Connealy family in the pasture with their cattle

Customer First Mentality

Connealy Angus recognized by Certified Angus Beef for commitment to excellence.

by Morgan Boecker

September 2024

When potential buyers fill the Connealy Angus sale barn, they’re not just there for the genetics but the customer service guarantee.

The Connealys could easily go unnoticed if not for their customers. Their remote location paired with their quiet demeanor doesn’t draw attention, but their character does.

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

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

A Place to Thrive

In one of the toughest economic times for the cattle business, Jerry and his new bride Sharon moved back to his family’s ranch.

“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.”

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

Three of four children work full-time at the ranch.

Oldest son Jed’s passion for merchandising spurred the creation of Connealy Marketing. 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.

Jed passes performance and carcass information back to Jerry and youngest son Gabriel, who followed his father’s footsteps in caring for the cattle and an interest in genetics. 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. 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.

Simple Strategy

Angus have roamed Connealy pastures since 1961 when Jerry’s dad first unloaded them there.

“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.

Preparing for breeding season, Jerry and Gabriel compare strengths and weaknesses of their chosen sires. 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. 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.

They also DNA test each calf for an added measure of trust, 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’s an imperative investment as the cost of doing business rises.

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.

Through Connealy Marketing, Jed acts as broker to place groups of calves that match a feeder’s goals. His relationship with feedyards allows him to share information with his family and their customers to make informed 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, Neb., 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 CAB and $100 per head premiums.

Knowing there’s a higher chance to earn a payback drives confidence 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.

Passing It On

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.

Connealy family walking in the pasture with cows.

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.”

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

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

Benoit Angus Ranch honored with CAB Seedstock Award

By: Lindsay Graber, Director of Producer Communications

September 2023

Fresh out of the Army with an eye for the right kind of cattle, Everett Benoit bought six Angus heifers from his neighbor and started a cow herd of his own. He and wife Bonnie settled down in north-central Kansas to build a farm and family. The only kind of work they knew was hard work, and plenty of it.

Their resolve and work ethic saw the herd grow to 400 Angus females, along with a 2,500-acre farming division now.

Benoit Angus Ranch, marketing over 150 bulls annually, is a multi-generation family business with sons Doug and Chad. Focused on serving commercial cattlemen, the Benoits built a reputation for high-quality cattle that perform on the ranch, in the feedyard and on the rail.

With always-improving cattle to support that renown, and the will to back it up, Benoit Angus Ranch earned the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) 2023 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence Award. The family was recognized at the CAB Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September.

Family, Farm and Love for the Angus Female

While Doug manages the cow herd, Chad oversees the farming side. Where possible, that ties back to cattle as row crops, cover and forages diversify beyond managing 3,500 acres of grass. Cows graze corn stalks till late in the year and cover crops on wheat ground extend light grazing through the winter.

Everett and Bonnie remain involved, often sitting down with their sons to provide input and advice.

“They started this and now we all work together,” Doug says. “Dad has been a great teacher for us. And, it’s very nice to be able to work with your folks.”

Passing his work ethic, love for the breed and the core foundation of the family Angus herd on down to sons meant they grew up with Angus as the only logical choice.

The Benoits have been recognized for their emphasis on maternal traits and overall high-quality Angus genetics that meet commercial cattlemen’s needs.

To Doug, the Angus female is the ideal type, further refined for a feminine head and length of body.

And to Jeff Mafi, American Angus Association regional manager, the Benoit Angus herd is a functional, working set of cows.

“They look for females with a good phenotype, do-ability and the right udder,” he says. “But they know they are in the beef business, so they pay attention to carcass traits, too.”

Striving for excellence, the Benoits stress data collection and testing. The longtime Maternal Plus members document that side of performance in their herd. All replacement females and sale bulls are American Angus Association Genomic Selection (GS)-tested, with results applied to herd improvement and marketing.

“They’re no-nonsense Angus breeders,” says Mafi. “If the cattle won’t work for customers, they get rid of them.”

Customer-Focused Cattlemen

Any reputation is earned. In the cattle business it can be cultivated in many ways, but it hangs on customer opinion.

“We measure success by our customers,” Doug says. “We work for them, and we’ll do everything we can to keep them satisfied.”

With two annual production sales, females in the fall and bulls in the spring, the Benoits rely on a strong customer base, largely repeat buyers and upwards of 85 percent commercial.

Each year’s breeding decisions aim to improve the herd, partly by targeting high-quality beef production. With a bull customer base largely aiming for a premium on calves produced, the Benoits employ CAB’s “Targeting the Brand^TM” logo in their sale catalogs. In 2023, 76 percent of their bull sale offering earned the logo.

“We put that Targeting the Brand mark in our sale catalog, and I know a number of customers will buy off that,” Doug says. “And they will mark out bulls from their selection if it doesn’t have the Targeting the Brand logo.”

At the first of two rounds of culling, the ranch pulls the bottom 25 percent of bulls based on quality, and sends them to a Nebraska feedyard as steers. That bottom end, in a sense, still contributes carcass data as a baseline for how different genetics perform.

With an average CAB acceptance rate of nearly 65 percent along with those grading Prime, the Benoits have found what works.

Putting in the Work

“As long as it’s got a seat on it, I can usually do a pretty good job,” Everett says.

Now in his mid-80s, he wakes before sunrise and climbs into his truck for another day of work on the farm. Whether he’s feeding cows or swathing hay, he enjoys what he does from the seat. Bonnie still can’t plan on him for dinnertime, but they’ve managed to get along so far.

“If you love doing something, it’s not work,” Everett says. “That’s the way I taught my boys—and hard work, it pays off.”

For the Benoits, that’s the goal: Add quality to the cow herd and improve the quality of a steak.

With another generation (or two) following in his footsteps, and the success of the ranch to carry forward, one thing’s for certain: hard work is a learned lifestyle at Benoit Angus Ranch.

From the Ground Up

Benoit Angus Ranch honored with CAB Seedstock Commitment to Excellence Award.

By: Lindsay Graber Runft, Director of Producer Communications

October 2023

Fresh out of the Army and with an eye for the right kind of cattle, Everett Benoit bought six Angus heifers from his neighbor and started a cow herd of his own. He and wife Bonnie settled down in north-central Kansas to build a farm and family. The only kind of work they knew was hard work, and plenty of it.

Construction work helped Everett save enough to buy ground and gradually grow the herd. Land prices back then look cheap now, but it was a large investment in the family’s future.

Everett’s dad warned he’d “go broke,” but determined and set on raising Angus cattle, the young man pressed on figuring, “You know, I’m already broke.”

That resolve and work ethic saw the herd grow to 400 Angus females, along with a 2,500-acre farming division now.

Benoit Angus Ranch, a seedstock operation that markets more than 150 bulls annually, is a multi-generation family business with sons Doug and Chad now heavily involved. Focused on serving the commercial cattleman, the Benoits built a reputation for high-quality cattle that perform on the ranch, in the feedyard and on the rail.

Caption: (left to right): Chad, Everett and Doug Benoit

Family and the Farm

Three generations of family gather on Everett and Bonnie’s porch steps at day’s end. Laughter erupts as shared lives and love spill over the talk of a joined past, present and future. The two who started it all have always worked together in nearly every aspect. Cattle, chickens, hogs, and raising children.

“Oh, she hated the chickens,” Everett smiles at the memory.

The chickens and hogs are long gone, but Angus cattle and family are still a big part of the farm, with its headquarters where his parents Archie and Rosalie lived. Chad makes his home where he and four siblings were raised, while Doug and family live just down the road from his mom and dad.

The next generation of Benoit Angus lives and works close together.

“They (Doug and Chad) graduated from college and worked away from the farm,” Everett says. “They both called and wanted to know if they could come back. That was the best thing that ever happened.”

While Doug focuses on the cow herd, Chad oversees the farming side. Where possible, that’s tied back to the cattle as row crops, cover and forages diversify beyond managing 3,500 acres of grass. Cows graze corn stalks till late in the year and cover crops on wheat ground extend light grazing through the winter.

Everett and Bonnie remained involved, often sitting down with their sons to provide input and advice.

“My dad, he’s the main guy. Well, he and mom, both. They started this and now we all work together,” Doug says. “Dad has been a great teacher for us. And, it’s very nice to be able to work with your folks.”

Passing his work ethic, love for the breed and the core foundation of the family Angus herd on down to sons meant they grew up with Angus as the only logical choice.

“What does it mean for me to continue his legacy? It’d be something,” Doug says. “We’re just trying to keep it going. We work really hard at everything.”

Caption: Doug and Chad Benoit work diligently to build on the foundation laid before them, decades of hard work by their parents.

Love for the Angus Female

Recognized for their emphasis on maternal traits, the Benoits are known for overall high-quality Angus genetics.

“We just love our Angus cows,” Doug says. “They’ve all been good to us.”

That’s because of excellent husbandry, heavy culling and careful selection over the years, from numbers to pedigree and practicality.

To Doug, the Angus female is the ideal type, further refined for a feminine head and length of body.

And to Jeff Mafi, American Angus Association regional manager, the Benoit Angus herd is a functional, working set of cows.

“They look for females with a good phenotype, do-ability and the right udder,” he says. “But they know they are in the beef business, so they pay attention to carcass traits, too.”

Aiming for bulls that will meet a commercial cattlemen’s needs, the Benoits start with the mother cow. Falling right in line with maternal, Doug emphasizes the importance of “building a cow with thickness,” strong carcass traits and performance.

“We’re not focusing just on terminal cattle. We want to have both,” he says. “And I think our cattle can do both.”

“They’re no-nonsense Angus breeders,” says Mafi. “If the cattle won’t work for customers, they get rid of them.”

Customer-Focused Cattlemen

Any reputation is earned. In the cattle business it can be cultivated in many ways, but it hangs on customer opinion.

“We measure success by our customers,” Doug says. “We work for them, and we’ll do everything we can to keep them satisfied.”

With two annual production sales, females in the fall and bulls in the spring, the Benoits rely on a strong customer base, largely repeat buyers and upwards of 85% commercial.

Before their first bull sale at the ranch in 1990, they sold through the Beloit (Kansas) Bull Test.

“We had several customers that were going to the bull test,” Everett says. “Once we started having a sale, they followed us and helped us out.”

They’re still selling to some of those first customers who have purchased Benoit Angus bulls for decades.

“They seem like they’re satisfied,” Everett observes. “That’s the joy of it.”

Many customers sell calves at weaning or retain ownership at a feedyard. From the latter set, they may receive performance data.

With a goal to retain customers, the Benoits gladly take that feedback and use it to improve.

“There’s no fancy stuff that we try to do,” Doug says. “We just try to raise them like the commercial cattleman does, and we let the cattle work for them.”

Aside from customer reports, the Benoits monitor genetic improvement on their own accord through ultrasound scans on bulls and heifers, as well as retained ownership in a Nebraska feedyard.

As the first of two rounds of culling, the ranch pulls the bottom 25% of bulls based on quality, and sends them to the feedyard as steers. That bottom end, in a sense, still contributes carcass data as a baseline for how different genetics perform.

With an average CAB acceptance rate of nearly 65% along with those grading Prime, the Benoits have found what works.

Putting in the Work

“As long as it’s got a seat on it, I can usually do a pretty good job,” Everett says.

“If you love doing something, it’s not work,” Everett says. “That’s the way I taught my boys—and hard work, it pays off.”
For the Benoits, that’s the goal: Add quality to the cow herd and improve the quality of a steak.

With another generation (or two) following in his footsteps, and the success of the ranch to carry forward, one thing is for certain: hard work is a learned lifestyle at Benoit Angus Ranch.

This story was originally published in the Angus Journal.

Future Focused Business

Direct-to-consumer beef business, Dakota Angus, earns CAB Progressive Partner Award.

By Kylee Kohls Sellnow

October 2023

It was just a dream to have a truck rolling down highway 52 loaded with Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB) that came directly from their ranches.

Today, it’s a reality for the Bruner and Wendel families who own and operate Dakota Angus, LLC.

Pilot partners in CAB’s Ranch to Table program, these North Dakota ranch families took some of the market volatility into their own hands in April 2022. Their leap of faith now provides high-quality beef options for their communities and diversifies their income.

As seedstock producers, Bruner Angus Ranch, near Drake, and Wendel Livestock, a couple hours to the southeast at LaMoure, North Dakota, were focused on raising herd sires and replacement heifers for customers. Now they sell their finished cattle, as well as those of their customers, through Dakota Angus, a direct-to-consumer beef business.

That partnership earned the 2023 CAB Progressive Partner award, and the two families were recognized in September at the CAB Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“As registered Angus breeders, we’ve always felt ownership of the Certified Angus Beef brand, but even more today as one of the pilot programs for Ranch to Table,” Ashley Bruner says.

Data is Power

Shane Wendel is the numbers guy of the joint operation. With grid marketing data going back over 25 years, CAB and Prime have been constant targets.

“About 10 years ago, I got a note from our cattle buyer that just said one thing: ‘awesome genetics’ next to a load that graded 40 percent Prime,” Shane says. “That was what we needed, to know we were making progress with our cattle.”

And they haven’t stopped targeting quality since.

The last load of steers made 76 percent CAB, including 65 percent Prime this spring.

“When I get our carcass data back, I know by targeting CAB we are creating extra value and are getting paid more for that product,” Shane says. “I have always been and will be a champion of the brand because of that.”

Angus programs proved progress for the Wendels.

“We have huge amounts of data now, and data is power, innovation and value,” Shane says. “Certified Angus Beef is a great example of how many pounds are sold, records that keep being broken and consumers still demanding more.”

With data to back up his brother Mike’s high-performing genetic and management decisions, Shane had confidence in grading their own cattle on a smaller scale to start marketing them direct to consumers and close the loop in capturing 100 percent of the value.

But he needed to find a partner in The Business Breed who shared his vision and energy.

It didn’t take long for Travis and Ashley Bruner to say “yes” when approached with the idea for Dakota Angus.

“Both of our families operate on high integrity, and we have strengths and skillsets that complement each other to make us a great team,” Shane says. “That’s what makes the Bruners a great partner.”

Caption: “When you’re working from conception to consumption, you really can’t veer very far from any one trait. Everything from maternal to growth to carcass all have to be incorporated in a very moderate, conservative direction.” Mike Wendel

The Partnership

Bruner Angus Ranch started in 1952 when Grandpa Frankie brought the first Angus bull to Drake, North Dakota. Since then, Blaine and Kim raised their three sons, Travis, Trenton and Ty, in the Angus business, and now they’re all back home and involved in the operation with their own families.

Today, Travis’s focus is on the 500-cow registered Angus herd and the two bull sales they host annually, selling 150 herd sires to commercial cattlemen.

They know their customers rely on those bulls to sire replacement females and raise calves that pay and weigh up.

“We’re always paying attention to feet and udders, docility and do-abilty,” Travis says. “As our business has grown, we are using carcass EPDs (expected progeny differences) to have more well-rounded cattle, too.”

Closely aligned herd goals help explain why the Bruners and Wendels work so well together.

Mike Wendel and his sons focus on foot scores, marbling and heifer longevity EPDs when making breeding decisions for their 500-cow herd. Embryo transfer plays a large role in their genetic program.

“When you’re working from conception to consumption, you really can’t veer very far from any one trait,” Mike says. “Everything from maternal to growth to carcass all have to be incorporated in a very moderate, conservative direction.”

Feeding out their own steers and heifers over the last 25 years, Mike has had hundreds of head come through his yard. That’s why the Dakota Angus team relies on him to finish all the cattle that end up in a Dakota Angus package.

Caption: (left to right) Mary and Shane Wendel, Dennis and Marsha Wendel, Mike, Shari, Ryder, Rose and Reed Wendel

Caption: (left to right) Ty and Erin Bruner with daughter Brynlee, Ashley and Travis Bruner with daughters Rayna (front), Celia (front), Josie and son Frankie (front), Cecelia Bruner, Blaine and Kim Bruner, Rachel and Trenton Bruner with son Landon (front) and daughters Lena (front) and Lillian

A Relationship Business

The Bruner and Wendel families met while serving on the North Dakota Angus Association board six years ago. Traveling to Angus Convention and meeting people from across the breed opened their eyes to business expansion opportunities.

Including what CAB does to market high-quality beef.

After the two families decided to launch Dakota Angus, they knew they wanted to incorporate the brand in those plans, to help inform consumers about differences in beef quality and value.

“We’re confident in the product we have,” Ashley says. “But the confidence we have with Certified Angus Beef behind us means so much more. And the more that we can talk to people and engage them with what we’re doing as producers and beef suppliers, the better it is for all beef.”

In the last 12 months, they’ve harvested more than 80 head in a federally inspected facility two hours from the Dakota Angus ranch store north of Drake. Federally grading every carcass processed lets them sell their beef according to the quality grade, allowing more control over market price for each pound.

It also opens doors to talk with each customer about what they want in an eating experience.

This sparks other conversations about how to cook cuts like the teres major, that aren’t always found in a grocery store in rural North Dakota.

Ranch to Table and Prime ribeyes always sell out first.

If there are surplus items in the freezer, those are typically roasts and grinds. Ashley moves them out by offering bundles at a discount or through great relationships with local schools and healthcare facilities.

Frozen halves and wholes as well as retail cuts sell individually vacuum-sealed out of the walk-in freezer the Bruners built in their garage-converted meat shop.

“Quality control includes Travis in our backyard at the grill,” Ashley says with a grin that recognizes a common bond. The beef they serve their own family is now a part of moments and memories for more neighbors because of Dakota Angus.

Even at the Tuesday night baseball game two towns over, you can find one of the Bruner brothers flipping burgers at the concession stand.

It’s really family business from start to finish for them.

Caption: Founded in 2022, Dakota Angus was one of the first to be a part of the Certified Angus Beef ^® Ranch to Table program.

“Diversifying and adding Dakota Angus to the lineup of what Bruner Angus and Wendel Livestock are gives our kids an opportunity to come back someday,” says Ashley Bruner.

The Future of Dakota Angus

The next generation was top of mind for the Bruners and Wendels when they decided to find a processor to harvest, inspect and grade their high-quality Angus cattle.

“It’s hard these days for a farm or a ranch to support one family or multiple families at that,” Ashley says. “In rural America, if we want it to make a turn and grow again, we need to give opportunity to the next generation. Diversifying and adding Dakota Angus to the lineup of what Bruner Angus and Wendel Livestock are gives our kids an opportunity to come back someday.”

She knows it might not look like coming back to work directly with the land, but to be involved and contribute to the entire business. Roles like caring for the cattle, improving seedstock genetics, and growing crops are still going to be important. But diversified endeavors need to have team members who are marketing specialists, meat scientists, processing and customer-service experts for growth and development, too.

Travis and Ashley’s oldest daughter, Rayna, is already developing some of these skills alongside her mom at just nine years old.

Helping take and pack orders, she enjoys learning with her family as they grow this new business. Besides working cattle with her dad, one of her favorite parts about Dakota Angus is loading up the truck to make deliveries and go to farmer’s markets with her mom.

“That’s why Dakota Angus is here,” Ashley says. “We are building a foundation now to ensure that Dakota Angus is around for generations to come.”

This story was originally published in the Angus Journal.

Building Bonds

Opening the gates at Seldom Rest Farms earns the Foster family the 2023 Certified Angus Beef Ambassador Award.

By B.J. Eick, CAB freelance writer

October 2023

As the sun peers over the horizon at dawn, a small group of Angus cows graze through beams of light along the tree line. Across the road, herd bulls stake claim to new lots as they’re positioned for display. Near a large white canopy, Chef Peter Rosenberg fires up the grill to prepare a special breakfast, while other members of the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) team work with the Foster family to prepare for today’s guests.

Among Angus cattlemen, Seldom Rest Farms in Niles, Michigan, is a brand synonymous with show ring success at the highest level, but this morning it is not a flood of frenzied heifer buyers pulling into the driveway.

In just an hour, a dozen members of the Meijer communications team will arrive to experience, first hand, how the beef they sell in their stores is raised. They’ll get to touch and feel and taste and smell every aspect of the cattle business from the delicious flavor of Certified Angus Beef ^® ribeyes to the slippery sensation of you-know-what on their shoes. Questions of every nature will be asked and answered by true cattlemen and champions for CAB, Bruce, Scott and Andrew Foster.

Ready willingness to open their gates to CAB guests and share their story earned Seldom Rest Farms the CAB 2023 Ambassador Award. The Fosters were recognized in September at the CAB Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

Beyond their eagerness to engage the other end of the beef supply chain, the Fosters have a deep history in supporting the Angus family.

Growing a Herd

Brothers Bruce and Scott operate Seldom Rest Farms along with Scott’s son, Andrew. Started by their parents Dale and Lois Foster as a rowcrop and dairy farm, Andrew represents the third generation of the family operation. The fourth generation is in the wings, with a growing group of Dale and Lois’ great-grandchildren already beginning to show an interest in the farm.

“We got our first Angus steer when I was nine years old,” Bruce says. “I took him to the fair and had Champion Angus Steer and Champion Steer overall.”

The brothers took the money from that winning steer and bought their first beef heifers. What began as a 4-H project blossomed into their own cow herd, and today it has become one of the nation’s leading suppliers of premier show heifers.

“When we were looking to get our kids involved, we kind of got hooked,” Scott says. “The quality of the people we met is what drew us in

Caption: The Foster family at Seldom Rest Farms recognized as the 2023 Ambassador Award recipient.

Serving the Angus Community

Just over 90 miles from Chicago, the pristine show facility and small groups of cattle at Seldom Rest Farms provide the perfect backdrop to host CAB stakeholders from around the Midwest. Chefs from top restaurants, grocery store managers, butchers and beef marketers alike love visiting the Foster family. Today’s Meijer visit marks the sixth CAB Ranch Day held at the farm in the last three years.

The show cattle operation really helps CAB partners learn about cattle production because the Fosters’ passion for the junior livestock program ties directly to that for the future of production agriculture and opportunities for young people through all segments of the industry.

“One of our biggest goals here at Seldom Rest Farms is to work with the next generation,” Scott says. “As you look at the future, we really need to have these young people come back and be a part of the registered Angus business. We believe in the Angus breed for the opportunities. There are opportunities to find a place in the beef industry, no matter what segment you’re in, and we still believe that opportunity exists for the next generation and the generation after that.”

The Fosters have firsthand experience in the opportunities the Certified Angus Beef ^® brand helps create for anyone with a passion for the beef business. While Andrew runs the show cattle operation, his sister Danielle Matter works to elevate the brand as director of brand experience and education for CAB.

One might think Danielle does a little arm twisting to get groups in the door at the family farm, but it only takes a moment to realize the willingness to host, educate and entertain visitors is a responsibility the entire family takes seriously. While success at Seldom Rest Farms might not be measured in pounds of beef sold, they view the opportunity to host groups as a service to all members of the American Angus Association.

“We believe in the product. We believe in our fellow Angus breeders who are out there producing seedstock. We believe in the packers, in the feedlots, [and all the people] who are making it happen,” Andrew says. “It’s important for visitors to see that we all care about the product that ends up on their plate.”

That makes it a priority to find time to talk about what they do and how CAB plays a role in their ability to pursue this lifestyle by increasing the demand of Angus genetics.

“We’re trying to tell the story as best we can from the segment of the industry that we’re involved in,” Bruce says. “We make time to do it because it’s the right thing to do.”

“When we give a tour for CAB, we’re representatives for the entire beef industry,” Andrew says, “and we want people to know how much we care for the cattle and for the land.”

Caption: “I think as you look at our family farm here, what we’re looking to do in the future is to make the entire business better for the next generation,” Scott Foster says.

Opening the Gate

As guests arrive, they’re greeted by the CAB team and two-term American Angus Association board member Scott Foster. While they’re delighted by the hospitality, their eagerness to learn is evident. It’s also clear the Fosters are equally as hungry to find out about their visitors and all they hope to learn.

“The Foster family doesn’t just open their farm to hosting groups, they create an experience that makes a lasting impression on the restaurants, distributors and grocery stores who sell the Certified Angus Beef ^® brand,” says Deanna Walenciak, CAB’s vice president of brand marketing, domestic. “Customers leave every visit with more confidence in how beef is raised and have a stronger connection to the people who are caring for the cattle.”

Hosting CAB Ranch Days helps to build the value of the brand throughout the entire supply chain by allowing both sides to meet and ask questions.

“Whether it’s chefs or restaurant owners, it allows us to interact with them so they can see what it’s like on a daily basis for the people raising the product,” Andrew says. “They can see the things that we go through. They know where our passion comes from, where some of the struggles are and what keeps us going

Caption: When the guests step into the field, cameras are out. For many attendees at CAB Ranch Days it’s their first time at a farm and seeing cows from inside the pasture fence.

Chef Peter and Everly Foster at the grill

Caption: Tomorrow will always be better, it has to be for the kids and grandkids in the Foster family.

Adding Value for the Future

The Fosters are building that fervor for agriculture with the next generation of Angus enthusiasts, and opening their farm to share their own passion with stakeholders in the beef business in hopes of securing a stronger future for everyone who benefits from the brand.

“I think as you look at our family farm here, what we’re looking to do in the future is to make the entire business better for the next generation,” Scott says.

Andrew adds, “We feel like opening our home is probably the most effective way of ensuring that the beef industry and CAB can continue on as strong as they are and hopefully even have a stronger future.”

As Ranch Day activities come to an end, seven-year-old Everly Foster, who spent most of the morning assisting Chef Peter, leads a young show heifer from the barn into the big, white tent where guests are seated. Before she can stop the calf, she’s surrounded by guests who have selfie mode engaged.

At the end of the day, sometimes the best way to create a bond between our family farmers and ranchers and people who enjoy the Certified Angus Beef ^® brand is to let them pet the cows.

This story was originally published in the Angus Journal.

Going Above and Beyond

Sharing their dedication to ranching earns the Walter family the 2022 CAB Ambassador Award.

By Jessica Travis

A cool morning fog slowly lifts to unveil a herd of black cattle juxtaposed against the towering Rocky Mountains. Riders moving around them come into focus, trotting along on horseback.

It’s a normal day near Hudson, Colorado for the Walter family, yet the view is uniquely awe-inspiring for visitors who have never stepped foot on a ranch. As cows come in closer visitors take in the far-reaching pastures and breath-taking mountain views.

Some snap photos as they feed the cows a handful of grass while others shyly inch away as a curious young calf moves closer.

“My favorite thing to showcase on the ranch is definitely our cattle and our cattle practices,” Trevor says. “I take a lot of pride in the quality we have and the way we raise them.”

For the Walter Family, there’s no better backdrop to introduce people to the place where beef begins.

The spirit of hospitality and work to share how they raise high-quality beef earned the Walter family the 2022 Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Ambassador Award.

A Targeted Approach

Teaching an appreciation for Angus cattle is something that comes naturally to Terry and Becky Walter. They’ve built Walter Angus into a fifth-generation Angus seedstock operation with their children, Trevor, Ty and Katelyn. Today the family specializes in high elevation, high quality genetics.

“We’re always trying to make balanced cattle,” Terry says. “Birthweight is absolutely important to us, and growth of every kind. For me personally, marbling is king. We’re trying to put as much marbling in these cattle as we can, without sacrificing functionality. But in my opinion, marbling is what pays bills.”

Cows still have to get the job done. Their dedication to genetic improvement is matched with their focus on high altitude performance.

“We put a big focus on elevation— there’s a lot of good quality mountain grass pastures that can only be utilized by running cattle on it,” Terry says.

The Walter Angus herd spends at least six months in these mountain pastures which range from 6,000 to 11,000 ft in elevation. Bred to handle the altitude, they also slowly graze cattle during the warm summer and fall months, training them over time to adjust to the elevation. All bulls marketed through their annual February sale are tested for pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) at 10,000 feet.

Another key component of their breeding program is docility. They’re effective at creating cattle that can be good working partners, knowing this ties to performance on the plate.

“The docility and how we treat the cattle through our handling practices ultimately creates a better end product,” Trevor says. “Otherwise, any stress will carry through the animal.”

Indeed, their dedication to low-stress management and intentional breeding practices pays off.

A look through sale catalogs shows the CAB Targeting the Brand™ logo next to most of their bulls. Over the last four years, 97% of their cattle graded Choice or higher, with 51% qualifying for CAB, and 13% grading as Prime.

(left to right) Trevor, Melissa, Cealy, Tilden, Hadley, Ty, Jazlyn, Becky and Terry Walter

A Good Story

Raising great bulls that produce high quality beef is a feat on its own, but the Walter family takes the next step to connect with the people merchandising the beef their genetics create. For Terry, engaging with folks unfamiliar with ranching is an extension of his business philosophy.

“You don’t get very far in the bull business if you don’t have total honesty,” he says. “Respect has to be earned.”

Many of the groups who visit Walter Angus are foodservice salespeople who merchandise CAB every day or chefs serving the brand at their restaurant. They’ve also hosted food bloggers, media and made time for video and photo crews to capture their story to share in CAB training materials and ad campaigns.

“I enjoy talking to people, especially as society gets disconnected from agriculture,” Terry says. “I want people to know that ranching isn’t easy, it takes a lot of work producing high quality cattle so people can feel good about eating beef.”

Ty says interacting with those groups offers “a meeting of the minds” and the opportunity to learn from each other, answer questions and understand how the different sectors of the beef industry rely on each other.

“We’re just one family, really,” he says. “What other company or brand out there brings everyone together to collaborate and learn from each other, and see where we can go in the future?”

Hosting people also offers the opportunity to showcase their work and dedication to raising cattle to higher standards.

“It’s really rewarding to be able to show that the product they sell as the Certified Angus Beef ^® brand is no accident and demonstrate how much time and thinking ahead goes into it,” Ty says. “The quality, care, and all the little details that go into our product that many don’t realize.”

Opening their ranch is more than putting a face to the hands that raised a delicious steak, but understanding the intention behind each decision, taking care of both the land and livestock.

The mountain pastures are great for cattle, but the Walters want people to know that cows are great for the pastures, too.

“The cattle help break up the decomposing trees that have succumbed to beetle rot,” Trevor says. “Grazing helps prevent wildfires and creates a positive ecosystem for the land they’re on.”

Their grazing encourages deeper roots and healthier grasses.

“We make the land better with our cattle,” Ty says, noting the increased forage production and soil health. “God created this land to be grazed by cattle. Without them, and the grasses and sagebrush, the land would blow away to Kansas.”

Trevor adds, “This ground would sit vacant, so we’re able to bring our cattle on and graze the ground. And in doing so, it’s a huge benefit to the ecosystem, grasses, and biodiversity.”

Much like everything else on the ranch, hosting a tour is a family affair. Terry, Trevor, and Ty showcase the livestock and speak to their genetics. As for Becky and Katelyn, along with Trevor’s wife, Melissa and children Tilden and Cealey, and Ty’s wife Jazlyn and daughter Hadley, share about life on an Angus ranch.

Pulling out of the driveway visitors head home with more than a camera roll full of beautiful pictures and cow selfies to post on social media. They leave as friends who know that CAB is raised by good families, in a way that’s good for animals and the environment — inspired to sell more of it.

“I want groups to leave our ranch knowing that there’s a family in Hudson, Colorado that loves Angus cattle,” Terry says. “That we’re striving to make the best beef possible, and our mission here is hitting that CAB target, but more than that, it’s knowing that we care about the cattle.”

Story originally published in the Angus Journal.

It’s Beef Month

by Paul Dykstra | May 7, 2025

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In a twist unthinkable just two decades ago, USDA data reveals that the current percentage of Prime carcasses has averaged 11.9%, surpassing Select carcasses that are averaging 11.1%, in each of the last five weeks.

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Progress, Not Perfection

Kansas farm family earns the 2022 CAB Progressive Partner Award.

By Kylee Kohls Sellnow

Most know her as an advocate for agriculture. Countless farmers and ranchers respect her as an enlightened Angus breeder. Many call her a friend, neighbor and mentor.

She will ask you to just call her “Debbie.”

Debbie Lyons-Blythe works alongside her family in the Kansas Flint Hills to raise the best beef, paving the way for a more sustainable beef supply. They do it one breeding decision, management practice, farm tour and conversation at a time.

“Cattle producers and consumers, we are all vitally important to the progress of our environment, the progress of animal welfare and the progress of making sure our businesses are profitable,” she says.

Working toward a better beef business earned Blythe Family Farms the 2022 Certified Angus Beef Progressive Partner Award.

Kids and Cattle

It’s a labor of love, obvious in the way she lights up explaining their family’s 33-year effort to proactively adapt Angus cows to their land.

A lifetime of telling stories from the pasture or kitchen has resonated with nonfarm consumers as much as fellow ranchers.

“Everything we do is about cattle, but it’s also about family and connecting our kids to the land and to the cattle,” Debbie says.

The three boys have all moved back home, bringing a diversified skillset to support their family legacy.

Trenton works fulltime on the farm and runs Level Creek Outfitters, a guided pheasant hunting operation with his wife Brier. Selling agriculture equipment during the week for a local manufacturer, Eric and his wife Cece spend evenings and weekends helping on the farm. Similarly, Tyler works fulltime with agriculture technology and equipment for the local co-op by day and farms with his family in any spare time. The Blythe sisters’ careers have taken them out of Kansas, but they’re still co-owners in the farm.

“My parents taught me it didn’t matter if you were a guy or a gal, the work needs to be done,” Debbie says. “Meghan and Allie’s commitment to the farm, alongside their brothers, has helped build the operation.”

Blythe family receiving CAB Progressive Partner award

(left to right) CAB President John Stika, Jeff Cather, CAB EVP Production Bruce Cobb, Allie Cather, Tyler, Duane, Debbie, Trenton, Brier, Eric, Cece Blythe, Lance and Meghan Shriver

Planning Ahead

Succession plans aren’t what everyone talks about at the table with their 20-something children and spouses. But it is a frequent topic at a Blythe Sunday dinner.

Duane lost his father when he was 14 and decided to take on management of the family’s farm. It resulted in more lessons learned the hard way than he cares to count – and the realization he never wanted his children to feel that way.

Looking at the couple, anyone might assume Duane and Debbie have many more able years ahead, but they’re already in the process of transitioning the farm to their five children.

“With the opportunity of our family and our children working together, I’d like to think we’ve helped them, at least at this point, to overcome a lot of those challenges and created an opportunity for them to learn the best practices from us,” Duane shares. “Certainly, they’re going to find ways to build a better fence down the road, but they’re not going to make the same mistakes that I made.”

He chuckles at the memory of the first fence he built and knows how much quicker and stronger that fence would be if it were built with the help of his boys today.

“They make us all look better, but it’s been a fun ride for Debbie and me to raise our family and to pass on the information we’ve been able to acquire over time with them,” he says.

Part of that transition kit includes a computer file with photos of pastures, plants and notes on weather patterns and dates Debbie worked on for years. She says it’s easy to reference the grazing management plan when they have questions on when to move cattle or to control-burn a pasture.

The forward-thinking model helps all of them find opportunities to make the farm better.

Numbers Don’t Lie

The Blythes rely on history and data to make improvements.

“Progress is difficult to define without a measurement, without the ability to compare to a baseline and show how much change we’ve made,” Debbie says. “We’re not making any more land. We have to be able to utilize this land in such a way that it will raise more food. We have to follow best-management practices and make sure we are doing a better job with what we have, to see progress.”

This mindset shifted the family’s purebred Angus operation to what it is today: 175 registered cows, 225 commercial Angus females and a 375-head commercial Angus heifer development program.

With the rich native grass resource, they decided 17 years ago their time, skills and resources would be best spent in a commercial heifer program.

They start with about 450 females each fall.

“We typically purchase heifers from families with cattle that have genetics we know,” Debbie says. “I prefer that they be weaned and preconditioned with two shots and bunk broke. That’s not always possible, so we’re willing to do the work, but we’ve found that the longer we own them, the better those heifers settle to AI.”

The first cull factor? Temperament.

“We pay attention to how they enter the chute, how calm they are, how they gather,” Debbie says. “We just don’t keep anything that has a bad disposition.”

They collect data throughout the year to decide which heifers stay.

In January, they work with a veterinarian to get a pelvic measurement score and identify the shape of the pelvis, serving as a preliminary sort for females that will perform with longevity.

Debbie and her sons artificially inseminate (AI) as many as they can for February 1 calves. She’s proven her simple breeding program: one shot of Lutalyse followed by 10 days of heat detection.

“I spend a lot of time walking through those heifers, teaching them how we work around them, making sure that they’re not afraid of people on foot,” Debbie says. “And by the end of those 10 days, I can do anything I need with those heifers by myself.”

After the heifers have been AI’d once to a proven sire, they are sent to native grass pastures with Blythe Angus bulls for 60 days, targeting a tight calving interval.

Debbie uses an EPD (expected progeny difference) benchmarking system she’s created to identify ideal matings: birth weight, weaning weight and marbling are priorities.

“We rely heavily on genomics when we’re selecting bulls,” she explains. “I believe strongly in carcass EPDs, especially marbling. If the hot new bull doesn’t have a good marbling score, I won’t use him. I just feel like it’s my responsibility to be able to create good beef.”

Her bull customers rely on her decisions, too.

Many have commercial herds and retain ownership of their calves, but they leave the EPDs to Debbie. Making sure they meet both cattle customer and beef consumer demands, the Blythes often retain ownership on their own calves at Tiffany Cattle Company.

Their last pen sold in 2021 graded 97% Choice or Prime, with 90% making CAB or CAB Prime.

Just more data pointing to progress, if not quite perfection.

A Sustainable Future

Debbie and Duane decided early on that it was important to communicate and connect with people that want to know who raised their food.

“When we had the first opportunity to host a tour with Certified Angus Beef, we jumped at the chance,” Debbie says. “We work very hard to not only host people on the ranch, but also to stay connected with them.”

The cattle business as we know it today is only sustainable if there’s demand for high-quality beef. And healthy, productive land to raise it on.

“I’m proud of our family for being open and connected to various organizations over the years,” she says. “I believe that my involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef is what will make it possible for my kids to farm and ranch in the future.”

Today, she serves as the organization’s 2022-23 chair, helping to define sustainability across the beef supply chain.

“To me, sustainability is taking care of the land, taking care of the animals, taking care of the people and making money,” she says. “Every farmer and rancher is committed to those things. That’s nothing new. But now we are able to measure and communicate more clearly along the entire beef value chain through involvement on the Roundtable from both Certified Angus Beef and farms and ranches like Blythe Family Farms.”

Similarly, Trenton’s outfitting business adds another tier of sustainability to the farm’s available resources.

“The cattle and farming business go hand in hand with the outfitting,” he explains.

The open winter pastures and cover-cropped farmland make hunting migratory and upland birds feasible all season.

Along with making the land healthier and diversifying revenue streams, cattle care is a part of the Blythe’s long-term sustainability.

“Beef Quality Assurance certification is vital when talking about sustainability,” Debbie says. “If you ask a consumer, ‘What is sustainability?’ For the most part, they say ‘animal welfare.’ So, we want to be able to prove we are trained in the best way to handle cattle.”

Tools, data and continuing education give the couple confidence their legacy will be around for another 100 years.

“Angus cattle are vital to the future of Blythe Family Farms,” Debbie says. “My kids are going to make a lot of decisions that are different from what I’ve made, but I really believe they will continue to have black cattle on this land.”

Originally published in the Angus Journal.

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by Paul Dykstra | Apr 24, 2025

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More with Less

Texas grass farmers win CAB Sustainability Award

Story and photos by Abbie Burnett

October 2021

It’s July in the rolling Texas Panhandle Plains, but not a bead of sweat forms. A cool breeze moves the knee-high grasses carpeting the red clay soil like God himself is smoothing out the wrinkles in a blanket.

Indigo clouds fill the northwest sky with a promise of rain. In a region of guaranteed droughts and an average annual 18 inches of rainfall, Mary Lou Bradley-Henderson and husband James Henderson of Bradley 3 Ranch (B3R) near Childress, Texas, look in wonder across the landscape.

Regular dust storms, 50+mph winds, and temperatures ranging from 115 to -35, just living here is harsh, says Mary Lou. But not this year.

“This is living the dream,” she says. “You can’t go wrong when it rains every other day. Not in this country.”

If going through bad years makes one appreciate the good ones, Mary Lou and James have plenty under their belt to take respite.

“Anybody can run cattle this year,” says Mary Lou. “It’s when it’s 111 and ain’t raining that it’s a different can of worms.” 

They should know.

More than 65 years ago, the ranch was considered a wasteland when B3R’s matriarch and Mary Lou’s mother Minnie Lou arrived.

It was the 1950s during the drought of a generation. Her soon-to-be father-in-law, Rusty, procured the ranch property as a wedding gift. As they walked the desolate landscape, Rusty pulled out his pocketknife and began sifting under the fine soil. 

Minnie Lou’s not sure what surprised her more: that there were roots or that they were alive. Nothing above ground promised either.

“I didn’t know until later,” she recalls, “But no one had ever owned this piece of country for over 10 years without going broke.”

She might have taken the same path had a friend not told her outright, “You’re one of the worst grass people I’ve ever known.” They were understocking but overgrazing.

The cattle cherry-picked the good stuff, eating all the grass and leaving space for 30 gallon a day, water-sucking Mesquite trees and Redberry Juniper to steal the land.

Distraught at what they’d done, Minnie Lou implemented a rotational grazing plan and strapped GPS collars to her cows to find the grazing paths. She learned every pasture is different, and finding grazeable acreage over total acreage per cow is challenging.

Minnie Lou admits, “For 42 years, I didn’t think we made any progress.”

In the early 2000s, Mary Lou and James sold their meatpacking company, B3R Meats, and returned to the ranch. They mapped out a 20-year plan to ensure water was no more than a half-mile from any point, picking up work Minnie Lou started. The fruits of their labor are evident this year.

B3R is the 2021 Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Sustainability Award recipient, and it’s been a long time coming.

Soaking it in

Water is the elixir to life in these parts.

In the 1940s, a saltwater spring was plugged and flooded the aquifers under the ranch’s south part, making groundwater unusable and unaffordable to clean up.

In the north, the groundwater is so full of sulfates it must be kept moving to evade evaporation, and thus turning fatal for the cattle.

Water guzzling plants ruled their pastures, and any rain is trapped or evaporates before it can hit the ground.

The plan: build more opportunities for water, gouge out the scourge of brush one by one, and bring back the grass while managing a quality-forward seedstock business.

Droughts are not an “if,” but a “when,” and James and Mary Lou do their best to prepare, but the record drought of 2010 to 2014 changed everything.

There were 100 days over 100 degrees, and 45 over 110 recalls Mary Lou.

“Droughts like that are mind games because you’re defeated financially and defeated on what to do,” she says.

They thought they had a drought contingency plan, says James, “But we didn’t have enough of anything – grass, hay, or money.”

Even when sparse rains came, the withered land drank it so fast, mud wouldn’t form. One evening in 2015, Mary Lou, James, and Minnie Lou gathered around their dispersal plans.

One night in June, their newly built stock stank filled up. Collecting water off the barns and homes, it lives here for cattle instead of flowing to the Red River. Bermuda grass is banked to prevent erosion.

“I just thought it was our time,” says Mary Lou.

But they were rained out overnight and couldn’t drive to the lease country.

“Okay, I hear You,” she says. “We’re not done. So, we weren’t done.”

They formed a new plan. First, they began investing in stock tanks (West Texan for ponds). It takes one dry year to remove brush, dig the pond and another nine for the rain to soak the ground, find equilibrium and begin filling.

It’s what they did for the 20 ft. deep tank just down the hill from their barns and homes. As a result, water that would normally flow into the Red River is now stored for cattle.

A 10-year process became one as a single night rain in June filled the 2020 pond to the brim. There are nine operational ponds now, with more on the way.

In 2019, an interesting new design started floating in B3Rs water troughs. Aqua balls – black, polyethylene spheres filled with a touch of water have saved 5,000 gallons or $3,000 to $4,000 per trough.

Covering about 95% of the surface area, the balls prevent water evaporation, loss to wind, and surface algae growth. The water is crystal, mildly cool on a 90-degree day. Heifers gently nudge their noses against the balls to find a drink. In the winter, the surface area is so small, ice rarely forms. When it does, it easily breaks.

“We’ve got 45 tubs on the ranch, all about 2000 gallons,” says James. “They’d typically be dry come springtime, and we’d lose another 4,000 gallons in the summer to evaporation. We’re saving several thousand dollars a year.”

Other touches are solar-powered wells that keep the water moving in the sulfate-rich areas with overflow ponds for wildlife. Wildlife that’s also found water in the new springs that have emerged from brush removal.

Since Mary Lou and James came home, they’ve doubled the size of the herd and expanded acreage several times over. A two-section pasture that wouldn’t run 20 cows can now hold 45 at 30 acres per cow.

They’re proud of the successes, but it doesn’t stop there.

High expectations

Sustainability to Mary Lou and James is as much about the efficiency and quality of the animal as it is about land and water.

“We’ve really concentrated our cow herd on being efficient,” says James. “Sustainability is doing more with less, and well, the cows have to do that, too.”

They’ve built indexes around the performances of their cattle and focus on cows that can raise a calf, breed back, do it on minimal resources and maintain their flesh. And with their background in meatpacking, Mary Lou and James are always keeping the carcass top of mind.

“We’re trying to get a very highly productive cow,” she says. “One that will have calves that’ll work downstream for some of the CAB steaks later on.”

While the genetics and performance indexes are finely tuned in a detailed spreadsheet, management in nutrition is just as intentional.

Growing heifers, James says they try to get them to their mature weight as soon as possible. Why risk it when they can get her growing stages behind her before the calf ever hits the ground?

That nutrition is all in the grass and how they manage it.

Hundreds of species are out here, says James. “Predominately Sideoats, Blue and Hairy gramas. Silver and Ironmaster Bluestem. A lot of Buffalograss. A lot of Dropseed, some White Tridens, and we’ve come back in and planted a lot of what would have been the original prairie grasses like Big Bluestem, Indiangrass, and Switchgrass.”

Like a carefully maintained lawn, regular and rotational grazing improves the grass. Growth above reflects growth below.

“To maintain grasses in a fragile environment, you’ve got to be able to let them grow plenty of roots,” says James. “If we are grazing those grasses, then they regrow and refresh and redo. If you don’t ever graze the grasses, they become stale and basically worthless from a nutritional standpoint.”

Biodiverse grasses are essential as they mature at different times of the year, so the nutrient value varies. If a monolithic culture is all there is, James says it’s all really good or all not good.

This year their cows weaned 61.4% of their body weight and averaged a body condition of 6 to 6.5. A big deal in the Panhandle, says Mary Lou.

And with more grass and better grazing comes more cattle. They can run a cow to 30 acres like they set out to do. B3R was purchased at 3,500 acres and began with a few hundred yearlings. Now it’s at 16,000 and about 850 head.

“For us, if you don’t have the bottom line, we’re not here,” says Mary Lou. “We’ve got to make it work. Truly, we are sustainable, or we’re not.”

“The grass will tell you when to move,” says Mary Lou. Here, it’s been grazed, and the cattle are ready to move to the next pasture.

Progress for progress

Before there were fences and farms in the Panhandle, stirrup high grasses owned this land. With time, they have dwindled to near extinction. And with time again, they’re resurrecting.

Nothing is a one-year thought process, says Mary Lou. Just like building a fence, she asks herself whether their decisions will last the next 50 years. What will this place look like for the next chapter of ranchers? Will the land work for them as it has for Minnie Lou, Mary Lou, and James?

“It’s taken 60 years to figure this all out, but we are about to get those grasses back that stirrup height.” Minnie Lou smiles. “It quite grabs my heart when I walk into those pastures and remember what they were and what they are today.”

Originally published in the Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin.

Targeting Excellence

Yon Family Farms recognized for contributions to Certified Angus Beef supply. 

Story and Photos by Jessica Wharton and Nicole Erceg

October 2021

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The setting sun paints the southern sky in pinks and blues; wisps of cotton candy clouds stretch for miles. He strolls through the vibrant, green grass, softly whispering to his cows, one of which nudges his hand for a scratch on the head. He obliges with a gentle pat, then continues walking. A smile on his face, he pauses to gaze at the beauty of the evening. He often calls his farm a work of art— tonight, it’s easy to see why.

First-generation seedstock producers Kevin and Lydia Yon, along with their children, Drake, Sally, and Corbin, have been continuously improving their farm since they drove the first fence posts on what was a 100-acre abandoned peach orchard in 1996. 

Today the tagalong toddlers on that first fencing project are full-grown farmers with families of their own. A herd of nearly 1,500 Angus cattle graze their lush green pastures on the coastal plains outside of Ridge Spring, S.C.

Establishing a world-class seedstock operation in the Southeast didn’t happen overnight, and the family humbly insists they’re no different than many others. Indeed, their vision, use of technologies, and dedication to deliberate improvement make them unique.

The pursuit of quality in every detail of their operation earned the Yon family the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) 2021 Seedstock Commitment to Excellence award.

Success to the Yons is more than selling quality seedstock. It’s a pursuit of developing better grass, cattle, and people that add value for their customers, community, and consumers.

Their focus on excellence begins with what the cattle are standing on. 

“Grass is our crop, and fortunately, we get to use Angus cattle to harvest it into a very tasty and wholesome product,” says Kevin.

Their mindset is a seemingly simple equation: good grass + good cattle = great beef. Their goal? To have grazable land every month of the year, including winter when perennial grasses usually fade brown with seasonal dormancy.

“We love the cattle, but we love the grass too,” says Kevin. “And put simply: cows were made to eat grass.”

Few cattlemen talk with the same passion about bull selection and Bermudagrass. Kevin Yon is that rare breed.

The Bottom Line

Early adopters of technology, they learned to leverage data. From utilizing artificial insemination and embryo transfer to embracing carcass expected progeny differences (EPDs) and value-based marketing before they were the norm, the family harnesses the power of information for strategic decision making.

“We’re a family-owned seedstock operation that lives and works with the cattle,” explains Kevin. “If we always make decisions about breeding better cattle, well then, we will breed better cattle. We have a long-term vision of always moving the cattle in a positive direction while keeping an eye on important economic traits.”

Next to many bulls in the Yon sale book sits a small logo that holds significance for a rancher’s bottom line. The CAB Targeting the Brand™ logo signals genetic value and potential, telling buyers which sires’ progeny are most likely to qualify for the brand.

“We target, and our customers target the Certified Angus Beef ® brand,” says Drake. “Number one, they’re going to get paid more for a calf that qualifies, but they also feel a real sense of pride when their calves do meet the brand’s standards. Not only are they getting paid more, but they get to see the fruits of their labor and investment; that probably excites our customers as much as anything.”

The logo highlights registered Angus bulls with a minimum marbling EPD of +0.65 and an Angus Grid Value Index of +55 or higher. In the last four years, Yons raised more than 600 sires that meet these standards. That’s 72% of the more than 450 Angus bulls they market through their production sales annually.

“We target the Certified Angus Beef ® brand because to us, it’s the mark of excellence. It’s the mark of quality,” Kevin says. “It’s the best of the best. And we don’t want to just be good. We don’t want our customers just to be average. We want to strive for excellence in all we do.”

The Cattle That Customers Want

Kevin does mean all.

“Although we put a lot of emphasis on marbling and ribeye and carcass traits, we can never take the eye off that mama cow. Or lose focus on the basic traits that will help cattle to thrive in their environment,” Kevin says. “And that’s the good thing— Angus cattle can do it all.”

To serve their southeastern customer base, they focus on developing cattle that thrive in a grass-based, humid, long growing season.

“We also like having the data and the genetic predictions behind that bull so we can confidently to a customer that needs a calving ease bull, or a bull that will increase weaning rates, or yearling weights or one that will increase marbling in his herd,” says Kevin.

They strive to be a one-stop-shop for maternal, carcass, and easy to manage cattle. They also market 250 females through an on-farm sale each year, but not before the cows prove their value.

“With our registered females, we give them time to make cows and measure longevity,” Kevin says. “It’s not about breeding for the next sale; it’s about a long-term breeding philosophy. We really care about making the cattle better.”

Invested in customers’ success, if the Yon’s can help a commercial customer, they share, whether it’s better cattle, building relationships, or further learning. 

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Building Together

Family. Commitment. Value. It’s more than a catchy saying or after-thought marketing slogan. It’s the Yon way of doing business.

They built the farm as a family, and what began as Kevin and Lydia’s hopeful vision, each child now embraces as their own.

“We grew up with the farm,” Drake says. “I feel connected to every piece of it because I’ve been here to see it grow and get better, and I got to watch my parents and build it together. I know my brother and sister feel the same way.”

Once the young helpers, the second generation now have small voices from the car seat asking to go “check cows.”

“Angus cattle have taught my children about life,” Lydia says. “They have taught my children that even the best cow that has the best genetics can have a calf that’s not very good. They have seen cattle have illnesses that they don’t get over. They’ve seen lots of newborn calves running across a pasture. They’ve seen our customers come and go buying bulls. They’ve seen that how you treat people matters.”

Committed to creating something worthwhile together, sharing values and value with others is their shared pursuit.

“It’s not always a great way to make a living, but it is truly a great way to live,” Kevin says. “We feel like this is what we were put here to do. To raise high-quality beef, raise cattle, raise grass, raise children, and raise grandchildren.”

And to do all with excellence.

Originally published in the Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin.

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