Chase Hultgren started his herd at the age of 15
WILLARD, MO. – Chase Hultgren, 23, owns and operates Hultgren Angus, a 12 head black Angus cow/calf operation on 400 rented acres located in rural Greene and Lawrence counties in Missouri.
His passion for the livestock industry started early when he attended Willard High School FFA. He set his sights on a career in agriculture.
“I wanted to get into cows when I was 15,” Chase said. “I took out a youth loan from USDA Farm Service Agency and just kept going from there.”
Chase grew up riding horses on his parents 40-acre home in rural Willard, Mo.
He is a past president of the Willard FFA Chapter. He won an Area Proficiency Award for beef cattle and competed at state.
Chase also earned his State and American FFA degrees.
“I never get tired of farming,” Chase added. “It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I have a lot of goals for the future. I try to buckle down and get the work done.”
Chase went on to graduate from Missouri State University in 2022, with an ag business degree specializing in enterprise management.
He is employed off the farm two days a week as a livestock field representative at the Springfield Livestock Marketing Center.
“On sale days, I haul cattle and sort in the back,” he said. “I stay busy.”
This year, Chase became the sales manager for the Southwest Performance Tested Bull Sales at the Springfield Sale Barn.
Chase also helps manage another farm in Willard.
His biggest role model to date in the cattle industry is Steve Vaughn, a former building trades instructor at Willard High School.
“Steve sold me my first registered black Angus cow/calf pair. He has always been here to help me. We are currently partnering in some registered pairs.
“He has all registered cattle,” Chase added. “If it wouldn’t have been for him, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into registered cattle.”
Chase also likes the esthetics of the black Angus breed.
“I think they are really pretty, and they bring a premium at the sale barn. Registered Angus bulls are in high demand these days.”
All his cows are Angus with a few Hereford crosses.
At 18, Chase visited a genetics company in western Kansas where he was certified in AI and palpation pregnancy checks. He AI’s all his own registered cattle and for other breeders in the area as well.
On the farming side of things, Chase makes all the decisions and carries out the day-to-day tasks required to make Hultgren Angus work.
He utilizes both spring and fall calving cows. The spring cows calve in February through March with a sixty-day calving window. Fall caving runs from September through October. The commercial calves are weaned and grown out to yearling, usually weighing around 750 pounds, and marketed at the sale barn.
The registered cows are set up on an AI protocol in November, AI’d twice, and turned out for one cycle of cleanup. The AI cows calve in the fall.
The cattle are vaccinated per health protocol.
Chase cuts all the commercial bulls, but usually keeps the registered stock which he sells when they are between 14 and 18 months old. He sells off the farm, by word of mouth and at the Southwestern Performance Tested consignment sale at the Springfield sale barn.
He also sells replacement heifers.
The cattle are pasture based and are not typically grained.
Chase unitizes rotational grazing.
He grows all his own hay and has a few acres of wheat and rye forages. The grass fields consist of fescue and clover.
This summer he and his brother put up a around 1,600 bales of hay.
“That was a lot more than in past years.”
He also takes care of all the mechanical work on the farm.
Chase previously worked as a farm hand at Rummel Farms where he planted and harvested crops, mowed and raked hay, repaired equipment, and helped out with all the other day to day tasks.
He belongs to the American Angus Association and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association.
Chase’s plans for the future include continuing to grow his operation.
“Right now, I am on all-rented ground. I want to eventually run predominantly on ground that I own. I want to raise all my own replacements and background all my own calves and market directly to the feedlot. I would also like to have my own bull sale.”
