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Heartland Simmentals is owned and operated by Tom and Cora Lynch and their youngest son Kirk and his wife Mary Lynch. They are located in northeast Iowa and run roughly 350 cows with the majority of them being registered Simmentals with about 75 Angus females and a hand full of Red Angus females. A majority of the cows are spring calving cows but around 75 are calved in the fall. The emphasis is on breeding cattle that have tremendous performance, with superior carcass traits, while still coming in an attractive and functional package. Heartland Simmentals has 2 productions sales every year, the female sale is held the last Sunday in October selling a few open show heifer prospects, around 60 bred heifers, and cow/calf pairs, along with a few prospect steer calves. Their annual bull sale is held the last Saturday night in April where around 60 bulls are offered along with around 30 cow/calf pairs. Cattle are also marketed through private treaty as well as the Iowa Simmental State sale at the Iowa Winter Beef Expo. Any cattle not used for breeding or seed stock are feed out in there feedlot operation.
Tom and Cora purchased their first Simmental cattle on Mother’s Day of 1976. They were founding members of the Hawkeye Simmental Group in 1978 and continued to market cattle through that group until 2005 when they had their first production sale in the fall of 2006 with guest consignors Big M Ranch, owned by Dave Martinson and GNB Cattle, owned by Mat Goddard who is also the Lynch’s herdsman. All 4 of the Lynch children: Kenny, Karen, Kim, and Kirk were all involved in 4-H, FFA, and showing cattle. Kim and Kirk participated in the American Junior Simmental Association Regional and National Classic events during their showing careers as well. Tom and Cora served as Junior Advisors for the Iowa Junior Simmentals Association for 15 years, Tom also served on the Iowa Simmental Senior Board for 3 terms and Kirk is currently serving his 2nd term on the Senior Board. Tom and Cora were named the 2007 Iowa Seed Stock Producer of the Year.
The family still attends several local and state shows and sales and continually supports youth organizations such 4-H and the Iowa Junior Simmental Association.
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