Innovative Livestock Services

Name

Innovative Livestock Services

Legal name

Innovative Livestock Services

Website

https://ilsbeef.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Great Bend

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices19 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Cattle Feeding Services: ILS owns and operates feedyards in central Kansas and south-central Nebraska, providing customized feeding programs for customer cattle with consulting nutritionists and veterinarians. Revenue generated through cattle feeding fees based on feeding programs and cattle performance.
2. Farming Operations: Sister farming operation grows crops (alfalfa, corn, soybeans, small grains) that provide high-quality nutrients for cattle feed rations. Composted manure from feedyards is applied to farm crops, creating a sustainable closed-loop system.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Innovative Livestock Services owns and operates a network of feedyards in central Kansas and south-central Nebraska that provide customized cattle feeding programs for customer-owned cattle, supported by consulting nutritionists and veterinarians. The company also runs a vertically integrated farming operation (ILS Farms) that grows feed crops (corn, alfalfa, soybeans, small grains) and applies composted manure from feedyards as fertilizer, creating a closed-loop nutrient cycle. Services extend to cattle procurement, risk management using futures and options, and cattle marketing through partnerships with packer processors.

Product overview

Innovative Livestock Services operates ILSBeef as its primary consumer-facing brand for direct-to-consumer beef sales. The company runs a vertically integrated model combining cattle feeding operations (through multiple feedyard sub-brands including Barton County Feeders, Great Bend Feeding, ILS Feeders, Knight Feedlot, McClymont Feedyard, Roberts Cattle Company, and Ward Feed Yard) with agricultural farming operations (ILS Farm North and South). The portfolio includes various subsidiary companies supporting the core business: alfalfa pellet production (Alfalfa Pellets, LLC), agricultural fuels (Agri-Fuels, LLC), environmental management (GK Environmental, LLC), trucking (Ward Feed Yard Trucking, LLC), and agricultural systems (AG Systems, LLC, Mid America Ag, LLC). The company creates a closed-loop nutrient cycle where farm crops feed cattle and manure from feedyards fertilizes crops. Beyond cattle operations, ILS offers community programs including an internship program (farm and feedlot tracks with housing provided) and scholarship program for employees' dependents.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ILSBeef The consumer-facing brand for Innovative Livestock Services, marketing sustainable, locally-raised beef directly to consumers.
• Cattle Feeding / Feedyard Operations Network of feedyards in central Kansas and south-central Nebraska providing customized cattle feeding programs for customer-owned cattle, including cattle procurement, cattle health management, risk management solutions using futures and options, and cattle marketing through partnerships with packer processors. Each feedyard utilizes consulting nutritionists and veterinarians.
• ILS Farms Sister farming operation that grows feed crops (alfalfa, corn, soybeans, small grains) for ILS feedyards and applies composted manure from feedyards as organic fertilizer, creating a closed-loop nutrient cycle. Spans across Barton, Pawnee, and Stafford counties in Central Kansas.
• Alfalfa Pellets, LLC

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cactus Feeders: Texas Panhandle-based cattle feeding company operating 10+ feedyards. Closest direct competitor to ILS in business model (custom cattle feeding for customers with nutritionist/vet support) and in operating multiple yards, though concentrated in the Texas Panhandle rather than Kansas/Nebraska.
• Friona Industries: Family-owned cattle feeding operation running four major feedyards in the Texas Panhandle. Comparable to ILS as a custom cattle feeder with a vertically integrated approach, but located in a different region.
• Hi-Pro Feedyard: Texas and New Mexico cattle feeding operation. Comparable to ILS as a custom cattle feeder with multiple yards, though operating in a different regional market focused on the southern Plains.
• Dinklage Feed Yards: Multi-state cattle feeding company with feedyards in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. Comparable to ILS as a custom cattle feeding operation, with overlap in the Nebraska market where ILS also operates.
• Adams Land & Cattle: Nebraska-based integrated cattle operation combining cow-calf, feedlot, and farming. Directly comparable to ILS' vertically integrated model with feedyards in Nebraska, the same state where ILS operates two of its yards.
• Cattle Empire: Kansas-based cattle feeding company with multiple feedyards in southwest Kansas. Closely comparable to ILS given overlapping Kansas geography, custom feeding model, and rancher/backgrounder customer base.
• Five Rivers Cattle Feeding: Largest U.S. cattle feedlot operator with multiple yards across Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Directly comparable to ILS as a custom cattle feeding business serving rancher and backgrounder customers, but at substantially greater scale and geographic reach.
• Magnum Feedyard: Western Kansas custom cattle feedyard. Operates in the same regional cluster as ILS and competes for the same rancher and backgrounder customers selling feeder cattle into Plains feedyards.

Broad incumbents

• JBS USA: U.S. subsidiary of JBS S.A. and one of the largest beef processors in North America, operating Five Rivers Cattle Feeding as well as processing plants. A major counterparty/competitor of ILS as both a feedlot operator and a beef packer that buys fed cattle from ILS and other feeders.
• Tyson Foods: Vertically integrated beef processor with significant feedlot and cattle operations. Comparable to ILS as both an industry counterparty (buys fed cattle) and a benchmark for vertically integrated beef production economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ilsbeef
• Facebookfacebook.com/ILSBeef
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/innovative-livestock-services

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Innovative Livestock Services