The John Kraye Angus Ranch is located in the heart of the awesome Nebraska Sandhills. The Sandhills provide a very unique environment, and many ranching practices that work well in other parts of the country, are not possible in this region due to the fragility of the soil. Cattle raised in the Sandhills have to be able to adapt to the harsh weather conditions that can range from extreme cold to high heat and humidity. Primarily a cow/calf operation, Kraye ranch runs approximately 500 registered Angus cows and 300 commercial cows.

Since their wedding in 1984, John and Julie have been the primary care takers of the cow herd, and have lived right on the ranch. John and Julie and their children, David and Helen, bought the ranch from John's parents, Fred and Theresa Kraye, in 2001. Although Fred and Theresa retired from the cattle business, with a dispersal sale in the fall of 2000, Fred is still actively involved in the production of alfalfa hay on the ranch. Approximately 800 acres of irrigated alfalfa makes the ranch a haying operation during the summer months.

The Kraye ranch was formed when John's grandfather, Ernst Kraye, bought a portion of the ranch in the 1920's and added adjoining acres, over the years, as they became available. Fred Kraye was born and raised on the ranch and in 1953 bought his first Angus cows, to be able to keep his cattle separate from his dad's Herefords. Angus cows have been a major part of the ranch, ever since.

Over the years Kraye Angus has participated in the AHIR program, thru the American Angus Association, and kept thorough records on all of the cows and calves. They have used EPD's to develop more marketable calves, while maintaining a balanced cow herd. An intense culling process is used for production and profitability, while adhering to the guidelines of the Angus breed. Through the use of AHIR and the AIMS software, extensive records have been kept on every cow and any cow not producing her fair share is culled from the herd. A large percentage of the heifer calves will stay on the ranch, as replacement heifers.

It has been a Kraye policy to synchronize and artificially inseminate the yearling heifers and the early calving mature cows, which has diversified the genetic makeup of the Kraye Angus cow herd. Many of the cows are the progeny of the leading sires of the Angus breed, such as EXT, Focus, VRD, Krugerrand, War Command, Scotchcap, Sitz Alliance, Traveler 044, Garden's Prime Time, and many others.

Over, the years, we had given up on getting our first calf heifers artificially inseminated, because we seemed to be missing too many heat cycles and we were hindering more than helping, so for several years we turned the first calf heifers out with the clean up bulls, just as soon as possible. We had pretty good luck with that. Then new technology came along and we had some other options. We had used a fertility enhancer, called a CIDR on some of our later calving cows and we were able to move them up a cycle or two. We decided to try the CIDRs on our first calf heifers. We were really pleased with the results.

This spring, David tried his hand at artificial insemination. David attended an AI school last year, and this was his first time actually breeding cows. We have worked up a synchronization schedule that keeps us very busy, but it works well for us. We started off with 184 replacement heifers and we bred 138 the first day, so there was little time for David to hesitate and he jumped right in like a seasoned technician, and he did an admirable job. We ended up breeding 172 of the heifers, and 7 of the 12 that we didn’t get bred artificially, were open, so we couldn’t feel too bad about missing them. There were only 15 heifers that didn’t settle to their AI date.
               
We synchronized half of the 1st and 2nd calf heifers to be ready to breed, as soon as we were done with the replacement heifers, and followed a week later with the second half of the young cows. The older cows are bred on natural heats. So, in a month’s time we artificially inseminated 670 cows. It was a little bit stressful at times, but it was a productive month!
               
We used a wide variety of semen this spring (2009), trying to match some favorable genetic traits. On the replacement heifers we used: Bextor 872, In Focus, Bismarck 5682, Final Answer and Industry. On the cows we used: Upward 307R, 338, 095, On Target, 416, 1961, Net Worth and Industry.
               
The weather during the summer of 2009 will go down in the history books, as the strangest weather that anyone can ever remember. We had rain and rain and more rain, but along with all of the rain we had cool temperatures and a noticeable lack of sunshine. The cool season grasses grew like never before, but the warm season grasses never got started. The Sandhills were as green as we have ever seen them, and they stayed that way all summer.
               
Despite all of the rain, or because of it, it was a dismal hay year. The hay didn’t grow well, and getting it put up right was a real challenge. We were also the recipients of a couple of strong hail storms and lost a couple pivots of Sudan grass.
               
We preconditioned the bull and heifer calves in July and we weaned in August. We had the forage to wean a little later in the summer, but we had 200 cows offered for sale, and we wanted them weaned and sorted by the first of September.
               
During the pre-conditioning and weaning process, we closely evaluate each bull and heifer calf, taking into consideration their individual age and pedigree. We cull hard during this first go round, and we band any of the bulls that we feel don’t meet our quality standards. We had some hard decisions to make this fall. The cost of feed and the delivery cost on feed have become a big issue for us, so this year we decided to go a different route with our sale bulls. We sent our bulls to be fed, at a small feed yard, west of North Platte. The bulls are on a hay pasture, with lots of room to get adequate exercise and quality play time. We have made an effort to go thru the bulls, at least once a week ourselves and the people taking care of them see them on a daily basis. We weighed them before taking them to North Platte and we have weighed them once since they have been there, and we were pleased with how well they are doing and how good they look. It’s just been hard on us, not seeing them all the time.
               
We weaned the heifer calves on the 15th of August. 218 heifers averaged 491 lbs. The heifers were all deep bodied and will make excellent cows. We kept 150 to register for replacements and we sorted off 40 heifers for a special female sale that will be held in Ogallala in November.
               
Life is a series of learning experiences and as cattle ranchers, we try to learn from past mistakes and we try to anticipate the challenges of the future. We are not always successful, but we try to stay focused and raise the best cattle that we possibly can. All of our cattle…bulls, heifers and cows are all honest, hard working cattle that must pay their own way, just as a herd of commercial cattle would be expected to do.
               
Our 19th annual production sale will be on the 3rd of April, 2010. We are proud of these bulls. They are modern, deep bodied bulls that are heavily muscled with strong bones and correct conformation. The bulls are calm and easily handled with naturally good dispositions.
               
At Kraye Angus our cattle are our livelihood, our hobby, our recreation and our passion. 98% of all of our cows are home raised and have never been off of the ranch.
               
We enjoy visiting about our cattle and our cattle program. We will gladly try to answer any and all of your questions.

We are proud of our cattle and we are committed to the improvement of our herd. We appreciate your interest in our cattle.