34 minute read
SUMMER TOUR - Texas, finally!
photos & artwork by Derek Sample Derek@ABPmag.com
written by Tim McCray Tim@ABPmag.com
Derek hopped on a flight out my way so we could take my Jeep on a summer tour down to southern Texas. A few ranches have been asking for us to visit them down that way and we decided it was time we'd make a go of it in my Gladiator, especially since I have the magazine tattoo'd all over the Jeep's exterior. Besides, every rancher who's ridden in it, wants to buy one. Yes, we've inquired about a sponsorship from Jeep's parent company, but they haven't responded yet! It's a no brainer to me.
HOOVER ANGUS
Ellston, Iowa
HooverAngus.com
We had such a great time last year visiting Landi at Hoover Angus, so I thought it was a good idea to stop by again since I knew they finished a new sale barn that was only in the planning stages when we were there last summer. Landi (McFarland) has been dreaming of their own sale barn since she was a little girl growing up on the family farm in south central Iowa. The old wagon wheels that line the front of the new barn almost went unnoticed, as they just seemed to belong there under the brand-new Certified Angus Beef logo that the Angus Association just painted on the front. That and other outside touches gave us an idea of what’s coming. Yes, the barn itself is new, but the inside shows some ancient history in both texture and imagery. Collected barn wood from some of their old barns has been repurposed for interior walls and accent pieces, accentuating the incredible light fixtures that date back to the 1800s. An antique hay clamp with deer antlers (most of which were found on their
property) was repurposed into a grand chandelier along with an antique hoist and pulley, bringing back memories of the pulley museum we visited last year in Nebraska. All of the old barn wood is mixed throughout the building, giving each wall and room a unique character, while still maintaining an overall feel. Landi’s resourcefulness shows through the interior design since she met an old light fixture collector years ago. Landi’s proud to keep things local when she can since she’s all about her family history. On the main wall, she built a “Wall of Fame” that has pictures of some of the most influential herd animals and family history for all to see. It’s quite fascinating. There are photos of Walt Hoover, who started their original Angus herd, and his eighth-grade diploma from 1918. Then there are more photos of every generation since then, including their children Ty & Gwen, who are also here today riding their bikes around indoors. In fact, they talked me into a game of zombie one-shoe tag and honestly, it was too much fun that Derek joined in as well. I was losing, but I didn’t care. Derek and I always enjoy visiting with Landi and hearing about what her Angus are up to. We also look forward to more visits in the future. Check out the Hoover Angus female sale on October 24 and their annual bull sale in February.
Yukon, OK
“It’s not done until it’s overdone” Mary Quigley half-joked with us about owner Bob Funk of Express Ranches in Oklahoma. So, in honor of that statement, here is the story of Express Ranches, which you probably already know, albeit uber-condensed.
Robert A. “Bob” Funk grew up in Washington and worked on his cousin's dairy farm through high school. He was a member of the FFA and received a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and theology from Seattle Pacific University (SPU). He went on to do graduate work in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he received his master’s degree from SPU, as well as an honorary doctorate from SPU, Oklahoma Baptist University,
and Southern Nazarene University. Bob worked seventeen years at Acme Personnel and eventually moved to Oklahoma City where he started his own company, Express Personnel. That successful business led him to buy a ranch and some Limousin cattle. Jarold Callahan started working with Bob more than twenty years ago when they added some Angus & Herefords, eventually replacing the Limousin. Later, when Jarold became CEO, things started to take off. Today, Bob employs around 20 people at Express Ranches, with many of them having worked there for 20 years.
We arranged to tour the facilities with Mark Squires and to have a hundred copies of our latest issue delivered there so we would have something to pass out on our travels. Instead, we had two snafus, one when Mark called in sick that day, and the second when we figured out our magazines had been sent elsewhere. Problems abound, the gal on the phone, Mary Quigley, urged us to come and visit anyway, and someone would be around to give us a tour. That someone was Mary herself, as everyone else was off that day. When we walked in, you couldn’t help but notice the offices were plentiful in hides and leather furniture, cowboy sculptures, trophies, banners, you name it. It's about what you would expect offices at a ranch like this to look like, and it wasn’t cliché. Then we toured the sale barn where we could get lost just looking at all of the awards and photos of top sires. Bob believes in giving back to the community and the Jr. programs, and there is a special box of awards just for them. We spent a good couple of hours with Mary, who seemed to enjoy driving around in my Jeep, even taking the wheel for a bit. We visited most if not all the 4,000 acres near the headquarters. It was rather hot in the day, so by the time we reached the cows, most were in the water or whatever puddles or shade they could find. We also spent some time at the newly acquired A.I. barn, a horse stable converted into a working facility. On our way back to the office, Mary asked if we wanted to see the Clydesdales (which Express is also very famous for) which were very large and impressive, and they re-opened the gift shop for us. This is the first ranch visit I’ve had where they have their own gift shop. Afterward, we got to talking in the parking lot while we were preparing to leave, and I think we ended up standing there for over an hour when a UPS truck arrived with our lost magazine shipment. It seems things turned out just great after all. Thank you, Mary!
6 annual sale events, 3 in the fall and 3 in the spring. The next is the Fall Bull Sale on October 2nd and a Hereford Event Sale on October 15th. www.ExpressRanches.com
W4 HEREFORDS Morgan, TX
W4 Herefords is located about 80 miles southwest of Dallas, also known as the top of the “hill country” with rocks and some cactus. The ranch was, at one point. owned by the mayor of Dallas and used strictly for recreational purposes. There are a lot of recreational ranches in the area, due to its proximity to Dallas. The original ranch of 1,000 acres was purchased by James Walker and is still owned by the Walker family, with the help and direction of ranch manager Jeff Chaffin. James Walker grew up in east Texas and dreamed of being a cowboy and owning a ranch. During high school, he and two of his friends took a one-way trip to Nevada where they hitchhiked and worked on ranches while they returned home over the summer. After operating a successful construction company for years, James realized his dream when he bought the ranch in 1961. There wasn’t much here at the time, just a house and a landing strip built by the mayor, but James spent the next five years building roads, seven connected lakes, fence line, and barns before he placed any cattle on the ranch. Commercial Herefords were the early focus, which eventually evolved into a seed stock/commercial program to satisfy the increasing calls for their bulls. The Walker family is firmly committed to the Hereford breed, and with the land in trust, they aren’t going anywhere. They bought the first calf heifers from the Berry’s in Wyoming at the start, and have since added Cooper, Holden, and Churchill genetics. The ranch today is more than ten times its original acreage and has transitioned into a registered operation that also shows, although that's not their focus.
Jeff, the ranch manager, grew up in Duncanville, a suburb of Dallas (it was more rural then) and also spent time on his grandparent's farm near Bonham. He worked as a show barn manager among other things, and when the opportunity came to work at W4 in 2001, he would return to his home state where he’s been ranch manager for the past seven years. All of the cattle work is handled by Jeff and his two hired hands, Matt Jones & Cash Hines. The three of them are responsible for the cattle, the farming, and the haying.
The success of any operation is due largely to its program, but of course, every program has its differences. One unique to W4, at least in their area, is that they don’t creep feed. Calves are weaned around 550- 600 pounds and are then put into a feedlot situation, feeding a bulk Purina product until they get their yearling weight. From that point, the bulls are taken to “Bull Mountain” for further development. Bull Mountain is 100 acres of land divided into 5 paddocks with a 200 ft hill of rock in the center. At one end are the feed bunkers, and the opposite is their water. So, the bulls must walk ½ mile from food to water up and down the rocky hill. The rock helps develop the bulls so they don’t fall apart when they’re turned out.
Jeff was working on a sale catalog one year, when he called one of his customers for a quote to use. “I know what you want to hear” the customer said, “but that’s not what I’m telling you. Why I buy bulls from W4 is because they die far less than bulls from other ranches.” No doubt due to that development, but also W4’s main customer base is south and east of them, or in other words, hotter and more humid.
Working fast and efficient is a necessity, and one of the biggest investments has been in purchasing an ultrasound from repro scan. They used to have a vet to use as an extra hand, but being able to do their own palpitations has been a huge timesaver. “It took some training to be able to use it” Jeff said, and that “a lot of people have them but aren’t sure how to use them.” That company offered to train at W4's facility and now come twice a year. Jeff added, "Never turn down an opportunity to have someone on your ranch.” This way, they get another 12 ranchers on the property that he might not have known. He’s had several that have come for training after owning this machine for over a year. Aside from opening the gates for us, they've also hosted tour stops as well. The Texas Farm Bureau hosts a summer institute for teachers, and this past summer had about 75 school teachers from all over Texas, taking what they learned at W4 back into their classrooms.
W4 has two annual sales, this October 20th with 100 bulls + 135 heifers, and the other is in April.
CAPITOL ANGUS
WHITEHOUSE, TEXAS
TEXAS BEEF HOUSE!
Aaron DuVall spent his childhood chasing Brahmans and Brangus in Gordon. He didn’t care for their disposition and dreamed of one day owning an Angus herd since he felt they were such a superior breed of cattle. Around 2003, he bought a commercial herd which was a mix of Hereford and Angus from a friend in Wyoming. He bought a registered bull and contin ued buying registered when he could. By this time, he had his own family and lived in Whitehouse. Rhone’s Quarter Ranch was their operating name for several years. Aaron’s son Tyler was still in high school and becoming more involved in the family’s Angus herd. Tyler wanted to change the name, and Aaron wasn’t too keen on it, until one day when they were at a sale barn, the auctioneer announced a lot from Rhone’s Quarter ‘Horse’ Ranch. Obviously, that changed things. So, after kicking around some ideas, Saman tha (Tyler’s sister) came up with Capitol Angus. Tyler recalls when he saw their group text, he knew that was what they had been searching for. Tyler studied Agronomy at Tarleton State University, graduated, and married his high school sweetheart in 2011. The following January, while selling at the Best of the West bull sale in Ft. Worth, Aaron met Chris Earl, who was early on in his consulting business. The two hit it off, and Chris was hired as a consultant. That’s when things really changed.
Aaron hoped for growing a superior Angus herd that would produce high, in-demand genetics. So, with Chris on board, the first thing he suggested was to eliminate two-thirds of their herd and start over. That was a hard pill to swallow, let alone a hard decision. But as Aaron said, “You either do what your consultant says, or you fire him.” Tyler offers “We just revamped and started over. We took what little we had that was worth keeping and then bought a donor. Chris knew the McKeller’s, so we got a donor from them. We flushed a few times a year and tried to change things from that point forward.” He credits Chris as the reason there is a Capitol Angus today.
The priority for Aaron & Tyler is breeding bulls. They focus on each cow individually and then select a few possible bulls they feel are right for each one. “It’s a very time-consuming process,” Tyler says, but they felt it was the only approach, rather than looking for 1 or 2 bulls that will blanket their herd. Focusing on each animal is a trait they take to the finished product which gives them a balanced calf in the end. The DuValls want longevity in their animals. They believe in selling bulls that have good feet, good maternal, great calving ease with great birthweight. Their customers want calving ease and low birth weights, over half of what they offer, but they also have a phenotype to go with them. Sounds easy enough. Of course, you don’t build a solid herd of balanced traits with calving ease and low birth weight bulls in the majority overnight, and you certainly don’t do it without some strict culling.
Tyler says “We started culling hard on our bulls at 500, 600 pounds, figuring out who we’re going to keep and not keep. That was 100% my dad’s idea. Rather than taking them to the sale barn like everyone else, why don’t we grow them out, feed them and process them? We’ll just sell them ourselves.
Enter TEXAS BEEF HOUSE:
Tyler, Derek, and I are enjoying lunch at a favorite venue of the Capitol Angus employees called “Ribtown”. He continues, “It’s funny that we (himself and the other employees) didn’t have time to get together for lunch. But one day during the winter it was raining hard and we were breeding all day. Why don’t we stop what we’re doing, and I’ll feed y’all lunch? We came in here, and the waitress knew everyone individually. Turns out they’d all been coming in here on their own several times a week.” He also ensured we ordered the mac & cheese here as one of our sides since they top it off with crushed Cheeto’s. I feel compelled to tell y’all that it added new life to Mac & Cheese!
“We didn’t have a separate entity back then,” Tyler says. “We were just [selling beef] under Capitol Angus, selling halves and whole beef to neighbors and church members and whatnot. He continues, “Proba bly around 2013 or so, I was still working as an agron omist full-time and helping out here at the ranch when I wasn’t working that job.” Around this time, Dad bought a Wagyu bull that he wanted to try on some of our Angus heifers. “We’re Angus breeders by passion, and we love Angus beef” Tyler added. “But when we started introducing the Wagyu to our An gus customers, we saw a huge difference in demand. Tyler’s first goal was to get into the Whitehouse school district booster and athletic clubs because the school he and his wife Samantha attended had grown tremendously. He started by donating some beef to those programs and various smaller gatherings. Pretty soon the school was ordering a couple of hundred patties at a time for retirement parties and band concerts. By 2015 there was enough work between Capitol Angus and their newly founded Texas Beef House that the decision was made to work on the ranch full time. Leaving behind his 9-year Agronomist job, it took Tyler some time to adjust. “It took me a bit to realize that I was the ranch manager and not a laborer.” But once that thought pattern took hold, he got comfortable real fast. They continued selling the finished beef by the halves and started working the local farm too.
Then covid arrived, and the world as we knew it changed. “It was a ghost town, people didn’t know what to do, or where to go. Now, our beef business exploded. Nobody wanted to go into town or the grocery store. We offered free delivery, and we started family bundles online, basically volume orders of ground beef and sausage. The more you buy, the less you pay per pound.” Pounds, that I will add, are selling for a premium today and selling very well. They’re still doing the farmers market, still offering free delivery, and still getting a premium for their beef for both Angus & Wagyu. One reason, Tyler believes, is that they keep that same principle intact for finished beef as they do for their calf crop, they focus on each cow specifically. Regardless of the number that goes to the butcher each week (typically 1-4) “we individually take care of that animal, package that animal, and sell that animal.” They don’t mix animals together in hamburger. This also allows for custom cuts while orders are placed.
Derek and I saw the results of this while we toured his pastures and working facilities. Now we’re back at the offices for Texas Beef House, or ‘Capitol Hill’ as they call it. There’s a gigantic walkin freezer that holds their product and a warehouse full of boxes waiting for orders to be filled. Samantha worked as a nurse this morning at the local hospital, and now she’s filling an order of 400 patties for the school. Tyler is also getting ready to deliver a large order to a customer in Shreveport. Hmmm, I had no idea we were that close to Louisiana, which brings us to our next stop. I’ve gotten used to the GPS and not looking at maps. I miss maps. Kind of…
Be sure and check out Capitol Angus’ sale on November 11th. I have a feeling that this one will be a game-changer. They just might be the first to offer up at their auction a lot of their own meat at their bull sale. That could go either way, but regardless, it might just put some more people in seats come auction day. www.CapitolAngus.com
BURFORD ANGUS
GLOSTER, LOUISIANA
I met Hall & Judy Burford on a Montana Angus tour several years ago. It was my first tour in that state, and I was quite impressed that they had traveled such a great distance from Louisiana. Somewhere along my journey, I’ve come to listen to that inner voice sometimes suggesting that I do something a little out of the ordinary. In this case, that inner voice suggested I send them a Christmas card that year, and honestly, I thought they would get a kick out of that. We’ve stayed in touch. Over the years, they keep suggesting I visit, since I’d always have a place to stay. Oh, and they have golf courses in Louisiana too. So, when I found from our last stop that we were close enough to Shreveport, I again acted on that inner voice and made a phone call. I had no idea where they lived about Shreveport but turns out it wasn’t far at all. Plans were then set to drop down for a visit since we had a couple of open days to fill in between our scheduled stops. Now the Burfords don’t live in Shreveport, but they live in a much smaller town about 30 miles to the south. Unincorporated, its last
designated census had a population of 94. 92 of which I now believe all of them are in some way related to Hall. OK, maybe not all of them. We had a hard time finding their house, I was on the right street, then just drove past it, but there were only 4 houses on that street. Come to find out, Hall had lived in all four at different points of his life.
After catching up for a bit, we took a short drive to his childhood home where the sign near the street welcomes us to H & R Dairy, the partnership Hall had formed with his father where they had a small 25-cow dairy by the time Hall went off to college. Hall & Judy’s daughter Holly and her husband live in the home now and take care of the land and the Angus cattle that Hall shares with them. We eventually meet up with Holly, who is busy cutting hay and fills us in on what’s happening around the farm. They don’t have cable, or even WIFI as it’s constant entertainment around here anyway. Holly has an eight-month-old border collie that I introduce to Frodo, my 14-year-old border collie who still thinks he’s a puppy. We drove through the rest of their nearby herd, but Hall was anxious to introduce us to his cousin Bob, who’s president of the Angus Association in the state. On the way out, Derek notices Hall’s 57-year-old tractor sitting by the old milking barn with a smiley face painted on it by Holly’s stepson when he was 13. Hall insists on seeing if it still runs, which it does.
Gloster, Louisiana
“I’m trying to find a life after dairy,” Bob Burford said to us shortly after we arrived at his place. “It used to be the number two parish in the state for dairy” Bob continued. Like his father & grandfather before him, they were all dairy farmers. So, jumping into a beef herd wasn’t too much of a hurdle. Bob sold out in 2009 and “did this and that” for the next 3 or 4 years. Then he picked up a registered herd and decided he didn’t want to pay a bunch of money for bulls, instead want ing to raise his own. He bought a bull from Musgrave’s since they had something that he felt fit into his genet ics, but he also does a fair amount of his own AI and flushing too. Both Bob and his general manager Kenneth Altom have been paying close attention to growth & carcass data, and it seems to be paying off. Bob says their customers are much more informed about EPD’s,
but it still comes down to when they look in the pen, “it’s all about Nuts, Buts & Guts.” Dixie Farms Angus sold private treaty for a long time, but once he got about 3 or 4 customers that all wanted the first pick (Hall was one of them), it became evident that he needed to start having sale events. Last year they added some commercial cattle from his brother-in-law’s place which are descendants of his bulls. The donor cows usually flush for a season and then he gets them bred. If he likes the calves, he’ll repeat that cycle. With two successful sales behind him, and preparing for a third, we think he’s off to a good start.
Dixie Farms Angus Fall Sale is October 21st in Coushatta, Louisiana
www.facebook.com/DixieFarms
2F AKAUSHI BEEF/HIND CATTLE COMPANY
Santa Elena, Texas
There’s no such thing as Minnesota nice, it’s a myth. But there is such a thing as southern hospitality and well-mannered Texans. My first email from Mr. Jason Hind of 2F Akaushi Beef said good morning sir, and invited us to see their operation in “deep south Texas”. I was quite flattered by the invitation and shared the news with Derek right away. But after looking at the 24-hour drive, I had to put it on the back burner, and we let it simmer over 2 years. So, when Derek and I started talking about Texas for our summer travel plans, I reached out to Jason right away to discuss some opportunities for a visit, and we started planning a trip. On every trip, we’re always asked where we’ve been and where we’re headed next. This time, we were met with different reactions –> “You’re going where? Ha-ha, hope you have a gun. You guys need to be careful down there.” That got worse and worse as we went on. Jason reassured us that we’d be fine and comparing the drive to and from their ranch location (about 50 miles NW of McAllen) and a certain motel in Austin (how did Expedia give it any stars?), I’ll take this any day.
Rancho Santa Fe has been in the Martinez family for 5 generations and is home to Felo and Stephanie Martinez. In 2027 the Martinez family will celebrate 100 years as a working cattle ranch. Getting into the ranch was tricky, so Jason and Felo were waiting by the main gate when we approached. The gravel roads that intersect the pastures we were navigating eventually lead us to the main house where Felo & Stephanie live, along with the offices of 2F Akaushi Beef. In November 2018, the Martinez family held a grand opening of their beef processing and distribution center, Felito's Finest LLC, dba 2F Akaushi Beef. Stephanie and Alyssa joined us to start our ranch tour. Stephie admits she spends most of her time here in her small office compared to her more spacious and beautiful ranch home next door. Of course, having a processing plant here makes 2F Akaushi Beef totally integrated compared to other farm-to-table operations, and it was a dream of the Martinez family to accomplish just this. The steaks and other prime cuts sell themselves, but getting rid of the ground beef is always the hardest. In 2021 they entered into the HEB Quest for Texas Best contest, hosted by the largest privately owned grocer in Texas and recently ranked #1 in the nation. They won first place! Things moved quickly after winning that prestigious award, and today you can find their 2F Akaushi Beef in 150+ HEB stores across Texas.
Moving to the main house, Derek and I were amazed at the rich history of the Martinez’s spread throughout the home. We were practically getting lost in their private museum when we were summoned for lunch. We got a taste of the 2F brand short ribs and were treated to some homemade gorditas which is a soft, thick corn tortilla filled with their delicious award-winning 2F ground beef. We shared lots of laughs listening to the stories of fishing, travels, and life lessons of the Martinez-Shiba family. Felo spoke about their humble beginnings, and you can tell he’s very proud and so grateful that he gets to work with family. They started running steers for other ranchers and back-grounding them for the feedlot, where they got to see a lot of different breeds seeing what did well, and what didn’t. He and Stephanie talked about someday being able to do this for themselves. Alyssa told us about the first Wagyu coming to America, and Jason then told us that Felo’s grandfather was one the first men to cross Brahman cattle from Brazil, through Mexico, and into America. So, their family history runs deep in Brahman seedstock. Jason jokes that Felo likes to talk about ‘hybrid vigor’ since he is 100% Hispanic and Stephanie is 100% Japanese. In 2013, Felo and Stephanie upgraded their breeding program and started cross-breeding their Brangus cows with Akaushi Bulls. “The only consumer we should be concerned with is the American housewife,” Jason echoes from a video of Felo’s grandfather talking about the future of ranching. “People buy with their eyes,” Stephanie adds. In fact, that rich marbling and umami taste that the Wagyu are known for is very unique to any other American Breed.
Stephanie had an opportunity to witness the whole chain of events firsthand, from the feedlot to the table, and learned what they needed to do in dry aging, wet aging, cutting, quality and sanitation control, inspection, freezing, and packaging. Today, the four of them work together to make this work, but perhaps one of the most important things, that they want everyone to know, is that “it can be done”. Working together with their family was a dream of Felo and Stephanie's from the start, and the result is that this situation would be vastly different if one of them weren’t a part of it. It doesn’t take magic to make a successful business, but magic does happen when all the right pieces come together.
Jason & Alyssa operate Hind Cattle Company, just down the road from Alyssa’s parents. Thankfully keeping those grand-babies close. But they’re saddling themselves up to produce some excellent Akaushi seedstock, all alongside with what’s happening at 2F. They’ve recently been honored by HEB and awarded a belt buckle signifying the 51st recipient of Quest for Texas Best 1 Million Dollar Club. Felo’s grandfather’s brand was “51” registered in the early 1900s. How telling is that and I don’t believe in coincidence. There’s so much more to this family’s story than will fit here. So, look for more about them in an upcoming issue and visit their website at 2Fakaushibeef.com.
ASCHERMANN AKAUSHI
CARTHAGE, MISSOURI
Planning a road trip isn’t that important to us, as both Derek and I are free spirits so we’re happy wherever the road takes us. That attitude has helped us on the road since we’ve turned in the right direction so often that we’ve met amazing people who weren’t on the ticket. Now we’re heading back up and out of “deep south Texas”, spending the night in Austin (again) and the next day finds us in Missouri. Derek just bought a ticket to hop on a plane in Kansas City tonight, so we now have an end destination in mind. While looking around for someone else to visit, I reached out to Larry Ascherman, whom we talked to several times over the phone, but never met him, as is the case with so many. As you can tell, we’re in the middle of changing that. We had Larry listed as a Charolais breeder, so Derek drove past his place since the sign said Aschermann Akaushi. After realizing our error, the Jeep turned on a dime.
Larry worked as a fieldman for the American Shorthorn Association, which led to him being an executive for a group importing cattle from France. After that, he returned to his home state of Illinois to farm. When that didn’t work out, he took a job as manager of production for a subsidy of Monsanto, which led him to SW Missouri. He purchased Diamond/Four Star Stockyards in 1980, and while managing that, he became interested in Charolais genetics. I asked Larry if he missed the stockyard business, and his reply was simply “No.”
Larry’s dream of “selling lots of good bulls” is a testament to his 34 Charolais bull sales, of which, he held his last in 2022. “We’re one hundred percent Akaushi now,” Larry says as we walk through his herd.
The Aschermann’s (Larry & Peggy) started playing around with some Akaushi in 2013 by AI on some of their Charolais heifers. In 2017 they started combining their Charolais with some “front-end Akaushi from HeartBrand” and developed a herd of F1s. The next step was to purchase some foundation females for embryo production, but they only wanted genetics that were direct descendants of the original imports that matched their search criteria. Considering those first imports consisted of 3 bulls and eight cows over 30 years ago, it was a tough find. They did quite a bit of research and finally purchased five full-blood females. They selected for growth, eye appeal, and disposition, and Larry is not shy about disagreeing with what’s been said in the past about Akaushi – that they won’t grow & that they’re wild. He dealt with 50 years of “horror stories about Charolais bulls killing cows” as he puts it. With Akaushi, he’s seen plenty of growth both in the cattle and his customers. Peggy says Larry’s a “bullboy” and likes selling bulls, plus his sale averages jumped up substantially since hosting his first Akaushi sale this past April.
For his first sale, he says they served around 150 plates. So, he figures with help and whatnot, they had a good set of buyers. His averages grew quite a bit from his Charolais sales, and he shipped cattle to Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee & Arkansas. Larry aimed
to sell half-blood bulls to his Charolais customers, but that wasn’t well received. Akaushi was still pretty new, and no one seemed to know how to spell it. But getting rid of one breed made his life much simpler. He’s also finishing some out, and with a renter working at the hospital, he’s lined quite a few people up with meat. “They're the people with the money, and they like the quality as well.” One of his customers at the sale liked the beef so much, he came back for more and has “started his own meat market, plus they do lunch too” Larry tells us. I did take that hint!
Larry had dreams of retiring in his 40s. Now 76, he’s not showing any signs of slowing down. Although he says he’s not in expansion mode. Look for Aschermann Akaushi’s sale coming in April.
Contact Larry: 417-793-BULL
JOPLIN STOCKYARDS
JOPLIN, MISSOURI
www.JoplinStockyards.com
Joplin regional stockyards has been a fixture in the four state region for more than 70 years. With more than 10 acres under the roof and cattle sales offered 50 weeks a year, Joplin Stockyards is dedicated to serving buyers and sellers alike. Special value-added calf and yearling sales are featured on the first and third Thursdays from November through May – the largest of it’s kind in the Midwest.
We passed Joplin Stockyards on the way to Larry Ascherman's place, and at his suggestion we made a quick stop. Derek took a few photos, and by the time we got inside Clay was looking for us. We didn’t know it, but we were looking for him. After the
introductions and vetting took place, he gave us the backstage tour.
Clay says they sell “anywhere between 800 to 1,200 on a Wednesday, and all of our sales go from daylight to dark. We run just over a half a million head of cattle per year.” Clay has worked here about 5 years, but it’s also his family’s business, so he really grew up here. “A little over 100 acres total” (referring to the 10 acres under the roof) as we’re standing in the back alleyway. There’s at least 8 guys on horseback, and everyone is very busy. Clay continues telling us that they have a wall of fans that line the back of the building and one of the big ass fans over top to curb the heat. Plus they run sprinkler systems throughout, so on hot days they can keep the cattle cool. Clay handles the IT work, as well as the social media posts, so he and Derek had a bit more to talk about like cameras and drones while my stomach was grumbling and thinking about lunch. Give them a call at 417-548-BEEF.
J-H CATTLE MEAT STORE
JOPLIN, MISSOURI
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME!
Larry Ascherman also suggested that we stop and talk to Roger & Shelley Hines of J-H Cattle C Meat Store in Joplin. They have a cattle ranch just outside of Joplin where they raise both Angus & Akaushi which they sell at their store. We didn’t have time to check out their cattle, so that will have to wait for the next trip, but we sure were curious about lunch! We opted for the Tri-Tip sandwich special and it sure put a smile on our faces. It was meaty delight. All of their beef comes from J-H Cattle. Following slaughter, they hang for 21 days and then get cut up at the store. According to Roger, he and his partner were just driving around one day and decided to open a meat store. “There was no Akaushi around that people could buy, and I knew people would like it” Roger said. He’s got another local guy that supplies him with pork as well, and sources other products such as cheese from nearby Amish communities.
The store itself opened in December of 2020. Prior to that they were selling off the ranch, but not too much. Another case of “If you build it they will come” he hopes. Business has been well received so far, especially since they started offering lunch. People come in for lunch, and then return for some meat to cook at home. Thus far Angus represents about 60% of the sales on the beef side, and he anticipates that sales for the Akaushi will increase as more people try it. We just missed Roger when we arrived, but that didn’t stop us from chatting with Shelley & the rest of the staff while we were chewin' on Tri-Tip before getting back on the road.
Facebook: JHCattleandMeats, JHTrading.Akaushi.Cattle
