March 22^nd, 2025 at 11:00 am at the farm will once again be the opening day for our annual bull sale.  It’s something that’s largely been built on words of mouth and the continued support of neighbors.  That’s something I greatly appreciate.

We will be offering 14 bulls again this year.  They are pre-priced at $4000, $4750, and $5500.  On opening day, should more than one person be interested in a bull, we will settle it in $100 increments.  It’s pretty low-stress and low-key.

The bulls are available to be viewed any time, and even if you’re not in the market, feel free to stop in and see what’s available.  The bulls have been feed-efficiency tested at Werner’s in Diagonal, Iowa, and just returned to the farm last Saturday. They were clipped while there and semen tested, though a couple will be rechecked the day before the sale.

We try not to get pigeon-holed in any particular trait.  We try to keep in mind adequate good performance, carcass merit, and efficiency, but what we would really like are for them to come from a herd of cows that stick around.  To date they have.

The vast majority of the cows we began with were older cows, having proven their ability to raise good calves and breed back, without issues on udders or feet.  We’ve turned in whole herd reporting data with the American Angus Association since they set out to develop a functionality longevity EPD.  The initial reports place the average of our females above breed average.  Exciting for me are the number of young, registered females we’ve kept back to breed just over the last couple years.

It’s been a somewhat slow and methodical process, but one that’s steadily lead to more successful AI breedings, more bull candidates, and more heifers in the replacement pen.

We breed those heifers in a short forty-day window, at the same time as the mature purebred cows.  To stay in the hunt, they need to continue to breed up front, and we use that pressure to sort.  We try to run them in a commonsense matter.

We’ve grabbed onto tracking hair shedding ability, foot score, docility, and using genomics to get a better understanding of each animal.

In closing I’d just thank my family, our neighbors, and everyone that has expressed interest over the years.  Call with any questions.

You can download pedigrees, prices, and basic epds at the link below.

Dan

515 681 4619