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Chamberlain focuses on Herefords

by Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Casper – Tate Chamberlain has been busy this summer working on the family ranch, Rocking LR Ranch, LLC, as he prepared his show cattle for the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo held July 5-13 in Casper. 

Chamberlain showed two Angus steers and a heifer at the county fair, placing third, sixth and second place, respectively. 

“Our Angus steers aren’t built for the show ring when they are compared to club calves,” Chamberlain shrugs.

Chamberlain chooses his show animals from the family herd and usually trains bum calves as show animals. However, when he is able to, Chamberlain picks his show animal based on structural correctness. 

“Our cows go to the Big Horn Mountains every summer so structural correctness is the main thing that we look for in our herd,” he explains.

Raising Herefords

“I prefer the Hereford breed. It has been my favorite since I was a kid,” he says. “I went out on my own and started my own herd of Herefords. I am starting to get into the seedstock side of the business.”

Currently, Chamberlain’s herd of registered Hereford cattle contains 20 head, but he looks to expanding the number.

“Right now, a small herd is nice because I can focus more on quality than quantity,” he says.

He says he plans to show some of these quality Herefords, two heifers and a bull, at the Wyoming State Fair, which will be held Aug. 10-17 in Douglas. 

“I want to market the Herefords in the show ring but still make sure they can be practical cattle,” he says proudly.

“One of my goals is to win the National Western Stock Show with a Hereford bull and heifer from my herd,” he adds.

Planning for change

“Next year, I am going to be focusing more on Herefords,” Chamberlain elaborates. “The breeding program at county fair grew this year, but I still want to see it grow more.”

Chamberlain says that he would also make changes in his current feeding program.

“With the steers next year, I want to try a little different feeding program,” he continues. “The program just did not work well for us this year, and I am not sure if it was because of the drought or if it was just the calves themselves. They didn’t do as well with weight this year as they have done in the past.”

He also says he plans to practice more next year by showing his Herefords at more shows.

School and ranch work

At 17 years old, Chamberlain is the youngest of five children born to Lain and Roxy Chamberlain of Casper. 

This fall, Chamberlain will begin his freshman year at Casper College, studying pre-veterinary medicine with an agriculture business minor. He will also be judging on the livestock judging team and working on the ranch.  

“I love animal science and I am really interested in that,” Chamberlain says. “I would like to become a large animal veterinarian and come back to practice Wyoming. We need large animal vets here.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net. 

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