Brangus Fill The Bill For DJM Farms

by Martha Hollida Garrett

Brangus cattle have almost always been a part of Danny Meyers life and he sees them clearly in his future.

Meyers, who operates DJM Brangus Farms, Byars, Oklahoma started with just a handful of Brangus cows in 1978. Today the operation, includes a purebred Brangus herd, a Brangus influenced commercial herd, stockers and some wheat farming.

“You can’t beat the Brangus mother cow. She’s the best and in my opinion, no female of any other breed can do it like she can. She offers a combination of traits necessary for profitability, as she takes the heat and she produces pounds year after year,” explains Meyer.

Most of his females are home raised in the registered program. His initial purchase included 20 first generation females out of a popular three-quarter sire, Harvey. These daughters were then bred to an Exacto of Brinks son. Exacto was an International Champion and was one of the most widely used bulls ever in the Brangus breed.

Over the years, he has used different bloodlines of bulls, including some AI sires and a KO of Brinks son, purchased from the Suhn program in Kansas.

Last November, he made a major investment of a sire for his program. He feels his program is moving to a higher level with the addition of Grant of Brinks 607N17.

This bull was purchased in the Camp Cooley Ranch® Sale, Franklin, Texas and was selected by Meyers largely for his carcass traits. His EPD rankings for ribeye area (REA) and intramuscular fat (IMF) were in the top 10% of the breed and he’s in the top 20% for birth weight. In addition, his numbers were some of the best offered in that 700 head plus offering. He was sired by New Era of Brinks 541J37 and his dam, is Miss Brinks Big Easy 607H25, whose family has produced several herd sires.

Since purchasing him, Meyers had him DNA tested and found that he was ranked Igenity-L - Ltt, which is indicative of cattle that generally have greater fat deposition and improved quality grades. In addition, he tested homozygous black and has a three star ranking for tenderness in GeneStar, which consider one star the least tender and five star the most tender.

Meyers first bred 35 commercial cows to Grant and those calves will arrive later this fall. Then he was also bred to registered cows this Spring.

“I am excited about what’s ahead with the Grant bull. I feel that I can get our IMF and REA numbers up and really advance my registered and commercial programs,” says Meyers.

His commercial cows are predominantly Black Baldies and he has used Brangus bulls on them. Recently he sold a a set of calves from these cows, sired by DJM Brangus bulls, that weaned at 600 lbs and he retained ownership through the Bradley 3 Ranch program. This particular set saw 88.7% grade Choice.

Meyers feels strongly that the future will see most cattle sold on the grid. He is utilizing all the tools available-- DNA, ultrasounding and EPDs to position his program to take advantage of that system. He feels the Grant bull has the potential to advance their program significantly in this area, as well.

He markets most of his bulls through the annual Indian Nations Brangus sale and by private treaty. He has retained the females or moved by private treaty. He has gained a number of repeat customers over his 27 years in the business and works hard to produce a product for them.

Most of the commercial calves are sold by private treaty. He has also marketed them through the Oklahoma City market and on occasion has retained interest in the calves to gain the data he needs for his breeding program.

“We can breed these cows to do what we need to do. The key is to use the right bull and know what the market dictates,” says Meyer.

In addition to his registered and commercial programs, he annually runs from 500-1,000 stockers, depending on the forage conditions and over the years as fed some cattle himself as well as order buying for others.

He received the McClain County Soil Conservation Award in 1996. Meyers is an active member of the Indian Nations and Oklahoma Brangus Breeders Association as well as the International Brangus Breeders Association. He is also a member of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association.

His three daughters, McKenzie, 22, Cassie, 21 and fourteen-year-old Chelsea have all been involved in the International Junior Brangus Breeders and Oklahoma Junior Brangus Associations. Chelsea spent one week this summer competing at the National Junior Brangus Show in West Monroe, Louisiana.

Meyers has seen a lot of changes over the quarter of a century.

“When I started we couldn’t get them tall enough,” he recalls adding that he is challenged by the industry now and feels that carcass value is not be a fad, but a fact of raising cattle these days and for years to come.