About Us
For the past 20 years, the Sawyers’ main priority has been to produce thrifty, maintenance free cattle that can thrive under Nebraska Sandhills range conditions. The cow herd consists of 500 registered Angus cows that run just like cows on other ranch operations in the area.
The cow herd is summered on native grass pastures and wintered on nearby corn-stalk fields. For over 30 years, the A & B cow herd has evolved in this Sandhills ranch environment and are bred to thrive on the forages nature provides.
Calves are not creep fed and cows are not supplemented while on pasture, thus providing the most accurate data on a cow’s individual performance. Any cows that do not wean a big calf consistently or are reproductively inferior are automatically culled. This rigid selection process is reflected in females that are deep-sided and broody and bulls that are thick-made, fast-gaining, and maintenance free.
An annual bull sale markets the top 130 bulls that have survived rigorous culling and performance evaluations. No yearling bull born after April 1st is sold through the sale, but retained to be sold for fall breeding programs. Bulls from the fall breeding program are also included in the annual sale. Five select front-end bred females, paternal sisters AI bred to the same sire, are sold annually at the National Western Stock Show in the Foundation Female Sale. Other marketing includes feeding and marketing our age and source identified steers, the bottom one-third of our bulls. A group of commercial bred females is also marketed annually in December. Registered Angus bulls and females are available private treaty year round.
The goal remains in this decade as in the past…to raise moderate-framed cattle with superior early growth and performance while maintaining moderate birth weights and exceptional maternal and carcass traits.
The Sawyer Family
Arlen & Becky
Arlen and Becky Sawyer own and operate A & B Cattle and actively manage the day to day activities at the ranch. Arlen is currently serving his second term on the American Angus Association board of directors and currently serves as Chairman of the Certified Angus Beef board. He also served as president of the Nebraska Angus Association in 1998 and as president of the Area II Nebraska Cattlemen. Both he and Becky served as advisors to the Nebraska Junior Angus Association.
Both of the Sawyer children, Jessica and Adam, have been actively involved in the day-to-day ranch operations as well as many Angus activities. They both own registered Angus cows that are part of the ranch operation.
Adam & Jessica
Adam is currently living in Roswell, New Mexico where he is employed by Farm Credit Services of New Mexico. He enjoys ranch life immensely and has started his own band of registered Quarter Horses and herd of registered Angus females which he keeps at the ranch. While attending Texas Tech University he was a member of their team and participated in collegiate rodeos in the southwest region. In his spare time he is a calf roper, steer wrestler and team roper.
Jessica is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and is currently living in Billings, Montana where she works at the Billings Clinic. She was an active member of the National and Nebraska Junior Angus Associations and a past national board member of the NJAA. She also has a herd of registered Angus cows at Bassett and spends her spare time helping out at the ranch as well. Both Adam and Jessica can be seen helping out with the bred heifers consigned to the National Western Foundation Female sale and helping with the annual bull sale in Bassett.