Schiefelbein Angus Farms | American Rancher

[Music] welcome back to the American Rancher building upon their fathers successful foundation eight brothers operate Schiefelbein farms in Kimball Minnesota an operation that has earned a strong reputation for quality high yielding genetics that earn money for ranchers across the country I had this vision of doing this breeding stock all scientific so then I talked to a neighbor across the lake and he was aroused about and he'd like rough-and-tumble life he'd spent most of his life out in South Dakota working for cattle people and he said I tell you what Frank you get Angus cattle and get the biggest ones you can find and then I had met majored in mathematics and science that's college I knew that if I was gonna have a good product it had to be good every time and it had to be the same size so if I'm gonna start out getting these cattle all the looked the same I gotta buy all my cattle from the same guy and have them all related so I went down to who I thought had the best herd and at the time it was it was a Mel Snider at madelia and so I bought his calf crop two years in a row then I closed the herd and all our cattle but one go back to one cow that they bought them and we've raised purebred Angus since 1955 and we added semi Angus into the herd about fifteen years ago the Simeon gets helped compliment the Angus to produce a feeder calf that will gain quicker and you can get at a larger weight all right genetics are everything for our customers and we really take a lot of pride in having the type of genetics that we think will make a money that is that is our main model as can we make our customers money cheaper buying farms we breed about 1,200 registered females producing about 500 Bulls annually these Bulls get sold the commercial cattlemen and registered cattlemen across the country and those guys by the bowls create feeder cattle and then we help work with them to take those feeder cattle and get the most possible dollars we came for the customer one thing about Minnesota it's a great state to live but it does have every weather climate possible it goes from very hot humid days in the summer to bitterly cold weather in the winter winters here can be as brutal as any with our cold temperatures in the snowfall but we went to our cows right out in the corn stalks and we think that's a really important thing to have in a herd is you know that durability our Bulls get sold in 215 States roughly eat here from the deserts of Arizona to the western mountains of Montana to the Bayou in Louisiana so these cattle have to work from north to south east to west one thing about our program when we started selling bowls from the get-go it was never gonna be a program where we sell you a bowl and see you next year it's a programmer when we sell the bowl we work with our customers throughout the entire year and we've grown really tight with all of our customers so they our customers use me to get marketing advice whether it be on cold cows or coal bowls are on their feeder calf crop what's the best thing to do for them to help their operations Frank is well-known for his influence in the cattle industry that along with this sons college education strategy inspires impressive innovations that help Schiefelbein farms achieve success and one of those innovations benefits the entire American beef industry when the Angus Association first started keeping records I had over 10,000 records already on carcass data before they started so we had to jump up on him and I was big in grading because I had this system where I had been working with IBP and all the big Packers where I was telling them that instead of buying Halle cattle at the same price they should vary the price of coordinated how good they are dad had every brother went to school to do one different area to bring back to the farm and mine was in cattle marketing and I was very fortunate enough to get a job with Montfort I was the first one to come up with the value based grids for Montford of Colorado at a time where they were looking for a buying system that would reward producers or discount producers for the quality of cattle they produced I was very adamant about it because we produced the genetics that were better so for me to come up with a system and to make it work was huge because that fit right into our genetic programs we're creating value from the start to the end and it's a model where everybody wins there's a value for each segment within the industry and when you can do that and pass that up and down the chain the model works for a long period of time I said build the grid and the cattle will come and the high quality cattle came and one Packer saw Montford doing it the other Packers follow suit so then the whole entire beef industry said hey we're now getting rewarded for higher quality products what does beef consumption done since the mid 90s when the value-based grid started beef consumption has gone straight up if you're gonna pay three times the amount for beef versus chicken it'd better be good but if it is good they will come back again and again and again there's no way we can produce it as cheap as pork or poultry so we have to produce a high-quality product as efficient as possible and in order to do that that's where genetic selection comes in because genetically if we select cattle that calves easy grow quick and produce a high-quality product I mean then we can compete with pork and poultry and have the best tasting product out there there's 20 trades for every animal that we look at and that animal has to meet those 20 trades the main ones you want to focus on are cavities and birth weight and then you want your good girl traits but with us with having our buyback program and feeding out our calves we also focus pretty heavy on those carcass traits as far as the heifers go we we try to select a threshold for birth weight epd under a 1.0 and we try to get the dollar B for that threshold above a hundred and twenty and we do this for every trait and we're not going for extremes we're going for moderation for all these traits so we don't lose our particular trait that's important all the animals have been genomically tested and so that way we know the exact parentage for all the animals as well as all their EPDs our genomically enhanced thus that we have as much information as we possibly can get for each of these matings that we're going to do down the line every year when we do our yearling heifers we do a disposition score on them and if they don't hit good disposition they go automatically to our feedlot because each animal goes through a ten by ten pen during the calving season and we have lots of kids and grandkids running around from ages of three and up and we want a good disposition animal not to worry about the safety of the family as well as it's something that genetically is thrown to their offspring and thus our customers have good disposition cattle coming up we know all the way from when we get to genetics all the way to go to the store how it's working I think that's where we have the big advantage over other people that just sell genetics the Schiefelbein farms buyback program is one more innovation that helps their customers make money see how it works when the American Rancher returns stay with us take control of current market conditions on superior live stocks weekly video auction register your lot load cattle by Tuesday sell them on Thursday putting you two days from money with the largest cattle marketing network in North America superior live stocks weekly video auction has over eight thousand active and qualified buyers and they're paying top-dollar jump in the bidding is hot call us or click superior livestock calm to learn more the superior country page is your 24/7 marketplace for buying and selling load locked calves feeders breeding stock and other cattle cattle ranchers like the country page because it's easy to use and they get the jump on current market conditions by putting cattle in front of buyers right now cattle are ready for sale at minutes so buyers can start bidding call or log on today to find out how the superior country page can work for you superior livestock auction now offers a monthly Holstein steer and dairy video auction with the largest number registered and active buyers in the nation superior livestock auction is your source for lightweight dairy influenced calves sellers enjoy proven price discovery that pays top dollar buyers get access to high volume and steady supply and everyone appreciates superiors trusted experience in national livestock marketing go online at superior livestock calm register and to find out more welcome back to the American Rancher good planning hard work and innovation are the benchmarks of success at Schiefelbein farms producing genetics that make money for their customers is the bottom line for the brothers and from breeding decisions to putting cattle on the rail they're able to bring those genetics full circle which gives them profitable insight that benefits everyone the genetics have to work to build a cow herd for that customer there's no getting around that you have to have create the best females possible for those ranchers wherever they may be and then after that the buyback program adds value to those feeder calves when our customers go to sell them so when they have produced this calf we're there to help market those calves either with superior our us buying them ourselves and they go into our feedlot and other commercial feed Lots across the country and then those cattle are sold on a value-based grid to Packers that want to have the highest quality product for their customers making money for their customers is their number one goal and Schiefelbein farms feeder calf buyback program has evolved to become a major contributor to that goal we decided to put up the slat barn and this would generate extra revenue and Plus that would be a good thing to promote our cattle because we could bid on our customers calves so this was built about 10 years ago and a half of it and then it was working pretty well so we we decided we'd double the size of the barn so it'll hold about two thousand had a calf it gives us a lot of information when we're breeding cattle what we need how well they convert we got records of all the feed each pen eats we actually know what the genetics are in here from our cattle so we know if their feet aren't good they aren't gonna last in the slat barn it's all stuff that needs to be watched out in our ranches but it also has to be in the feedlot they have to be able to gain every animal gets a tag put in when they go to market we get the results of how they graded so we know all the way from when we get to genetics all the way to a go to the store how it's working and I think that's where we have the big advantage over other people that just sell genetics Schiefelbein farms offers an innovative incentive for their customers who sell their calves on superior livestock auction my son Travis who is back at the farm currently is actually a video realm we can put your cattle on the superior video sale and have us be a better as wellness superiors vast amount of buyers and any Commission's that Travis earns that we earn from them selling their cattle they get all those Commission's back is bull credit decades of industry knowledge industry-leading innovation and impressive marketing options drive profit for Schiefelbein customers and good old-fashioned customer service ties it all together customers of ours can expect to get the kind of cattle we want to see walking through pastures in at weaning time get the weights and with our programs to buy back calves and help market calves we feel that our customer service is second to none well we have an annual sale every year in February where people come from all over we have a big feed where we feed primary but now we have shrimp and all kinds of d'oeuvres and the Sun Friday night right either all the girls all the daughter-in-laws bigger and then the dinner was just stopped starting this guy came in from Western Canada and he said I missed looking at the cattle he said I've been driving 16 hours he said western Saskatchewan and then one of my grandson said well I'll show you the cattle ease yeah but you'll miss all the festivities and all the foodies that's fine he said I can get it so you went out with somebody turned all the lights on they showed the guy all around everything and bought kenick nine o'clock he came in and I got everything was there cleaning up you know daughter-in-law is there cleaning everything up and the guy said jeez you missed everything that's okay a guy came over to me that was the nicest guy I've ever he said he didn't try to push anything on me just explained everything he missed his mail a big festivities everything he said you know I got two partners that are neighbors of mine and we're farmers and he said we came with the idea of buying your top cattle we're cow well we're gonna go to $50,000 on it he said I'm calling my buddies and think we're gonna buy that bowl matter what cuz that kid was so nice they paid 125 thousand so it pays to be nice to find out more about how Schiefelbein farms can make money for your operation log on to Schiefelbein farms comm or send them an email info at Schiefelbein farms comm that's all the time we have today to find out more about us visit our website the American rancher calm or connect with us on Facebook I'm Pam Minich for our entire American Rancher team thanks for joining us we'll see you next time [Music] [Applause] [Music] that was superior coming up when the Angus Association first started keeping records I had over 10,000 records already on Turkish data before they started so we had to jump up on them for me to come up with a system and to make it work was huge it's a model where everybody went learn how innovation created one of the top angus seed star producers in north america next on the american rancher [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to the American rancher I'm PM Minich Black Angus is one of the top breeds in the American beef industry and Schiefelbein farms in Kimball Minnesota is one of the top Angus seed stock producers Frank Schiefelbein jr. and his wife frosty started the ranch in the mid 1950s from humble beginnings good planning and strategic innovation molded Schiefelbein farms into a highly successful operation with a solid reputation for helping their customers make money we met in high school and I went to a girls school and he went to a boys school and that's kind of how we met okay but the way we actually first saw each other she was at a party I went to the party with my friend and I walked in the door and she was standing up against the big post in the middle of the room and I bumped my buddy and said I can't believe it but they said I'm gonna marry that girl and he said you're crazy and I said I might be but I said I've got that feeling finally one of the guys said I think she came with your best friend Bob and I so I went up to Bob I said Bob we got a problem and Bob said we can't have a problem you're my best friend and I said well hell if you're the one with that girl over there yeah he said yeah he said just started about 10 days ago and I said well I'm gonna marry her so that's a problem and he said ah Frank that's no problem at all he said she's so damn frosty I haven't got a kiss in ten days you take her and to this day most everybody knows there's frosty even down on her driver's license yeah that's a nickname then we married radiant when I got out of college and right out of college went in the Air Force for two years and we got out of the Air Force and drove right straight out to the farm the farm had the old farmhouse on it hadn't been anybody living in it for three years no water no heat no insulation not we came in there in January and all that was in there no rugs there was a five-gallon pail in the middle of the living room that's the only thing in the house and I was just a static I was looking all over I was going upstairs to look at everything all of a sudden I heard this horrible moaning and oh just soul-searching morning and I came downstairs here's mama sitting there with her baby hot this five-gallon pail crying her eyes out and I said what is the matter with you she said I didn't think you meant it I thought this is gonna be her life I know I was I wasn't expecting like it but I thought this is what I decided so I mean well they signed up for us so this is what I'll have to do but then we looked at that house it had no possibilities to do anything because it was gonna cost a fortune so then I walked up this was a hill I walked up here and I said this is where we're gonna build our house and I found this Frank and frosty raised nine sons on the farm and all but one is active in the operation I think quite a ways ahead that drives mother nutty because she never knows if I get a little idea she oh my god it might turn into a monster but I had this idea that we were gonna have the best cattle in the world and I knew that the universities the PhD some university had a lot of say and what was the good cattle or not and my fear was that I would have always good ideas and then some university PhD person would call up and to write an article that knocked my idea down so I thought if I want to make sure I got the universities on my side I'm going to send one of my boys to each of the different universities that are top in the cattle business in that year after college each of the brothers took charge of one important part of the operation ranging from breeding to calving to feedlot management and marketing yeah everybody is in charge them of one thing or another and they always have a backup in case they have to go the second guy knows what's going on I generally know a little bit about all of them you know in case someone leaves but they usually have the main guy in charge of say breeding then like Daniel be in charge of breeding Frank you'll be the backup guy Donnie could do it too even Timmy but there's always a backup guy and then there's someone that's me that kind of knows I know Timmy's gonna leave on this day to go where you know buy calves Eridani is gonna go to a meeting on this day so I can kind of figure out who's doing what and day to day and Who am I gonna have for help and how what kind of things jobs we can actually get done some of Frank and Frosty's grandchildren have also decided to make a career on the farm Frank says the only requirement other than the desire to do so is that anyone in the family who wants to become active on the farm must leave for at least one year after graduating high school I preferred they go to school but if they didn't want to they don't I hope they wanted to do something else be good yeah I wanted it so that when they came back and they would know what the real world is like they had not want to know that the boss really didn't give a crap about yeah he wanted to work and they'd come back I wouldn't be that bad a guy then yeah yeah not very many people who have this kind of system and then one just graduate from high school and he made the announcement of it that the brothers he said no instead I'm going over to Wilmer to school he said I'm going for a year and a half and then make no bones about come on back up next for me to come up with a system and to make it work was huge because that fit right into our genetic program one Schiefelbein innovation is benefiting the entire American beef industry that story is after the break on the American Rancher if you're in the stocker business you know exceptional care and good nutrition are the keys to healthy profitable cattle the gain smart stocker program provides all the tools you need to minimize stress at receiving stimulate appetite quickly and create efficient games on porridge or feed Plus feeding gain smart makes your cattle eligible for superiors first-ever value-added nutrition program learn more about the gain smart stocker program and find a dealer near you at gain smart comm and 44 farms we believe work starts at sunup doesn't stop until sundown we believe in order to live off the land you have to love and respect it we believe that cattle are just raised they're nurtured and we believe when you do things right with honesty and integrity well things like quality and consistency happen naturally 44 farm steaks responsibly raised all natural beef superior livestock auction connects producers to buyers across the u.s. through the largest cattle merchandising network in North America they're seen by probably pretty much every person buying cattle in the u.s. they pretty much established the price our customers have a way to purchase bulls without having to physically be at the sale the cows are sales the second Saturday in February you never know what the weather might be in the Texas Panhandle in 2017 we sold nearly 1.5 million it for top dollar watch spear yourself it seems like that they do bring to bring a premium we are several hundred thousand dollars ahead of where we would be if we didn't have superior they have done such an extraordinary job in helping us market our program throughout the United States your paycheck is superiors number one priority which is why more producers trust superior call us or go online to learn how to sell your cattle the superior way

Channel: Superior Productions

Views: 10,016

Rating: 4.8681316 out of 5

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Id: 8B_LjuQ5euU

Length: 26min 2sec (1562 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 20 2019