Our story begins with a question…

What kind of beef are we raising?

We believe there are two sides to the beef industry: the animal side and the food side. We know how our cattle perform on our ranch; we’ve been working for generations to raise animals who are good mothers and do well out on the range, but we wondered how our beef graded and what its value was “on the rail.” Every bovine on our place and yours is headed to the dinner table. We wanted to know if our beef was ending up at high-end restaurants. So, in 2011, we decided to test a small group of steers to get carcass data on a cross section of our cow herd.

The results? We were raising very average beef.

It was a hard pill to swallow. We had generations of Angus genetics, yet we didn’t even make Certified Angus Beef (High Choice). Our calves graded Low Choice, and while looking at the closeout sheet we saw that we were leaving money on the table and our smaller rib size was causing deductions as well.

Time for a change.

We realized we had to change the way we were thinking about the sires we use. We decided to expand our focus to include traits that make the highest quality beef. We knew that with diligent breeding practices we could build a cow herd that had profitability at the heart of the program. In 2012 we started an A.I. program using proven, older sires that were improvers of end-product merit, while still making some outstanding cows. Every year since we have used bulls with similar EPDs; stacking the genetics to get “our kind of cattle”.

The results?

Our quality improved from low Choice to meeting CAB (High Choice) in the first and second generation, and Prime followed in the third. Our cows became calmer and more enjoyable to be around, while our end-product quality reached new highs. In just a few years we saw some amazing improvement, and then came our next question:

Can we make our program even better by raising our own bulls?

In 2017 we joined the American Angus Association and purchased our first registered females to start raising our own registered bulls. We chose bulls based on the same philosophy as before. We tested those calves as well, and with no surprise they did just as well as our A.I. sired calves.

We keep breeding our cattle with the same dedication we had from the start.  We raise cattle for both sides of the industry. First, we have quality cattle that do very well on range and pasture with good-mothering instincts and calm temperaments. Second, our cattle have the ability to go into a feedlot and convert feed. On the rail they grade and yield high to capture the most profit. We were so pleased with the results, we wanted to share our genetics, our story, and our program.

UAR Breeding Philosophy

It’s simple, we add value every chance we get.

First, every sire we select is in an effort to make a better female. Selecting genetics for docility is a high priority for us. With three generations working around our ranch, we can’t risk any injuries due to bad temperaments in our cattle. We also select for moderate-sized females, good milking traits, quality udders, and an easy fleshing female with strong maternal instincts.
Second, we keep in mind that sooner or later every animal on our ranch ends up on someone’s dinner table. We want that beef to be Prime, if not CAB High Choice. We use sires that demonstrate marbling and extra rib that will catch premiums when those animals hang on the rail, while our bigger ribeyes help us avoid discounts at the plant.

We only use A.I. sires that are older and already proven, who have daughters in production and harvest data from their sons. We believe using these bulls is the best way to make genetic progress in our cow herd. The next best thing to these proven A.I. sires is sons of proven A.I. sires. We think other cattlemen are looking for the same things we were, so we decided to offer UAR bulls in our first annual production sale at Faith Livestock, South Dakota in 2024.

There are enough risks in the cattle industry today; one thing we don’t gamble on is our cow herd’s genetics.