SweetPro Cattle Video Testimonies

 The Starr family of Faith, SD

The heaviest calves they ever raised and during a drought!

A.J. Starr and family,
Faith, SD

July, 2005

A.J. Starr of Faith, SD along with his wife, Glenda, sons Brian & Jayde and their wives ranch 25,000 acres of western South Dakota prairie. They run around 800 mother cows, Angus/Limousine cross. A.J. has been in this breed since 1972.

He had always been looking for a year-round tub that was not too hard in winter or too soft in summer, yet had a full mineral package. About 4 years ago, he found SweetPro cattle blocks at a trade show and decided to give them a try. He was in and out of them, stopped and started and finally, liking what he was seeing, decided to put the cows on SweetPro for a solid year. He’s been feeding it ever since!

The first set of cattle he put on SweetPro blocks, 1st calf heifers, had 80% breedback on the 1st heat cycle and 98.5 – 99% overall conception success with the first use. After two years on SweetPro, this had risen to 85% conception on the 1st heat cycle. The total herd’s conception rate was 98.5% - cows that actually gave birth to a calf.

On SweetPro, the calf is up right away, full of vigor and by the time mom has licked it off, her cleanings are on the ground. This makes a significant difference in breedback success. Weaning weights are 50 – 60 lbs heavier when on SweetPro.

Herd health on SweetPro blocks is excellent. 99.9% of foot rot and sore eyes is eliminated. A.J.’s cows are all natural, don’t use antibiotics and command a market premium.

SweetPro also gives the cattle great haircoats. They winter easier and are doing great on an average 1 lb. a day per head of SweetPro tubs and dry range grass during the season. Even at 20 below zero the cows can get the amount they need as the NON-molasses SweetPro tubs deliver uniformly, hot or cold.

Two weeks before calving, they bring the cows in and hay them. The cattle do much better on a low quality hay than they do on higher quality when using the SweetPro tubs and consume 25-30% less hay and forage, even though they have all the hay they can eat! They can run 25% more cows now on the same acreage than in the past!



A.J. has eliminated feeding range cubes/cake with the SweetPro tubs. This has saved him not only time spent running around the pastures (SweetPro tubs need only be put out every 7-10 days) but he’s stopped the waste from cows stomping range cubes into the ground/mud. Also, timid cows have a chance to get at the tubs once aggressive cattle have finished. A.J. says, “The cows take care of the tubs and the tubs take care of the cows.”

“Consumption control is as easy as falling out of your pick-up” according to A.J. If consumption increases due to a lesser quality of range grass, you use a higher number on the SweetPro tub being fed. (The most commonly fed are the SweetPro #16, FiberMate #18 and FiberMate #20.) If consumption decreases, you use a lower number on the tub. The big test for A.J. and his family came a few years ago during a summer long drought. Only the trees greened that year but with SweetPro they were able to hold the consumption on the tubs to 1.5 lbs a day per cow/calf pair and ended the season with the heaviest calves they ever raised! (the 1st calf heifers weaned over 600lb calves) Even in 110 degree heat, his 1st calf heifers that year bred 80% on the first heat cycle and 100% within 45 days!

Now SweetPro has introduced mineral blocks with Altosid IGR feed through fly control (also available in standard blocks). A.J. says that they’ve had real good results with them and it’s going to be quite a program. Making sure you get them out before the fly season starts is important.

A.J. goes on to mention that his ranch horses have also benefited from SweetPro products. In one case, a 13 year old gelding was sold to people in Wyoming and came down with diagnosed West Nile. The folks there didn’t know what to do so they sent him back and he came out of the trailer as sick as a horse can get. Since the vets couldn’t recommend anything more than some antibiotics, A.J. had him put on SweetPro’s EquiPride. In 2-3 weeks the horse “snapped out of it” and is fully recovered!

For more information on the A.J. Starr herd please contact:

ABJ Feeds Inc. Box 516
Dupree, SD 57626
(605) 739-5771 / (605) 515-0106

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• Golden Glover - Not Your average Cow Puncher - Dec.1997
• Fresh Start for Stress Calves, with Sweet Pro Kaf Starter - June1999
• Straight From The Horse's Mouth! - Jan. 2000
• Heifer Breed-back Improves Sharply With SweetPro Tub - June 2000
• Stressed Calves Never Look Back, with SweetPro¨ Kaf Starter. - Jan./Feb.2001
• Weaning Bigger, Healthier Calves After Year 'round Supplementing with SweetPro¨ Lick Blocks - Sept./Oct.2001
• Breedback and weaning at the 7P - March 2004
• Stalwart Ranch - September 2004
• Dairy Cows recover from DA - March 2005
• A.J. Starr's Story - July 2005
• Milk Production came up and stayed up - August 2005
• Dairy Calves recover and mature faster on Fresh Start - May 2006
• Double O Charolais - June 2006