About Us

Our History

Stumpe Land & Cattle Co. is located in East Central Missouri, about 8 miles north of Sullivan, Missouri. The Stumpe family has been engaged in diversified farming in the area for multiple generations. Stumpe Land & Cattle Co. is owned by Steve and Cathy Stumpe and their family. Steve and Cathy both grew up in large families involved in diversified farming, and there was never a doubt they would also farm. Their three grown children and 10 young grandchildren all live nearby on the family farms.

Cattle Philosophy

We don’t think many seedstock or progressive cattlemen would differ in describing their ideal cow or bull. We believe a successful cow/calf operation begins with a productive, docile female that calves unassisted, sheds during warm weather, provides milk for an optimal, healthy, and growing calf, and breeds back easily to do it all over again year after year. Once weaned, those calves should continue to grow quickly and efficiently. And, of course, being located in Missouri, they must do this on fescue pasture.

We want our bulls to be masculine, muscled, yet athletic, and to look and perform like bulls. Likewise, we want our females to look feminine, breed, and perform like mommas.

Balanced Excellence

Phenotype is an all-encompassing word we hear often, but we prefer to break it down into three categories (a three-legged stool): visual structure, actual production records, and EPDs. This is what drives our decision-making process. We never chase a few traits but instead seek balanced excellence through the use of artificial insemination with select bulls and embryo transplants from our very best females. The cattle business is changing quickly, and we must change with it.

Why Angus?

Let’s face it: all breeds have a select group of bulls and cows that excel in phenotype, actual production records, and EPDs, but no other breed offers the amount of data and therefore accuracy as the Angus breed. Searching generations deep through EPDs on particular bulls and females, and the accuracy of those numbers, tells you why Angus must be the base.

Why Simmental?

Hybrid vigor and heterosis. The two breeds complement each other extremely well, providing added growth, reproductive efficiency, and market demand while diversifying the genetic pool of both breeds.

What’s Under the Hood (Hide)?

A shiny new truck looks fantastic, but if the engine is too small to accomplish what you need, the truck’s value is very limited. We feel the same way about our cattle. The beef production business is changing rapidly. It is estimated that fewer than 10% of fed steers and heifers are sold on foot. Therefore, what we can’t see may be the most important factor. When we evaluate a set of cattle—whether it be bulls, cows, steers, or heifers—and the visual skeletal and muscling structure are very similar between the groups, what makes one group more valuable than another? It is what we can’t see under the hood (hide) that makes the difference, just like that new truck.

Consumers are willing to pay for high-quality prime/choice beef, and the market continues to pay historically higher spreads between prime, choice, and select. The carcass quality traits you cannot necessarily see under the hide are worth hundreds of dollars more per head, and that spread in value continues to grow.

We do not believe you should chase just those numbers while ignoring other important traits, but ignoring those carcass traits could be just as dangerous to your bottom line. We are focused on carcass EPDs, especially marbling, to provide progressive cattlemen with the highest profitability possible. We are also commercial cattle producers, and we understand the value of seed stock that excels in all traits.

We invite you to visit us and see what we’re doing. We want to help you be more profitable.