W
ELCOME
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Welcome to our 10th Annual Cross Diamond sale! The years have gone quickly and
we’ve seen a lot of change in our lives and the cattle industry in that period of time.
First, our family. As you can see from the photo, the girls continue to grow. It seems
that Johanna is on a path to be the tallest in the family and will likely catch Mom by
next year. This keeps the Bertrand volleyball and basketball coaches smiling. Johanna
also enjoys working with animals and reading. This keeps her parents and the quiz
bowl coach smiling.
Marie finally gets to start 4-H in 2016! As the little sister this has been a long time
coming. Marie has a big list of projects she’s planning for the Fair next year-- from
range management to market steers, and quilting to cookies. I guarantee there will be
no excuse for boredom in the Ford household.
Now for the cattle industry. Even coming off the highs of 2014, we’re seeing calves
selling for roughly double what they did in 2006-- and we can’t forget that 2006 was a
benchmark year in which average prices for 500# calves topped $1.00 for the first
time in history. This has been an amazing 10-year period in the cattle industry-- with
much more to come.
We’ve seen several advancements in technology over the past 10 years that make our
lives in agriculture different from a decade ago. From health and pharmaceutical tech-
nology for beef cattle to smart phones, we do things differently now than 10 years ago
and should expect that 2025 will look much different than 2015.
As seed stock producers, we see that DNA technology is expanding and growing in its
predictive ability. We don’t see this decreasing in the coming years as we understand
and mark more and more of the “building blocks.” In addition to incorporation of
genomic data in EPDs, the Red Angus Assoiciation has also developed two indices
relating to cowherd traits-- HerdBuilder (HB), and carcass traits-- GridMaster (GM).
These indices were released about this time last year. You will notice that we have
footnoted the bulls with more emphasis on their percentile rank in the Red Angus
breed. We hope this will help in your decision-making process.
Even with change whirling around us, we recognize some things that are constant: The
hard work, dedication and committment of those involved in the cattle business. We
are so blessed to work daily with great people and have interaction throughout the year
with friends and customers.
Most important, the great constant in our lives is the salvation of our Lord and
Savior. His limitless, unchanging, never-faltering love for us is truly amazing.
With that, we welcome you to our 10th Annual Sale. We have worked, along with our
consignors to present a superior group of bulls and females. These animals are backed
by reputation and customer service which will follow the cattle far beyond sale day.
Thank you for your interest and for your business. We look forward to the next ten
years!
Scott, Kim, Johanna and Marie Ford
"Our mission is to respect God and His blessings of the land, livestock and people
who touch our lives and, through stewardship and service, to care for these blessings
as we provide genetics and services to our customers while raising high quality beef."
CROSS DIAMOND
CUSTOMER SERVICE-
FREE DELIVERY ON BULL PURCHASES
TOTALING $15,000 OR MORE
OR
$250/HEAD TAKE-HOME CREDIT
ON BULLS
1ST BREEDING SEASON
GUARANTEE
FCCP TAG COST SHARE
VOLUME DISCOUNTS
See us on “The American Rancher”
on RFD-TV at the following times:
Monday, Dec. 7, 8:00 pm, CST
Tuesday, Dec. 8, 12:00 am CST
Sunday, Dec. 13, 11:00 am, CST
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