Feeding more than a thousand bulls a year, Joe Clarot has earned a reputation as a household name in California’s bull industry.
Joe grew up as the third generation of dairymen on Clarot Farms in Modesto, CA. After returning home from college, Joe helped the farm transition from dairy cattle to backgrounding calves. That shift soon expanded to include program calves, and eventually, bull feeding. Now, Joe, his wife, Nikki, and their five-year-old son, Cade, feed about 1,200 head a year while maintaining a commercial cow herd, raising ranch and performance horses, and growing all their own feed.
California bull run
As one of the state’s leading bull feeders, Joe has a front-row view of California’s bull market. This year’s strong bull season, he says, reflects the diversity and progressive approach of the state’s breeders.
“The genetics are moving forward,” he told WLJ. “Whether you’re a guy that’s heavy on the maternal side or if you want to push and make those high-yielding, high-value feeder steers, in California, we’ve got it.
“You can go get the bulls that you need,” he continued. “And I’m glad to see these guys getting paid for what they’ve done, because there’s a lot of breeders out here that really work at it.”
In such a stellar market, when calves are selling high and there’s more available income, producers are more willing to invest in genetics for their operations, he explained. In the past, buyers might have bought the bull they needed for their program—this year, they bought the bull they wanted.
On the home ranch, the Clarots are always striving for balance. While the goal is to raise those big steers that are going to yield and grade well, the priority will always be on the bigger picture.
“There needs to be balance across the board,” Joe said. “I want cattle that are nice to look at, that are built right. I also have to raise the females that will work for me and that I can stand to go ride through and look at,” he said, referring to cows without a “carcassey” look.
He favors bulls out of pathfinder cows because they’re typically easy to breed as yearlings, and though they can be tougher to breed as two-year-olds, they’re built to stay in the herd for the long haul.
For other bull buyers, Joe has noticed more of a trend in recent years: buyers will view cattle in advance before going home to review pedigrees and numbers.
“These guys are looking at foot quality, they’re looking at structure and they’re making notes on every bull in the sale,” he said. “I think people are putting more emphasis on what they’re buying. They’re not necessarily buying right off the numbers.”
Longevity is top of mind for most bull buyers, and foot soundness is a key factor in ensuring stayability in the herd. Most cattle, he said, are going to yield if fed right, so buyers can look a little deeper into phenotypical traits.
The bottom line, Joe emphasized, is that when a purebred breeder is selling someone a bull, that bull needs to be able to produce the female they need for their ranch to stay profitable. “Everybody wants to sell a high-priced steer, but you have to have the females that you need, otherwise you’re not a sustainable ranch,” he said.
Bull sellers also have to offer something for every type of buyer. “When I walk into a pen with a commercial producer, I might think the best bull that I’ve fed all year is in that pen, and there’s commercial producers that can go through that whole pen and not find a bull they like,” Joe said.
In a state as large and diverse as California, producers have different needs—some look for bulls that will work with 1,200-pound mature cows, while others, like Joe, prefer 1,500-lb. cows. He’s learned to focus on helping buyers find bulls that fit their program rather than pushing his own preferences.
More recently, Joe noted, some commercial bull buyers are starting to back up from focusing solely on the top 1% or 10% and are broadening their search to include bulls in the top 25% that also appeal to them visually “When did the top 25% of the breed become not good enough?” he asked. “Let’s go with the bull that’s in the top 25% of the breed in multiple traits and that you really like the phenotype and the feet on.”
Ranch horse demand
On the ranch horse side, the market has been hot for several years, and Joe said this year was no exception. The Clarot family sold several ranch horses in mid-October at the “Horses with a History” Ranch and Performance Horse Production Sale, which Joe said was an outstanding sale.
“There’s a lot more people that ride four-wheelers nowadays,” he said. “If you’ve got a good, broke ranch horse, it doesn’t matter where you market them—they’re worth a lot of money.”
At the family operation, everything is done on horseback, from checking water to checking cows. “I’m horseback at the feedlot every day,” he said. “When I leave the house, there’s always one in the trailer.”
At the recent horse sale, several buyers were familiar faces of people who have bought bulls from Joe or that he’s backgrounded for in the past. “We sold horses that were really good rope horses,” Joe said. “Like, you could go win on them, and they went to a ranch where they will never get roped on again, which I thought was pretty cool.”
A season well-earned
Looking back on the California fall bull run, Joe said one of the greatest strengths of the state’s market is the number of options available to buyers. “There’s guys that will raise whatever you want, that have whatever you need,” he said.
This year’s sale season proved to be one of the best in recent years, a testament to the investments made in raising and growing market-ready bulls.
“It was really enjoyable to have conversations with customers after their sales this year,” Joe said. “I couldn’t be happier for the guys that we feed for.”
For Joe, he expects the strong market to continue. “These genetics are just going to keep rolling,” he said. “I’m glad that everybody is getting paid right now for what they’ve worked for.” — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
