Broadus, MT - Mixed Calves

Montana tradition has a flavor.. one of great beef... great land... and in this case, one of a great family. The Samuelson Ranch in Southeast Montana has embodied this tradition as a real cow family spanning four generations of animal husbandry and sustainable land steward practices. Today, The five families that are connected with the two brands of the Samuelson Ranch work extremely hard in finding ways to produce the best beef in a challenging landscape where success comes from problem solving hurdles such as improving genetics, overcoming drought, and facing markets that are volatile. It is in these times that the Samuelson family always attempts to do right by the cattle, the land, and the customer. The Samuelson's use centuries old ranching techniques combined with the new technologies of today. This value added approach gives customers a real world taste of Montana cattle ranching in regards to not forgetting where we came from, but by also looking ahead with profit margins that apply. The Samuelson's are proud of what the ranch produces as goal setting is placed with the end in mind. Here in Southeast Montana, and specifically the Samuelson Ranch, all arrows are aimed to serve the greater good by helping provide high quality beef to the food chain... and in regards to this Montana tradition and flavor.. nothing matters more!

The cattle are angus based and have been for decades. The cows are mostly black with a few reds intermixed. The cow families found on the ranch have been developed by an angus backed genetic effort to produce a cow that will wean a heavy calf on marginal feed while retaining a body composition score of five or higher in tough environments. The cows at the ranch are foragers and will compete well enough to positively produce off-spring that are evaluated by five basic measures. These criteria include weight per day of age, soundness, volume, muscle pattern, and maternal balance. In past years, the ranch has started using SimAngus bulls on their angus based cows. This genetic decision has greatly increased the value of these five measures for both the feeder and the packer. With the help of SixStones Cattle Company, bulls are chosen annually that will enhance the goals of the ranch using the same five values. New industry standards of increasing the yield grade of hanging beef is a priority for American finished beef. Quite frankly, the SimAngus genetic profile improves this greatly over a straight English bred calf while still grading exceptional within the choice and prime ratings. More pounds of high graded meat in a package per animal means more money for those that purchase the Samuelson calves each year. This combined with the high quality replacement heifers that can produce these five standards being made available for purchase to other producers is why the SimAngus calves are of highest demand in the industry today.

We started using SixStones Cattle Company's SimAngus bulls out of Oregon the past two years. Their program focuses on five major characteristics that meet our production goals. These criteria include weight per day of age, soundness, volume, muscle pattern, and maternal balance. The SixStones SimAngus bulls crossed on angus based cows really improve the quality of calf we have had in the past. This genetic decision has greatly increased the value of these five measures for both the feeder and the packer. With the help of SixStones Cattle Company, bulls are chosen annually that will enhance the goals of the ranch using the same five values. New industry standards of increasing the yield grade of hanging beef is a priority for American finished beef. Quite frankly, the SixStones SimAngus genetic profile improves this greatly over a straight English bred calf while still grading exceptional within the choice and prime ratings. More pounds of high graded meat in a package per animal means more money for those that purchase the Samuelson calves each year. This combined with the high quality replacement heifers that can produce these five standards being made available for purchase to other producers is why the SixStones sired SimAngus calves are of highest demand in the industry today.

The Samuelson's pride themselves in the hard work that awaits them every day as land and animal managers. Many times, farming and ranching has been painted as a unique and antiquated lifestyle that now has become the center of Hollywood as a glorified big screen drama. Regardless of the stories told, in reality, the labor and toil of agriculture in Southeast Montana isolates most from the norm. In the case of the Samuelson family and the future of this incredible ranch-  it demands a lifestyle and people who are willing to be mindful of the traditions of Montana living while working extremely hard to improve upon its flavor.  

The past several years has been extremely dry and our weaning weights have been in the light 500lb range. This being said, we have better moisture this year and we are hoping to increase our weaning weights by 35-50lbs this year- by all accounts at this point, it looks like our calves are going to make that goal.