AB Farms Dispersal Catalog

THE HISTORY OF AB FARMS

In the spring of 1978, Franz Burda and his family purchased the Mike Cohen farm south of Lathrop, Missouri. In the next few months additional land was purchased to form what is now known as AB Farms. The Farm got its name from the initials of Franz Burda’s mother, Anna Burda.

That same year another farm was purchased at Camden, Missouri. This was a productive bottom land farm along the Missouri River east of Kansas City, Missouri. This purchase brought the family’s land holding in Missouri to approximately 4300 acres.

The Burda family’s goal was to have a productive farming operation along with maintaining the appearance of the farm to be a showplace. Over the years, great effort has been made to keep the farms appearance to exemplify the Burda family’s pride of ownership.

Early on the decision was made to select a breed of cattle that the farm could build its seedstock enterprise around. Because of the Burda family’s familiarity with the Gelbvieh breed in their home country of Germany, the decision was made to use Gelbvieh in their breeding program. Over the next few years they were instrumental in facilitating the import of leading full blood genetics into this country.

Throughout its history, AB Farms has strived to produce solid and functional Gelbvieh cattle.

In 1999 AB Farms took a major step in its cattle operation by becoming one of the original owners of Seedstock Plus. This association has given AB Farms the opportunity to be able to market to and service a larger customer base and provide industry leading customer service. For many years AB Farms has been the center for bull development for Seedstock Plus and hosted the North Missouri Bull Sale in the spring. AB Farms also hosted the Fall Female Sale for Seedstock Plus. This relationship has proven to be very beneficial for AB Farms on many levels, not only from a business standpoint, but also from the opportunity of the people we have met and the friendships we have made.