At Ivy Croft we have a diverse genetic pool buying cattle from some of the best operations in the state of Virginia and beyond. This mottled bunch of Cattle should provide generations of prime beef and establish a reputation as one of the best all natural operations around. All of our Cattle are pasture raised without graining them. No shots, no worming, and no harsh chemical compounds. When you purchase Ivy Croft Cattle you are purchasing an all-natural animal. When you eat Ivy Croft Beef you are eating all-natural Beef, which is not laden with steroids and chemicals. They also benefit from rotational grazing on a year round plan, This allows for a healthier, calmer cow that provides a higher quality of beef.
2018 Has started off with a bang. This is our first year of having sizeable production and we are excited by the number of calf’s and the quality of them. Last year we used the Devon/Red Angus cross bulls to breed with our Baldies and Devon Angus herd. The results have been fantastic so far. After making some assessment of last years sales we moved more toward a black hided herd since most of our cattle will be sold at auction. The addition of the year is in the Wye Angus herd and this should take us into a better place focused on forage genetics. At the 40th annual WYE UMD Angus Sale we purchased a small herd and are looking forward to improving our herd genetics in a meaningful way.
2017 was a big year for Ivy Croft and changing out the herd sires was probably the biggest move. We looked around at other operations and researched hundreds of Herd Sires until settling on two Balancer Bulls from Knoll Crest Farms. The Gelbvieh Angus Cross gives a deep muscular body and retaining the calm demeanor. These boys calves will hit the ground starting this fall and we are anxious to see the results.
We have Black Angus Cattle (2017) from Connealy Final Four, Sinclair Net Present Value, EF Component, OCC Great Plains, Connealy Honest Answer, Nichols Legacy, and the Sire of all three first calves is the impressive MSA Diesel Power 5C15. These three were purchased from the annual Hokie Harvest sale.
The Five Herefords (2017) we have came from one of the absolute best herds in the United States. Knoll Crest has a great reputation for delivering top notch polled Hereford genetics. These will make great baldy calves and we may even AI some with some more Hereford genetics.
In 2016 we purchased 10 Black White Face heifers from Jess Herbers at Goose Creek Valley Farms. These are beautiful set of ladies and they were bred the first time to our Red Devon, and Red Angus Bulls with the first calves coming in January 2018. So far these calves are fantastic and the mommas have proven to be very good as well.
Our Origional herd of 29 head of Cattle (2014) began with Guille Yearwood of Ellett Valley Cattle Company. These cattle have proven to be incredibly efficient and battle tested. With our minimalist approach to care these cows have performed very well. They are a mixture of Red Devon and Red and Black Angus genetics. We have pulled zero calves from this group and they have continued to produce beautiful slick red calves year after year.