Flying W Ranch

About Us

For five generations, the Flying W Ranch family has been raising Angus cattle with one mission in mind: to produce superior Angus genetics that thrive in a harsh environment with minimal input. Like you, our cows are our livelihood. We cannot afford poor calf crops, low conception rates, or poor carcass traits, which is why for the past 60 years any cow that cannot meet our expectations has been eliminated by environment or management.

Located near Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, the Flying W Ranch has harsh winters and humid summers. We have extremely rocky ground so growing crops is not an option. Some years we have plenty of moisture, some years we don’t get enough moisture, but regardless of the weather conditions, we expect our cows to thrive on nothing but our native grasses.

We calve our cows in large pastures with only the trees for protection. 98-99% of our cows calve unassisted. The calves must stand up and start nursing immediately after birth. Our cows must care for their calves on their own without any assistance from us, or she will be culled.

Any cow with prolapse, eye, udder, feet, and fleshing ability problems are culled. We make no exceptions. Flying W cows must be fertile, early maturing, and easy fleshing. They must have small teats with moderate, well-suspended udders. They are expected to fatten on native grasses alone. And if a cow cannot meet any of our expectations, she is culled, we make NO EXCUSES.

But not only are the cows expected to perform and exceed our expectations, but the calves are as well. From birth to weaning, our calves must thrive on only grass and their mother’s milk, NO CREEP FEED.

After weaning, our calves are put on a high forage, low energy diet. We don’t push either the bulls or the heifers for high gains, instead they are developed slowly to ensure proper development and longevity. Both the heifers and bulls are wintered in a pasture, not in a feedlot.

And thus, with the Flying W Ranch family now in its fifth generation, we have an elite cow herd that has stood the test of time. All of our traits have been bred for generation after generation. Though our environment and stringent demands of our cow herd can be trying at times and cause for much extra work, it has only made our genetics more functional, more efficient, and more profitable.