Triangle K Farm Today

Triangle K Farm objectives are to produce and market cattle that:

• are great tasting tender Choice beef
• are very feed efficient on both forage or feed
• are excellent maternal cattle
• excel in the above traits in the tropical and subtropical environments a long time

What kind of cattle can do all of the above?  Value-based heat tolerant cattle.

Triangle K Farm produces Choice beef! 

For years we have put our product where our mouths are. We are in the food industry and beef is our product.  We cut the bottom-end of our bull calves and retain ownership to the rail.  We also retain representative steers of sire groups for freezer calves for our own consumption to experience first-hand what the consumer is experiencing. Consumers evaluate the quality of this product by taste and tenderness.  Through ultrasound carcass measurements and actual kill data, the Triangle K program is geared to identifying and producing this high quality tender, tasty Choice beef.

Triangle K Farm produces feed efficient cattle. 

High quality tender, tasty beef has to be affordable to the consumers and profitable to the producers.  Feed efficiency is a measure of how well the animals convert feed and/or forage to beef.  The more efficient they are, the lower the cost to produce the product, which leads to more affordable beef.  Past annual feedlot closeouts document the average steers require 15% to 25% more feed than Triangle K cattle to convert feed to beef.  This can have as much or more impact on the overall profit to the producer than quality grades can have in retain-ownership or alliance programs.

Triangle K Farm produces maternal cattle.

Unlike terminal breeds, heifers from Triangle K Farm make great replacements.  The cattle are medium frame, easy calving, early maturing, very fertile, good milking udders, and are excellent mothers to their calves.  If a cow does not wean a vigorous calf every year, she is not a profitable working asset.  With a typical mature cow weight of 1200 lbs., it is not difficult for the heifers to start cycling at 14 months of age weighing 800 lbs.  They easily have their calves unassisted at two years old weighing around 1000 lbs.  With proper nutrition and mineral, they raise these calves and breed back to calf the following year, and are productive for many more years.  These cattle do not have the reproduction and calving management problems terminal breeds bring with them.

Triangle K Farm produces cattle that live a long time in hot humid environments. 

100 degree days with 90% humidity can be encountered from July into September in the subtropical region these cattle are raised.  Combine this stress with the flies, ticks, and many other parasites that thrive in this environment.  Bos Taurus cattle have serious difficulty functioning efficiently in this environment without major management and financial resources.  Triangle K cattle are grazing while the others are hyperventilating in the pond or shade.  It is not unusual for these cows to be productive in this environment over 12 years.  This significantly reduces the need for expensive annual replacement females and enables these heifers to be available for more favorable market options.

What kind of cattle can do all of the above?

Triangle K 3/8-5/8 Red Brangus cattle is the best answer to this question today.  They combine the right amount of the proven maternal and carcass strengths of the Angus/Red Angus breed with the right amount of the proven maternal, parasite-resistance, heat-adaptive strengths of the Bos Indicus breed into a non-black package for even greater heat tolerance.  From this genetic pool, we select for and have identified sires that have consistently produced a high quality, cost efficient product in our environment for beef consumers.