Glen Klippenstein was born on his grandparents’ homestead in Saskatchewan, Canada. His father managed a Hereford farm for many years. Klippenstein’s first of many 4-H show steers was a Hereford that was champion and sold for more than $800 (when others sold in the $150 range).
Klippenstein earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State, Klippenstein worked with Herman Purdy.
“When I graduated, I followed my loves and began purchasing the biggest, nicest uddered, heavy milking cows I could find,” he explains.
Klippenstein and his family moved from Pennsylvania to Missouri to form Glenkirk Farms (GK).
Klippenstein was known for his marketing savvy. He has sold cattle, semen and embryos into 49 states and 21 countries. He had three sales in excess of $1.5 million and sold more than 7,000 bulls. “Our first ad was ‘Glenkirk – a Name to Remember.’ We believed strongly in the value of promotion and advertising,” Klippenstein says.
The showring was an integral part of GK. In 1969 Canam Investor was the champion bull at the National Polled Hereford Show. GK later exhibited 18 additional national champion or reserve bulls and females.
GK also had its share of expected progeny difference (EPD) trait leaders and performance-test winners. Even today, many reputation cattle go back to bulls bred at GK.
Klippenstein served as chairman of the American Polled Hereford Association in 1983 and chairman of the Beef Promotion and Research Board in 1990 and 1991. He was a National Cattlemen’s Association director from 1984-1990.
Following the GK dispersal in 1993, Klippenstein owned and operated Klippenstein Family Farms until 2000. He served as a Missouri senator from 1993-94 and, by Presidential appointment with unanimous U.S. Senate confirmation, served on the Federal Ag Mortgage Corporation Board — Chairman Public Policy Committee.
Klippenstein and his wife, Linda, have four children — Brian, Brett, Noël and Ivan. The Klippenstein family showed at more than 18 junior nationals bringing home three championship banners.
