Gust-Trip-~-Moblerly-291In 2007, We built our feedlot as a way to capture added value and increase returns for ourselves and our customers. Our all-under-roof feedlot is a half mile long and has the capacity to feed 5,000 head of cattle at one time. When we started our feedlot, we developed a buy-back program where we promised to buy back calves of our customers who were born from Circle A genetics. This helped us spread out the finishing dates of cattle and provide for a more consistent flow of finished cattle for the packing plants we sold to. In 2017, we dispersed our entire registered herd and shifted our focus to producing high quality, commercial cattle that would perform better in our feedlot. As we grew our commercial herd, we began to rely less on customer cattle and more on our own. In 2019, we decided to end our buyback program because we had enough of our own cattle to fill the feedlot and we were wanting to feed out all our own Wangus calves. Today, the majority of our feedlot is occupied by our quarter-blood Wangus cattle and we are very satisfied with the results we have seen from these cattle.

Our feedlot operation is now more profitable than ever before and with more Wangus calves every year, we project our profits will only increase from here. We feed our Wangus steers to 1600 lbs and receive a $0.15 per lb premium over the market price per lb. Our customers are happy to pay this premium because our Wangus grade 70-85% Prime with very few yield grade 4’s and 5’s. Tour Wangus calves start out lighter than an Angus would when it comes into our feedlot, but they gain exceptionally well from yearling to finishing and more than make up for their lighter start weight.