Humble Growth

Connealy Angus earns CAB award for registered cattle with customer profitability in mind.

by Morgan Boecker

September 2024

The Connealys might go unnoticed if not for their customers. At home 45 miles from a grocery store where their private radio network replaces spotty cellphone service, their quiet demeanor doesn’t draw attention. Their reputation does.

If you’ve ventured to Irish Lane near Whitman, Nebraska, you know Connealy Angus is worth notice, for its cattle and family values.

“Your reputation is paramount,” Jerry Connealy says. “You can’t cut corners, you can’t be shortsighted.” Not if you want repeat customers, the family’s measure of success.

A Place to Thrive

After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Jerry and his new bride Sharon moved to the ranch in 1981. In the midst of one of the toughest economic times for the cattle business, he was the only one of seven siblings interested in coming home.

Being from Omaha, “it was all new to me,” Sharon remembers, “so it was kind of an adventure.”

That once city girl now manages accounting, payroll, data entry, purebred registry and sale catalog creation for two annual Angus bull sales.

“We’ve gone from survival mode in the ’80s to making the right decisions so we can pass this on to the next generation and our customers,” Jerry says. “We’re now in a place where everybody can, not just survive, but thrive and make the land and everything we touch better.”

Three of four children work fulltime at the ranch. The exception, second-oldest Ben, works in San Diego but still knows his beef. “He cooks about the best hamburger I’ve ever tasted,” Sharon says.

Oldest son Jed’s passion for merchandising spurred the Connealy Marketing business arm of the ranch. He works with commercial customers daily to buy or place feeder calves with feedyards, and offers artificial insemination (AI) services for their herd and customers. His wife Jais is the ranch veterinarian.

“What interests me about marketing feeder cattle is connecting the dots between production segments,” Jed says. “The flow of information sometimes gets lost, so I can help keep that intact and share feedback to our customers about their cattle’s performance, grades at the packer and whether they should consider making any changes in their approach.”

This information also flows back to Jerry and youngest son Gabriel, who followed his father’s footsteps in caring for the cattle and genetics.

Gabriel helps with day-to-day operations, from balancing feed rations to selecting bulls at breeding season, meeting bull customers and delivering bulls after their sales. His wife Becca is a nurse, but also actively assists with sale prep, event coordination, data entry and customer gifts.

Daughter Hannah’s primary role is managing social media, data entry, event planning and Connealy Angus Meat Market, which supplies beef to select restaurants and Hy-Vee grocery stores in eastern Nebraska. She also helps when an extra hand is needed moving cows or processing cattle.

“The kids returning home has been key to our ability to grow and to meet customer needs on a more personal level,” Sharon says.

Everyone brings a different skillset, allowing them to diversify the business, service customers and call the ranch home.

Simple Strategy

When the first 40 Angus heifers stepped out on the Nebraska Sandhills in 1961, the neighbors thought Jerry’s dad was a unicorn. Jerry admits it was hard being different through the ’60s and 70s when the exotic European cattle made their splash. Through sheer stubbornness and leveraging every bit of their assets, they didn’t budge.

“Now, I look at my counterparts who have other breeds and wonder how they overcome their obstacles and compete against the Angus cow,” Jerry says.

His ideal cow is the one he doesn’t notice. It’s the female that calves unassisted, raises a big calf and gets bred at the same time every year. If that calf’s a female, then she should be replacement quality. Bull calves must have the traits to keep their bull customers generational and profitable.

Preparing for breeding season, Jerry jots down pages of notes on potential bulls and then he and Gabriel compare strengths and weaknesses of each. Sharon exports custom reports from Angus Information Management Software comparing expected progeny differences (EPDs) and phenotypic scores. They also ask: What’s changing in the marketplace and what direction do the cattle need to go?

“Not to sound too simplistic, but it all comes down to our commercial bull customer,” Jerry says. “What traits each bull brings to the table that are ultimately going to make our commercial customers profitable.”

Rather than positioning the herd as maternal or terminal, “we think we can do both within the same line of cattle,” Gabriel says.

They pay attention to each of the EPDs and indexes offered through the American Angus Association® but evaluate some more than others. They also DNA test each calf for an added measure of trust. Their first focus is on the maternal side through calving ease direct (CED); then they look at growth via yearling weight. Finally, pressure is applied to the carcass through marbling, ribeye area and carcass weight.

“The added trust that comes through EPDs and DNA tests probably makes it the most important technology we use,” Gabriel says.

Each animal gets an electronic identification (EID) tag for quick and accurate records. Using available technology allows them to make faster progress and avoid mistakes, Jerry says.

“It validates what we’re doing and even allows us to raise more beef per acre of grass,” he adds. It’s an imperative investment as the cost of doing business rises.

Labor is arguably the biggest challenge, so choosing problem-free bulls is important. Bulls that will breed a lot of cows and sire calves with a better chance to add black to the bottom line.

Customers First

“For our customers’ calves to ultimately be profitable, they need to ring the bells and whistles that bring back greater bonuses by performing at a higher level to get off the commodity list and into premium territory,” Jerry says.

They put their money where their mouth is through an available customer calf buy-back program and marketing finished cattle on a quality-based grid. But more often, Jed acts as broker to place groups of calves that match a feeder’s goals.

He handpicks cattle based on whether the feedyard will sell them on a grid or by live weight. Through relationships with feedyards, Jed takes information back to his family and their customers for breeding and management decisions.

“There’s undeniable pull-through demand for cattle genetically geared to make Certified Angus Beef,” Jed says. “They demand a premium. If that premium’s on the feeder cattle side, that guy sees it and he can take that premium and reinvest it to get even better.”

M & M Feeders, Lexington, Nebraska, fills a lot of pens with Connealy genetics because co-owner and manager Daron Huyser knows what to expect.

“They put more energy into intramuscular fat [marbling] than external backfat, so we don’t get discounted for yield grade fours and fives,” Huyser says. Consistently, truckloads average 50 percent Certified Angus Beef (CAB) and $100 per head premiums.

Knowing there’s a higher chance to earn a payback drives confidence and energy to make improvements at the ranch. If it was Connealy genetics that got them there, the same customers will be back the next time they need bulls or replacement females.

“If we’re keeping those cattle profitable for our commercial customers, genetically we must be doing something right,” Jerry says.

For getting that and a lot more right, Connealy Angus was recognized with the 2024 CAB Seedstock Commitment to Excellence award at the brand’s Annual Conference in September.

Good for Their Word

Customers from around the world file into the Shamrock Shack beside their sale ring each spring and fall. They’re not just buying into Connealy cattle, but the customer-service guarantee.

“I’ve bought a lot of bulls in my time, but the Connealys are good for their word,” says Gary Hill, Saguache, Colorado. “Years ago, I bought two bulls and one got hurt shortly after I turned them out with the heifers. I called Jerry just to let him know and the next day I met his son halfway and he loaded two bulls in my trailer, not just one. I’ve never been treated like that.”

Sharon says they approach each sale with gratefulness. Their actions follow suit.

“They’re good for their word,” says Marty Fletchall, Beloit, Kansas, bull customer. “Our job is tough enough that we don’t need extra turmoil, so to get along with my seedstock supplier, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

It’s more than representing the cattle honestly, it’s having pride that you did the right thing, Jerry says. 

Passing It On

These acts of kindness haven’t gone unnoticed by the next generation.

“They’ve instilled that in all of us,” Jed says. “We’re from humble beginnings and still in a humble place today. I think we will remain there.”

Even as the cattle business continues to evolve, they’re evolving, too. Through genetics, using the available tools and technology and managing the cattle well, their product keeps getting better and better.

But their kindness and character remain why their reputation precedes them.

“How you define success isn’t necessarily in your checkbook,” Jerry says. Success is moving the industry forward, going to bed at night knowing you did the right thing and providing a service that keeps your customers in business.

This story was originally published in the Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin.

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