Our Philosophy

It’s a word that’s getting tossed around a lot lately. The thing is, we’ve been breeding them that way for decades. What’s it mean in our world? Easy to handle. Maintains condition. Structurally correct. And that lays down, calves without difficulty, and gets up and intently mothers that calf. It’s our algorithm, if you will, for return-on-investment functionality.

We’re not telling you to forget lbs. But there’s so much more to selection than this number. We believe in calvability: the right structure, the right breeding and the right management. Obviously, some bulls are better targeted for heifers. Utilizing Calving Ease Direct (CED), a better measure of birthability emerges through its use of structure in combination with BW.

There’s no doubt they have their place as a tool in the toolbox, as an aide in animal selection. But for some time, we’ve been seeing a disconnect between actuals and EPDs. And it gets us asking, rhetorically, whether the industry is selling functional cattle or is it selling EPDs?

In the sales world, you’re never supposed to say you’re not the best at everything, right? But here’s our no BS realism: we don’t necessarily do ONE thing great, but we do ALL things pretty well, when it comes to our cattle. And we do it with massive doses of common sense, as conscientious breeders. It’s who we are and what we raise, every day.

Our focus is on genetic traits that do the best job of using the resources we have available – our grasslands, our farmable acres, our management. As producers; as seedstock sellers; as customers of nutrition products – our aim is to add value to our resources through the most sustainably efficient as possible, production of beef.

The work doesn’t end with the sun, you know that. Most days it breaks your back. Some days it breaks your heart. The reward? You do it all over again tomorrow. And yet most days, we still think we have the best job in the world. Because if you focus on functional, you’ll end up with animals that work for you, without adding another level of stress, another round of unneeded problems. And the world’s got enough of those. Let’s raise the kind that give you a little ROI, a little pride as you look at ‘em, and are a pleasure to work around.