SIMMENTALS
Meet John & Lance
Ficken Angus Farms
Ficken Angus Farms was started in 1940 by my parents. That herd was dispersed in 1968 due to drought. My wife and I started a new herd in 1972 with three cows from the Green Garden herd at Ellsworth, Ks. Two more cows were added the next year from Willard Ericson at Marquette, Kansas From that meager start, we applied our philosophy to breeding Angus cattle.
Our three children showed cattle and were involved with the operation until they were out of high school, except our youngest son, Lance, who maintained a small group of cows. He and his wife are partners in the operation. Our ideas of how cattle should perform have not changed from the beginning.
Cattle exist to produce meat; that is the goal. We expect our cattle to be better than average in the major EPDs and dollar traits. We have never bred for extremes in any one trait, and our herd has always been selected for calving ease, structural soundness, good udders, and carcass quality.
Our mission to produce cattle that the commercial cattleman can make a profit at any level they choose to sell, and the buyer will want those cattle again. "That goal is an ever-moving target; we are getting closer to the bullseye every calf crop."
Meet Travis
Rafter W Cattle Co
Rafter W Cattle Company began in 2006 while running cattle with my father Roy Williams. My twin brother and I showed cattle when we were younger, and once my daughters were in 4-H they started showing registered Angus and Simmental cattle.
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In 2018 Rafter W made the transition to exclusively a registered Simmental/ SimAngus, herd when the operation moved to La Crosse, KS to be co-managed by my cousin Lance Ficken at Ficken Angus Farms. The foundation of our Simmental program began with genetics from, Ruby Cattle Company, Cow Camp Ranch, Schooley Cattle Co, Shoal Creek Land and Cattle, Sunflower Genetics, Schick Cattle Co and Triangle J Ranch.
I believe utilizing the Simmental/SimAngus breed, creates an eye-appealing marketable animal that possesses highly desirable maternal and carcass traits that make them extremely valuable in every segment of the beef industry.
My breeding objective is to select Al sires that possess structural soundness, excellent phenotype and are in the top 1/3 of the percentile of selected traits, which include; CE, BW, WW, YW, Doc, YG, Marb, REA, API, and TI. Selecting for these traits allows the program to bring efficient, moderate, balanced females into production and produce bulls that will offer superior growth, eye appeal, carcass merit and a total genetics/EPD package to the cattle producer.
My family has been in the cattle industry for many generations, and we continue to adapt to the ever-changing times, striving for that optimal animal. We welcome visitors at the farm in LaCrosse, KS where the cattle are located.