No corn in Bear Mountain Angus diet

Brian Stoller and fiancée, Tiffany Skow, moved their purebred black angus cattle to Nebraska in 2008. The couple own and operate Bear Mountain Angus northwest of Palisade. Stoller's bulls have been sold all over the U.S. He sold several bulls during a special bull sale in McCook in March.
(Bille Cole/McCook Daily Gazette)

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Stoller purchased the former Schroeder Cattle Co. facility near Palisade in 2008. Before moving their business and cattle, Brian scouted out several places in Idaho, Colorado and elsewhere in Nebraska, before deciding on Palisade. The location on the highway is perfect access for buyers interested in Stoller's cattle. "It's a better location," said Brian "Besides Nebraska is the good life."

Brian's history with cattle started when he was young. He grew up in the foothills of California in a small town called Angels Camp. His parents. Gary and Davy purchased heifers for him and his brother, Scott to use as 4-H projects and by 1995 the two had nearly 100 mother cows.

In 2001, the family purchased Foote Acres Angus in Idaho and created a herd of bulls and dams that represent the business slogan "Focusing on Quality with Performance."

The interesting part of Brian's cattle operation is his feeding plan. Bear Mountain Angus cattle are complete roughage cattle. They have been fed on an all roughage diet consisting of soybean hulls, alfalfa, cane hay, mix 30 and a mineral designed specifically for the ration. The reasoning behind Stoller's feeding program is the advantage it has on the bulls' ability to skip the transition period from corn field starches to pasture fibers. When a bull is placed on grass with cows, their digestive system doesn't have to make the transition, creating a better gain with little loss. The bulls also don't have the feet and leg problems cattle get from the high starch diet transitions. Although, Brian is in his first year of the feeding plan he has seen the results.

Each one of Bear Mountain Angus bulls has extensive performance data. The bulls are weighed from birth, vaccinated, BVD tested and ultrasound. Tiffany and Brian do the ultrasounding themselves, which has kept their business expense low. The sale bulls are also clipped before the sale and semen tested.

Stoller has sold his bulls all over the United States. He also shows his cattle in several different states. He recently showed in Reno, Nev., which is one of the five biggest Angus shows in the U.S., and has shown in the Denver, Colo., stock show.

In March, Brian had a special bull sale in McCook at Tri State Livestock, where he sold bulls to local cattle producers as well as to cattlemen in Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. As for future sales, Stoller has a new building built across from his barns at Palisade. The building will be a cattle working facility for his business and the site for his fall bred heifer and cow sales and spring bull sales from now on. Stoller will have 20 halter broke and show ready heifers for 4-H projects. "I like to help the kids and buyers," said Brian.

Stoller understands the work involved with 4-H, since that's where he got his start, but he is also opened minded to new ideas, whether it be with his feeding program or his cattle. "I am open minded to new things and will try different things," said Brian.

Bear Mountain Angus is located on Highway 6 northwest of Palisade.