Pat Kirk's Calves Were Like a Secret That Hadn't Got Out...Yet.

Through the spring and summer of 2020, Pat had a friend encourage him to sell his Angus calves to like minded cattle growers.

“Pat, you have a superior product that people are looking for. Now days, grass-fed beef customers are highly involved in natural co-ops, whole food grocery stores, and clean-meat consumption. They are looking for the kind of beef you produce!”

Pat though, “I understand that.” But at first, there were a lot of things that had to be considered. For example, where do you find these kind of people to sell to? How do you get started selling clean beef? And as a calf-cow operation, Pat wasn't looking to raise full grown cattle.

Pat wisely weighed the pros and cons of his friend's suggestion.

But he did have a superior beef product in his calves, and selling at cattle auctions did have its drawbacks.

The truth is, almost every cattle farmer knows that selling calves in sale barns causes their value to decreases. This is because cattle farmers must consider the costs of animal weight loss from transportation and environmental stress, cattle diseases that their calves could be exposed to, and the added animal auction fees. Selling high-quality Angus at a sale barn certainly wasn't the best option.

"If I could sell to finishing cattle farmers who are like minded, that would be great!" Pat pondered.

Back then, Pat’s quality beef cattle was like a SECRET that hadn’t got out yet. His local Iowa, grass-fed beef was not only hormone and antibiotic-free, but registered Angus, on top of all that. (Herd is antibiotic-free except when sickness makes treatment necessary for quality of life.) The closed herd even had a bull win in the Quality Event, Chicago Beef Expo in the 1950s. It was undeniable – Pat’s calves were top notch, and he treated them like it too.

“You might just have an idea there,” he said with calculated confidence. “Let’s give it a try.”

And that was the beginning!

Pat Kirk officially started his expanded cattle sales operation in October 2020, and the farm officially was dubbed Pat Kirk Angus.

A lot has happened since then.

Pat has hired a website developer and learned a lot about independent cattle sales and the options that go along with them. Together, we have done TONS of learning and growing. We gathered information and networked, researched things like how to sell your Angus cattle online. Then we made calls and emailed local farms and food companies for advice and sales opportunities - to whom we are very grateful.

It took hard work and lots hours - still does - but we've started at the grass roots with this business, and we'll leave the results up to God.

Now, the secret is out!