Our Program
The Windy Willows herd started in 1969 with the purchase of the Reserve Champion heifer at the Saskatchewan Angus Associations’ Fall Female Sale at Regina. Collin was 14 and prouder than a peacock! Several more heifers followed as 4H projects in future years until 1974 when the purchase of 14 females from Wiwa Creek Farm marked my serious entry into the Angus seedstock business.
Our breeding program is geared to the production of seedstock, primarily bulls, for our commercial customers in southern Saskatchewan. To that end, we believe it is important to manage our cattle similar to the way our customers manage theirs. We prefer to develop our cattle in large groups, as are most commercial cattle, so as to provide the most meaningful information for our customers to aid them in their selections.
In past years Windy Willows bulls have been performance tested and sold through the Saskatoon Test Station, the Saskatchewan Livestock Centre and the Black Harvest Bull development program. Windy Willows cattle have been marketed to Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and various states including Georgia, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and Idaho.
The Windy Willows cowherd calves in February and March. Yearling heifers are synchronized and AI’d before being exposed to one of our herdbulls at least 3 weeks later. The cows are AI’d with heat detection for 3 to 4 weeks and are then sorted into breeding fields and placed with our herdsires until early August. AI sires are chosen for functional traits which match our environment. They must also have above average growth and maternal EPDs and a low birth weight EPD. Calves are weaned and brought back to the headquarters in October, while the cows stay at the ranch and graze until January.
Customer service has always been an integral part of our marketing program. We can only stay in business if our customers do the same and we are keenly interested in the success that our customers have with our cattle. We are pleased that many of our customers have become our friends and we value these relationships highly!
As a side and a natural extension of raising Angus cattle we have developed a significant direct – to – consumer freezer beef trade. We have a large number of regular customers from Calgary to Saskatoon to Regina, as well as locally, who tell us that they cannot buy beef of the same quality anywhere else. Call us if you are interested in some great beef!
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