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Gottsch Cattle Company started in 1957 and is involved in all aspects of cattle ranching—from cows having calves to selling the steers and heifers—to the feed, nutrition, health, and marketing of all the cattle.
Jeremiah Rieken oversees all Nebraska locations for Gottsch. He explains that Gottsch has locations in Elkhorn, Hastings, North Platte, Juniata, Red Cloud, and Maxwell. They also have locations in Rosalia, KS,
Rochester, TX, and Unionville, MO! Guess what else they have? Employees that use Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math every single day. What does that mean for you? It means that no matter where you live
in Nebraska, your daily life is inuenced by the use of science, technology, engineering, and math in agriculture. It also means there are lots of career opportunities waiting for you in any size of community in our state!
Directions: Read about each individual and their duties. Below each, circle Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math if the individual uses that in their everyday role. Circle all that apply!
Jeremiah says there
are words farmers
and ranchers use
when talking about
cattle. Look for the
following agricultural
terms as you read
about Gottsch Cattle
Company.
TALK LIKE A
FARMER AND
RANCHER
Jeremiah Rieken
Operations Manager,
Hastings
Troy manages the eight trucks and
drivers that deliver wet distillers
grain to each feedlot. Each feedlot
tells him how much cattle feed they
need. Then, Troy creates a report to
calculate how many tons each feedlot
needs every day.
For example: The Juniata feedlot
needs 972,000 pounds of feed on
Monday. Let’s help Troy gure out how
many truck loads of feed they need!
Each day Laurie
takes care of
deposits and pays
bills for Gottsch.
She tells the
feedlot how many
cattle are arriving
and on what day.
Laurie uses
computers
and databases
every day. She
uses a machine
that swipes the checks for deposit—it
automatically sends so Laurie doesn’t
have to go to the bank!
Mary takes care of cattle that
are sick and makes sure they
get the medicine they need to
get better. She keeps an eye
on the animals until they are
healthy.
Many times, sick animals have
respiratory illness—just like
when you get a cold! Mary
uses a whisper stethoscope
and puts it on the steer’s side
to listen to the lungs. She
clicks a button on a computer
that records the lungs for eight seconds. Then, Mary
determines what medicine to give based on the lung
reading. There are 5 different medicines to choose
from, and the dosage is calculated by how much the
animal weighs.
Jake works on the Pawnee
Springs Ranch and handles
all duties of the cow/calf
ranch. There are 90 heifers
and 300 cows. He calculates
how much cake to feed them
each day. When the cows are
ready to give birth to a calf,
Jake regularly checks them.
Jake makes sure when the calf
is born the momma cow licks
them to clean them off and
the baby calf stands up and
nurses from the cow’s udder.
Jake uses a computer program called CattleXpert. All
cows have an EID tag in their ear. When one of the EID
tags is scanned, the program identies the cow and
tracks genetics in the calves.
Mary Snell
Doctoring Crew,
Red Cloud
Jake Warren
Cowboy,
Maxwell
Mike makes daily feed calls to each
cattle with his laptop. When cattle are
young, they eat more hay, and as they
grow, transition to more corn. Mike
works on developing a ration that has
the right amount of feed so there is no
extra feed in the pens that will spoil.
Mike also runs the roller mill which
akes corn. He takes dry corn out of
the eld, adds water to it, and heats
it up with steam which cooks it. It is
then run through a roller mill which
attens it out. This is done to get more
starch out of the corn for cattle to eat which provides better
nutritional value.
Dennis is responsible for the employees
and 82,000 cattle in North Platte. He
manages the department for shipping
and receiving cattle, which includes
calculating the amount of feed each
animal will need.
Dennis needs to gure out how many
pounds a steer must gain to be ready for
market.
He estimates a steer will gain 3.8
pounds of weight per day for 170 days.
RANCH - where cows are raised to give birth to
calves
FEEDLOT - a place where cattle are fed to grow
large muscles for meat
CALF - a young beef animal under one year old
HEIFER - a female cow that has not had a calf
COW - a fully grown female that has had a calf
STEER - a neutered male beef raised for meat
WEANED - a baby calf that no longer nurses on
its mother
LOT - a group of cattle
MILL - where corn is processed for cattle feed
WET DISTILLERS GRAIN - a cereal by-product
from corn used for feed
CAKE - dried distillers grain in a large pellet form
RATION - the amount of feed an animal receives
in one day
EID TAG - Electronic Identication Tag, placed
in the animal’s ear
Mike Faimon
Mill Manager,
Red Cloud
Troy Bonifas
Operations Manager,
Hastings
Dennis Stuckey
Feedlot Supervisor,
North Platte
Laurie Fisher
Accounting,
Elkhorn
Next:
S T E M
S T E MS T E M
S T E M
S T E M
S T E M
972,000
Pounds needed
________________
Tons of feed needed
2,000
Pounds in a ton
27
Tons a truck carries
per load
________________
Tons of feed needed
________________
Number of truck loads
of feed to take to Juanita
÷
÷
=
=
What will be the nal weight of the steer?
3.8
Amount gained per day
850 pounds
Current weight
170
Days on feed
________________
Pounds steer will gain
________________
Pounds steer will gain
________________
Final market weight of steer
×
+
=
=
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