BIF-Proceedings-Final-flip

17 COMMERCIAL PRODUCER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES Woolfolk Ranch Owners/Managers: Kent and Tyler Woolfolk Protection, Kansas Woolfolk Ranch LLC is located in southwestern Comanche County, Kan., and northeastern Harper County, Okla. Kent Woolfolk and his son, Tyler, represent the fourth and fifth generations to operate the ranch. The ranch encompasses about 17,000 owned and leased acres of grass and around 1,000 acres of cropland. The Woolfolks maintain around 1,100 Angus-based cows that calve in the spring, starting about March 15. They also take in nearly 150 Angus cows year-round on a custom, per- head basis. The cows are managed alongside their personal herd. Depending on moisture availability, the ranch also will custom-graze 750 to 1,200 yearlings each year. In 2014, the Woolfolk family began constructing a feeding facility to use for weaning purposes and as a drylot for cows during the fall and winter, to allow them to feed a low-cost maintenance ration. The feedyard lets the Woolfolks develop and market their own replacement heifers, grow steers to feeder weight and custom develop heifers for other ranches. It also is used as part of a drought plan that enables the ranch to destock pastures much quicker if the need arises. The cow herd is rotated during the grazing months using a three-pasture rotation system. This provides adequate rest between grazing cycles prior to weaning, which begins in early September. All cattle are handled horseback using low-stress cattle- handling techniques, which allows the growing sixth generation to help when available. The Woolfolk family, while always looking for new management techniques and technology to improve cattle efficiency, still prides itself on ranching traditions passed down from previous generations. The Woolfolk Ranch is proudly nominated by the Kansas Livestock Association. 2017 BIF COMMERCIAL PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Mundhenke Beef, Lewis, Kan., was named the 2017 Beef Improvement Federation Commercial Producer of the Year during an awards ceremony June 1 in Athens, Georgia. Pictured (from left) are: John and Gina Mundhenke of Mundhenke Beef and Jay Carlson of BEEF magazine, award sponsor.