Montana has been called the seedstock capital of the world. Seedstock refers to registered cattle used for breeding.
In the spring and fall, seedstock producers host production auction sales, where purebred and commercial ranchers gather to purchase bulls for the upcoming breeding season.
Their goals are to enhance their genetic potential and customers bottom lines.
Klompien Red Angus of Manhattan is owned by Dave and Kay Klompien and their family.
Their Red Angus herd has been in their family for over 45 years, making it one of the oldest established herds in the nation.
Recently, they held their annual spring production bull sale. By combing hard work, traditional marketing methods and 21st Century technology they are helping ranchers improve their herds.
“Genetic planning is huge,” said Kay Klompien. “Going out and finding the genetics that are going to work for you and make the program that you want to have is essential.”
“We have a situation where our ethics are who we are. So, we don’t do anything that’s not on the up-and-up and you know we’re very transparent. We reveal everything we do.”
The hard work and trust that is built by seedstock producers, like Klompien Red Angus, keeps their customers coming back year after year.
“The people here make the whole thing,” Kay added. “We are all about being people-people. We want the relationships that we establish with our customers, whether they be here or whether they be online to be great. It is what makes this business go around.”
To be competitive in today’s marketplace Klompien Red Angus teams up with Frontier Productions to expand their customer base with online, live bidding and a whole host of online digital services.
“Not everybody can be here to attend the sale,” Klompien said. “I mean it just doesn’t work out for everybody. They may be calving. They may have a storm in their area, or they may have a flood.”
“Who knows what situation they may have? In that respect, it’s good that we have the online bidding platform. We may be having a storm at our ranch. It just gives customers a chance to not miss out on buying a bull.”
The goal of all seed stock sales is to help fellow ranchers succeed in business.
“We want to have a good product in the end,” Kay emphasized. “Our goal is to have a satisfied customer in whatever we do. We work endless hours to match the genetics to make that happen. We then cull the genetics that don’t make that happen.”
The value of livestock production in Montana in 2015 was pegged at $2.1 billion, according to USDA. Agriculture as a whole has a $4.6 billion impact annually on the state’s economy.
-Lane Nordlund reporting for MTN News
