Publish date: 11.12.2026
At Vision Angus, the focus is on producing cattle that work for commercial producers. That means starting with females that can function, stay in the herd and do their job, while still producing calves with the growth and phenotype producers want when it’s time to market them.
“We want them to have success,” said Brent Wieselmeyer of Vision Angus. “You want a female foremost that’s going to function for them, but yet they’re going to get genetics from us that have calves that grow well and look the part.”
That same focus carries into how Vision Angus selects genetics. Before using ABS sire, BARITONE, Wieselmeyer had spent time studying the cattle behind him. Through trips to Montana and Origin, he had the opportunity to see BARITONE, his dam, sisters and a brother, giving him a better picture of what was behind the pedigree and what he could expect from the bull.
“It’s part of how we try to select genetics here at Vision Angus,” Wieselmeyer said. “We’re going to do as much homework as we can and hopefully make a safe decision.”
What Wieselmeyer saw gave him confidence to use BARITONE in both the Vision Angus seedstock herd and commercial heifer programs. He liked the consistency throughout the cow family, and BARITONE himself met the expectations they had going in.
“He’s quiet, long, smooth, correct, functional,” Wieselmeyer said. “He met our expectations visually when we saw him at Origin.”
Putting BARITONE to Work
With BARITONE’s first calves now on the ground, Wieselmeyer has had a chance to see whether those expectations carried through into his progeny. Vision Angus has had around 20 BARITONE progeny in its own herd, with no assistance needed at calving.
“The calving ease is very good, very predictable,” Wieselmeyer said. “We love the calf shape. We love the calf vigor.”
Vision Angus also used BARITONE in a commercial customer’s heifer program, where the heifers calved on corn stalks without trouble. For an operation that puts a high priority on making genetics work for commercial cattlemen, seeing similar results outside its own herd was important.
As the calves have developed, Wieselmeyer has continued to like what he sees. The BARITONE heifers in the Vision Angus purebred herd ratioed 104, while also showing the kind of phenotype Wieselmeyer looks for in future cow prospects.
“The amount of length of body, I think, is what hits you first,” he said. “Very extended through their front end and then a big rib and the balance and the design that goes with that length of body, I think, is in a really nice package.”
Wieselmeyer also describes the heifers as feminine and angular, with the combination of performance and design he wants in replacement females. “Right now, we’re just really, really pleased with them in terms of what we see and how they performed,” he said. “Really good cow prospects.”
Consistency Across the Sire Group
That same consistency is showing up in the BARITONE bull calves. Wieselmeyer likes the amount of shape and muscle they offer while still maintaining the rib shape and softness he wants in functional cattle.
“Sometimes you get heavier muscled cattle, and you lose some rib shape or some softness or squareness to that rib,” Wieselmeyer said. “That is not the case with BARITONE. You love that deep, square, soft rib. And then when you study their top, a lot of muscle, big hips in them. They look impressive right now.”
With BARITONE progeny developing on both the bull and female side, Wieselmeyer sees a sire group that has remained consistent with what first attracted Vision Angus to the bull. The calving results, performance and phenotype have given him even more confidence in using BARITONE moving forward.
“I think [he’s] a bull that we need to go back and use, certainly now that we’ve seen results,” Wieselmeyer said. “When you do your homework on the pedigree and the brothers and the sisters, everything is solid there. It’s a bull that you can have a lot of confidence in using.”
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