Angus Journal

01/14/2025

One of the most important aspects of cattle health management is sanitation. The primary roles of sanitation to limit diseases spread by contact with manure; reduce fly populations; diminish exposure to mice, rats and other rodents; eliminate injection site lesions and contaminated wounds; and reduce the spread of blood-borne disease agents are well-established but often under appreciated.

Learn more from the : https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2025/01/vet-call

01/08/2025

When he was hired in April 1991, Bruce Buntin was working evenings, laying out ads. Looking back, Buntin’s thankful Cheryl Oxley brought him on. He’d been laid off from another job, and the opportunity to work at Angus Media was priceless.

“I was looking out to feed my family, and she gave me an opportunity to make some money,” Buntin explains.

As the years progressed, Buntin worked his way up the ladder. From paste up work and laying out co-op ads to computer maintenance work and film processing, his roles grew as the technology did. After 33 years at Angus Media, Buntin retired from the web department last year. Celebrate all that he's done for the Angus family here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/12/winning-the-lottery

01/07/2025

Hustle and bustle. Grit and determination. Balancing act. These two-word combinations describe the lives of three producers who share similar passions beyond raising black-hided cattle. Whether it’s the extra cash flow or following a passion project, these entrepreneurial spirits have found success in managing their own businesses off the ranch while maintaining a strong influence in the cattle industry and Angus family.

In this article, check out how Bodey Langford uses land at Langford Cattle Company for a hunting operation; Colorado junior Jacee Sumpter has grown her small business, Born Pretty Jewelry; and Walter Shealy balances his time between Black Grove Ranch and The Venue, an events center in South Carolina: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/12/profitable-producers

01/02/2025

What's the perfect way to ring in the new year? By recognizing and celebrating the "Good Practices" that serve as guiding lights on your cattle operations.

Look for your January issue of the to learn more. Not a subscriber? Change that for 2025 here: https://www.angusonline.org/Journal/JrnSubscr.aspx

12/30/2024

Proper nutritional development of heifers from weaning to breeding is essential to ensure that a high percentage of heifers become pregnant early in their first breeding season. For spring-calving herds in much of the United States, that time coincides with winter weather and dormant forage. These constraints call for producers to carefully monitor heifer growth and to be ready to adjust rations if necessary to meet target breeding weights.

Read more in this issue of 's Veterinary Call column: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/12/veterinary-call

12/27/2024

Traditions are born of generations of conversations such as that of our mutton-wrangling friends: discussions about meaning, values and beliefs deemed worthy to be codified into customs, legends and shared wisdom. Through time, traditions form a mosaic of celebrations, habits and practices that establish a cadence for a tribe ­— be it families, professions, churches, communities, nations and even boosters of athletic teams.

At their best, traditions weave a common thread through time that advances the group’s cherished heritage. Traditions, unlike fads that live and die on the whims of popularity, have staying power. They are the evidence of deeply held beliefs and convictions offered as stories, celebrations and rituals.

More from the 's Outside the Box column here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/11/the-hats-are-great

12/25/2024

Thankful and blessed this holiday season. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from the team.

12/19/2024

12/18/2024

Wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornados — when natural disasters hit cattle country, it hurts. Lives and livelihoods are changed, sometimes in mere seconds.

Callie Carson of Laurel Springs, N.C., and Steve Herbst, Salmon, Idaho, joined for a bonus edition that focuses on the hope that exists in those spaces.

From everybody saddling up horses to evacuate ahead of a fire to the donations that poured in after Hurricane Helene, no matter the disaster there are similar threads in the response.

Find the episode anywhere you get your podcasts, or click here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/podcast/the-angus-conversation-season-5/e11-carsonherbst

12/17/2024

12/16/2024

Farm work with kids in tow is challenging, but before much time has passed, those small dirty hands and mud pies in the barn have been traded for work gloves and an integral part in the business. The hope is those moments ignite passion in their hearts to carry on the family business and tradition.

The years between only strengthen the desire to keep the family in the ranch, but the conversation of how to do that is no easy feat. Like all hard things, though, it is something worth spending the time to do correctly.

“I truly believe that good estate plans and good succession plans are the greatest gifts you can leave your family,” says Jennifer Friedel of Point Pleasant Angus.

Learn the why and how of succession planning in agricultural businesses today with this article: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/12/transition-traditions-well

12/12/2024

"When I moved to college, I cleaned off a bulletin board to find a Gatorade® wrapper from an eighth-grade basketball game where, according to the back of the wrapper written in black sharpie, we lost 48-12. Why keep that? It must have been a good story, because it certainly was not a good game.

I married a man who is also a keeper, but he doesn’t like stories, he prefers numbers. Boring! Where I generalize, he is precise. When I estimate, he is exact. This keeps our marriage exciting.

The collecting got a bit out of hand at the end of the school year, when the contents of a preschool and a second grade classroom were completely relocated to our home. In an effort to declutter the farmhouse, I was starting in the greatest trouble spot known to mankind: the mudroom.

As I began to untangle the artifacts, remnants of the cattle barn continued to show up.

I found ear tags from a heifer that served us well. A tail switch from a dam whose progeny remains on the back 40. A nose ring from a bull I never actually cared for. I found a cup of embryo straw tops that could tell stories of progress and hope, and used semen straws I’m terrified the children’s friends will think are drinking straws. It was like a much less-organized, less-dusted, mini Hall of Fame.

On clipboards I found weaning weights from 2013 and carcass weights from steers we processed before our kids were born — and I don’t even remember life before kids. There were coffee cans full of needles, cracked buckets that won’t hold water, rubber boots that should not live to see another day and gloves with no index finger. These could be handy if you need to answer the phone in a blizzard, I guess. A stack of barn towels used for calving showed more shreds than a government document.

So why do we keep these things — these artifacts of the good days and the difficult ones; the hot, bright summer days; and dark, long nights in the calving barn?

For the stories we’ll tell our kids. The days we’ll still talk about when they’re bigger and asking questions about why and how we did the things we did.

Maybe we’ll point to a nose ring and connect it to the registration number on a show heifer under the barn. Maybe the ear tags will teach a lesson on selection and decision-making. The boots are an example of … well, probably just being too cheap to buy another pair just yet.

After a long day of working to declutter, I decided to physically count all the “why are we keeping this?” items I’d found within the mud room I was certain we could part with, so the numbers guy could better understand the need to let go.

By dusk we had tossed five mismatched gloves and a solar calculator that no longer worked, even on a 90-degree day.

I don’t think he understood the point of my story."

Lindsay Sankey: Keeper. Collector. Historian. Storyteller. Each to a fault.

And author of the 's Cattle Culture column: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/11/why-are-we-keeping-this

12/11/2024

When Doug and Glenda Schroeder started their Angus operation, he was fixing tires and she was working at Hardee’s. With a five-head purchase and a little faith, Schroeder Angus was born.

“We started from there,” said Doug Schroeder on a recent episode of . “We had an opportunity up from where I was from to rent a farm, and that’s what we did.”

Charlie Boyd, Mays Lick, Ky., joined Schroeder on the podcast, where the cattlemen covered everything from unpopular decisions during their time on the Board of Directors to their breeding programs and the future of the business. Generational transfer was one of those topics. Find the episode anywhere you get your podcasts or click here: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/podcast/the-angus-conversation-season-5/e10-schroederboyd

12/10/2024

Connealy Craftsman owned by Select Sires Inc., Plain City, Ohio, and STgenetics, Navasota, Texas, sired 4,014 calves registered into the Angus herd book, the most in fiscal year 2024.

Learn more about this year's top sire in this article: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/11/connealy-craftsman-named-top-sire

12/09/2024

Through five generations of Peterseks, there’s always been a steady passion for the beef industry. When RJ and Reed individually decided to come back home to RAVEN ANGUS, reproductive technologies opened doors to increase the herd.

“We wanted to take full grasp of the good genetics we had,” Reed says. “We leaned on cow families pretty hard, and we got a chance to put embryos in with some good commercial operators that helped us grow our numbers. Then it’s just kind of a snowball deal.”

Learn how generational knowledge and passion has helped this operation grow through the years: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/12/south-dakota-snowballs

12/04/2024

Family-run businesses that last 100 or more years often leave a legacy, and when an Angus herd lasts that long the breed comes together to celebrate the accomplishment. At the 2024 Angus Convention in Fort Worth, Texas the American Angus Association honored Sitz Angus Ranch of Dillon and Harrison, Mont., with the Century Award for their 100-plus years as a registered Angus herd.

“Being able to say we’ve been in the Angus business for over 100 years — that’s a feat itself,” says Jim Sitz of Sitz Angus. Learn more about the operation from the : https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/11/sitz-angus-recognized-for-100-year-angus-legacy

12/03/2024

Known as a humble, quiet man, Cody Quam, Lodi, Wis., is not afraid to generously share his knowledge of the cattle industry.

“I’ve made it a point to try and help anybody that will take the time and ask and are willing to put the work in,” says Quam when asked to reflect on why he was selected as the second annual Young Breeder of the Year award. “I’ll share what we’ve done right and what we’ve done wrong to try and help people that are just getting started to maybe get there a little faster.”

Quam and his family have spent more than 80 years gathering while building the reputation of Marda Angus Farm. Learn more about the award winner's Angus story in this article: https://www.angus.org/angus-media/angus-journal/2024/11/wisconsin-cattleman-awarded-young-breeder-of-the-year-by-the-american-angus-association