Dear Friends and Cattlemen:

It gives us great pleasure to present and share our cowherd with you through this Herd Reference Catalog issue.  We have been in the cattle business for over 40 years and have been lifetime members of the American Angus Association since 1964.  Our commitment and passion for this cow herd as well as the Angus breed has increased every year that we are involved.

We have labored and waited a lifetime, it seems, to attain the size and quality of our cow herd, to allow us to give you the opportunity to view the type of cattle that we feel will work not only in the purebred operations but will work in the progressive commercial cow herds as well.  Our cattle will not only add the female production that is so highly sought after, but the carcass traits that will bring more dollars for the end product.  It was also our plans that after attaining this goal, our son, Scott, would join us as a junior partner.  On September 16, 1999 while attending the Nebraska Angus Tour, our dreams and his were shattered.  We received word that he had been killed in a plane crash.  Two other people were killed, his father-in-law who was the pilot, and his boss.  Our grandson, Bryant, survived and is going pretty good.  We are still very fortunate to have three wonderful daughters.  13 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren.

Even though we had some hard times this past year, we did  have some bright spots too.  Our daughter, Trish and husband, Paul, presented us with a granddaughter.  They named her Megan Scott after her Uncle Scottie.  She is an absolutely adorable little blue-eyed, knockout blonde.  More blessings have come by --granddaughter Michelle gave birth to twins and granddaughter Heather has a handsome baby boy!

We've had Scott's children with us this summer.  Brice is 10, Bryant is 9, and Brooke is 4.  If you have never met Bryant, you are in for a treat.  He can talk cattle with the best of them.  Perhaps he can live out his daddy's dreams some day.

Our program is based on making that ultimate cow.  Without great cows, you have no program.  For example, if you mate a poor cow to a great bull, you will get a poor calf most of the time.  But, if you mate a great cow to a poor bull, you will get a pretty good calf most of the time.  So our theory is, if you stack those great cows in a pedigree, you will have a great cowherd where great bulls come from.

We think you will like what we have put together here at Krauth Angus Farm.  We are using bulls whose mothers are the "Who's Who" in the Angus breed.  The bull that we are using heavily in our herd is VDAR Traveler 275 "Jose".  His mother is the immortal Beauty 228 whom you could write volumes about all her accomplishments in the breed.  Truly one of the great cows of all time.  VDAR Traveler 275 "Jose" is of what dreams are made.

Our Second Annual Production Sale will be held April 6, 2002 at the Creston Livestock Auction, Creston, Iowa.  We will be selling 12 bulls and 38 females.  Stop by for a visit any time.  We would love to show you our cattle.

On behalf of the whole Krauth family, we would like to thank you for your phone calls, cards, letters, memorials, and especially your friendship.  We couldn't have gotten by without you.  May God Bless All Of You.

Sincerely,

Gary and Sandy