This national award is presented annually to a producer to recognize his or her dedication to improving the beef industry at the commercial level.

Diversification, commitment to principles and an underlying desire to make improvements each day are what make Mundhenke Beef a successful agricultural enterprise. Mundhenke Beef encompasses an Angus-based cow-calf herd, backgrounding yard and farming business. All enterprises are managed carefully and provide the diversification necessary to shoulder risk and uncertainty in today’s agricultural industry. Although the operation is diverse in nature, the priority remains with the cow herd and its ability to produce high-quality beef in demand by consumers.

They started their herd with commercial Black Angus females, artificially inseminating (A.I.) them annually. They purchased 20 registered Angus donor females and, through several years of embryo transfer and using commercial cows as recipient females, they replaced the core herd with registered Angus.

The Mundhenkes use a seven-day CO-Synch + CIDR fixed-time A.I. program on all their replacement heifers and 250 cows. They raise their own bulls and try to use full-brother sons of the sires they A.I. to for cleanup. Commercial cows are bred by natural service to Angus bulls. The breeding season is 60 days for heifers and 90 days for cows.

Through wise utilization of natural resources and years of selective breeding, Mundhenke Beef has developed an efficient, high-producing cow herd that yields offspring targeted for value-added, high-quality markets. Using outstanding genetics and the latest technology in their breeding program has allowed the Mundhenke family to produce sound cattle from ranch to rail.

With the goal of constantly improving to meet customer demand, Mundhenke Beef is positioned to be a leader in the beef industry for generations to come.

More than 350 beef producers, academia and industry representatives were in attendance at the organization’s 49th annual convention. BIF’s mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.

For more information about this year’s symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of meeting and tours, visit the BIF conference website.  

—From Beef Improvement Federation news release