Angus herd focused on developing cattle with longevity and product merit

ELIZABETH, Ill. — The focus at TWG Ranch is to raise reproductive, maternal cattle with longevity and product merit.

“We are a purebred Angus operation, but we’re always making our breeding decisions based on what the commercial producers are going to need,” said Jarad Carroll, cattle operations manager at TWG Ranch.

Rapid expansion has occurred at TWG Ranch since the first cows were purchased in the spring of 2022.

“An investor started buying ground in this area, and a friend of mine, David Walter, asked me if I would like to manage a large-scale cow ranch,” Carroll said.

The herd began with purchasing commercial cows, and in the fall of 2022, about 100 purebred Angus cows were added to the herd.

In the summer of 2023, TWG Ranch bought the Woodhill cow herd from Brian McCulloh.

“We purchased 250 mature cows, 130 bred heifers and 130 replacement heifers,” Carroll said.

“I had no idea we would get this big this fast, but when I was contacted by Brian about the Woodhill herd, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “Brian spent 40 years building his herd and he is a great mentor, helping me with breeding decisions.”

Carroll was raised in Lanark.

“I moved to Mt. Carroll and have been farming and running cows ever since,” he said. “I also worked for Equity Livestock for 17 years as a field rep, buying and selling feeder cattle and I am still a private contractor for Equity.”

Two hoop buildings were built in the summer of 2023 and a third one completed in January of this year on the ranch.

“Today we have about 700 cows and about half of the commercial cows are used for recips,” Carroll said. “We’re pretty much to the point where we’re done growing. We might get a little bigger.”

The cows are housed in the hoop buildings for three months.

“There can be a lot of mud in March, so we calve in the hoop barns and keep the pairs in for 50 to 60 days,” Carroll said.

The buildings have curtains on the north side.

“We keep the curtains open, but if it’s raining or snowing a lot we can lower them,” Carroll said. “The cold weather does not bother cows, they just need dry backs and the calf alley is all the way down the backside so the calves can go in there and lay and get their creep feed.”

Calving starts on the Jo Daviess County farm in January.

“We’ll be done by the first of May and we’re going to tighten that up, but you can’t do that in just one year,” Carroll said. “Our goal is 75 to 90 days for calving.”

The cows are divided into breeding groups of 80 to 140 head.

“We sync all the females and they all get one shot at AI and then the herd bulls go in,” Carroll said.

“We’re doing extensive ET work. Tomorrow we’re putting in 40 embryos,” he said. “I have technicians to do the embryo work and the AI breeding.”

The ranch includes 1,800 acres of pasture, 2,000 acres of row crops where corn, beans and wheat are grown and 450 acres of alfalfa production.

“We have four full-time people with the cattle and three full-time people for the crops,” the cattle manager said.

One of the goals for the ranch, Carroll said, is to develop a calf buyback program.

“For those who buy a bull from us, I will look at their calves and try to get them placed in a feedlot or find a buyer for them,” he said. “Then we can get carcass data back on the cattle to help us stay in check for what we need to be doing.”

Over the past three years, a lot of fence has been built at the TWG Ranch.

“We’re approaching eight miles of perimeter fence that is high-tensile barb fence,” the cattleman said. “Another goal for us is rotational grazing so we’re working on watering and getting fences built for better pasture management.”

Carroll is concerned about the moisture conditions going into the growing season.

“The grass is green and the top 18 inches has moisture, but when you get below that it’s dry,” he said. “I’m so nervous that I bought 500 bales of hay because if we have to start feeding cows this summer the hay goes fast.”

Last summer, construction started on the sale facility at TWG Ranch and its inaugural bull sale was held on April 12, where 105 bulls were sold.

“We will have an annual bull sale on the second Saturday in April,” Carroll said. “It might not be every year, but we’re going to have a female sale in the fall and we’re working on getting a date for that locked down.”