White Ridge Farm is located in Somerville, Virginia, and was founded in the early 1900’s by Lloyd Grove.  Lloyd and his sons Walter and Arthur operated White Ridge for many decades as a small, diversified farm producing beef cattle, hogs, corn, small grains, and hay.  During the 1970s the farm transitioned into a hay and cow-calf operation, running 100+ cows.  Walter’s son, Bobby, introduced registered Angus cattle into the operation with the purchase of two cow-calf pairs from Newbill Miller’s Ginger Hill Angus in 1979.

 

Bobby left graduate school in 1981 to take a job as a fieldman for the Livestock Breeder Journal magazine.  Through the 1980’s, select registered females were slowly added to the herd, and the transition to a registered Angus herd began.  Bobby left the Livestock Breeder Journal in 1988 to return full time to the farm.  Through the 1980’s and early 1990’s, White Ridge Angus marketed bulls by private treaty and through test stations in Virginia and Montana.  White Ridge enjoyed success at the test stations, frequently consigning high gaining and high indexing individuals and sire groups.  In 1997, Bobby joined with his good friend Don Benner of Benfield Farm to start an annual bull sale they named the “Headquarters for Hindquarters” Angus bull sale.  Bobby and Don enjoyed 22 successful sales at the Rockingham Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg.  For many reasons, Don and his family have elected to significantly reduce their herd, and consequently the final joint bull sale was held in 2018.

 

Decades of commercial cow-calf production have taught the Grove family the type of cattle the commercial breeder needs to be successful, and that is the only type of cattle they breed.  Today, White Ridge Angus is a family run operation that specializes in the production of fertile, low input, problem free, maternally oriented Angus cattle with added muscle and fleshing ability.

 

Currently, four generations of the Grove family call White Ridge Farm home.  The day to day work is handled by Bobby, but the entire family pitches in as needed.  Other family members include Bobby’s brother, Tom, and sister, Donna, and her family.  Donna’s daughters, Jennifer Porter with husband Kevin, and Caitlin Menefee with husband Earl are also involved in the farm.  The family looks forward to adding Alex and Jake Porter, and Ella Menefee to the crew when they are old enough to help.