Gonsalves Ranch

The cattle operation maintains a herd of 120 registered Angus & Sim/Angus females and 250 commercial cows. The goal of our cowherd is to produce complete functional cattle for all segments of the beef industry. We strive to produce productive females; that calve easy, maintain their flesh, breed back and raise a big calf, while requiring limited la... bor and feed supplements. Those calves need to have the ability to perform in the feedlot while hanging a high quality, high yielding carcass. Range bulls are marketed each year in the Bulls Eye Breeders Bull Sale held the third Wednesday in September in Modesto. They are raised in our own Bull Development Center. Registered heifers are mainly marketed as productive replacement females for purebred and commercial producers, however they still have the look to find success in the show ring, and we have raised many champions over the years. Commercial cattle are backgrounded in our feedlot. The top end of the commercial females are marketed in the Bulls Eye Bull Sale as high quality replacement heifers. Recently we have been taking advantage of our genetics by retaining ownership, sending our steers and heifers not selected as replacements to a finishing yard. It has been great seeing the true value of our cattle first hand with great feedlot performance and high yielding carcasses that grade and earn premiums. The farming operation consist of 200 acres of almonds marketed through Blue Diamond, a growers cooperative and leader in the almond industry, ("A can a week, that's all we ask"). We also grow walnuts, along with a little corn and small grain silage. We are excited that we are begging our fifth generation in agriculture in this country. About 100 years ago that first generation began emigrating from the Azores Islands of Portugal to find a better life in the US. We take great pride in knowing that we are still farming on the original land that our family purchased, and that they are more productive today than ever. Why Angus & Sim AngusRead More