Wicks Angus has a fairly narrow criteria when selecting A.I. sires to use. We use very moderate birthweight EPD’s. We try to stay in the -1 to +1 range for heifers and not over +3 for cows. We watch weaning weight, but are more concerned with the milk EPD’s. We don’t creep feed anything.The only thing that grows the calf is the mother’s milk and grass. We want to make sure our genetics are growing the calves – not a creep feeder. We also strive for a high scrotal EPD. We won’t sell a bull with a yearling scrotal measurement under 30 cm. For carcass traits, we want a balance of good ribeye size and IMF. We don’t want extremes either way. In addition, we are watching docility EPD's on A.I. sires, as we strive for bulls with good disposition. We really like the $ values the American Angus Association came up with. We look for bulls with good $Beef values. For more information on $ values, visit the association’s website at www.angus.org.
We calve out our heifers in late February/early March. The cows are bred to calve in mid-late March. We pull the clean-up bulls so we’re done calving no later than May 1st. By shortening up the calving dates we have nearly eliminated the hard-to-breed cows.
Wicks Angus tests their herd annually to make sure the herd stays clear of Johnes. All bulls and heifers sold are AMF, NHF, CAF, OSF, and OHF. We feel this is very important not only for our own herd, but for our buyers' herds as well. We offer a first breeding season guarantee with all bulls we sell. All bulls sold are semen tested prior to our annual production sale and are given the full bull package of shots for pinkeye, foot rot, anthrax, and BVD prior to delivery. They are also fly-tagged and poured prior to delivery. In other words, they are delivered pasture-ready and ready to go to work. Delivery is free in the state of South Dakota or within 300 miles.