In 1982 we went to the Denver Stock Show in search for a breed of cattle that had small birth weights, livability, fertility,milk, and meat. We were tired of c-sections, pulling calves, and calves that were slow to get up. What we found was the Salers breed. What impressed us as much as the breed, were the people showing and displaying them. They were a sincere, honest, and down to earth group..

Within a month we were on our way to Canada to observe the cattle in ranch conditions. We brought two fullblood bulls back with us. Later that year we returned and bought J'Aime Les Salers (which means "I love Salers" in french) from Stewart Robertson's AC Ranch. We were known as J'Aime Les Salers Ltd. partnership.

In the early years we were all A. I. and embryo transfer. When we dissolved the partnership there were nearly 100 fullblood cows, all direct descendants of this great cow. Neben Ranch now has a herd of about 50 fullblood cows. Today our cattle are both black and red and mostly polled. We are developing a herd of homozygous polled fullbloods.

We also have a herd of optimizers that we started a couple years ago. We did this by using Angus bulls on the fullbloods. We also bought a herd of purebred Angus cows that we are using a purebred Salers bull on. They are just coming into production now and show a lot of promise. We also have a select group of purebred heifers calving this Spring.

We synchronize and AI everything in 3 days and then clean up for 60 days. This past year 69% calved in 10 days. This next year we will go to a 45 day clean up period. We retain a high percentage of heifers in the herd. After their first calf we start culling according to production. A cow producing low weaning and yearling weights will be culled even though her EPD's are above average.

The cow herd is our factory and we beleive that many factors contribute to making a cowherd as productive and efficient as possible. Balanced EPD's, fertility, livability , framesize ( 6 and low 7s ) , volume with out excess, feed efficiency, milk, and solid correct structure with sound feet and legs.

Our herd is very strong in Slammer and J'Aime Les Salers genetics. There is also an influence of Libon and a great cow named Lison. We used 7Half Diamond Jet Jr. 46J this past year. He is a son of Jet and Lison. Both these animals came over in the first import in the 70's

We urge all members to turn in as much information on their cattle as they can to help make our EPD's more meaningful. This will help the breed to improve more quickly and accurately