcliff and Sec. Reese presenting each of the Argentines with an “Honorary Oklahoma Rancher” Certificate and a hat token of the state and the ranch.

“It was a true pleasure to show-off our Grass Master progeny and to interact with the Argentine breeders. It is something we look forward to doing more in the future. The opportunities for Ratcliff Ranch and our customers through our genetics and new affiliation with Heritage Ranch are very exciting,” said Ratcliff.