Cattle will be available to view out at the farm the Saturday of the sale.

If you would like to come see them beforehand, please call John or Tom to set up a time.

Click here to view the Catalog!

View all Lot Videos Here!

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Hello Fellow Cattle Women and Men,

It’s Erika again this year, writing to you in first person. 

If you read my letter last year, I said something about how Dad doesn’t like change. While this is still very, very true- Tom and I have convinced him of one big change this year… We have decided to host an exclusively online auction production sale through DVAuction.com. Many folks have switched to this method, and have had great success- so let’s try it, shall we? 

On Wednesday, April 10th at 10:00AM CST, our online sale will commence. The lots will be open for bidding until 5:00PM CST on Saturday, April 13th. You can place bids on any lots, at any time. As Dad would say, “From the comfort of your underwear on your own couch!” Here’s where it gets fun. At 4:59PM, if a last minute bid is placed on any certain lot, the time on EVERY lot will extend by 5 minutes. Time runs down and the sale closes when bidding has subsided and stopped. We understand that some folks may not have access to the computer. Please call one of the listed representatives to assist you in placing a bid. We will get you taken care of!

Recently, our ranch was awarded the American Angus Association’s Historic Herd Award. You qualify for this award after being in production for over 50 years. Here is a write up by Amber Wahlgren with Angus Communication:

“Sheldon Cotton established Cotton Angus in Volga, South Dakota in 1965 with the purchase of a group of cows from Adee Honey Farms.  

With the guidance of Bud Severson, Cotton chose the Angus breed for its maternal excellence, carcass quality and profit potential. He later purchased several cows from Severson in 1968.

Cotton looked for moderate sized maternal cattle with good Angus character and growth bulls. He then started an AI program in 1970, using the semen from bull Emulation 31 on his heifers. Emulation 31 sons are still used as heifer bulls today.

In 1982, Cotton phased out of the cattle business and his son, John Cotton, took over managing the herd.

“I attended my first Wye Angus Sale at the age of 12 and was mentored by many of the buyers. This mentoring continued at all the Wye Angus Sales I attended over the years and still does today,” John said.” “The Wye Angus herd managers, customers, and unchanging Wye herd taught me patience and Angus tradition verses hype.”

John purchased functional low input cows from Larry Leonhardt’s Shoshone Angus herd and continued to use bulls without accelerated growth, height, appetite or birth weight. He brought in a few cows from N Bar Land & Cattle Co. and began to AI them to Shoshone Viking and Emulation EXT as well as the Wye Angus bulls, Leonid, Contact, Alap and Manning.”

John’s cow herd was built from line-breeding the progeny of those matings for the next 40 years.

Today, John, along with his children Tom and Erika Cotton, manage the herd of 185 cows, where they focus on maintaining the original genetics in their herd, knowing the success they have brought over the years.”

As the writer mentioned, Dad has had serious patience with our herd. What he has built for this year’s sale did not happen overnight. I wish I understood better the way that my dad chooses to breed who to who, and I think Miss Kathy probably summed it up best for me. When the paternal sire gets out of sight on the pedigree, he just brings him back up! It’s almost like a genetic pool pattern, or a full circle. Years and years of breeding proven cattle together make it easy to be patient. We have confidence in the expected results. Using the same sires might seem redundant, and maybe even boring, but in a way- there’s some sort of security. I know Grandpa Sheldon would be proud of us for using the same bulls that he trusted back then.

Speaking of Grandpa! My dad updated his title to “Grampa John” last year. Rachel welcomed two beautiful twin girls, Willow and Maeve, in June. And I brought Mr. Rocko into this crazy family in September. They are growing like weeds, and crawling already! The three grandkids are certainly the new twinkles in Dad’s eyes. And Thomas has taken on the Uncle roll so naturally. I am very excited to watch these little ones grow up with these amazing black cows. I hope they learn to love and appreciate them as we have. 

Anyways, the pedigrees on these lot’s speak for themselves. I challenge you to dig into them greater on the American Angus Association website. Find Dad’s pattern, his circle of sires. Maybe you’ll find a few that will make good additions to your circle!

On behalf of Cotton Angus, thank you for your interest in our program. We truly appreciate you and your business! We hope this “new sale format” works well for you, and that you’ll have fun with your mouse at bidding time.

I also need to mention- even though this is an “all online” sale, we invite you to the farm that Saturday evening for a small tailgate gathering after the lots close. We love the fellowship that follows the traditional sale format. All are welcome!

View videos of the Lots on DVAuction.com and check out our website to get a better understanding of what we are doing around here. Last minute updates and announcements will be posted there, as well as our Cotton Angus Ranch Facebook page.

Thanks again, 

Cotton Angus and Crüe