In July 2011 I set out on my usual trip to the US to assess the bulls we use and their progeny and keep an eye out for any new prospects.  The trip was extremely quick this year and because of that we put in some long days.  But it was all worth it and once again the cattle I saw cemented my confidence in the bulls we provide.

On Monday 25th July I visited Schaff Angus Valley.  Their bull sale is the most productive and successful bull sale in North America.  Schaff Angus Valley have multiple AI sires in their line up.  After lunch with the Schaffs, I headed back to see SAV Heartbeat.  I inspected Heartbeat, his sire and dam all in close proximity.  Heartbeat is highly docile, good-footed and has a massive growth spread.

Monday 25th July found me at Ellingson Angus, North Dakota.  This year was their second stand-alone bull sale with an $80,000 half brother to Identity sold.  Ellingson Angus is the home of Schaff Net Income and Ellingson Identity.  The Identity calves there displayed tremendous growth and length of body. 

The following day (26th July) I was in Isabel, South Dakota, at Lindskov-Thiel Ranch (LT), home of LT Bridger.  LT Bridger was the most heavily used AI sire in LT's breeding program for the last two years.  His calves were the stand-out calves in the 2011 calf crop.

On Tuesday 26th, I was back at Ellingson Angus to view more Identity and Net Income heifers.  We went to see Net Income himself and he is still one of the most awesome, physically imposing bulls I have seen anywhere.

The next port of call (28th July) was Mohnen Angus, White Lake, South Dakota, home of the great Mohnen Dynamite and multiple other AI sires.  Some of the progeny inspected included Hearbeat calves; they displayed plenty of early power and shape.  The Sturgis calves inspected, displayed great body capacity, rib and growth. The  Long Distance calves looked good; clean-headed and clean-fronted at an early age.

Friday 29th July was a day spent at Whitestone Krebbs, Nebraska and Western Sire Services.  Whitestone is also home to multiple AI sires.  I inspected the impressive cow herd and heifer lines. While at Western Sire Servies I inspected (among others) our new bull, AAR Sturgis.  He has great depth of body, he is extremely clean-fronted and a calving ease sire.

That afternoon the crazy pace was maintained and the next stop was Ken Haas Angus, La Grande Wyoming.  Haas GPS was inspected and demonstrated that he is a good-footed, good-hipped, thickly made bull.  I also had the pleasure of inspecting the cow herd and GPS progeny.

All in all, the cattle inspected on my short trip were tremendous and the incorporation of the quality genetics seen would be a benefit to any herd.

Dale Edwards