Flying High on the Flying W Ranch

By Sarah Hill

Photos courtesy Wiese family

The Wiese family, Pequot Lakes, Minn., is dedicated to raising high-quality, registered Angus cattle.

Some people may not think of agriculture when they think of Minnesota, but the state boasts an outstanding beef industry. Dustin and Cody Wiese, along with their families, are proud to be part of that illustrious beef industry, with 80 years of cattle production as a foundation.

Paradise Found

Dustin and Cody’s great-grandfather, Louis Wiese, started his Hereford cattle operation in Nebraska, moving to Pequot Lakes, Minn., in 1935. Louis’ son, Eldon (grandfather of Dustin and Cody), started Flying W Ranch in 1945. In 1949, Louis and Harry, Eldon’s brother, bought some Angus cattle from the Pipestone Angus sale. Eldon’s son, Danny, started working on the ranch along the way before passing away in 2019.

Dustin attended the University of Minnesota-Crookston for animal science. In 2014, he married his wife, Katie, and they moved to North Dakota for a couple of years, returning to the ranch after Danny’s passing. Today, Katie helps with the bookwork for the Flying W Ranch while raising their four sons: Owen (9), Levi (7), Derek (3), and Andrew (6 months). Cody works full-time on the ranch as well and is married to Jenna, a physician’s assistant. Jenna helps out on the ranch when she can, and the couple have a daughter, Emily (4 months). Dustin and Cody’s sister, Amy, works for a local hospital, but remains a big part of the ranch.

Better Keeping Cattle

Some 50 years from its founding, the herd has completely transitioned to raising Angus. Dustin said that Angus cattle calve easier, the calves get up right away to nurse and are just better keepers.

“Angus do well on grass, and our land up here has a lot of rocks and trees, so it’s not as good for farming,” Dustin Wiese explained. “When the calves are born, they hit the ground running, and the cows have good udders and feet.”

Cody added that with Angus momma cows, they rarely have to help a calf nurse and don’t have to deal with trimming hooves. “The bulls are low input, and the heifers do well on forage,” Cody Wiese observed.

The brothers stay busy with a herd of 300 head, half of which are usually artificially inseminated, while the other half are natural service.

The Wiese family herd can trace many of its maternal lines to Leachman Right Time, which the brothers agreed was their dad’s favorite bull and sired a lot of excellent daughters for the herd. A home-raised sire with big impact is Cowboy 3060, which was Danny’s favorite home-raised bull.

The Wiese brothers have a unique approach to breeding every June - the herd isn’t synchronized, so they watch for natural heats for about two weeks and AI as they see females come in heat. Calving runs from the end of March through April.

High Forage Diet

Cattle are turned out on 2,000 acres of native pastures as soon as the grass starts greening up in May, and graze through the end of the year.

Calves are weaned in late October or early November. Developing bulls are put on a total mixed ration (TMR), but their diet is mostly forage. “We don’t want to push the bulls too hard and overfeed them,” Dustin said.

Momma cows eat grass hay all winter, spread out over hay fields to help distribute manure over the pastures. The herd is put back on grass hay to prepare for calving.

Golden Anniversary

The Wiese brothers background their own steers, selling them to a sale barn or feedlot. The Flying W Ranch will host their 50th anniversary bull sale this year, where they’ll be selling 70 bulls and 50 females.

“We want to continue pursuing the same philosophy that our parents and grandparents have started,” Cody said. “We want to continue our family’s legacy of producing high-quality cattle.”

Dustin said that he’s hopeful that his boys come back to the ranch, but they’re young yet. In the meantime, the family is planning to diversify into raising crops a little more, growing corn and other cash crops.