Dave and Ruth Gust with their granddaughter, Sarah
The Gust Family – Founders and Owners
The founders and owners of Circle A, Dave and Ruth Gust and their extended families hale from the Chicagoland area. The Gust, Lennon and Lembke families own and operate many businesses, all well known for their superior quality and outstanding customer service. Today, Dave maintains an active role in overseeing each of the ranch locations and operations as president and CEO of Circle A. When he is not at the ranch, Dave and Ruth are able to dedicate much of their time to enjoying their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Gust, Lennon, and Lembke families in 2015
Headquarters – Iberia, MO
Iberia is the headquarters and home office of the entire Circle A system. Iberia is home to Circle bull development, a large commercial cow/calf operation and the sight of all of Circle A’s sales. The headquarters’ operation spans over 10,000 acres in the Ozark hills. Dale Holtmeyer oversees all cattle, hay and crop operations with Clyde Fuchs as assistant manager of the Iberia location. The maintenance crew, consisting of Dave Thomlinson and Gary McSwain, work on maintaining both ranches. Mitch Herx oversees the hay and farming crew and Austin Otto handles the office management. Sarah Lennon works as the operations manager for both ranches.
Dale Holtmeyer
Circle A Headquarters Manager
Clyde Fuchs
Circle A Headquarters Assistant Manager
Austin Otto
Circle A Headquarters Office Manager
Sarah Lennon
Circle A Operations Manager
Dave T and Gary McSwain
Circle A Maintenance Crew
The Herdsmen each oversee around 500 cows and are responsible for daily checks and tagging. The crew comes together for vaccinations, pregnancy testing, breeding and weaning to help one another. At any given time there are around 1000 bulls at various stages of development. These bulls require daily attention to development, soundness checks, and have to be worked to take weights, ultrasound, freeze branding, and semen testing.
The farm crew travels to both ranches as needed to put up hay, plant and cut silage. Circle A farms 1200 acres of hay and 450 acres of silage in Iberia and another 2000 acres of corn and 700 acres of hay in Huntsville. In a typical year, each ranch raises 100% of their hay needs.
Bernie Neidert, Clyde Fuchs, Tyler Shreve
Circle A North
Located about 8 miles north of Huntsville, MO, the vast majority of Circle A North was acquired in the mid 1990’s. Today, Circle A owns over 8,000 acres near Huntsville, of which 2,000 acres are tillable. A crew of 5 guys headed by Rick Beard and Jason Locke oversee the 2,500 mother cows. They calve both in the spring and fall and use a combination of trucks and horses for their daily work. Tina Russell manages the office at Circle A North.
Tina Russel
Circle A North Office Manager
Rick Beard
Circle A North and
Circle A Feeders Manager
Circle A Feeders
Located in the heart of Circle A North. Circle A Feeders is a 5000 head feedlot under roof. The cattle are bedded in saw dust, kept under fans and it is a truly remarkable operation. More details can be found on this website under the “Circle A Feeders” tab. The Feedlot is managed by Rick Beard, and the office is managed by Diana Pippin.
Diana Pippin
Circle A Feeders Office Manager