Like all seedstock producers, we would like to put together a genetic package that will have a major impact in the industry. With today's complex industry and the necessity for genetics to compete on all fronts, it is not an easy task. We feel that cattle have to calve and reproduce at a high rate, grow efficiently and then end with a desirable carcass that our consumers will demand. By using all the tools outlined here, we feel we are getting closer every year to attaining this goal.

Duane Warden grew up on a 400-acre farm in Grant City, Missouri. In 1939, at age 14, he raised a Grand Championship Angus Steer in the regional FFA show in Kansas City. It brought 13 cent a pound, which was a good price then. At that time, a Dodge 4-door sedan cost $925!

Inspired by the example of a country doctor, he went to medical school and specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology. After completing his residency, he served two years in the Army, delivering babies at Fort Eustice in Virginia.

In 1955 he started a practice in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Before he retired in 1990, he delivered 6,500 babies there. Over the years, he switched from babies to Angus cattle.

From its start in 1964, our performance breeding program has been expanded continuously to take advantage of improved technology and genetics.  Wardens Farm was an early supporter of bull tests, selling the top bull at the Iowa Bull Test in 1972 and the top sire group at Dunlap in 1974.

Tools that we have used include:

1. Birth, weaning, and yearling weights

2. EPD's for the traits above plus maternal milk

3. Carcass data collection

4. AHIR: Angus Herd Improvement Records

5. Ultrsound carcass data

6. Feed efficiency on bull tests

7. Iowa Beef Tenderness & Carcass Evaluation Project

8. Circle A Sire Alliance

9. Iowa Sire Profit Evaluation Project

A new era began at Wardens Farm in 1982 with the purchase of a Pinpointer 4000.  The Pinpointer provides access to feed for one animal at a time, recording the identity of that animal as it moves into the feeding area.  By monitoring the weight of feed constantly, the animal's intake can be determined when it leaves the area.  This setup provides individual feed consumption measurements, allowing us to test the feed efficiency on our bulls each year.  We have now been directly selecting for high-efficiency cattle for twenty-two years!  Recently we have upgraded to a new Feed Intake Monitoring System that allows us to test 42 bulls for feed efficiency.

As carcass quality becomes an increasingly important factor in the beef industry, Wardens Farm is once again ahead of the game.  Since 1992, we have collected data on 18 bulls through the American Angus Association Sire Evaluation Program.  We have also been scanning our yearling bulls for several years now.  All of this data allows us to provide accurate carcass and ultrasound EPD's.

We utilize artificial insemination extensively in the Wardens Farm herd, inseminating cows through one heat cycle before turning out our own clean-up bulls.  A.I. sires include our bulls as well as proven sires from other programs.

Bull selection:

Today our program includes a core herd of cows in Council Bluffs as well shared herds in Tingley and Oakland, Iowa, and Eagleville, Missouri.  In all, Wardens Farm runs over 300 registered Angus cows.  Our bulls are sold by private treaty each spring after completing our bull test.

This year, 130 cows were synchronized and bred to these A.I. sires: