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The Road to the Diamond B By Terry Ropp
Jerry and Kathy Barnes never intended to start an Angus operation on their property When Jerry and Kathy Barnes met in the early 1980s, they never pic- Calves are weaned at seven months and then backgrounded 30 to 45 days before being tured themselves married, living in Oklahoma, operating a registered sold off the ranch. Jerry flushes the donors and transplants some of the embryos into Angus cattle to hopefully Angus ranch and traveling across the country with two kids and a produce a few show heifers. He then uses a Hereford bull for cleanup and all black baldies string of show cattle, but that’s what happened. are sold as replacement stock. In addition, he AIs some of The initial idea wasn’t to start a ranch. Jerry was the registered herd utilizing semen from Take Notice and vice president for the Williams Companies in Tulsa other Angus bulls to produce replacements. and wanted to find a getaway near Grand Lake for four They sell a few bulls at Connors State College in wheeling and other outdoor activities. Warner, Okla., through the school’s bull test. AddiIn 1997, the Barnes purchased 160 acres in Fairland, tionally, for the past few years Express Ranch in YuOkla., with contiguous land added later for a total of kon has flushed some of the Barnes, donors (ex-show 300 acres. Diamond B Ranch was established in 1997 heifers) and sold their offspring in their annual show with a registered Angus herd for their maternal traits heifer sales. Recently, those donors have returned to and cross-breeding diversity. the ranch to be flushed and their prodigy will be marOver the next decade or so, Jerry continued improvketed off the ranch. ing the ranch and building his herd. Diversity on the ranch also comes from breeding AnDuring high school, their son Jake became involved gus heifers to a Wagyu bull. The result is relatively no in FFA and exhibited cattle as his SAE project. His birthing issues and highly-prized Wagyu/Angus meat first show heifer was purchased at Express Ranch and sold off the ranch in quarters and halves. her genetics are still found within the herd. With such high-quality stock, the ranch produces its A natural outgrowth from that was their daughter own replacements at an average rate of 10 percent per Erin joining 4-H and both kids being very involved in year. The herd is young with an average age of 4 to 5 exhibiting nationally from 2012 to 2018. years old. Temperament is the most important reason Some of their favorite shows were the Oklahoma for culling so customers can be assured of manageable State Fairs, the Oklahoma Youth Expo, the American animals, and any calf with an attitude is sold immediRoyal, the National Western Stock Show, the Housately at weaning. Cows are typically culled for udder ton Livestock Show, National Junior Angus shows, as or feet issues and bulls for age. well as shows in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. As is to be expected, different categories of animals With hard work and good advice, the ranch has proare on different feeding regimens. Cows eat mostly duced high-quality show animals. In 2017, Jake won grass and hay raised on the farm but receive supplegrand champion at the National Western Bull Sale Show mental protein tubs and/or cubes in the winter. Doin Denver with his bred and owned bull, DBR Take Nonors and show heifers are fed a show ration and, when tice. He was out of Jake’s first show heifer. Jake went on a breeding bull is not in service, he receives a bull rato sell Take Notice, while retaining semen rights. Many Jerry and Kathy Barnes, pictured with their tion from Stillwater Milling. of Take Notice’s calves dot the ranch today. daughter Erin and son Jake, established the Health protocols include a high-quality vaccination When Jake and Erin went to college, competing on Diamond B in 1997. program combined with pour-on wormer in the spring the show circuit stopped. Jerry retired in 2016 and and an injectable wormer in the fall. Flies are handled managed the ranch mostly by himself, with help from through Boss pour-on and alternated with a spray in adhis children. After earning a bachelor’s degree in agSubmitted Photo dition to feeding a mineral with fly control. The most ricultural leadership from Okalahoma State Universipersistent health issue is foot rot which is treated as soon as it appears. ty, Jake returned to the ranch to work with his dad and serves his “This ranch began with 20 registered Angus cows and morphed community as a fireman for a local fire department. His schedule Fairland, Okla. into a very busy family cattle operation,” Jerry said. “Looking back, of working two days and off four days makes possible an ongoing the decision to have an Angus based herd is now allowing multiple transition of ranch leadership with Jake gradually taking over. Erin opportunities to market their prodigy. With Jake returning, there is is a senior at Oklahoma Univeristy, majoring in marketing, so her a greater focus on selling show heifer prospects as well as marketskills will be invaluable to Jake in the future. ing registered Angus and black baldy replacements, in addition to After showing, the ranch has evolved into a more diverse breeding and show Wagyu/Angus beef.” stock operation. Most calves are born in the spring with some born in the fall. SEPTEMBER 7, 2020
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