Letter from the President
Hello and welcome to our Web Site. My goodness it's hard to imagine how times have changed since I started ranching. I have been ranching since 1961 and find it hard to imagine the number of ranchers still not keeping good, solid records. This is one of the main reasons Bowman Farm Systems, Inc. was formed. We are all cattlemen and cattlewomen around the world, striving to help every farmer and rancher get a higher percentage of return on the huge investment we all have in the cattle business. We have done a good job and all of our customers will vouch for that.

Our mission is to help ranchers realize a profit from the hard work and the total commitment we have made to feed the world. I believe we are the hardest working, most honest, most committed, and take the biggest risks for the least pay, of any class of people in the world. Our investment is staggering for the amount of return we get for our product. I believe that this is not going to change any time soon.

This means we will have to become more efficient or we will have to change our occupation and very few ranchers are going to want to even think about that. But it is a reality and friends, the time is now. There is a future in ranching and a good living, but I don't think many are going to become wealthy unless you include the fact we get to live on and own a part of this earth and don't have someone else telling us what time to show up for work and telling us when to leave. There are only a few of us doing what we do and I know we do a darned good job, but we are just not getting paid for the job we do like some other occupations.

I have realized since I started ranching, when you figure on a ten year basis, we will lose 20% of our profit in two years that we made the other eight. The best thing we have going for us is we are going to do real well next year. The reason I believe we can do much better is that about 25 to 30 percent of the cattle in America are losing at least $100.00/ head because they don't produce enough and are not efficient. We need to replace those cattle with heifers from the top 30 percent of the cows in our herd . It costs the same to haul feed to cull cows as to the cows that are efficient.

Replacement heifers absolutely cannot be picked by the eye alone, you actually need CattlePro to find these keeper heifers. If you keep the heifers that are from the most productive cows in your herd for four generations, it is possible to make your operation about 70 percent more efficient. We need to weigh the cow and the calf at weaning and find what percent the cow has produced against the cow's weight. This should be about 50 percent in most cases. The cows have got to wean about 90 percent of their calves and they have got to calve every 365 days.

I hear every day someone saying the reason they don't own scales is they can't afford them and I say to them if you are raising a product and selling it by the pounds produced and can't afford scales or a computer and well designed software, then you need it more than you even think. I can't think of any rancher in the world that has 20 cows or more that could not make a computer, good software and scales pay big dividends.

We believe we have the best designed, easiest to use software in the world in the CattlePro System. It is also compatible with the Tru-Test Scales. We believe that they are the best scales in the world, with super service. We have known the folks at Tru-Test for many years. They not only have a good product, but they are good, honest, dependable people. When they agree to do something, they do it and when something needs attention they take care of it quickly.

We need a good tagging system to identify these cattle, and after using every tag known to man, we have determined that Perma-Flex Premium Gold tags with the Snagless Stud, outlast them all. The tags have no filler and are made of pure Poly, which allows the ink to penetrate the tag and not fade. The snagless stud helps keep brush, fencing,etc. from hanging on the button and pulling the ear.

We have a consulting service available and feel we can help whether we do it here with your records or on site. If you think you need help, give us a call whether it be for CattlePro, cattle, computers, scales or consulting. We have had ranchers tell us their return from our help has been over a $1000.00 for every $1.00 invested. Give us a chance to work for you and help you show more profit on your investment.

Thank you very much
Harold Bowman

Email: cattlepro@cattlepro.com

*All pictures were taken on Bowman Farms