Accelerated Genetics

Written by: Lex Carter, Accelerated Genetics Director of Beef Marketing

Over 40 of the top beef representatives from Accelerated Genetics recently descended on the state of Montana for the annual Beef Tour. The tour began in Billings where everyone met for a barbeque hosted by District Sales Manager, John Jackson and his wife, Paula. Afterwards, all returned to the hotel for an informational meeting. Joel Groskreutz, CEO and President of Accelerated Genetics, presented a company update and goals to strive for in the upcoming year. Gary Fassett, Vice-President of Sales and Communications, gave a presentation on how to be a better sales person and how to be more in tune to our customer's needs. Don Trimmer, Director of Beef Programs, concluded the meeting with an update on newly acquired beef sires.

Monday morning everyone loaded up and traveled to World West Sire Service, Laurel, where we were able to view some of the Accelerated bulls such as 014AN00323 Dash and 014AN00332 Game Plan. We then traveled to Thistledew Angus, Joliet, where we saw 014AN00311 20/20 as well as his progeny. Additional progeny of 014AN00290 Extravagant, 014AN00257 Net Present Value and 014AN00228 24J were on display. The 24J son that we saw went on to top their bulls sale on Sunday, selling for $7750.

Afterwards, we traveled to Green Mountain Angus, Ryegate, where we were shown some great western hospitality by the Tim Todd family. They treated us to a great lunch as well as viewing a nice set of calves sired by 014AN00325 Industry. We made a couple more stops that afternoon viewing progeny of 014AN00271 Predominant, 014AN00273 Emblazon 702 and 014AN00317 Total Impact among others. We concluded the day with a visit to the Basin Angus Bull Test Center, Hobson, where we viewed the impressive facility and had a wonderful supper.

Tuesday was spent viewing more progeny, highlighted by a stop at Arntzen Angus Ranch, Hilger, where everyone got to see a nice set of calves sired by 014AN00323 Dash. This was exciting for the group since these were some of his first progeny and he was a big seller for us through the spring season.

Hilltop Angus, Denton, served as host for the group as we had the opportunity to view 014AN00314 Santa Fe and his progeny. A few progeny of 014AN00354 Identity were also on display.

Red Angus sires were featured at Laubauch Red Angus, Big Timber, and Green Mountain Red Angus, Logan. Progeny of 014AR02028 Conquest were featured at both stops. In addition, the group viewed progeny of 014AR02042 Justice and 014AR02043 Make It Easy at Green Mountain.

The stop at Van Dyke Angus Ranch, Manhattan, on Wednesday morning was also very important for the tour. We got to see the new sire that was just leased, 014AN00361 VDAR Really Windy 4097. The bull was impressive as well as many of his bred heifers that we got to see. At -2.0 for BW and over +90 for YW, this bull should make us a lot of friends. Another highlight on Wednesday was at Wheeler Mountain Ranch, Whitehall. 014AN00333 Timeless was especially impressive and well received by all. His dam as well as numerous progeny were also on display. Wheeler Mountain Ranch served as a tour stop for the National Angus Conference later in the week. During that tour, Timeless was one of the most popular sires as declared by breeders from across the country. His first daughter was the high selling heifer calf at the "Daughter of the Big Sky Sale" which culminated the Angus tour on Friday afternoon.

Sitz Angus, Harrison, served as another chance for the reps to view progeny of 014AN00323 Dash. Dash as well as 014AN00353 Powerhouse were featured sires on display during the National Angus Tour.

The tour concluded Wednesday afternoon with a stop at KG Ranch, Three Forks. They had lots of progeny of 014AN00315 Wisdom and 014AN00320 Sure Shot on display as well as the bulls themselves. This was also the first stop on the National Angus Tour so our Accelerated group had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the 600+ attendees on the tour. It was a nice event with first class hospitality being shown by the staff at KG Ranch.