DATE:     4/18/01
CONTACT:  Dr. Larry Olson, (803) 284-3343; lolson@clemson.edu
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343; tlollis@clemson.edu

Generous donors help Clemson
build Sustainable Ag herd

     BLACKVILLE -- Building a herd of registered Angus cows is easy, 
if you've got generous donors willing to contribute $400,000 worth 
of animals and embryos for transplanting.
     That's what has happened to the Sustainable Ag Production 
Systems Center at Clemson University's Edisto Research and Education
Center at Blackville over the past year, according to Larry Olson,
Extension beef cattle specialist and coordinator for the livestock
component of the project.
     The center, established in September of 1997, is an Extension
integrated resource management demonstration program designed to 
show cattlemen, farmers, educators and industry how to integrate 
proven beef and crop production practices into efficient, productive
and profitable businesses.
     Olson coordinates the livestock component of the project, and
Jason Norsworthy, Extension agronomist, coordinates the crops 
program.
     "We do more than talk about management recommendations," said
Olson. "We actually implement them so producers can see that they
work."
     The beef program includes six components cow-calf production,
crossbred cow-calf production, replacement heifer development,
crossbred replacement heifer development, a preconditioning program 
for calves, and a retained ownership segment that allows producers 
to keep title to steers all the way through the feedlot.
     A herd of 50 mature Angus cows is at the heart of the cow-calf
component.
     "We expect to reach that number by September," said Olson. 
Thanks to Felix Peigare of Sand Hills Angus at St. Matthews, and 
others that herd is well on the way to becoming purebred, registered
Angus.
     "Felix has been a fan of the center since its inception, and 
he began telling us in the spring of 1998 that we should have 
something better than a herd of commercial Angus cows," said Olson. 
"He backed that up in April of 2000 by donating three top quality
cow-heifer pairs, one bred cow and a bred yearling heifer through 
the Sand Hills Angus dispersal sale."
     Tom Burke of the Angus Hall of Fame in Smithfield, Mo., who
managed the Sand Hills sale, also became interested in helping Edisto
REC acquire registered Angus.
     Burke helped persuade Dan and Barbara Simpson of D Bar S Angus 
in Belvidere, Ill. to donate eight bred cows, one heifer calf and 
two yearlings.
     "Their enthusiasm was very evident when they delivered their
donation last New Year's Eve," said Olson. "Dan, Barbara and daughter
Christina had to drive with their gift for 19 hours while it snowed 
for 800 of the 1,000 miles."
     This year several South Carolina Angus breeders have kept the
momentum going.
     Billy McLeod of Black Crest Farm at Sumter and Sac Alexander 
of Alexander Angus Farm at Six Mile have donated embryos. Gene 
Pruitt of Abbeville has donated embryos and one cow. Tommy Hite, 
also of Abbeville, has donated one cow, and Floyd Patrick of Sandy
Springs Farm at Pelzer donated a cow-heifer calf pair.
     "Thanks to this generosity, we put 39 embryos in our commercial
Angus cows on April 4," said Olson.
     He said breeding for the crossbred cow-calf production component
will begin in April of 2002 or 2003, depending on the number of mature
commercial Angus cows that are available.
     Olson said that other Angus breeders interest in making a
tax-deductible contribution of registered females to the Extension
educational program, designed to help improve the state's beef
industry, should contact him at (803) 284-3343 or lolson@clemson.edu.
His mailing address is Dr. Larry Olson, Extension Animal Scientist,
Edisto Research and Education Center, 64 Research Road, Blackville, 
S.C. 29817.
                               END