2024 Fall Cattle Journal | Wilken Angus Ranch
Faith, Family and Functional Cattle
For 35 years, Gary and Lori Wilken have been ranching on the place where Gary grew up north of Faith, South Dakota.
“I’m the fourth generation,” Gary said. His great-grandfather, Matthew Wilken, homesteaded in the area. Both his grandpa, Henry, and father, Don, also ranched. Gary and his sister Linda grew up on the family ranch. Their interest and eye for cattle began at home and flourished through the 4-H program. Linda was a state 4-H cattle judging champion.
“I wanted to ranch, but Dad and Mom weren’t going to let me start ranching right after high school,” he said. “They said I had to go away to school and get a job first.”
After graduating from Faith High School, Gary pursued a degree at Black Hills State University, and then took a job as a bank examiner in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Gary and Lori met in Sioux Falls where Lori taught school. The couple married in 1988 and moved home to join Gary’s parents on the ranch in 1989.
“We started ranching with them and had the great privilege of living in the same yard and ranching with them for 25 years,” Gary said. “We couldn’t have gotten started or established without their help.”
Previous generations of the Wilken family had raised Herefords, but Donald and Lulu Mae started switching over to Angus cattle in 1980.
“Dad and mom liked the Angus cows so much better. They’re a pretty amazing animal, really,” Gary said.
Gary and Lori added to their herd from several registered Angus breeders but chose to maintain a commercial, albeit purebred, Angus herd.
“We have full pedigrees on our cows; they are not registered but we know exactly what they are. For the past 21 years, every replacement kept and bull sold has been AI sired. All our bulls are purebred commercial Angus bulls. Every bull sold is always DNA tested to know his genetic potential and also to verify his sire.
“We sell our bulls to the best cattlemen in the world.”
Wilkens select for “middle of the road cattle,” Gary said, with calving ease a priority, a trait in which the Angus breed excels.
“Our focus is to make outstanding females with good udders, good feet and great dispositions. We always keep in mind what the feeder is looking for too: cattle that will grow and do well for the packer.”
Balanced trait, functional females don’t get extra pampering on the Wilken ranch.
“A lot of people want to take credit for the Angus cow, but God made her,” Gary said. “Hyper focus on individual traits in a breeding program can really change cattle, often to the extreme.”
Wilkens look for AI sires that will bring consistency to their herd, add value to their customers’ calf crops, and help improve customers’ cow herds.
“I go for proven cattle with no surprises. We want to use proven bulls that are going to help us maternally, be sound and still produce moderate to high growth cattle that will work well in a packing plant. We try to use bulls that we know what we’re getting: something that’s going to improve the cow herd and put some consistency in his calves.”
Selecting for cattle that match the feed base and environment on the ranch is important to Wilkens.
“This country is not made for hard-fleshing cattle. They need to be able to make it through a blizzard, make it through a dry summer, and breed back.”
Wilkens’ watch heifer pregnancy and fertility EPDs carefully when making breeding selections. They have done genomic testing on their bulls for the past seven or eight years, and use the results as a tool in decision making.
“We look at the cattle first,” Gary said. “We have to like the way they look and look good when we take them to town or the genomic test doesn’t matter. We try to make sure there are no holes in our cattle.”
Gary and Lori’s five daughters are all grown; their son Josh is a sophomore at Sunshine Bible Academy and son Seth is a fifth grader in Bison. They also currently have three foster children in their care.
“All our children are good help,” Gary said. “Everyone felt sorry for me when we had five daughters, but I couldn’t ask for better help.”
Even though the girls have all grown up and moved on in their lives, all of the children own cattle and take part in the operation.
Daughter Ann works in Sioux Falls, does the sale catalogs and advertising for the ranch. Katie is teaching math part time at Sunshine Bible Academy and working on publishing her first cookbook. Son-in-law Cody Herman and daughter Tricia ranch with Gary and Lori, running a ranch near Hettinger, North Dakota, where Tricia also works as a nurse. Cody and Tricia’s boys, Jacob and Jack are the fifth generation of the family. Daughter Lindsey and her husband Teigan Clark ranch with his family. Lindsey is the Kindergarten teacher in Bison and Teigan is an electrician. Susan and her husband Tayte Goodman operate a fencing business near Towner, North Dakota, where they live with their four foster children.
Lori’s brother, Wade Hofer, has worked for Wilkens’ for 24 years.
“We couldn’t ranch without him and wouldn’t want to,” Gary said. “Wade is pretty amazing help. We’re also thankful for Arno who is here from South Africa for part time help.”
After years of early calving and marketing yearling bulls, Wilkens’ moved their calving dates back to April.
“We start calving heifers around April 5, and cows around the 15-20 of April. We can just leave the cows out in the pasture to calve. We can still get some weather but it’s not as cold and doesn’t last as long.”
Fighting the weather “can be plum discouraging,” Gary said. “Calving early just wasn’t our thing. We always had to feed the yearling bulls so much. Calving later and making two-year olds, the bulls never get pushed. They are fed a light ration as calves and run on grass about three months in the summertime. We bring them in the end of August to get them ready for our sale.”
Wilkens hold their “Black Friday” bull sale the day after Thanksgiving.
“We’ve found these coming two-year-old bulls last better and get more accomplished in the first year,” Gary said.
He believes that growing them out slowly on grass and a high roughage ration contribute to this.
“We like every part of the cattle business, from cow/calf to yearlings to fed cattle; we like it all and feel like we were made for it,” Gary said. “The best part is the people we get to meet through the bull business and the friends we have made. Hopefully we are helping them to meet their goals.”
Working together has been a blessing for the Wilken family.
“Doing all the work it takes to raise a bull and run our cattle with our family we enjoy a lot, and I think they would all say they really liked working together,” Lori said.
Wilkens treasure the relationships they build and the opportunities to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others.
“Everything we have is a gift from God,” Gary said. “It’s a good thing.”