We have been in the cow/calf business for more than 20 years which started as a 4-H youth heifer project in the early 1970s.  Up until 1992, our herd was a commercial herd which consisted of Angus and Angus crossbred females.  We have been using Artificial Insemination (AI) since the start and in 1991 we made the decision to concentrate our efforts on the registered Angus business.

In 1992, we purchased 12 bred heifers from two of the most progressive Angus herds in Virginia, Holly Hill Farms and Locust Level Farm.  The following year we added six more females to our herd from Bleak Hill Farm.

It is this nucleus of females that we continue to use to expand our herd with and already have granddaughters in production from the original bred heifers purchased in 1992.  Currently we have 50 breeding-age females in production that calve exclusively in the fall.

Before we entered the registered Angus business we made the decision that we would increase our AI program, which has resulted in calves with stacked pedigrees from some of the most highly proven bulls available in the Angus breed.  The majority of our fall 2000 calves nursing their mothers, are four or five generations deep in AI matings.  Sires selected for use in our herd must excel in multiple economic traits with emphasis on calving-ease, maternal characteristics, growth ability, and carcass EPDs.

Since we are in the registered Angus business to sell quality breeding cattle, many of our animals within our operation are priced for private treaty sales.  While we continue to expand of our herd, many of our heifer calves are retained for production in our program.  We have sold a few of our best heifers in Virginia Angus Association sponsored consignment sales.  Our top bull calves are entered in performance-tested programs conducted by the Virginia Beef Cattle Improvement Association (VA BCIA) and sold at the completion of the test.   In 1997 we produced the high-selling bull at the Culpeper Senior Bull Sale.   In 1999 we won the High Performing Breeder Group Award and had the all-time high-gaining bull on test.   This bull gained 5.76 pounds per day while on the 112-day test.  The steer calves are either sold as youth projects, fed and sold as carcass beef, or sold in local auction markets.   

In 1993 we moved from Orlean, Virginia, to our current location, SOLDIERS' HILL ANGUS FARM, located 7 miles southwest of Warrenton, Virginia.  Our farm acreage consists of 105 acres of owned land and an additional 150 acres of leased land, all of which is permanent pasture or hay land.  Our cow herd basically survives on fescue pasture from spring to fall and mixed grass hay in the winter.  We develop our replacement heifers with some additional protein supplements in the winter so that they are able to calve at 24 months of age and breed back in 90 days.

We are excited to be associated with such a fine breed of cattle and invite you to visit whenever you are in the northern Virginia area.

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Phone/Fax: (540) 341-4344
E-mail: shangus@erols.com