Gardiner Angus Ranch Announces the Passing of GAR Sunrise
November 16, 2023
Gardiner Angus Ranch announces the passing of GAR Sunrise (AAA registration #16933958). Sunrise made headlines when he earned the Lot 1 designation and sold during the 2012 Gardiner Angus Ranch spring production sale. During his service at Select Sires, he became one of the Angus breed’s high-use AI sires. According to a 2022 year-end report from Select Sires, Sunrise sold 151,065 units of semen throughout his lifetime.
The 2012 GAR spring sale was the first sale at the ranch to incorporate internet bidding, enabling interested bidders the option to view online videos prior to the sale. GAR Sunrise’s video was viewed more than 1,000 times prior to the sale. For the first time in GAR history, beef producers placed real-time bids online hoping to outlast the competition sitting on the seats. Two commercial Angus producers and longtime GAR customers, Rob Sellard, Bucklin, Kansas, and Randy Bayne, Protection, Kansas, purchased Sunrise on a winning bid of $95,000.
When Sunrise sold in 2012, he ranked in the top 3% of the Angus breed for calving ease and early growth, top 4% for heifer pregnancy and top 1% of the breed for end product merit. As a 13-year-old bull, today Sunrise ranks in the bottom 45% of the breed for stature, top 10% for marbling at +1.17, and top 4% for $Grid with 322 carcass records posted.
GAR Sunrise leaves a legacy of generational Angus progeny with birth to harvest value. Sunrise’s EPD data is still impressive, but over a decade, the genetic improvement in his progeny was remarkable. Structural soundness and foot quality have always been a foundation for longevity in beef production and a focus at Gardiner Angus Ranch. Sunrise progeny were recognized for foot quality and structural soundness throughout their lifetime. His daughters were recognized for excellent udders, moderate milk, exceptional foot quality and the ability to thrive in any environment. While describing Sunrise’s place in modern Angus history, Mark Gardiner said, “GAR Sunrise was a sire that attracted the interest of many commercial cow-calf producers who understood the value of a sire that produced progeny with elite carcass quality and moderate, structurally sound, highly productive females in the herd. Sunrise proved his value year after year and left a legacy of progeny with exceptional value. He returned to the ranch in 2021 and enjoyed retirement grazing in our pastures.”
Gardiner Angus Ranch is a family-owned and operated beef operation that produces registered and commercial Angus cattle. The original ranch was homesteaded near Ashland, Kansas, in 1885 by Henry Gardiner’s grandfather. Today, Gardiner Angus Ranch is one of the largest registered Angus seedstock and commercial operations in America and continues to make genetic advancements using only artificial insemination and embryo transfer.