BREEDING SUCCESS
“You can’t buy success. You have to breed it.” Bryson Westbrook
A SEED IS PLANTED….
The seed for 4B farm was planted many years ago in Bryson’s childhood. Growing up in North Georgia in the 80’s and 90’s, his father and extended family owned and managed about 550 head of both registered polled Herefords and commercial cattle. Looking back, Bryson can pinpoint the day his interest in registered cattle became a passion. “It was a rainy day and I was helping my dad with some paperwork in the office. It was kind of boring, so I began looking at the pedigrees of our cattle and tracing
the names that stood out to me. I also noticed some of them were labeled Gold Trophy Sires. That interested me, so I went to our herd book, found those animals that were sired by these Gold Trophy Sires, and noticed immediately they were better cattle. That was when I realized how powerful genetic selection was in the success of your herd. After that I took a much more active role in the breeding of our cows.”
HOW 4B GOT ITS START…
By 2011, Bryson had a young family and a successful business in heavy civil construction projects in North Carolina. After living in Charlotte for many years, they were ready to relocate to a more rural area and start their own farm. Shelby, NC seemed like the perfect setting! Only an hour from Charlotte and Asheville and with the sweet, small-town community they craved. They purchased seven Polled Hereford females and today the herd numbers close to 200 head. In addition to owned land, they
lease considerable acreage to grow their own forage crops of wheat, corn and sorghum and maintain the cattle on rye, crabgrass and fescue grasses and hay.
Building 4B
Those seven head were the foundation and they have relied on building their
numbers over the past 12 years by retaining their females, rather than just buying
additional cattle. They have incorporated AI heavily and some embryo transfer and
IVF. Bloodlines include strong doses of Revolution X51, SHF Ribeye R117, 4013 and
Mandate. A year ago, they also added the genetics NJW 11B 173D Character 178J,
from the Ned and Jan Ward herd in Montana. This sale topper carries performance,
carcass and maternal traits, plus he is a standout on paper and in the pasture. His
calves are gaining great reviews across the country and 4B Farm is equally as
excited about his impact on their herd.
THE 4B APPROACH
“I have an old school approach to breeding the cattle and we’ve concentrated on production traits. I have been a student of breeding principles and of genetic selections since discovering those Gold Trophy Sire designations,” states Bryson. “We have let the cattle cull themselves to some degree as we are strict on fertility and the production of high quality calves. Carcass quality is also a deciding factor
we’re working to put cow family lines in place that can be profitable for us and our customers.” In just 10 years, 4B has been recognized with three Dams of Distinction in the herd and the goal is to have a herd full of these. “This is a bar established by the American Hereford Association and we feel its criteria match ours and should be important to strive for in our herd,” explains Bryson.
FIELDS OF GOLD – The 4B Prefix
4B has been selling bulls and marketing semen over the years, but no females. The farm is excited to hold their first Female Sale next spring. All the females that will sell will be of the same quality and match the criteria of those in their program. 4B will hold their first production sale in 2025 and the offering will be predominantly cattle with the 4B prefix. Calves sired by the Character bull will be a feature in the sale lineup, also.
“You can’t buy success. You have to breed it.”
