Stevenson-Basin Angus Ranch

Stevenson Basin
The Family History of North America’s Largest Angus Herd

Grandpa Jamie Stevenson

Nearly a century ago, the first of the Stevenson family decided to make Central Montana home, even before our local community of Hobson was established. The Judith Basin, named by the Lewis and Clark expedition, was originally home to the great migratory herds of buffalo and the nomadic natives that followed them. In 1880, a young cowboy named Charlie Russell ventured into the Judith Basin. America’s most legendary western artist painted and cowboy’d his way through the days of the big roundups. The buffalo herds were still plentiful, but within a few years, they were gone. The Blackfeet, Crow, and Assiniboine freely traveled and hunted across the Judith Basin, one of their favorite hunting grounds. That quickly ended with government intervention. The rancher and the cowboy slowly tamed the wild country as the herds of cattle replaced the buffalo. The mountain men, buffalo hunters, wolfers, and rustlers all had their hey-days before law, order and civilization ruled. Wide-open range with “grass side up” was fenced and plowed “grass side down.” Settlers rapidly tamed the land. Discovery of gold and eventually the famous Yogo Sapphire, brought even more land tamers. The Judith Basin continues to stir the imagination and spirit today as it did for a cowboy artist over 100 years ago.

With the inclusion of homesteads, railroads and reliable civic order Jim Stevenson moved his family nearby the existing family ranches. Not a land owner and finding work where available, he raised his family in humble fashion. One son, Jamie, showed great interest for the land and eventually a small parcel of 240 acres was financed and purchased on a partnership basis. Everything that encompasses the Stevenson Basin legacy goes back to that initial land purchase, with agriculture being our sole source, then as now.

Meadowmere Lad 2

Jamie and Jeanette Stevenson graduated school from one of Hobson High School’s first graduating classes and were married in 1936. They spent the first winter of their marriage in the bunkhouse of his parent’s ranch. Although these were some of the darkest days of the Great Depression and one of the coldest winters on record in Montana, they could not in their wildest dreams have imagined that their now-joint venture of 40 cows and 240 sheep with Jamie’s parents would some day grow into a family operation ranking as the largest breeder of Angus cattle in North America.

For more than seven decades, our family has believed in our ability to make a living in the beautiful, but often harsh ranch land of Central Montana. Carrying on the tradition established by Grandpa Jamie and Grandma Jeanette, each new generation of the family has added land and more Angus cows. As a new generation of our family mature, the collective Angus herds of the Stevenson heirs number almost 4,000 cows on the home ranches near Hobson, with an additional 1,000 cows in out-of-state herds in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri. All of the family’s enterprise is based on Angus genetics, both Black and Red.

Wayne Stevenson

The birth of five sons, Jim, Wes, Wayne, Keith and Rick, kept the household lively during the early years. Jamie and Jeanette scrimped and saved to put food on the table for their sons and to expand their ranching enterprise. Crops, cream, eggs, custom harvest work and a flock of turkeys contributed during these early years. Jamie’s main priority was always to add more land. By the mid 40’s he had a band that ranged from 1,200 to 1,500 sheep and a herd of mostly Shorthorn and Hereford cattle that Jeanette fondly recalls “a calico group of cattle.” In 1946, Jamie and Jeanette opened a new chapter of the family when they purchased four registered Angus heifers from the dispersal sale of Airyland Ranch, one of Montana’s pioneer Angus herds, nearby in Lewistown. We’ve been hooked on Angus cattle since that humble but historic beginning. By the early 50’s, the majority of the herd was Angus and the growth and expansion has never stopped.

Grandpa Jamie fondly described the herd sire that put us on the map in this way: “For us to tell about Meadowmere Lad 2nd is just like talking about one of the family. We bought him from Meadow Lane Farms in ’58. When we bought him, his dam was considered to be one of the greatest cows that had been brought to America. Many of his sons have been high gaining calves in Production Testing Centers. Any way you look at it, he has proven himself to be a cattleman’s kind of bull.” That innovative spirit of bringing new genetics to Montana and the emphasis on using herd sires from great cows has been deeply ingrained in every generation since the founder.

JRS Bar Lad 71

A series of landmarks tell the story of evolution of Stevenson Basin. A major step in the family’s expansion came in 1972 when Wayne and his wife Marian left Stevenson Angus Ranch and founded Basin Angus Ranch. Sharing common goals and philosophies, the two ranches have been operated as separated entities with shared herd sire ownership and shared marketing efforts. In 1982, the desire to strengthen the joint marketing efforts was formalized with the creation of Stevenson Basin Inc. This is the official entity that handles all the marketing of cattle and semen.

The passing of Grandpa Jamie in 1975 was another milepost along the trail of both good and bad times for our family. Grandma Jeanette then made possibly some of the most pivotal decisions within the next few years. Deciding to pass on the ranch and outright sell it to the boys, she ultimately molded the direction for the next generations. The ranch was split and sold five ways between the sons. Grandma still remains very active in the Angus world and served as President for both the American Angus Auxiliary and Montana Angus Auxiliary. In 1991, she was inducted into the American Angus Association Heritage Foundation as only the third woman to receive this honor. Today, she is 93 years young.

Willabar Gay Gordon 67A

With the untimely death of Wayne Stevenson, the children of Marian and Wayne stepped forward into leadership positions at a young age. Basin Angus Ranch is now operated by Marian, her son Doug, his wife, Sharon and Marian’s daughter, Valerie and her husband Clint Carr. Their children represent the fifth generation Montanans from the Basin branch of the Stevenson family: Brittany, Leisa and Nicole are students in Hobson. Kyle is serving in the military in Iraq, Loni graduated from MSU and is working in Bozeman and Nathan is attending MSU-Billings College of Technology. Doug is a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Junior Angus Association, past President of the Montana Angus Association, and past President of the Montana Red Angus Association. Sharon also led the Montana Angus Auxiliary as President. Marian’s son Clint and his wife Adana operate Stevenson’s Diamond Dot, the third and newest addition to the Stevenson Basin Corporation. They have five children, Wayne, Faith, Abby, Rachael and Carson. Wayne’s contributions to the Angus breed were recognized posthumously in 1994 when he was inducted into the American Angus Association’s Heritage Foundation.

QAS Traveler 23-4

Until 1993, the original Stevenson Angus Ranch used the JRS prefix for females and suffix for bulls that represented the initials of the founder, Jamie Stevenson. Stevenson Angus Ranch is now owned and operated by Keith Stevenson, a past President of the American Angus Association, and his wife Roberta. The oldest son Darrell and his wife Sara are home on the ranch with their two children C.J. and Claire. Bob is also home with his wife Robin. Bob is an embryo technician doing work for all of the ranches and is also a Certified Ultra-sound Technician. He is the past Vice-Chairman of the National Junior Angus Association Board. Mike is Vice President of the Montana State University Foundation in Bozeman, MT. Jake has recently returned home to work full time on the ranch.

Basin Q Bar 163

In 1969, Grandpa Jamie outlined the goals and mission of his family operation in these words in his annual sale book: “Not only rate of gain and pounds are considered at Stevensons, we are constantly alerted to the need to conserve those traditional advantages of the Angus. Easy calving, plenty of milk, natural mothering ability and ability to rustle for themselves on the range; lose any of these and the breed is in trouble. Our aim is to keep a well-rounded program going, always looking for a better herd sire, always trying to learn a little more about our cattle so that we will be able to better serve you, our customers.” Four decades later, we still operate on those same principles, using all the new technologies while adhering to the basics that Grandpa Jamie instilled within us.

Rambo 465T of JRS

The more things change, the more they stay the same. After six decades as Angus breeders, we still strive to maintain a high level of quality – from top to bottom. Over the years the herd sires have changed, but the type and kind hasn’t. Many bulls have roamed these pastures in the Judith Basin, and some have received national as well as international recognition. These few cornerstone sires merit special recognition for their contribution to both Stevenson Basin and the entire industry.

Descending from Grandpa Jamie’s 1958 purchase of Meadowmere Lad 2, the Pathfinder Sire JRS Bar Lad 71, who was born in 1971, put extra pounds on his calves and left a group of daughters who are the matriarchs of many of our oldest and strongest cow families.

Basin Emulation 5653

GDAR Rainmaker 340

A few of the “old timers” remember that the very first, original performance test was started in our neighboring Judith Basin town of Stanford. Lloyd Schmidt operated the Performing Index Center where Grandpa Jamie purchased three imported Canadian bulls. Born in 1969, two of the three, Willabar Gay Gordon 95A and Willabar Gay Gordon 67A, continued service in our breeding program for many years. Looking back, 67A had as much of a maternal influence in our herds as any one sire with a large percentage of our current cow base tracing to him.

The importation of Jumbo K of Willabend 6022D from Canada was a milestone. Born in 1972, he bred cows in natural service past ten years of age and produced daughters with unparalleled longevity.

One of Wayne’s proudest achievements was the production of Basin Q Bar 163 in 1973. Inter-nationally respected as a sire of great Angus females, he ranked among the top two sires in the entire Angus breed for Milk EPD in all three of the first National Sire Evaluation Reports. Like Jumbo, Q Bar bred cows in pasture past ten years of age and produced daughters whose udder structure combined both heavy milk production and longevity. Q Bar daughters were in production until just a few years ago and he can be found in the pedigrees of a long list of breed-leading maternal trait sires.

Through the late 70’s and early 80’s, the Bluebird Lad of GMH 41 bull was yet another Canadian bred bull that impacted our breeding programs and eventually many others worldwide. A son, Lad 118K of JRS, was sold in 1979 to N Bar Land and Cattle and eventually became known as the maternal grandsire to the legendary N Bar Emulation EXT.

Med Rock Traveler JR

Wayne’s decision to join forces with several other leading Montana Angus breeders to purchase QAS Traveler 23-4 as the $60,000 top-selling bull of the 1979 Treasure Test Station Sale will always be remembered as one of the most important in the history of our family. As our first sire to be leased to a major A.I. Stud, he would initiate a new phase within the industry and go on to be the all-time high sales volume bull in the history of the American Breeders Service A.I. Stud, the largest A.I. organization in the world. Traveler needs no introduction to anyone who has looked at an Angus pedigree over the past two decades and his genetics can be found throughout the world.

In 1982 and 1983, Wayne, Doug and Clint Carr produced Basin Fury and Basin Emulation 5653 who have proven to be cornerstone maternal trait sires for our programs. Daughters of these two great sires covered all of the essentials and are still in production today.
After unsuccessfully trying to buy the Auburn Test Station winner, Lovana, when he sold for a record $300,000 in Alabama, Wayne went in search of his greatest son. Produced in the herd of neighboring Montana Angus breeder Russ Denowh, GDAR Rainmaker 340 more than replaced his sire in Angus history. Born in 1983, he is still impacting the industry through his grandsons and numerous highly productive daughters.

Basin Max 602C

Keith raised the first major sire to be featured in the Select Sires A.I. Stud, Rambo 465T of JRS. A carcass bull before his time, Rambo consistently ranked among the top one third of progeny-tested sires for both Marbling EPD and Ribeye EPD. As the emphasis of the beef industry has shifted to carcass merit, the influence of Rambo and his daughters grows in popularity and recognition. The addition of the double-bred Rainmaker bull, Basin Rainmaker 814Z, to Select Sires from our 1990 crop was largely unheralded and largely without promotion until his combination of carcass excellence with solid calving-ease and great milking daughters forced the spotlight to shine upon him. 814Z eventually ranked as one of the top three volume semen sales bull in the history of Select Sires.

The mid 80’s sparked a pivotal turning point for our outfit. Three of our current herd sires at this time were red gene carriers Basin Rainmaker 2135, Gallaghers Yankee and Burthlene Cannoneer 21R. Yankee gained international status as the Reserve Champion bull at the World Angus Forum in 1985 at Edmonton, Alberta, one of the last times that any of our stock were shown in competition. At a time when most of the Red Angus with all Black pedigree where being discarded by the industry, Doug stepped up and started gathering a small but powerful group of these females. Building on that foundation, much of our current day Red Angus herd is deeply influenced by our Black genetics.

Stevenson Fortune 425C

A decade after his birth, the 1987 and 1988 calf crops produced two major herd sires featuring the genetics of their foundation sire, Traveler. Med Rock Traveler JR, a son of Traveler would become a breed leader for MILK EPD and follow his sire to the ABS Global A.I. Stud. GT Maximum, the top-performing and top-selling bull of the 1989 Wisconsin State Bull Test, would start a chain of events that made his dam the most recognized and valuable daughter of Traveler in the world. Sired by Scotch Cap, Max brought superior growth and carcass genetics to our program. For several years he was the most popular sire with ABS Global. The growth and carcass excellence of Max in combination with the generations of high maternal genetics concentrated within our herds opened the door to a new era for our operation. Basin Max 602C, the featured ABS Global total performance sire by Max from a dam who combines Rainmaker and Q Bar, is a classic example of stacked Stevenson Basin genetics. The most influential sire of the past ten years, 602C has over-exceeded our expectations with literally more than a thousand of his sons selling into the commercial sector. They could work anywhere and add depth and volume like no other bull in the breed.

Grandpa looked to Canada for new genetics in the 60’s and 70’s and with that same mindset we continued through the 80’s and 90’s with the addition of the Fortune sire line and sampling sons from various other sires throughout the industry. Specifically the two Fortune bred bulls to greatly influence our programs were known as Kansas and Sensation from the 1989 and 1990 calf crops. Each contributed great sons and daughters to our gene pool.

Basin Rainmaker 654X, strengthened a surge of continually international interest. Two bulls were exported in the 80’s to Argentina, Powder Keg and Tyrone. 654X was the bull ex-ported to Argentina that solidi-fied our cow herd’s maternal strength internationally. He eventually became the most widely used A.I. sire in the long history of that great cattle producing nation and his influence opened many doors.

Stevenson Royce 741C

Live cattle, semen and embryos have been exported to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Africa and Uruguay. Both bulls and females have been exported to Canada and Mexico for many years and in 1985 and 1986, a shipment of nearly 700 registered Angus heifers were exported to Japan. Since 1995, we have been the leading North American exporter of Angus bulls to South America. Few people realize that the sale barn in Hobson is so world renowned. International inquiries are dealt with daily and many tours are given throughout the year. Several internships have included participants from Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. Many long time friends and customers have developed through the years and Stevenson Basin genetics are annually shipped worldwide. Periodically, we are fortunate enough to visit overseas and witness the successes of these genetics. Visits have been made to the Palermo Stockshow in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Beef Bull Week in New Zealand and the Golden Autumn Trade Show in Moscow, Russia as well as bull sales from Canada to Brazil.

Basin Hobo 79E

1993 was a calf crop of herd bulls including Basin Max 602C of ABS Global, Stevenson Fortune 425C of Alta Genetics, Stevenson Royce 741C of Alta Genetics, Stevenson Maximum 42C of Alta Genetics and Stevenson Max 930C of Semex Las Lilas of Argentina. 425C, 741C, and 42C were all featured bulls for Alta Genetics throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand while also seeing heavy use throughout all of South America and South Africa. 930C eventually became the most widely distributed bull through the Argentinean based Semex of Las Lilas and was the number two recorded bull in Argentina for registrations in 2007. A son of 741C, Stevenson Bruno 561G, eventually followed his sire to the Alta Genetics A.I. stud to also headline their sire roster and be used internationally.

Gardens Expedition

The dam of 741C offered a classic example of our search for outcross genetics. Selected by Keith from the neighboring Ahlgren Angus herd in Montana, she was sired by a bull featuring New Zealand Angus genetics from a dam by the Canadian import known as Pacesetter. Staying in production until eighteen years of age this grand old matron raised many herd bulls including Nugget 801X of ABS Global, Maximum 801A of Accelerated Genetics, Stevenson Fortune 801D of Semex Las Lilas and possibly her best female producing son, Stevenson Rolling Thunder. All of the Estella born sons added bone, volume and substance with excellent foot and leg structure and added scrotal circumference. Her influence will be felt through many future generations.

Diamond Rainmaker 154E, born in 1995, bred and raised by Clint, continued the everlasting Rainmaker bloodline. Typical of the bloodline, he was low birth, high maternal ranking in the top 1% of the breed for milk and added additional IMF. Many 154E daughters are cur-rently in production and con-sistently wean some of our heaviest calves.

The Basin Reds program reached a new level in 1995 with the birth of two powerful herd sires, Basin Hobo 79E raised by Doug and Basin Sensation 702E raised by Keith. 79E eventually was leased to ABS Global and served as a cornerstone for our modern day herd. Very low birth, high maternal, fleshing-ability with added longevity and marbling, 79E is a heavy influence in our herd today. 702E stamped his progeny with a very attractive profile and eventually topped all Canadian Red Angus semen sales for volume.

In the spring of 1998, we felt the need to inject the highly accurate and predictable genetics of N Bar Emulation EXT. Our search took us to Kansas and North Dakota. Keith and Darrell found and purchased Gardens Expedition as a long fall yearling and Doug was confident in the calving-ease and explosive growth of Brooks EXT 792. Both bulls would eventually be available through ABS Global and sell volumes of semen into commercial heifer breeding projects. With the imple-mentation of ultra-sound data, Expedition was dis-covered to be EXT’s highest IMF EPD son. Many of our current high scanning individuals have Expedition in their pedigree, a nice alternative high carcass bull considering that he was one of the easiest fleshing bulls to walk our pastures.

Vermilion Payweight J847

Another turning point took place in the year 2000. Two of the breed’s highest performance herd sires came to Stevenson Basin. Both sons of the growth leading Vermilion Dateline 7078 were purchased from our good friend and respected industry leader Pat Goggins of Billings, MT. Keith and son Darrell bought into Vermilion Yellowstone as one of the first young bulls to be identified and sold with ultrasound data. He is a true breed leader for IMF EPD and weaning and yearling growth. Few bulls have been able to combine these antagonistic traits of growth, muscle and marbling like Yellowstone. Yellowstone has headlined the Genex A.I. stud growth sires. The other mainstay addition, Vermilion Payweight J847, was found by Doug specifically to add length of body and overall performance, he did just that. The most heavily used bull in the last few years, no bull domestically or internationally can compare for the shear power and strength of growth curve that Payweight transmits. Now currently being marketed through ORIgen and ABS Global, Payweight is making his way into the international market with semen being sent into Canada and Australia. Look to see many years of influence from these breed leading powerhouses.

In 2003, one of Stevenson Basin’s visionary milestones was set in motion. Doug, Darrell and Keith combined past experience with the foresight of future adjustments for industry needs. Stevenson Basin combined efforts with other industry-leading breeders Express Ranches, Summitcrest, Sydenstricker Genetics, Edwards Angus, Three Trees Ranch and Dick Beck with the idea of a cooperatively owned “Breeder to Breeder” genetic service company. Opened in 2004, ORIgen is now operating a new “state of the art” bull housing and collection facility south of Billings, MT. The new facility has been designed and built to offer the optimum combination of bio-security, comfort and safety for bulls residing there. The ORIgen ABS joint marketing system is available to any and all owners of seedstock beef bulls. Not being complacent, the ORIgen Partnership has moved into its next venture by aligning with the world’s largest cattle feeding company, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC, and National Beef, the industry’s most quality-focused packing company. Through these alliances the ORIgen partners and ultimately Stevenson Basin with its customers will be on the forefront of forthcoming issues of animal identification, source verification and eventual supplementation of the highest valued branded beef programs both domestically and internationally. Doug currently serves as the President of the ORIgen Partnership and spearheads many of these oncoming ideas and issues. He also oversees the daily management of the collection facility and marketing center headed by Chief Administrator Turk Stovall.

Boyd On Target 1083

In 2003, one of the most influential herd bulls was identified when Darrell purchased a share of Boyd On Target 1083. Convinced of the predictability and overall power of his cow family, we have not looked back. He created much interest in terms of pedigree, numbers and phenotype and from 2005 to 2007; On Target led all semen sales with ORIgen. A sire of herd bulls, his legacy continues to grow with progeny topping many sales throughout the country. His most notable son would include Stevenson Moneymaker R185 who topped our sale at $100,000 and then went on to be re-syndicated through Express’ Big Event for a total valuation of $810,000. Other breed leading sons include the $37,500 Stevenson Bullseye 3R11 and the high selling bull from the Spring 2007 sale at $19,000, Stevenson Online 11S0.

With the evolving ability to identify superior carcass genetics through harvestable data, ultrasound and DNA a new bloodline was introduced. Future Direction was used extensively for his combination of low birth, high maternal and unmatched carcass merit. This undisputed carcass leader has truly upgraded genetic value. Both sons and daughters have made breeding leading contributions. Two sons, the $51,000 sale topper Stevenson Benchmark N190 and Basin Up The Limit, both have held the number one IMF EPD for Young and Proven Sire Summaries.

Basin Franchise P142 is one of the most popular sires within the industry with full sisters commanding sale values over $100,000 during the fall 2007 sale season. Franchise is a top semen seller and sired pregnancies are topping many sales. His dam also helped create another chapter for Stevenson Basin.

For many years, the Stevenson Basin registered females were not available for sale. Through years of aggressive growth and rigorous culling, the cow herd stayed closed. In 1999, a long term plan for female sales started. The cow herds were reaching stable capacities and marketing elite females became a viable option. With biannual sales in 1999, 2001 and 2003 and then with annual events thereafter, the female sales have started to garner attention. Knowing that it would take a few years for these foundation genetics to go out into the industry and “prove themselves,” we patiently waited for these featured donor prospects to surface.

To be heralded as elite, the right is earned. A few of the noted achievements for Stevenson Basin females started with the 1999 sale and the $60,000 Stevenson Estella 779C full sister to Stevenson Royce 741C and the $98,000 valued JRS Enchantress 16A the dam to Stevenson Bruno 561G. Through these earlier sales it was hard to let go of some of our great ones. The dam to Basin Franchise P142, Basin Chloe 812L, was a featured Express donor that commanded a total value of $250,000 with several ensuing progeny sales topping $100,000.

Basin Lucy 178E topped our sale at $20,000. After continued progeny proof, she was resold once and then again at twelve years of age in 2007 for a total valuation of $410,000 for Sunvold Palmer. During the fall of 2007, more than $1,000,000 worth of sales was directly produced by her. As the most valuable donor to ever leave Stevenson Basin, daughters topped Express’ Big Event, Basin Lucy 3829 at $380,000 and Basin Lucy 804N at $362,000 valuations with others topping Byrd’s sale, Basin Lucy N747 at $100,000 and Stevenson Basin’s sale, Basin Lucy 2S15 at $210,000 value with other daughters, Basin Lucy N728 and Basin Lucy 6433, commanding $110,000 and $80,000.

The dam of the $810,000 valued Stevenson Moneymaker R185, Stevenson Clova Pride L888, also created much attention as a $100,000 valued donor in 2007.

While showing cattle was an essential marketing tool in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, few Stevenson Basin cattle were fitted for show or display for nearly twenty years. In 2005, the decision was made to not only display, but sell on a national level when several heifers were taken to the Northern International Livestock Exposition in Billings and the Foundation Female Sale at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. The 2005 and 2006 NILE Females topped their sales at $21,000 and $26,000 and are now serving as donors while the 2007 heifer was the second high seller at $19,000. For three consecutive sales, as the largest consignor, Stevenson Basin females led-off the Denver sale and topped the largest national platform for a sale in the country at $22,000 in 2005, $30,000 in 2006 and $32,500 in 2007. We have all been sincerely humbled to be successfully evaluated and valued by the largest crowd in the most competitive arena in the world.

The production and identification of a new generation of herd sires and cow families is an ongoing work that combines both the art and science of breeding beef cattle. No stone is left unturned as we continue to study our herds and the bull offerings industry-wide. Most recently look for the new young breed leaders like Stevenson CE Deluxe 1914, Basin Yellowstone 116P, Coal Bank, Stardom, King, One Way and our two new additions for Vintage, Prime Rate and Prospector. These young sires represent a fresh arsenal of new age genetics.

Like all history, “You have to know where you’ve been before you know where you’re going.” Seemingly almost impossible, we look back and shake our heads. Wayne once said that “I never meant to get this big, it just happened.” We are all truly grateful for the days we have with family and the opportunity to do what we love, tend to our cattle. But as for complacency, you can rest assured our best years are still ahead. The Judith Basin has treated us well and it is not a lot different than 100 years ago. The buffalo have been replaced with good Angus cattle and the Charlie Russell sunsets still bless us every night.

Doug, Clint, Keith Bob and Darrell Stevenson