Huso and Sons Herefords
In the spring of 1878, Jon (Aadson) Huso and Engeborg Urbo were married in Telemarken, Norway. After the ceremony, word came that a relative of Jon's had passed up his ticket to America. Jon accepted and left immediately. He earned enough during the summer to send his wife a ticket and she joined him in Minneota, Minnesota that fall.
In the spring of 1883 they joined a wagon train going west to North Dakota. They homesteaded in the NE corner of Griggs County near the settlement that would become Aneta. When the Northern Pacific Railroad came to Cooperstown, ND, it opened a market for buffalo bones. They gathered wagonloads of bones from the surrounding prairie and sold them for $12.00 a ton so they could buy seed. Their third son, Oscar J Huso (1884) started his own farm in 1918 near Pickerel Lake south of Aneta. He married Signa (Engen) and they had three children: Oscar Jr. (Sonny), Eunice and Donna. |
After a stint in the Army at the close of WWII, and while completing his degree in Animal Science at North Dakota State University, Sonny married Nola (Westman) a Home Economics major who was also from Aneta. Oscar and Nola started raising kids, cattle and grain on the farm in the early 1950's. About the time Jim, the oldest, started 4-H, they started adding registered Herefords to the herd. Sonny and Nola were 4-H Leaders in Griggs County for more than 30 years and Jim, Jane, David, Nathan and Holly all exhibited 4-H Beef Projects at county, state or regional fairs with cattle they bought or raised from calves. The herd was based on Domino, Crown Rollo, Anxiety, Aster and Lamplighter breeding In the early years. 4-H heifer calves were purchased from Frank Kubik at the Kubik Polled Hereford Ranch in Manning, ND and the Lazy JS Ranch in Bowman, ND.
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Herefords
In the early 1970's the boys started an extensive A.I. program using Oakland Ridge, Beau Mode, Spidel and RWJ Victor breeding to improve maternal performance and conformation. One of the first successes from that effort was Huso Oak Rdg 28 G548 who won Grand Champion Polled Hereford Bull at the 1976 North Dakota Winter Show. Standing 60" at the shoulder, "Rip" became a 2,450 Lb. foundation sire that left a legacy of moderate, very correct, productive daughters (4 Dams of Distinction),high performing sons and was our main service sire for 10+ years.
After Jim graduated from NDSU, he and Oscar expanded the AI and ET programs and had some success in the show ring as well. A descendent of one of those first 4-H heifers was chosen the National Senior Heifer Champion at the American Royal in 1994. A few years later, a flush from another descendent of a 4-H heifer and one of our best cows ever, Huso Gem Dani Y908 (DOD), produced the popular "Gavel" bull for Topp Herefords. Now, with Wyatt and Emily, the next generation taking the reins, we will continue to stress calving ease, rapid growth, maternal productivity and carcass quality in building our herd. With an approach that balances EPD's, genotype and phenotype, we strive to provide our customers with Herefords that are "Bred for Better Beef tm".
In the early 1970's the boys started an extensive A.I. program using Oakland Ridge, Beau Mode, Spidel and RWJ Victor breeding to improve maternal performance and conformation. One of the first successes from that effort was Huso Oak Rdg 28 G548 who won Grand Champion Polled Hereford Bull at the 1976 North Dakota Winter Show. Standing 60" at the shoulder, "Rip" became a 2,450 Lb. foundation sire that left a legacy of moderate, very correct, productive daughters (4 Dams of Distinction),high performing sons and was our main service sire for 10+ years.
After Jim graduated from NDSU, he and Oscar expanded the AI and ET programs and had some success in the show ring as well. A descendent of one of those first 4-H heifers was chosen the National Senior Heifer Champion at the American Royal in 1994. A few years later, a flush from another descendent of a 4-H heifer and one of our best cows ever, Huso Gem Dani Y908 (DOD), produced the popular "Gavel" bull for Topp Herefords. Now, with Wyatt and Emily, the next generation taking the reins, we will continue to stress calving ease, rapid growth, maternal productivity and carcass quality in building our herd. With an approach that balances EPD's, genotype and phenotype, we strive to provide our customers with Herefords that are "Bred for Better Beef tm".
Oscar Joseph Huso Jr. January 18, 1925 - June 12, 2017
One of the Sons Rides On; David Lynn Huso June 21, 1956 - January 27, 2016.
One of the Sons Rides On; David Lynn Huso June 21, 1956 - January 27, 2016.