2022’s Top 100 U.S. Seedstock Operations

Over one-third of the 100 largest seedstock ranches in the U.S. are located right here in Northern Ag Network country!

BEEF Magazine recently released their 8^th annual Seedstock 100, a listing of those largest 100 seedstock ranches in the country. The operations are ranked based on the number of bulls sold in 2021.

The list is assembled by BEEF Magazine to determine the impact of the largest seedstock ranches on the U.S. beef industry’s genetic base and examines the level of concentration in the industry.

We’re fortunate to have so many great seedstock operations in our part of the world. 35 of the top 100 are located in our listening area with 16 in Montana, 11 in South Dakota, 5 in Wyoming and 3 in North Dakota.

In total, the top 100 marketed 56,787 bulls in 2021, which is about 500 more than 2020. Of course Angus remains the top breed featured in the list. Nearly three-quarters of the operations market Angus bulls.

The number 2 breed featured is Red Angus with 23 operations, 17 ranches sell Simmental and/or SimAngus bulls, 15 Hereford, 13 Charolais, 4 Gelbvieh and 3 operations sell Limousin bulls.

Cattlemen across the Western U.S. have felt the affects of drought the past year. Producers have been forced to cull cows at a very aggressive rate as they haven’t had the forage available and record high feed costs have limited their options.

With less cows to cover in our region, there were less bulls sold. Kurt Kangas the American Angus Association rep for Wyoming and Montana reported that just under 15,000 head of bulls were sold at auction, that’s down about 11% from the previous season. However, across the major breeds, the overall sale average from the 2021-22 season was $5,503/head, up 4.5% from the previous year.

BEEF Magazine reports that, “The most prominent goal this year for seedstock producers was to help customers improve profitability, whether through better animal performance or by helping market offspring from the seedstock. Key genetic priorities for their programs included fertility and sound structure.”

Not a lot of changes in the top 10 largest operations in the country. Once again, Jorgensen Land & Cattle from Ideal, SD is by far the top seller of bulls. Actually, the order of the top 7 is unchanged from the previous year’s list.

Below are the 20 largest seedstock operations. To see the complete list and beef magazine’s analysis beefmagazine.com/seedstock100

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BEEF Magazine/Northern Ag Network