Q: How did your operation get started and where are you located?

A trip to the National FFA Convention in Kansas City, MO, opened the eyes of Pennsylvania native Jason Boyer to cattle country. It was his first time to travel west and he liked what he saw. After he graduated and married, the newlyweds landed in Weldon, IA. “We wanted land to run cows, do a little crop farming and make hay,” he said.

Boyer became a Limousin fan while working at his brother-in-law’s custom butcher shop in Pennsylvania. “We saw all kinds [of cattle], but Limousin had heavier muscle and were leaner,” Boyer said. “More meat would go out the door and less waste would go to rendering. And the customer would get a higher percentage of meat.” In 1986, he bought some commercial cows out of Virginia and bred them to a Limousin bull. Later, he added Limousin females to the herd and grew from there.

Q: When and how do you market cattle from your ranch each year?

Bulls are sold predominantly private treaty, with buyers hailing from the Carolinas to the Dakotas. For 25 years, Boyer Family Farm also consigned to the Iowa Beef Expo, and in 2016, they started marketing a handful of lots at the Black Hills Stock Show in Rapid City, SD. 

“The cattle market is the best it’s ever been in my life,” Boyer said. “We had the second highest selling and third highest selling Limousin bulls this year [at the Black Hills Stock Show]. Our second highest selling was the third highest lot out of all breeds from the whole week.”

Boyer was especially pleased by the buyers who took interest in his homegrown genetics. “We had breeders bidding on our animals this year that I’ve always looked up to,” he said. “That is very rewarding and humbling.”

The Boyer family also markets Limousin beef and beef sticks through their Harvest Barn Marketplace, based in a restored 1930’s hip-roofed milking barn on their farm.

Q: What is one unique way you serve your customers?

The Boyers have bought back out-of-service bulls from their customers to salvage them for their beef stick program. “We also started buying some of our customers’ calves to expand the meat business,” he said. “We like knowing that we are buying our genetics.” That business is now managed by Boyer’s daughter Kaitlyn, who competed on the Iowa State University meat judging team.

Q: What management strategies have provided the greatest benefit to your operation and why?

Boyer said his best strategy has been scaling the operation. “We grew the herd so that we can more efficiently buy feed ingredients and improve facilities,” he said. “You have to get to a certain size to make it feasible. But once you get there, then you can fine tune your feeding program.” That’s allowed Boyer to fine tune the growth of his bulls, too. “We are now getting our animals pound-wise to run neck-and-neck with the bigger breeders. We are finally to that point where the weights, EPDs, and pedigrees are matching up with the way they look.”

Boyer also doesn’t select for single traits. “We’ve worked hard to get EPDs in the upper half of the breed and it has paid off,” he said. “Our bulls combine muscle, docility, balance, and growth so our customers can increase their bottom line.”

Q: If your ranch could be known for one thing, what would you want it to be and why?

“We are a family operation,” Boyer said. “Our kids help with ALL of it – the bulls, the marketing. Our daughter and one of our twin sons, Kacey, take all of the pictures, do the clipping and handle the marketing on social media.”

Kacey’s twin Konrad serves as the farm mechanic, keeping the older and smaller equipment running. And once the biggest share of the calving is over, Boyer and his wife Amy will hit the road delivering bulls, visiting at least seven states. “We’ll be zig-zagging all over the country,” he said.

Q: What new innovations or opportunities are you looking to pursue for your operation in the next 1-3 years?

“Our kids are looking to purchase pieces of land and add to what we are already doing,” Boyer said. Once they marry and settle, he hopes the family can continue working together. “Even though they all have different interests, hopefully someday it will be tied to what we are already doing,” he said. “Maybe they can take on part of our farm to carve a living out and add to it.”

• View our Archives