AbouT Us

Nearly 10 decades ago near the town of Ellston in southwest Iowa, F.W. Hoover purchased his first Angus cows and began what is now one of the oldest Angus herds in the nation. F.W. Hoover became partners with his son-in-law John Kiburz. Bulls carried the prefix "H&K" which stood for Hoover & Kiburz. Today, bulls carry the "Hoover" prefix instead of "H&K". All females now born at Hoover Angus bear "Ellston" in their name to signify the herd's home place. Cow families at Hoover Angus date back up to 18 generations of females bred, born, and raised at Hoover Angus.

Walt & Sadye Hoover
First Generation

The Hoover family homesteaded in 1856, over 160 years ago. The Hoover family was the first family in Union County to receive the Heritage Award at the Iowa State Fair for over 150 years of continual family ownership of a tract of land. Caring for the land and the cattle is not only our sole profession, it is our passion and way of life, and has been for the past 6 generations of the Hoover family.

The Family
Third generation of Hoover Angus, David & Joy (Kiburz) McFarland and fourth generation Andrew & Landi (McFarland) Livingston currently own and operate the Angus herd. No family members have "off farm" jobs, and Angus cattle support three generations of the Hoover family.

John & Barb Kiburz
Second Generation

David & Joy McFarland
Third Generation

Andrew & Landi Livingston
Fourth Generation

Present Day
At present, the cow herd numbers around 300 registered spring calving cows and 100 registered fall calving cows. Hoover Angus encompasses over 2300 owned acres in Ringgold and Union counties. Andrew works full time with the cattle and manages crops and haying, and Landi manages the cow herd (breeding, feeding, vaccination protocols, etc), customer relations, and the annual production sale. Hoover Angus employs 4 full-time employees besides family members.

Annual Production Sale
Approximately 100 bulls and 75 females sell in each February's Production Sale, always the first Tuesday in February. The Hoover family writes their own unique sale catalog and manages their own sale. The sale catalog is one of the most in-depth bull books published in the country. Bulls are offered for sale private treaty throughout the spring months. Females are sold once a year in the annual sale. We encourage visitors to come to the farm prior to the annual production sale to look at the cattle with less people and congestion. Please give Landi a call at 641-344-7684 to schedule an appointment.

Herd Priorities
While it is Landi’s philosophy to have balanced cattle that excel in numerous areas such as calving ease, growth, structure & phenotype, udder quality and excellent docility, the high docility is definitely a hallmark trait for Hoover Angus genetics. We have selected for disposition excellence for many generations, and it is one of the main reasons repeat customers come back to Hoover Angus year after year.

We believe in data collection to make improvements to the herd and breed, and have been one of the first herds in the breed to turn in significant amounts of temperament scores and foot scores on all yearling animals, since the American Angus Association started accepting scores for these traits. Of course we participate in submitting data to the AAA on the more common traits, such as birth, weaning, and yearling weights, ultrasound data, hip heights, mature cow scores, heifer breeding data, and genomic data.

For a detailed Hoover Angus History, click here.

Four generations of the Hoover Angus Family.
Front: Landi, Gwen, John, Joy, and Ty
Back: Andrew and David
Photo credit: Steve Kirby

Top 10 Industry Leader Under 40

Landi was selected as one of Cattle Business Weekly's "Top 10 Industry Leaders Under 40" for 2013 and was featured on page 49 of their October Herd Reference Guide.

2025 Iowa Angus Tour at Hoover Angus

Aussies on a pasture tour at Hoover Angus

Weaned bull calves

Landi, Andrew, Gwen and Ty as Gwen is crowned 2025 Ringgold County Fair Princess

Visitors make friends with cows on pasture tour

Fall calving cows enjoy the shade!

Iowa Angus Tour visits the fall calving pasture

Gwen as 2025 Ringgold County Fair Princess

Gwen with her bottle calf!

Ty showing bottle lamb at county fair

Gwen showing bottle calf at county fair

Gwen at Iowa State Fair with her strawberry lemonade cake!

History wall at Hoover Angus

Hoover Angus heifers

Ready to sort bulls!

Gwen & Ty’s winnings from the 2025 Iowa State Fair

Aussies and French Angus breeders visit Hoover Angus

Joy and David with winners of the 2025 Hoover Angus Homemade Ice Cream Contest

Hoover Angus Sale Facility

Tagging and weighing newborn fall babies

Mogck Promise breeding heifers

Sunset at Hoover Angus

Ty showing his bottle lamb at the county fair

Full seats at the 2023 Hoover Angus Sale

Inside the Hoover Angus Sale Facility

Hoover Angus Family

First sale at the new Hoover Angus Sale Facility

"History Wall" Hoover Angus Sale Facility

2024 Hoover Angus Sale

Hoover Angus Sale Facility

Gwen & Ty - September 2022

David & Joy

Summer 2022

View of the main farm from the south

Summer 2022 Sunrise

Early Summer Grazing

Fourteen year-old cow at Hoover Angus

Joy & David - Summer 2021

Calves enjoying a nice summer day!

Landi & John - 2021 Hoover Angus Sale

Ty with his first fawn!

Ty enjoying the oats - summer 2021

Gwen (4 years old) reading calf tags while working calves

Andrew with Gwen & Ty on No Doubt’s flush sister

Gwen cutting apart patches during AI season

Andrew & Ty Spring 2021

John (age 95) evaluating fall heifers. Photo courtesy of Jeff DeYoung, Iowa Farmer Today

Gwen and her first bottle calf, Princess Lovey

Andrew & Ty going to check cows

Hoover Angus Family & Crew - December 2020

Andrew, Landi, Gwen & Ty - December 2020

Hoover Angus heifers on a foggy morning with the main farm in the far distance

Heifers at Hoover Angus

Andrew, Landi, Queen Gwen & King Ty with their first bottle calf, Princess Lovey, at the 2021 Ringgold County Fair Pee Wee Wrangler Show. They received the award for “Best Behaved”.

John, age 95, at the microphone at the 93rd Anniversary Hoover Angus Sale

Gwen checking the beans” in the 2020 Ward Laboratories Calendar

Christmas Day, 2019 at Hoover Angus

Gwen helping Joy with cards at the 2020 Hoover Angus Sale

Ty concerned about why his cars are on David’s birthday cake!

Moving cows at Hoover Angus

Entice bull calf shortly after weaning

Ty helping plant beans - he loves tractors!

Sunrise at Hoover Angus

Curious heifers during breeding season

Andrew, Landi, Gwen & Ty

Andrew & Gwen choring on the Fourth of July

Sunrise at Hoover Angus

Potential 5th Generation Angus Breeders - Gwen & Ty

Gwen heat checking cows

John visits Sydenstrickers right before his 94th birthday to look at cattle

Sunrise at Hoover Angus

Spring 2019 at Hoover Angus

Kevin, Anna, Gwen & Ty (sleeping) getting ready for a cattle drive

Gwen baling hay (or she thinks she is)!

Gwen & Ty

David & Joy on their 40th wedding anniversary

Andrew & Gwen

Andrew & Ty

The view from Andrew & Landi’s driveway

Adopt-A-Highway 2019

Sunrise from the fall calving pasture

Gwen checking the weaned bull calves

Landi & Gwen
Photo courtesy of Laura Conaway, Certified Angus Beef

Cows graze on the original Hoover homestead
Photo courtesy of Laura Conaway, Certified Angus Beef

Fall-born calves
Photo courtesy of Laura Conaway, Certified Angus Beef

Four generations of “Hoover gals” the day Gwen was born. Great grandma Barb (Hoover) Kiburz - January 24, 1926 - March 1, 2017

Hoover Angus Family & Crew hosts Mexican officials

John, David, Joy, Gwen, Landi & Andrew

Sunrise at the main farm

Fall cows graze at the main farm

John showing off yearling heifers to visitors

Cows enjoying a late summer day at Hoover Angus

Sunrise at Hoover Angus

Docility pays!

Gwen loves helping check the cows

John evaluates MBG Delmonico before purchasing the bull

Iowa State University beef class visits Hoover Angus

Tingley Halloween Parade

Gwen loves the cattle!

Andrew & Gwen checking the bulls

Landi & John
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Gamble

Landi’s photo as it appeared in the New York Times after Landi spoke out about lack of health insurance options for Iowans
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Gamble

Going to check fall cows - Joy, Anna, Gwen & Landi