When Ed Koger talks about buying bulls from Dalebanks Angus, he isn’t just describing a business relationship — he’s describing a family tradition. Ed’s late father told him their family first purchased Dalebanks bulls in 1926, and the evidence is written across Ed’s cow herd today.
“I’ve got a cow herd that’s second to none, in my opinion, for a commercial cow herd,” he says. “It just makes me keep wanting to go back to Dalebanks every year and buy my bulls there.”
Dalebanks is a multi‑generation Angus seedstock operation in the Flint Hills near Eureka, Kan. Today, Matt Perrier is continuing the family legacy his great‑grandparents began of breeding cattle that grow, grade and last in real‑world, low‑input environments.
For both families, the 100‑year mark represents far more than a number. It’s the story of two operations, shaped by different landscapes but aligned around the same goal: cattle that work, and customers who stay in business.
A Heritage Rooted in the Flint Hills
The Dalebanks story starts long before EPDs and online bidding. In 1867, the Loy family came from England and settled just south of where the Dalebanks sale headquarters sits today.
When the Loy family arrived in the Kansas Flint Hills in 1867, they likely had no idea their farm name — Dalebanks — would someday anchor a century-long relationship with a commercial cow herd hundreds of miles away.
“The name Dalebanks always is kind of confusing to folks,” Matt says. “That was the farm name of the Loy’s back in England. They brought that over, and we’ve used it ever since.”
Dalebanks traces its Angus roots back to 1903, when Matt’s great-grandparents traveled to the American Royal on their honeymoon.
“Their main mission was to see this new breed of cattle that they’d heard about that were black and polled,” Matt explains. “They found some and bought some a year later, 1904, and we’ve had registered Angus ever since.”
Generations Called Home
The Perrier family story, like many ranch families, isn’t a straight line back to the home place. Matt laughs as he notes that, despite the long history, almost every generation of his family nearly chose a different path.
His grandfather Francis Perrier was a civil engineer who served in World War II. While serving in Northern Africa, he realized his wife, Alice (Loy granddaughter), was home trying to manage the cows. He changed his plans, and they carried on the third generation of the ranch, second generation of Angus cattle.
Matt’s father, Tom Perrier, went to Kansas State University (K-State) and was headed for a career in reproductive physiology and research. Then the Vietnam War and after a tour on active duty with his local Guard unit he ruturned back to Eureka — and is still on the ranch.
Matt himself spent several years in beef industry roles after graduating from K-State in 1996; he wanted “no part” of raising cattle in a tough market.
“Eight or 10 years later I was back here with Amy and our young daughter,” he says.
Today they have five children — Ava, Lyle, Hannah, Henry and Hope — spread from college graduate to second grader who represent the fifth generation. “All very interested in the ranch and cattle and the beef industry,” Matt notes. “And that’s great to see.”
Practical, Profitable Genetics
At the core of Dalebanks Angus is a simple, enduring breeding philosophy. Matt’s great‑grandfather used to say they aimed to “produce an animal that profits its owner through its production.” It was a mouthful, so the family eventually distilled it into a three‑word brand: “We shortened that a few years ago to ‘practical profitable genetics.’ That’s still the goal,” he explains.
The specific traits they emphasize have evolved with new tools, data and market signals, but the target has not.
“Whether we’re selling seedstock bulls to commercial breeders or high‑end donor females or bulls to an AI stud, they’ve got to be profitable and they need to be practical,” Perrier says. “They need to get the job done without a lot of fanfare.”
That includes keeping the commercial cow in sharp focus — cows that breed up, last in tough country, and work on “basic minimal inputs.”
The Dalebanks herd includes nearly 500 registered Angus females. The Perrier family markets 200 yearling and coming 2-year-old bulls annually through their annual auction the Saturday before Thanksgiving and by private treaty beginning in early March each spring.
Consistency Across the Fence Line
A few hours away, Ed Koger runs cows across Kiowa, Comanche and Barber counties. His ranching roots run deep: his great‑grandfather and his brother started the outfit around 1882, and his broader family has been in the cattle business since the 1750s in Connecticut.
Koger started like many ranchers of his generation — with Herefords. An article about Angus cattle and carcass performance, plus a long family history of crossbreeding, nudged him to try Angus. By the late 1970s, he had switched fully.
“We just decided to try that and liked it so much we just went all Angus,” Koger recalls.
Central to that transformation has been a long run of Dalebanks bulls. Over time, Dalebanks bulls have stamped a distinct look on Ed’s cows.
“You could take a picture of my cows and throw them up against a picture of Matt’s cows, and they look darn near exactly the same,” he says. “They’ve been bred like them 40 years now.”
Why Koger Keeps Coming Back
Asked why he keeps returning to Dalebanks, he doesn’t hesitate: “The integrity, No. 1, that they have. The absolute care, and they want me to make money,” he says. “They just strive to produce a good, decent genetic tree that will make a rancher successful.”
He says he values the balance in Dalebanks genetics — growth and carcass merit without sacrificing maternal function.
“My goal is to produce a consistent calf that will do its absolute best in the feedyard, do its absolute best making a mother cow,” Koger says. “I don’t want to spend 10 years straightening out heavy‑milk problems — when I can have both just by using genetics that work.”
He’s proven that in the feedyard. Twenty years or more ago, Koger fed a pen of 300 head for Coleman Natural Meats.
“We could feed these things up to 2,000 lb., 2,200 lb. or even larger. They just kept growing,” he says. “We had a pen of 300 head that came back 100% Choice and Prime.”
Dalebanks highlighted that closeout in their catalog at a time when, as Perrier notes, the industry was still trying to reach 50% Choice.
Beyond the numbers, Koger points to a relationship that feels more like kinship.
“They’ve made me feel like I was a family member,” he says. “Honestly, that’s the way I’ve always felt — from Tom’s father down to little Hope.”
It is a relationship so rooted in trust that Ed has been known to arrive at the sale just minutes before the start, confident that the Perriers have already done the hard work of culling for him.
As Ed steps toward retirement and transitions more responsibility to his son, Jared, and daughter, Jenna Simmons, Ed hopes the connection only deepens.
“I just hope that the future holds someone in my family to continue this forever,” he says.
From 1867 Flint Hills settlers to a 21st‑century commercial outfit feeding high‑grading calves, the shared story of Dalebanks Angus and the Koger family is, at its core, about two things: Cattle that work and people who keep their word — generation after generation.
A century in, both families seem determined to make sure that doesn’t change.
