The Herd
JLB Ranch runs approximately 5,600 spring and fall calving cows and heifers, including 900 replacements, on both cool season and tall grass pastures. The cow herd is predominantly Angus. However, heifers are selected each year and bred to elite horned Hereford bulls, creating tremendous F1 black baldie replacements.
The closed cow herd has been developed over time using elite Angus bulls selected for calving ease, early growth, marbling and muscle. The majority of the cow herd is bred AI for two cycles. Full brothers (sons of elite AI sires) run with the females for another 45 days.
Pregnancy is confirmed through ultrasound. JLB replacement heifers are selected, and a marketing strategy is determined for the remaining bred heifers. Open heifers are finished in the feedyard and harvested as high-quality beef.
JLB relies on three premier Angus seedstock suppliers and one generational horned Hereford seedstock operation for genetics. Sires used in the AI program are selected based on a specific phenotype and a suite of selection tools, expected progeny differences (EPDs), and $Value indexes.
LAST DAY OF FALL WEANING!
We’re moving the last big group of pairs to headquarters to wean. To date, we’ve weaned over 4,600 fall and spring calves with a target goal to wean more than 5,000 calves in 2026!
We enjoyed a cooler, late summer morning to move a group of Black Baldy cows safe in calf to Angus bulls.
| We pre-weaned a group of 135 five-year-old cows with spring babies, processing 138 calves, including a couple of “peewees” that most likely lost their mothers to lightening. | The calves are sired by two sons of Advance and Sundance, a son of Trident and son of Laredo. Bulls were turned out May 14. This is one of the most uniform sets of black and red baldy calves we’ve raised. |
Commercial Marketing
RETAINED OWNERSHIP
JLB Ranch retains ownership on our steers. Today, marketing higher performing cattle on a grid formula has enabled us to capture the real value of feedlot efficiencies and elite carcass performance while making significant genetic cow herd improvements.
We rely on the expertise of three cattle feeders: Shaw Feedyards, Ashland, KS; HyPlains Feedyards, Montezuma, KS; and Albers Feedlot, Windsor, NE. These proven yards sort and manage the steers to maximize their genetic and phenotypic capabilities.
While their skills as cattle feeders are superb, we greatly appreciate the transparent relationship and willingness to share information.
2025 HOME-RAISED Heifers “REPORT CARD”
59 head of JLB home-raised heifers were harvested at Creekstone Farm Premium Beef in late April 2025. More than 59% graded Prime, 35 head, and 58 head met the Upper 2/3 Choice or higher specification for Creekstone’s Master Chef Angus Beef® brand. The pen earned $137 per head premium.
As we select replacements from the sibs and half sibs to these heifers, we are extremely confident in the ability of our home-raised cattle to raise a calf that will thrive in any environment and throughout value-added beef production.
No. Head
Prime
CHOICE OR HIGHER
2024 HOME-RAISED STEERS “REPORT CARD”
Good markets and strong consumer demand often create an “updraft” for average cattle and obviously separate high valued Angus beef. Today, this extraordinary market is rewarding high valued beef and creating an obvious advantage for upper 2/3 Choice and Prime beef.
We recently sold a pen of home-raised steers, fed in Southwest Kansas, to U.S. Premium Beef. The market advantage on the day the cattle were harvested was $37 for Prime. More than 54.7% of the pen graded Prime and 100% graded Choice and higher and returned $226.82 per head above the base price. The steers had a dry matter conversion of 5.7 and gained over 4 lbs. per day.
No. Head
Prime
CHOICE OR HIGHER
2024 HOME-RAISED Fed Heifers “REPORT CARD”
102 JLB, home-raised heifers were harvested in October 2024. In total, 93% of the harvested heifers graded upper 2/3 Choice and Prime and 47 head graded Prime!
No. Head
Prime
CHOICE OR HIGHER
2024 FED HEIFERS “REPORT CARD”
No. Head
Prime
CHOICE (165 Upper 2/3 Choice)
2023 CARCASS “REPORT CARD”
No. Head
% Upper 2/3 Choice & Prime
COMMERCIAL BULLS & REPLACEMENT FEMALES
Although JLB is a commercial operation, our genetic selection, implementation of technology, husbandry, nutrition and herd health is indistinguishable from the discipline and management protocols of any registered operation. Our cow herd is a closed herd. In other words, heifer replacements are selected from our own elite heifers. The genetic influence of the herd is rigorously managed.
Most of the females are artificially inseminated, using the most powerful Angus sires in use today that fit our strict criteria. The natural service bulls we select from our seedstock suppliers are typically full brothers out of the breed’s high use AI sires. The bulls must meet our phenotypic specifications as well as genomic benchmarks for calving ease, growth, moderate milk and stature, and end product quality.
F1 BLACK BALDIES
Hybrid vigor is an undeniable benefit of crossbreeding. An F1 black baldie is often referred to as “the premier commercial cow” in the beef industry. JLB requires the same disciplined criteria for our black baldie cow herd as the Angus cow herd. The Angus females selected for the F1 herd are AI’d to high use horned Hereford sires. An elite group of full brothers out of the AI sires are turned in with the cows for natural service.
MULTI-TRAIT DISCIPLINE
The primary, overarching goal of JLB Ranch is to create value from birth to harvest. From placing strict criteria on our replacement females, including the elite F1 black baldies, to designating the best marketing options for all categories of our cattle, including retaining ownership, our decisions are based on creating marketing opportunities and adding value. Our relationship with Prime Pursuit as well as retaining ownership provides the “report card” we need to make the most objective decisions intended to add value throughout the production system.