Straight Up | September 2025

A conversation with everyday Stockmen,

Featuring Joshua Berg, Berg Shorthorns of Osage, Iowa.

About the Stockman.

"My name is Joshua Berg. I am 47 years old and a third generation Shorthorn breeder. I also am a corn and soybean farmer located in western Mitchell County, Iowa. I have been married to my wonderful wife, Ashley, for 21 years and have four awesome daughters. We are members of the American Shorthorn Association as well as the Iowa and Minnesota State Shorthorn Associations. We are also members of First Lutheran Church in Saint Ansgar, Iowa. Madeline is 19 years old and a sophomore at SDSU. Kaitlyn is 17 years old and a senior at Saint Ansgar High School. Lauren is 15 years old and a freshmen at Saint Ansgar High School. Autumn is 11 years old and in the sixth grade at Saint Ansgar Middle School.

My parents are Kendrick and Theresa Berg of Osage who I farm with and raise Shorthorn cattle. They single handedly laid the groundwork years ago with showing Shorthorns as a family in the seventies and eighties with my brothers and me. My dad was instrumental in guiding me to the type and kind of cattle that we are raising today here at Berg Shorthorns. I am proud of my dad and what he, along with Pete Hunter and Doug Rathbun did showing pen bulls in Denver. What dad completed in Denver from 1979 to 1985 was impressive!

We have seedstock breeding Shorthorn cattle along with Shorthorn and Shorthorn Plus show cattle that we raise, exhibit, and sell as a family. Our cow herd consists of 15 commercial recip cows, 25 purebred Shorthorn cows, and two herd bulls. We do an extensive amount of ET work with Westwood Embryo Services Inc. that helps us dial in to specific pedigrees along with correct DNA parentages that we are striving to produce in our Shorthorns. With an all-out greater enhancement on EPD’s and technology, we try to match with a good phenotype pattern as well to create the best of both worlds. We also use sexed semen in the operation as much as we can and try to maintain an emphasis on producing good isoline females which are the foundation blocks of our operation.

I am a past board member of the Iowa Shorthorn Association, and my wife is currently the treasurer for the Iowa Shorthorn Association. My two daughters, Kaitlyn and Madeline, are on the Iowa Junior Shorthorn Board where Madeline is currently serving as the president. Madeline is also the breed delegate serving on the Iowa Junior Beef Breeds Association. I currently am serving as the vice-chair of the National Show Committee for the American Shorthorn Association. I have also judged state breed junior shows, regional state fair shows for multiple breeds, and junior jackpot shows throughout the Midwest and Western United States."

What about the beef cattle industry excites you the most?

"I have to say, just the absolute positiveness that every sector is feeling in the beef prices currently. Whether you are a cow/calf operation with 25 to 250 cows this opportunity coming up this fall to sell those feeder calves is at record prices. For the fat cattle guy, what an unprecedented time to be feeding fat cattle. There has been a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices given to raise and market these animals and it’s finally time for producers to get paid for their hard work and time!"

What is the most used tool on your farm? How old is it?

"My New Holland L220 skid loader is a 2013. I just love the thing. I use it every day! Whether scraping show barn pens in the summer, or bedding cows in the winter, or moving seed boxes in the spring and picking up rocks in fields - it’s just handy."

Describe your best and worst day.

"The best days on our farm are the winter calving season. Ashley and I take care of all the calving on the farm. We really enjoy the new crop of calves that we have invested in and created to be born for our girls and customers. We invest a lot of time and money in our ET program, so we get excited and act like kids at Christmas when we get our new calves hitting the ground. That is what I love about Shorthorns, each calf is different, they can be red, roan, or white. It is like a Christmas present every time they are born because you do not know what you are going to get.

The worst days on our farm are usually associated with too much rain, or snowstorms. We are up here in North Central Iowa, and we are flat and black unless you are close to the Cedar River Basin. The heavy rain events are the worst days for the cattle and especially the grain farming operation due to flooding."

Which animal (any species) has left the greatest impact on you?

"I would have to say in 2015, when we bought Sull Red Value from Josh Elder at Sullivan Farms as our new herd sire, he probably had the biggest impact in our operation. In 2018, Madeline had reserve bred and owned champion heifer in Madison, Wisconsin at junior nationals. This summer, Kaitlyn won the bred and owned champion with a Dream maker daughter out of Madeline’s 2018 reserve bred and owned cow.

The Red Value daughters in our operation are getting some age but are probably the building blocks of our current herd today. They are predominately all solid red, big-footed, deep, big-hipped and powerful cows. Bred with todays syndicated bulls we can provide some elite show heifers."

What is your go-to sorting apparatus?

"Polaris Rangers! On the farm, with the full time and part time guys we nicknamed it, “The Horse.” We have three Rangers on three separate farms. One Ranger is at Kendrick and Theresa’s so they can check cows daily and refill mineral and creep feeders at the cow pastures."

Your favorite non-farm activity to do in your free time?

"I really enjoy in my free time, when available, to go up north. Leech Lake, in Walker, Minnesota is probably my favorite spot to spend time with Ashley and the girls for some rest and relaxation. I really enjoy being up on Leech Lake on a cool morning and listening to the loons while fishing the points in Walker Bay for walleyes."

The most important lesson you’ve learned in this business?

"The best lesson that I have learned in the business is surround yourself with good honest, solid reputable people. People who want to learn, grow, and want to do the best possible job they can. For me, five years ago I could tell that my kids were growing, getting older and wanted greater experiences with the livestock than I could provide. Between crop farming, flushing cows, setting up recips, and calving, my time with them daily was getting less. My ability to go to jackpot shows does not allow me to be available due to the grain side of the farm operation. I mainly could only find time to go to the state fairs, otherwise I was too busy and needed to be home taking care of everything else. I felt as a father that I could not take them to the success or have the opportunities they wanted on my own. I knew that you only take your kids as far as they want to be led, so that is when we started to work with some of the absolute best operations in the seedstock business and show cattle, to take Berg Shorthorns and our kids to the next level. We found the best fit of leaders for each one of our children’s personalities that would influence them in a better, more positive manner to become more professional, hardworking, and respectable. These hardworking families and individuals are the absolute reason for the success at Berg’s Shorthorns, and we are grateful to them.”

Upcoming Sale:

Monday, September 8, 2025

Hosted on AMS.com

Photos courtesy Joshua Berg

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