HISTORY

The STEIN ANGUS FARMS have been breeding purebred Angus cattle since 1974, when the first registered Angus females were selected from Spur Ranch, Vinita, OK, and Angus Haven Farms, Cherokee, OK. These original cows and their calves carried the blood of the 1971 International Grand Champion, Spur Emulous Master and his sire, Emulous Master 209. Additional purchases were made two years later from the Keeler Ranch in Bartlesville, OK, with a select draft of females carrying strong Plantation of Wye breeding.

SAF steers ready to ship to the packing house.
In 1978, additional female purchases were made from Nichols Farms, Bridgewater, IA. Dave Nichols agreed to sell a set of his spring born heifers, holding them until the fall and breeding them to Nichols bulls for a fall calving date. This started a decade long relationship between STEIN ANGUS FARMS in Oklahoma and Nichols Farms in Iowa, which resulted in additional purchases of Nichols females, bulls and semen for the steadily growing STEIN ANGUS FARMS performance herd. That is why, even to this day, the pedigree tabulations on STEIN ANGUS FARMS’ cattle reveal such a heavy influence of Nichols breeding, including: Nichols Landmark L56, Nichols Trademark S1, Nichols Sunrise P1, Nichols New Era W78, Bell Boy Successor P168 and Nichols Bold Tradition B72.

Kristi Gordon from Central States Ultrasound Services, Kensington, Kansas, recording carcass data.
Another milestone in the STEIN ANGUS FARMS breeding programs came in 1982 when Dan and Sam’s parents returned from the National Western Stock Show in Denver. Slagle Angus, Sargeant, NE, exhibited the grand champion Carload of Angus bulls, all sired by Cracker Jack Baros 12J. Dan and Sam’s dad, Leroy, was intent on acquiring one of these individuals to use as a natural service sire back in Oklahoma. Cracker Jack Baros SA 1091 was purchased at the Slagle Angus production sale later that spring, and he immediately became the resident herd sire of the original herd of registered Angus females. He was collected and used both artificially and naturally on nearly every registered female in the herd. His first calf crop set him apart as one of the very best breeding sons of "Cracker Jack" to be found anywhere. It was with this first calf crop from Cracker Jack Baros 1091 that STEIN ANGUS FARMS first started selling bulls and replacement females to surrounding commercial cow/calf producers.

A key ingredient to the STEIN ANGUS FARMS breeding programs, selection for carcass traits, began in 1988 when the Steins started feeding the steer progeny from their herd to finishing weights and collecting carcass data, a management tool that continued for eleven years until the switch to the use of the sonogram in the Spring of 1999. Utilizing the Angus Sire Summary as a means of comparing SAF resident herd sires with sires from across the country, STEIN ANGUS FARMS continues to monitor the performance and carcass traits of the SAF herd. This has resulted in the use of SAF bulls in Dan and Sam’s separate breeding programs to complement an intensive A.I. and E.T. program.

Winter in the sandhills.
The STEIN ANGUS FARMS operations strive to select individuals based on both performance and carcass traits, as well as disposition, fertility, and milking ability. Outstanding cow families and sire lines will continue to be identified that excel in these traits, as Dan and Sam and their families continue their Oklahoma Angus legacies.