Spickler Ranch South in North Dakota: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Spickler Ranch South is a registered Angus seedstock operation at Glenfield, North Dakota, and one of the state's leading Angus breeders. The American Angus Association ranked a Spickler family from Glenfield eighth among North Dakota breeders for Angus registrations in fiscal 2023, and the ranch sells about 200 Angus bulls and heifers each May. It has also been featured in the Angus Journal for its embryo transfer program.
| Location | Glenfield, North Dakota |
|---|---|
| Founded | Not published in the sources reviewed |
| Sectors | Registered Angus seedstock; embryo transfer; bulls, heifers and frozen genetics |
| Scale | About 200 Angus bulls and heifers sold each May; total cow numbers and acreage not published in the sources reviewed |
| Why it is elite | Ranked among North Dakota's top Angus registrants in fiscal 2023; featured by the American Angus Association's Angus Journal; officer of the North Dakota Angus Association |
| Ownership | Family-owned, run by Nathan and Emily Spickler |
| Official website | Spickler Ranch South official site |
History of Spickler Ranch South
Spickler Ranch South is part of a larger Spickler family presence in the James River country around Glenfield. A related operation, Spickler Ranch North, was founded in the early 1940s by the grandparents of Justin Spickler and was named the North Dakota Stockmen's Association Environmental Stewardship Award winner in 2025. Spickler Ranch South is operated separately by Nathan and Emily Spickler.
The ranch has built its seedstock reputation by combining registered Angus breeding with modern reproductive tools. It has produced embryo transfer calves for about 20 years and has leaned on the technology more heavily over the past eight, according to the Angus Journal. Nathan Spickler has also served as vice president of the North Dakota Angus Association, which keeps the ranch close to its breed peers and customers.
What Spickler Ranch South Grows and Raises
Spickler Ranch South raises registered Angus cattle for commercial cattlemen in North Dakota and the upper Midwest. Its breeding goals emphasize maternal traits: udder quality, mothering ability, temperament and sound feet. Recipient cows are sorted at calving on feet, udder and disposition, then reviewed using expected progeny differences, pedigree and production records, so that only females that earn their place stay in the program.
Embryo transfer is central to how the ranch improves its cow herd. Registered Angus females act as recipients, while donor females are chosen for elite traits. That lets the ranch multiply the genetics of its best cows faster than natural calving alone allows. The ranch publishes annual bull sale and Angus Partners sale catalogs, plus separate frozen genetics sale catalogs, which shows that semen and embryo genetics are marketed as products in their own right.
How Spickler Ranch South Makes Money
Annual production sale
Each May the ranch offers about 200 bulls and heifers to commercial cow-calf producers and other breeders. The bull sale is the main way the seedstock program turns breeding decisions into income, and the ranch publishes a full catalog for it each year.
Angus Partners sale
The ranch has issued a separate Angus Partners sale catalog, which suggests a second marketing channel for genetics alongside the main production sale. Using more than one sale format gives buyers different entry points.
Frozen genetics
Spickler Ranch South has published frozen genetics sale catalogs for semen and related genetics, adding a revenue stream that does not depend on moving live animals and can reach buyers outside the region.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Spickler Ranch South
The first lesson is that reproductive technology pays when it is tied to clear selection goals. The Spicklers use embryo transfer to speed progress on udder, mothering and foot quality, not simply to produce more calves. Defining the traits first, then choosing the tool, keeps the technology from becoming an expense without direction.
The second lesson is to diversify sale formats. A May bull sale, a partner sale and frozen genetics give a seedstock ranch several ways to sell the same breeding work across the year. The third is to stay involved with the breed community. Association leadership and public sale catalogs help commercial customers find and trust a program.
A ranch whose recipient cows are sorted at calving on feet, udder and disposition has clearly seen a few moody mothers in its time. Readers of farm.FM who enjoy farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes could imagine the donor cows reading their own pedigree reports and nodding smugly at the recipients. We say it fondly, because in Glenfield the real joke is how patiently a good Angus breeder waits for genetics to pay off.
farm.FM got there first as the nation's first satirical farm site, and it backs the writing with Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Here is one contributor's collection of farm satire to start with.
How to Contact Spickler Ranch South
Website: https://www.spicklerranchsouth.com
Website listed for the ranch by the North Dakota Angus Association, November 2026. No street address, phone or email were confirmed from the ranch's own site; use the website to reach the ranch and confirm sale dates and visits before traveling.
Spickler Ranch South Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Spickler Ranch South official site - The ranch's own website, as listed by the North Dakota Angus Association
- Angus Journal: Progress and Consistency - American Angus Association feature on the ranch's embryo transfer program
- Foster County Independent: Spickler families ranked - Local coverage of North Dakota Angus registration rankings, fiscal 2023
- North Dakota Stockmen's Association: Spickler Ranch North - Producer association release on the related Spickler Ranch North stewardship award
- NDSU Agriculture: North Dakota Angus University Feedout - Land-grant university program connecting state Angus breeders with feedout data
Spickler Ranch South FAQ
Where is Spickler Ranch South?
The ranch is at Glenfield, North Dakota, in the James River valley.
What does Spickler Ranch South sell?
It sells registered Angus bulls and heifers, about 200 head each May, along with frozen genetics through separate sale catalogs.
Is Spickler Ranch South the same as Spickler Ranch North?
No. They are separate family operations in the Glenfield area. Spickler Ranch North was named the 2025 North Dakota Stockmen's Association Environmental Stewardship Award winner; this page covers Spickler Ranch South.
Does the ranch use embryo transfer?
Yes. According to the Angus Journal, the ranch has produced embryo transfer calves for about 20 years and has relied on it more heavily over the past eight.
Spickler Ranch South shows how a North Dakota seedstock family can pair registered Angus tradition with embryo transfer and several sale formats. For the wider picture of the state's soils, programs and markets, see the North Dakota farms guide linked on this site.