Bolze Ranch Angus

05/06/2026

For Sale and ready for immediate delivery. Five two year old forage developed(No grain) virgin Angus bulls resulting from Bolze Ranch Angus 48 year selection for lower input, maternal function.
Each photo has a caption with details on the bull.

11/22/2025

From all of us at Bolze Ranch Angus:
Thank you sincerely to the many that helped make our sale a success. Thank you to each and every customer and friend that took the time to scrutinize each bull and take home the best fit for their operation. Your support is a reminder and encouragement to carry on in the direction of low input, maternal function. We're really excited for the functional females you'll create within your herds. Again, please feel free to stop by anytime to see the cows. Stay tuned to our page for more updates from the ranch.

📸 - Linda Teahon

11/21/2025

It's Sale Day! The whole crew has been hard at work and is ready to welcome you to Bolze Ranch Angus Headquarters!
The digital catalog is available in the photo section of our page.
Please come visit us anytime today, and the sale will start at 4 PM M.T.
See you soon!

11/21/2025

A note from Sadie:
On the eve of the sale, I figured I would elaborate more on the gritty details and the why.
Calving: We check the cows once a day. The cows are absolutely expected to range calve without any assistance. And frankly, I am not well versed in pulling calves because it rarely gets done here.
Summer grazing: This is highly intensive as we are either building temporary fence, hauling water, or removing temporary fence. With that being said, we spend about 4 hours a day with the herd. I get a lot of time to scrutinize them. These girls are not getting pampered. They are not getting selective grazing. I am able to graze that way due to the luxury of pasture rest.
Winter grazing: We use stockpiled forage and feed during blizzards. As soon as the manure starts to pile up, I will supplement them with alfalfa hay.
Mineral: We feed the Kansas sea salt. 3/4 of the year I feed a Redmond's conditioner. My favorite additive for the cows is Apple Cider Vinegar. The cows get this through their water in the summer and in their salt in the winter. It has proven for me to increase digestibility of dry matter intake.

I pride myself on being hyper critical of my ladies. I expect them to take care of their calves better than themselves, get pregnant when I need them to, and survive on the resource I'm willing to provide. Honestly, I'm making a longhorn cow out of Angus genetics. I need them to be good employees and work for a living. I personally think if you walk away from functionality, you ultimately walk away from profitability. Most are constantly trying to put a number to something when ultimately mother nature has the last say. What this industry needs most are cattle that are purely selected based on natural selection.
Things have gotten too complicated. Why? Honestly. It doesn't have to be that hard. Just find the cattle that work within your environment. I don't need a number for that. I want to push my cows to a limit. I want to ensure that anyone that buys a bull, get a cow that lasts for a long time. My ultimate goal is female longevity. Longevity equals profitability.

Please. Come look at every cow in any season. I don't want body condition 7 every time of the year. I want fluctuation. Cows and bulls alike need to fluctuate. Come look any time. I will proudly show you what these girls can accomplish. We can pick them apart anytime. I know this project will never be complete. My love for them will never diminish. I love each and every one. I take great pride in the genetics I choose to perpetuate. I want females that live a long time and consistently give a calf worth the next generation. If you want an EPD number to perpetuate your herd, please move on. I just want to sell cattle that work for a living. I am confident in my cattle, just like the next bull salesman, but I genuinely want to push them to the limit to prove who needs to remain. Be assured, I want to push them as hard as you. You're welcome to come visit the cows anytime.
Sadie

11/19/2025

Old Grannie Cow Influence:
There are reasons why all grannie cows are still in the herd. Cows that had to "jump through all the hoops" for many years. At Bolze Ranch Angus, we attempt to spread these old grannie cows across future generations of replacement females through their sons. Of course their sons need to be sired by bulls whose females I have seen functioning in lower input systems. This means using older bulls. Using older genetics gives us far greater confidence and predictability in future daughter functionality.

Hope to see you all at the sale on Friday, Nov. 21st!

Captions on each photo below:

11/17/2025

It's Sale Week! Ron, Becky, Sadie, and Tanner are working hard to welcome everyone to the headquarters. If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us!

11/13/2025

Beef Cattle Maturity Pattern and Seasonal Fluctuation in Body Condition Score

Thirty five years ago, I was enamored with Angus sires whose daughters were always fat....regardless of what they had to eat. Younger age to puberty was also correlated. As a reproductive physiology graduate student in Animal Science at Kansas State University, the linear, reductionist thought process was that cows that calve in a higher body condition score had a shorter postpartum interval and, hence, were more apt to breed sooner for their next calf. Based on some of the sires that I used in the early 1990s, I learned that, yes, these daughters would "stay fat" year round, however, they only lasted through 2-3 lactations before coming up open. Plus, their calves did not wean very heavy. Maybe these daughters became too fat prior to their yearling breeding season( extremely early puberty). This is what Larry Leonhardt called the "fat cow syndrome". Cows that would put it on their back instead of into their calf. We have grown to appreciate Angus cattle that will successfully fluctuate in body condition score throughout the year. Build body condition when grazing conditions are really favorable (Spring, Summer and early Fall) and use this body fat through the colder Winter months wherein the cows are expected to function on dry native Winter range with protein. Admittedly, this works quite well if the cows do not calve until late Spring / early Summer because they have until mid July to rebuild body condition until they are expected to rebreed. In contrast, a January/ February calving cow can not lose this body condition and still successfully rebreed early (March/April) on stored, expensive feedstuffs.
I have also grown to appreciate that extremely early puberty usually is correlated with reduced longevity. Conversely, later puberty is usually correlated with greater longevity. So, here's the conundrum.....attempting to create acceptance for later maturity, forage developed bulls that may not come into their own until 2-3 years of age. Let's admit it. Fat sells. Fat covers up a lot of sins. Seedstock producers over-condition bulls because that is what their commercial customers want to buy. Need to think long term instead of short term. Attached two Bolze Ranch Angus herd sires pictured as a yearling / 2 year old compared to their 5-6 year old picture. This speaks for itself. Time between was on 100% forage, and no grain. The really good things in beef cattle require great patience.

11/10/2025

Good friend Bill Hodge, Sustainable Genetics (sustainablegenetics.com) shared this in 1998:
Why do we expect the Angus breed to:
1) Gain like a Charolais?
2) Milk like a Simmental?
3) Muscle like a Limousin?
4) Marble like a Wagyu?
5) Calve like a Longhorn?
What can't the beef cattle industry allow the Angus mother cow to do what she does best....be a highly functional mother cow that can thrive for many years on what Mother Nature economically provides?

Let's put some of this into perspective.
1) In 2000, beef cattle geneticists at the Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Clay Center, NE secured semen on the high use sires from the seven most prevalent beef breeds. The point is that resulting progeny represented what was happening in the industry at that time. They bred MARC II (composite) females and measured the production parameters on resulting calves (MARC Cycle 7). Breeds included Angus, Hereford, Charolais, Simmental, Red Angus, Gelbvieh and Limousin.
Which breed sired the fastest gaining feedlot cattle, had the heaviest harvest weights and hung up the heaviest carcasses? .....Angus.
Which breed produced the heaviest mature cow weight and sired 2 year old daughters that weaned the heaviest calves?... Angus
This data is from 2000, 25 years ago, and the genetic trends for these traits are still headed up. Most Angus breeders celebrated with "The Angus breed has arrived." I think it begs the question "What is wrong with this picture?" The original maternal breeds including Angus, Red Angus and Hereford have become more terminal. The original Continental European Exotic growth type, terminal breeds have become more maternal (largely through hybridization by crossing with Angus to become black hided to meet CAB demand).
2) Selection for maximum growth makes excellent, unsurpassed feedlot cattle (gain and carcass weight). How about the sister mates to these steers that become cows? There should not be any confusion as to why mature cow size continues to increase with ever increasing cow cost and loss of function and longevity. Numerous examples exist of ranchers running the same stocking rate as their grandfather with cows that weigh 50% more. And then we wonder why range conditions have degraded in some management programs. The industry needs to have the discipline not to keep replacement females sired by terminal sires.
3) Selection for maximum milk. The trait that is most antagonistic to reproduction is.......milk production. Milk EPD percentile rankings assume that "more is better". Need to give some thought to the environment wherein these cows are expected to perform.
4) Selection for maximum marbling EPD will most definitely result in higher % Certified Angus Beef (CAB) and Prime, capturing huge premiums on the carcass grids. Largely because carcass traits are highly heritable. However, the sister mates are often characterized by reduced fertility, higher maintenance and reduced longevity. I would contend that cows that result from environmental sort, wherein they are expected to conceive with reproductive pressure under conditions that a commercial producer can economically provide, will excel in function and longevity.....with the steer mates and non-replacement sisters hanging up carcasses with all the marbling that the industry needs.
The attached picture should stimulate some thought process.

11/08/2025

Simple Livestock Breeding Truths

One of the truly great "cowmen/cow-women" that I have ever learned from is Bill Hodge. Sustainable Genetics has provided semen on some of the most maternally focused beef and dairy sires for many years. Bill has traveled extensively both internationally and domestically and has evaluated beef and dairy cattle in many primarily grass based operations worldwide. He has had a few years to reflect on what it takes to establish a cowherd that can excel in functionality in primarily lower cost, grass based environments. He has encapsulated these requirements in what he calls Simple Livestock Breeding Truths. I have shared these truths for your reflection and response. This should garner great discussion. What do you think?

Simple Livestock Breeding Truths
1. The only requirement for owning cattle is $....no prior knowledge or training is required....more often than not, that first ownership is a very disheartening, EXPENSIVE experience!
2. ALWAYS manage pedigreed cattle like commercials
3. Not "rocket science"...keep it simple
4. Takes a lifetime to build a cow herd
5. Key to lasting progress is line-breeding to consistent producing teenage cows
6. Improvement sires must have look alike teenage grandmothers
7. Environmental adaptability is a must
8. Design your breeding decisions to work in harmony with "Mother Nature"
9. Sustainability is achieved with practical cattle, not those that are most popular!
10. The good cows in the herd are those that go un-noticed the longest!
11. It’s all about the cow!
12. The problem with current “mainstream” cattle selection is more performance is never enough.
13. Mother Nature votes last
Bill Hodge: Sustainable Genetics (www.sustainablegenetics.com) or Bill's page (Bill Hodge).

Welcome to Sustainable GeneticsA beef & dairy genetics AI marketing company that sells frozen semen, embryos and facilitates sales of live animals from our customers. The majority of our sires are linebred and from seedstock producers that manage them commercially in total forage systems. We prefer....

11/07/2025

11/06/2025

Not Playing the Game
We at Bolze Ranch Angus have been asked many times why we do not submit weights to the American Angus Association and why we do not print EPDs in our bull sale catalog. Here is a short, though not all inclusive list.
1) The beef cattle seedstock industry has historically been driven by extremes. Examples include the 1) short squatty, compressed, slow growing, predisposed to fatness cattle of the 1950-1960s and 2) "jolly green giant", extreme frame score, late maturing, high maintenance, difficult to finish, lower fertility cattle of the mid 1970s to early 1990s. In hindsight, neither was a very good fit for the commercial industry and only the most astute commercial producers did not "jump on the bandwagon". Thankfully, common sense prevailed within a few independently minded breeders. We believe that the current extreme is "maximum EPD trait selection." History has revealed that if the seedstock industry is "given a number" (frame score, cannon bone length, weaning weight, ADG, ultrasound %IMF, EPD, etc.), in the name of "genetic Improvement" , the industry will select for maximums....because maximums sell. This really represents a "no brainer" business model for the seedstock industry because this is what the commercial industry has wanted to or been convinced to buy. In my mind, it begs the question, "Why would the commercial industry want to or feel the need to buy it?"
2). EPDs tend to discount older genetics. Let's use growth for example. Numerous examples exist wherein seedstock breeders have used older genetics with more moderate growth EPDs in "side by side" comparisons to calves sired by the most current, mainstream maximum growth EPD sires.... resulting in calves with very similar performance.
3) Some seedstock producers question the validity of EPDs. EPDs work, especially if high accuracy sires are used. However, in my opinion, EPDs have been used as a "marketing tool" more so than a genetic selection tool. Many traits within beef cattle (especially within the breeds that were originally viewed as the maternal breeds) have long since blown past the "optimum middle" representing the lower input match to their resource environment.
Let's move beyond the "noise" and shift our focus to "environmental sort" wherein the environment tells us which individuals have earned the right to be parents of the next generation.