
Kansas to host Pre-Convention National Angus Tour
The Kansas Angus Association will host the pre–convention tour with the 2015 National Angus Convention & Trade Show in Overland Park, Kansas. The tour will be on Monday November 2.
The Kansas Tour will include stops at Mill Brae Ranch, Maple Hill ; May-Way Farms, Baldwin City; and Chair Rock Ranch, Greeley. For more information on the National Angus Convention & Trade Show visit www.angus.org and look for the Angus Convention\ link. Registration for the tour is required please register when registering for the National Angus Convention and Trade Show; registration includes bus transportation, lunch and refreshments.
Mill Brae Ranch in the beautiful and historic Kansas Flinthills will start the tour off with "camp fire coffee" a ranch tour and guest cattle displays by Mill Creek Ranch, Alcove Cattle Co, Cline Cattle Co, Kansas State University and Sunflower Genetics.
Stop two at May Way Farms will feature lunch and welcome guest cattle displays by New Haven Angus, Bar S Ranch, Grady Dickerson and April Valley Farms.
( please scroll down for information on guest display farms/ ranches)
The final stop of the day will be Chair Rock and the viewing of their AI facility which makes their 100% AI program a success.
"Follow us to Kansas" by Carrie Heitman July 2015 Angus Journal.
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Photos of Tour Stops
Guest Cattle Displays
Mil Brae Ranch
Alcove Cattle Co. is located in northern Flint Hills at Blue Rapids, KS. The Duensing family started their registered Angus herd in 1991 with five Angus heifers and today they have approximately 50 spring calving cows. . Alcove's goal is to produce bulls with moderate birth weights, accelerated growth traits and acceptable carcass traits. An aggressive AI program is used to capture new and popular bulls that meet our needs. They have also instituted an embryo program with the help of Cross Country Genetics. "We strive to maintain a cow herd with fleshing ability, problem free udders and fertility. Emphasis is also put on cattle with good dispositions. We spend time with our cattle and feed them range cubes to get them used to people walking around them and to maintain good dispositions. " Alcove Cattle Co will have a bull sale in Blue Rapids on March 19, 2016.
Cline Cattle Co., Onaga
Cline Cattle Company was founded in 1997 by brothers Lance and Austin Cline of Onaga, KS when they were in High School as a 4-H project. Their passion for the business grew rapidly and today they run approximately 125 head of registered Angus females on their operation. Cline Cattle Company has purchased females from the breeds most respected and proven cow families and have used AI and ET extensively to accelerate their program to where it is today. The herd is founded upon Emulation 5522, AAR New Trend and Leachman Right Time genetics. Current herd sires are Barretts Iron Mike 0966, Nevermore 8138, and Barrett 3332 017 FA. They believe in breeding for balanced functional traits placing a strong emphasis on feet and udder quality and longevity of the cowherd. Lance and his wife Lynette reside near Onaga, KS while Austin and wife Shenan are located near Frankfort, KS. They hold bull sales in fall and spring and females, embryos, and semen are always available private treaty at the ranch. Visitors are always welcome.
Kansas State University, Manhattan Purebred Beef Teaching Unit annually runs nearly three hundred breeding-age purebred Angus, Hereford, and Simmental cows on 4,000 acres of native bluestem grass. Our mission is to provide undergraduate students with practical experience in breeding, feeding, management and marketing of purebred seedstock as well as give livestock selection and general animal science courses the opportunity to evaluate quality cattle.
Each year literally hundreds of students utilize cattle raised at this unit. The herd also provides an opportunity to demonstrate breeding programs for genetic improvement of seedstock, using tools like performance testing, artificial insemination, embryo transfer and ultrasound carcass evaluation. Applied research trials are conducted using cattle produced in this herd, such as cloning technology, synchronized artificial insemination, feed additive research, residual feed intake, and DNA marker research.
Cattle are also employed for teaching purposes in classes such as Livestock Sales Management, Pregnancy Diagnosis, Bovine Calving, and used for competition in the annual Little American Royal. A portion of the cattle that are produced in this herd are merchandized in the annual Legacy Bull and Female Sale held the first Friday in March. This sale is unique to the nation because it is engineered entirely by students to give them hands-on, practical experience in purebred cattle marketing.
Mill Creek Ranch is located near Alma in the northern flint hills of Kansas and is owned by the Dave and Diane Breiner Family. The Angus cowherd originated as Hillsdale Angus Farm in 1946 by Dave's parents Vic and Sally Breiner of Norton, Kansas. The herd was moved to Mill Creek Ranch in the mid-90's. The original family lines included Eileenmere, Sunbeam, and Emulous. Today we use AI and ET extensively in our breeding program to produce moderate birth weight, high performance breeding stock with added carcass value to meet the needs of our customers - both registered and commercial. AI Sires in our breeding program today include: MCR Horizon 081, MCR Security 293, Prophet, All In, Southside, Tour of Duty, Daybreak, Hoover Dam, and Confidence.
Sunflower Genetics, LLC is owned by Steve & Mary Gleason and family. Located at Maple Hill Kansas, Sunflower Genetics is home to over 350 registered cows consisting of Angus, SimAngus and Simmental females. For over 35 years Sunflower has produced commercially oriented bulls for profit driven customers. Annual production sale is held the third Friday in March. "Perfect Blend of Genetics, Designed for Profits" as our motto, emphasizes our commitment to producing genetics bred to complement each breed for maximizing heterosis. Angus cattle are bred to add calving ease, maternal and marbling to the crossbreeding mix.
May Way Farms
April Valley Farms is a diversified livestock and farming operation located in Leavenworth County in the northeast corner of Kansas. The main family farmstead was purchased by Edmund and Alice Theis in April of 1956 and is located in the Salt Creek Valley area of Leavenworth County. The month of purchase and location in the Salt Creek Valley prompted the farm name—April Valley Farms.
The current operation consists of 300 registered Angus cows, a swine farrow to finish operation and 2500 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat. Two generations are still actively involved in the operation. Along with Edmund and Alice, three sons, Mark, Larry and Jerry are involved in the management and daily operations.
Angus cattle have been part of the operation since the beginning, when Edmund brought with him a small cowherd he had acquired through years of 4-H projects. Currently approximately 100 cows are calved in the fall and the remaining 200 are calved mostly in January and February. Both AI and embryo transfer are used intensively. Cows are summered on brome and fescue pastures and wintered on cornstalks or other crop residues. Cattle are marketed through an annual production sale held the third Sunday of March as well as by private treaty. The focus is to provide high quality commercial bulls that meet the demands of our commercial customers. Sound, functional, performance oriented cattle with eye appeal are required to meet these demands. Cattle are exhibited at many livestock shows at the state and national level and the third generation has been very active in the National Junior Angus Program.
Bar S Ranch- Ken Stielow family
& Grady Dickerson
Frank Stielow registered the Bar S brand in 1946. Ken was born and raised on his family's ranch near Paradise, KS only a few miles from where George Grant brought the first Angus cattle to the U.S. In 1975 Ken and his wife Pat returned to Bar S Ranch where they raised their son Chris and daughter Stephanie, both are currently involved in the ranch. Daughter Stephanie and husband David Dickerson are active in the management of the ranch. Their 3 sons Grady, Ethan and Jayce are active in the Kansas and National Junior Angus Association. Bar S Ranch Inc. is currently comprised of approximately 12,000 acres, 800 cows, small feedlot, and a farming operation, selling approximately 200 bulls per year. All raised calves not sold as seedstock are fed and sold through Innovative Livestock Services, a multi-feedlot feeding company where Ken is a minority owner. Bar S Ranch received one of the first CAB commitment to Excellence Awards in 1992. Bar S Ranch, in the 1980's, was among the first to collect large amounts of actual carcass data that provided the foundation for AAA carcass EPD's. The late John Brethour(known as one of the founding fathers of beef carcass ultra-sound) did some of his early work on beef breeding stock ultra-sound at Bar S Ranch. Technologies such as ultra-sound, A.I., estrus synchronization, E.T., DNA testing and cloning are all used extensively along with continuously analyzing data.
New Haven Angus was established in 1954, when Bill New purchased his first Angus heifer as a 4-H project. We are a family owned operation by Brandon and Jennifer New, Damon New and Bill and Loris New. Brandon has taken over the day to day management upon his graduation from Kansas State University in 2003. The herd consists of 225 registered cows with both spring and fall calving herds. We focus on the mother cow at New Haven Angus. We have 60 years of selective breeding for fertility, structural soundness and consistently bringing in big heavy calves at weaning. We are very strict on the cows that we use in the ET program and only the best of the best WORK their way into the donor pen. We have an annual bull sale the 4th Saturday of March.
Mil Brae Ranch
Alcove Cattle Co. is located in northern Flint Hills at Blue Rapids, KS. The Duensing family started their registered Angus herd in 1991 with five Angus heifers and today they have approximately 50 spring calving cows. . Alcove's goal is to produce bulls with moderate birth weights, accelerated growth traits and acceptable carcass traits. An aggressive AI program is used to capture new and popular bulls that meet our needs. They have also instituted an embryo program with the help of Cross Country Genetics. "We strive to maintain a cow herd with fleshing ability, problem free udders and fertility. Emphasis is also put on cattle with good dispositions. We spend time with our cattle and feed them range cubes to get them used to people walking around them and to maintain good dispositions. " Alcove Cattle Co will have a bull sale in Blue Rapids on March 19, 2016.
Cline Cattle Co., Onaga
Cline Cattle Company was founded in 1997 by brothers Lance and Austin Cline of Onaga, KS when they were in High School as a 4-H project. Their passion for the business grew rapidly and today they run approximately 125 head of registered Angus females on their operation. Cline Cattle Company has purchased females from the breeds most respected and proven cow families and have used AI and ET extensively to accelerate their program to where it is today. The herd is founded upon Emulation 5522, AAR New Trend and Leachman Right Time genetics. Current herd sires are Barretts Iron Mike 0966, Nevermore 8138, and Barrett 3332 017 FA. They believe in breeding for balanced functional traits placing a strong emphasis on feet and udder quality and longevity of the cowherd. Lance and his wife Lynette reside near Onaga, KS while Austin and wife Shenan are located near Frankfort, KS. They hold bull sales in fall and spring and females, embryos, and semen are always available private treaty at the ranch. Visitors are always welcome.
Kansas State University, Manhattan Purebred Beef Teaching Unit annually runs nearly three hundred breeding-age purebred Angus, Hereford, and Simmental cows on 4,000 acres of native bluestem grass. Our mission is to provide undergraduate students with practical experience in breeding, feeding, management and marketing of purebred seedstock as well as give livestock selection and general animal science courses the opportunity to evaluate quality cattle.
Each year literally hundreds of students utilize cattle raised at this unit. The herd also provides an opportunity to demonstrate breeding programs for genetic improvement of seedstock, using tools like performance testing, artificial insemination, embryo transfer and ultrasound carcass evaluation. Applied research trials are conducted using cattle produced in this herd, such as cloning technology, synchronized artificial insemination, feed additive research, residual feed intake, and DNA marker research.
Cattle are also employed for teaching purposes in classes such as Livestock Sales Management, Pregnancy Diagnosis, Bovine Calving, and used for competition in the annual Little American Royal. A portion of the cattle that are produced in this herd are merchandized in the annual Legacy Bull and Female Sale held the first Friday in March. This sale is unique to the nation because it is engineered entirely by students to give them hands-on, practical experience in purebred cattle marketing.
Mill Creek Ranch is located near Alma in the northern flint hills of Kansas and is owned by the Dave and Diane Breiner Family. The Angus cowherd originated as Hillsdale Angus Farm in 1946 by Dave's parents Vic and Sally Breiner of Norton, Kansas. The herd was moved to Mill Creek Ranch in the mid-90's. The original family lines included Eileenmere, Sunbeam, and Emulous. Today we use AI and ET extensively in our breeding program to produce moderate birth weight, high performance breeding stock with added carcass value to meet the needs of our customers - both registered and commercial. AI Sires in our breeding program today include: MCR Horizon 081, MCR Security 293, Prophet, All In, Southside, Tour of Duty, Daybreak, Hoover Dam, and Confidence.
Sunflower Genetics, LLC is owned by Steve & Mary Gleason and family. Located at Maple Hill Kansas, Sunflower Genetics is home to over 350 registered cows consisting of Angus, SimAngus and Simmental females. For over 35 years Sunflower has produced commercially oriented bulls for profit driven customers. Annual production sale is held the third Friday in March. "Perfect Blend of Genetics, Designed for Profits" as our motto, emphasizes our commitment to producing genetics bred to complement each breed for maximizing heterosis. Angus cattle are bred to add calving ease, maternal and marbling to the crossbreeding mix.
May Way Farms
April Valley Farms is a diversified livestock and farming operation located in Leavenworth County in the northeast corner of Kansas. The main family farmstead was purchased by Edmund and Alice Theis in April of 1956 and is located in the Salt Creek Valley area of Leavenworth County. The month of purchase and location in the Salt Creek Valley prompted the farm name—April Valley Farms.
The current operation consists of 300 registered Angus cows, a swine farrow to finish operation and 2500 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat. Two generations are still actively involved in the operation. Along with Edmund and Alice, three sons, Mark, Larry and Jerry are involved in the management and daily operations.
Angus cattle have been part of the operation since the beginning, when Edmund brought with him a small cowherd he had acquired through years of 4-H projects. Currently approximately 100 cows are calved in the fall and the remaining 200 are calved mostly in January and February. Both AI and embryo transfer are used intensively. Cows are summered on brome and fescue pastures and wintered on cornstalks or other crop residues. Cattle are marketed through an annual production sale held the third Sunday of March as well as by private treaty. The focus is to provide high quality commercial bulls that meet the demands of our commercial customers. Sound, functional, performance oriented cattle with eye appeal are required to meet these demands. Cattle are exhibited at many livestock shows at the state and national level and the third generation has been very active in the National Junior Angus Program.
Bar S Ranch- Ken Stielow family
& Grady Dickerson
Frank Stielow registered the Bar S brand in 1946. Ken was born and raised on his family's ranch near Paradise, KS only a few miles from where George Grant brought the first Angus cattle to the U.S. In 1975 Ken and his wife Pat returned to Bar S Ranch where they raised their son Chris and daughter Stephanie, both are currently involved in the ranch. Daughter Stephanie and husband David Dickerson are active in the management of the ranch. Their 3 sons Grady, Ethan and Jayce are active in the Kansas and National Junior Angus Association. Bar S Ranch Inc. is currently comprised of approximately 12,000 acres, 800 cows, small feedlot, and a farming operation, selling approximately 200 bulls per year. All raised calves not sold as seedstock are fed and sold through Innovative Livestock Services, a multi-feedlot feeding company where Ken is a minority owner. Bar S Ranch received one of the first CAB commitment to Excellence Awards in 1992. Bar S Ranch, in the 1980's, was among the first to collect large amounts of actual carcass data that provided the foundation for AAA carcass EPD's. The late John Brethour(known as one of the founding fathers of beef carcass ultra-sound) did some of his early work on beef breeding stock ultra-sound at Bar S Ranch. Technologies such as ultra-sound, A.I., estrus synchronization, E.T., DNA testing and cloning are all used extensively along with continuously analyzing data.
New Haven Angus was established in 1954, when Bill New purchased his first Angus heifer as a 4-H project. We are a family owned operation by Brandon and Jennifer New, Damon New and Bill and Loris New. Brandon has taken over the day to day management upon his graduation from Kansas State University in 2003. The herd consists of 225 registered cows with both spring and fall calving herds. We focus on the mother cow at New Haven Angus. We have 60 years of selective breeding for fertility, structural soundness and consistently bringing in big heavy calves at weaning. We are very strict on the cows that we use in the ET program and only the best of the best WORK their way into the donor pen. We have an annual bull sale the 4th Saturday of March.