Hutson Angus is a large registered Angus operation based in Elk City, Oklahoma. Hutson Angus was introduced to ReproScan ultrasound equipment at the National Angus Convention in 2015. They discovered that ultrasound technology would be more efficient and provide better management tools than their method of preg testing at the time which was the BioPryn blood test.
Joe Sanders, the herd manager at Hutson Angus, went to The Graham School and spent one day with Frank Graham to learn to ultrasound. After going through setup and features of the machine, they ultrasounded cows until Joe was prepared to take the technology back to the ranch.
Hutson Angus has adapted other technology in their operations. Hutson uses GrowSafe Individual Feed Intake Measurement System to continually measure the feed intake of each animal. This data, along with the GrowSafe Test, aids the ranch in determining which genetics are more feed efficient. As recent research shows that feed efficiency is proving to be a heritable trait, Hutson Angus seeks to provide bulls that eat less feed per pound of gain resulting in a calf crop that is more efficient.
Hutson Angus has used their ReproScan XTC to make some changes with their operation. Joe said, “When using the blood test, we did not know how far along the cow was. Now that we have the ReproScan, we separate the cows into pastures by their similar calving dates. This cuts down on the sorting after calving to get AI groups together, as well as the time it takes to go check every pasture everyday instead of just the pastures that are calving.”
Hutson Angus uses the ReproScan XTC ultrasound with the Bright LCD Monitor and a ReproArm. They designed a portable PVC arm that goes on their chutes to hang both the monitor and the ultrasound.