The Tradition
We have been raising cattle for more than 20 years, continuing an unbroken tradition from my father and older brother, who each operated this farm before us. We have a closed herd: all of our cows have either come from heifers born on our place or from my sister and brother-in-law’s farm in Northwest Iowa, which is also the source of our breeding bulls. Angus breeding is the foundation for our development program, which is aimed at producing carcass traits that please our beef customers.
Although we sell some of our cattle through commercial outlets, we are working toward marketing more of our cattle directly to consumers who honor and value the commitments we have to raising a sustainable, high-quality product. We choose not to use artificial growth hormones and we do not feed antibiotics or other additives that change the natural digestive patterns of our cattle. Instead, we want the cattle to be what they are – ruminating and happy — with a high-roughage diet throughout their lives. It costs more to raise them in this way, but we think it is responsible and that it makes a difference.