McLellan Ranch
A South Dakota Mainstay
by Bev Summerbell
Dale and Terri McLellan of Lantry , South Dakota , have been raising Limousin cross commercial feeder calves on their family ranch since 1979 . Their ranch consists of rolling hills and covers three counties ; Zeibach , Dewey and Meade . They currently have a 650 Angus-based cowherd , using Limousin bulls to provide a high-quality product that is popular for industry buyers to feed out and sell to the packer .
In 1979 , Dale ’ s father and uncle purchased a Limousin X Hereford halfblood bull from Kirby Briggs and produced some black , brockel faced mother cows . From that cross , they went on to purchase purebred Limousin bulls and have continued with that program .
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They background their heifers , but sell their steer calves earlier to accommodate the needs of the feedlot buyers .
In addition to their 650-cow herd , they farm nearly 2,000 acres of corn , wheat and sunflowers , plus more than 2,000 acres of hay . In order to provide their pasture requirements , they use more than 9,000 acres of grass for their herd .
The sometimes unforgiving , harsh weather in the plains of west central South Dakota has proved to be a challenge for the family as they work to survive the dry conditions and early snowstorms . In
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