SydGen has utilized the same headquarters location south of Mexico, Missouri, in north central Missouri, for 41 years. They are currently calving about 500 head, of which 22% are embryo transplant calves. SydGen has a 90-day spring-calving season and a 60-day fall-calving season. The herd is maintained on 2500 owned and 750 leased acres. The farm is a combination farm with 25% in a crop rotation of corn, soybeans, and wheat, and 75% in pasture and hay.

Most of the production is marketed through an annual production sale held each year in November. All fall yearling bulls, and the older two-thirds of the spring bull calf crop are sold at that time, as well as a cross-section of females and embryos. SydGen began carcass evaluation of herd sires in 1988, and own or co-own 34 sires with carcass EPDs, based on 1268 of their progeny evaluated, as well as 12 more sires in some stage of carcass evaluation. They have marketed semen and AI certificates on herd sires since 1981. Their semen directory, printed annually since 1992, now contains information on 53 sires. These sires are responsible for over 30,000 progeny with weights recorded in the AHIR database, and 3174 progeny on Australia’s Breedplan. Although many are young sires, seventeen of them have 5,135 daughters in production on AHIR.

Mike Kasten, Millersville, MO, has used predominantly Sydenstricker Genetics for more than 12 years. His pen of steers processed in 2000 illustrate quite well the goals of our mission statement. These 81 steers, in the feedlot for 170-days, gained 3.87 lbs. per day on a pay weight to pay weight basis. Their dry matter feed conversion was 4.9 lbs. of feed per lb. of gain, a new record for the Farmland Supreme Beef Alliance. Total cost of gain was $33.63 per cwt. On the rail, 49.98% qualified for CAB®, and another 7.95% graded Prime. There was one YG 4, and no light-weight or heavy-weight steers. His steers fed in 2001 at Ward Feedlot, Larned, KS, were the best feed-conversion (4.91), lowest cost-of-gain ($38.58) pen fed there.

According to the Fiscal 2000 and 2001 Sire Information Reports of the American Angus Ass’n, there were more progeny recorded by SydGen-owned herd sires than by the sires of any other breeder.

For more information about our program download a copy of our BIF Seedstock Producer of the Year award application. Click here.