Family Tradition

by Melissa McGee Buehler

photos courtesy Frey Angus Ranch

After serving in the Navy during World War II, Allen Frey returned home to work with his father, Ed, a cattle buyer, purchasing horses to be shipped overseas. He also worked with his future father-in-law, Vernon Bacon, on a threshing crew and did some grain farming as well. After harvesting a significant flax crop that was marketed for $10/bushel, he was able to take the proceeds and make a down payment on a parcel of land. He built a house, barn, A granary, and chicken house. Soon after the building process was completed, Allen purchased registered Angus cows with the help of his father’s involvement in the cattle market around the area. With this purchase of females, Frey Angus Ranch got its start.

The ranch is located in north central North Dakota, at the bottom of the Mouse River Loop. The river begins in Canada, makes a loop in southern McHenry county, and returns to Canada. The area has a variety of fertile farmland as well as marginal land that is best suited for grazing and forage production. The winters are usually long and harsh; however, the land is capable of producing abundant grass and forage. The cattle have to be hardy to thrive in this climate and adapt well in a different environment if sold to other regions.

Allen’s three sons, Lynn, Arlen, and Edward, are the second-generation owners and operators of Frey Angus Ranch. In the beginning, the ranch ran commercial cattle as well as dairy cattle. The dairy cattle left when the oldest brother, Lynn, went to college. The commercial cattle were replaced with registered Angus cows as their numbers increased, and the ranch expanded as the brothers returned to the operation. The brothers became actively involved in the operation when they took out a bank loan to purchase a bull calf at Erdmann Angus ranch for $3,700, in 1971. Their father promised them each a bull calf until the loan was repaid. The bull they bought, Marshall Pride 101, sired an exceptional calf crop the first year with his offspring dominating the North Dakota Winter show. In addition, a group of calves certified the bull as a Certified Meat Sire. The first son sold out of him at the North Dakota Bull Sale more than paid for the bull. Two other bulls entered in the Midland Bull Test sold for $5,000 and $10,000 respectively. In 1974, the herd had grown enough that the boys made the decision to host their first production sale. Prior to that, their father had maintained a registered cowherd but had not actively sold bulls.

Allen’s wife, Arlyss, served as an integral part of the operation for many years. She is now 94 years old and still enjoys hearing about the operation from the rest of the family. Allen passed away in 2011. The third generation of the Frey family has taken a leadership role on the ranch. Currently, Lynn’s son, Lance, and Arlen’s son, Dustin, are involved in the operation. Lynn’s daughter, Shannon, and Arlen’s daughter, Lynsey, help with advertising and sale preparations. There is very little help hired except for help with the Denver cattle. Lynsey’s husband, Eric Aberle, does some custom seeding and harvesting for the ranch. “At Frey Angus Ranch, our father, Allen Frey, always put his sons out front and let them make decisions. We have tried to do the same with our sons. They have great ideas that generally come with more work and a financial investment; however, we wouldn’t have it any other way.” Lynn said, “There’s always plenty of work to do, so we don’t have time to argue about what needs to be done.”

Frey’s philosophy in raising cattle for the market today has not changed much from Allen Frey’s need to raise the kind of cattle that would excel in a commercial market. Allen’s emphasis was always on the female. He would never sell off the top end of the heifer calf crop. He said they were always worth more to retain in the herd than sell to anyone else. He was always searching for the next herd bull that would advance the cowherd and would often find that bull within his own herd, out of a top producing cow. In later years, he gave that responsibility to his sons knowing that they would do what they had been taught. All decisions would need to meet his approval as well as a consensus of group.

Early on, Allen Frey, appreciated the Angus cow as a problem-free and polled individual that would wean off heavy calves. He also used Angus bulls that possessed a larger frame score and provided more growth in their offspring. It was necessary to produce more pounds and growthy calvesto counteract the stigma of the shorter, smaller framed Angus calves that were being discriminated against in the 1950s and early 60s. While Lynn was traveling the country on North Dakota State University (NDSU) judging teams in the late 1960s, he sensed that the cattle back home were the kind that the industry was searching for. A trip to Bon View Angus and Erdmann Angus in South Dakota eventually led to the purchase of Marshall Pride 101 to mate with the predominately Eileenmere and western Canadian-bred females back home.

Frey Angus Ranch developed a herd of registered Red Angus cows that reached over 100 head, resulting from one registered cow born of black parents in 1989. They were successful in winning several local pen shows as well as a number of awards at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver. The decision was made in 2017 to disperse the Red Angus and increase the black Angus herd through retention of more Angus heifer calves. This decision was based on the need to concentrate on the one breed that was the “bread and butter” of the operation.

Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs), and now enhanced EPDs have been and continue to be important in the Frey breeding decisions. They are and should be used in breeding decisions for herd improvement and not solely for marketing purposes. “Long before the breed developed EPDs for docility, fertility, foot structure, carcass and $ Values, these were selection traits of utmost importance to us and our customers as they deserve nothing less. Raising cattle with balanced EPDs that meet several minimal requirements, with cattle that have a certain Frey look and are sound and correct is possible but not always easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it,” commented Lynn.

Freys market their bulls as yearlings in early February. This requires that they calve in late January, February, and early March. With earlier calving dates, they are able to collect weaning, gain, and carcass data by ultrasound for their bull customers. By synchronizing and artificially inseminating (AI) the cows in groups and utilizing embryo transfer (ET), they are able to keep the calving window tight. Registered cows that don’t measure up with numbers and/ or production are shifted to the recipient herd for ET. The sale bulls are developed on the ranch and cooperative herds are not used for additional production. Freys rely on corn silage and forage production to maintain their cowherd and grow and develop the bulls and replacement females. They purchase very little feedstuffs other than supplements.

2020 will be the 45th annual production sale that has been held at the ranch since the very first sale. In recent years, DVAuction (DV) has been utilized to broadcast the videos of the sale offering on the big screen televisions and on the DV website. The cattle sell in catalog order to make the sale easy to follow for the customers and sale staff. Before going to the TV sale format, not all the brothers had ever seen the cattle sell live, because they were busy out back bringing the cattle up to the ring. They now get to enjoy viewing the sale as it happens. The Frey customers have accepted this method of selling as well as purchasing on-line. Lynn states, “The cattle are mainly sold to commercial cattlemen whom we feel are some of the best in the country. In recent years, we have made sales to seedstock producers as well as AI studs from interest generated from our exposure in the carload and pen shows at the National Western in Denver. We compare the pen shows to a poker hand: t is not that difficult to get a high card in a draw, however, it’s more difficult to get a pair or three of a kind. Getting four of a kind is even more difficult and generallynecessary to be competitive in the pen show. Putting a carload together is an even greater challenge and possibly comparable to a rundown in a pinochle card game. Uniformity and quality have always been necessary to us.”

Highlights that will be cherished by the family include raising FAR Krugerrand 410H, and winning Grand Champion Bull at the NWSS 2002. More recently, Freys exhibited the Champion Pen of Three bulls at the NWSS in 2016. The sale of Cowboy Logic to Hoover Angus and Select Sires was also a financial reward that was greatly appreciated in 2019.

FAR Krugerrand 410H has made a major impact in the herd in recent years through the production of his granddaughters. The bull that sired the championship pen of three bulls at the 2016 NWSS, Young Dale Xcaliber 32X, and in turn, Freys Appearance, who was a member of that pen, has been instrumental in the herd’s recent success. Dams that have contributed greatly have been sired by Sitz Upward 307 and Barstow Cash. The daughters of Frey’s Appearance are now taking the front seat as they come into production and Freys will calve out a number of them.

For the ranch, the biggest accomplishment in the last 20 years has been the transfer of ownership of the operation from Allen to his sons and the involvement of the third generation. learn more freyangusranch.com