Stroh Hereford Ranch is a family run business that began with a young Tony Stroh believing that he would one day become a Registered Hereford breeder, and in 1949 he did just that. I find that it is interesting to sit down with him as his grandson and visit about how much the cattle industry has changed since he began Ranching. Today my Grandfather, Tony Stroh, and my Grandmother Leona Stroh are living at Hilltop Home of Comfort, a nursing home in Killdeer. However Grandpa Tony is still actively involved in the business, and Grandma Leona still enjoys seeing the new born calves every spring. My parents Mike and Dawn run the day to day operations on the ranch, Mom does all of the book work, and makes sure that adds go out on time. She also makes sure that all cattle working crews from Branding to Preg Checking are well fed. My younger brother Matt enjoys going to the Bull sales with Dad to “help” Dad pick out bulls. On those days Mom and I feed all of the cattle and take care of whatever else needs to be done on the ranch. Matt also helps by keeping up fences, and with haying in the summer. I (Luke) take the pictures, do a majority of the calving in the spring, and treat any illnesses that may arise in the cattle. I also do the AI’ing. As a family we make this work, it is a family run ranch, we wouldn't be able to make it work any other way. Uncle Dave and Aunt Debb run commercial Hereford and F1 Baldy cattle, and we help eachother out back and forth working cattle in the summer and fall, they also help us get ready for the sale every February. Many things have changed in the Hereford industry over the past 25 years. We have enjoyed looking at photographs from past sales (including those from the 1970’s) and have tried to include a few of them in our catalogs every year. As always, we have put forth an effort to provide you with Hereford bulls that have a gentle disposition. Our bulls are range raised and ready to work for you. We do not over-feed our bulls, and what you see is what you get. We value our customers, and listen to their input. As a result we have several bulls in this year’s offering which would work on heifers. We have also been working to improve our weaning weights, milk, milk and growth and carcass traits. Are we where we want to be, no not yet, but we continue to purchase herd sires who’s strong points are the above mentioned traits. As always we strongly encourage you to consider using a Hereford bull in your cross breeding program. Using a Hereford bull in your cross breeding program gives you heterosis (high bred vigor) and increased weaning weights which means more dollars at selling time. It is an exciting time to be in the Hereford business. Over the years we have seen the demand for Hereford cattle steadily increase. The demand for Certified Hereford Beef is on the rise as well. We encourage you to stop by the ranch and look at the cattle. If you have any questions in regards to this year’s offering do not hesitate to contact us.
~Luke, 12/11/2015
