PHOTOS BY GREG QUINN
A Ranching
ROY FISHER
STORY BY JACOB LONGAN
PIONEER Alumnus spends his lifetime building a successful business.
F
isher Ranch horses have carried riders to Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world championships, and satisfied customers include the likes of Ty Murray, a nine-time World Champion cowboy. But the operation’s success didn’t come overnight. It took Roy Fisher nearly six decades to pay off the $500,000 loan he took out to begin his ranching career in 1954. He was a 21-year-old Oklahoma A&M College livestock operations graduate who had just served two years in the U.S. Army. He needed land for his five quarter-horse
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mares and 200 cows, so he borrowed the money to buy 4,000 acres near Eufaula, Okla., in McIntosh County. His debt was the equivalent of more than $4.25 million in today’s dollars. “Now that’s ignorance if you look at the economics,” says Fisher, 83. “If I’d known anything about ranching, I doubt I would have ever had the guts to step off into this hole. But I didn’t know a whole lot about it, so I had no alternative after I fell into this hole so far in debt that it was going to take me more than 50 years to get out that I just had to stay with it and dig out.”
By collaborating with his alma mater and working nearly every day of the next 62 years, he has built Fisher Ranch into a 15,000-acre operation with 1,500 mother cows and 100 brood mares. He says Stillwater is where his success began because of his education and the people he met. “Those two things are the basis on which I built my business,” he adds. “I didn’t have any years of technical skill behind me because I didn’t grow up on a ranch. It was Oklahoma State University and the people going to school there that have helped me be where I am.”
OSU PARTNERSHIP BREEDS SUCCESS Henryetta
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One person he met in college was Andy Kincaid, who managed OAMC’s horse barn. Kincaid was working to get the school to switch from draft horses to quarter horses, which is the equine program’s focus today. At the same time, Fisher wanted to start his ranch’s genetic line. He asked Kincaid for help finding a stud from the Oklahoma Star line to pair with his Bert mares. “Andy helped me find that horse and get ahold of the owner,” Fisher says. “That man didn’t want to ever sell him, but he was a friend of Andy’s so he leased the horse to me.” Fisher says his ranch and the OSU quarter horse program grew up together because he and Kincaid collaborated to learn the business, including where to find the right horses and how to trade. “They bought some horses from us to use in their breeding program later on in years,” Fisher says. “And I bought some from them, come to think of it.” Fisher maintains the Bert and Oklahoma Star lines today. Steven Cooper, a College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources equine professor, says that consistency is why Fisher is a major influence on breeding. “He hasn’t changed his breeding program every time something new has popped up,” Cooper says. “The people buying his horses just want to know if the horse can do the job or not. They buy from the Fisher Ranch because they know it produces good, sound horses. I’ll bet a
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ULA EUFA LAKE
Roy Fisher maintains the Bert and Oklahoma Star quarter horse lines at his ranch along Oklahoma Highway 9 west of Eufaula, Okla.
Stillwater
Oklahoma City
Tulsa
Henryetta
McAlester
Ardmore
(continues)
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lot of them wouldn’t even care if his horses had papers because they have so much trust in that ranch.” Fisher has spent a lifetime building that trust and is not ready to retire. He attributes his good health to the career he chose in elementary school.
A FAMILY OF COWBOYS Fisher’s grandfather started ranching after claiming an Oklahoma County homestead during the 1889 land run. Fisher’s father expanded the operation, but his passion was the automobile industry, where he was an extremely successful Buick and Jeep dealer. He also loved the University of Oklahoma, where he had played football and baseball. Fisher worked summers at his grandfather’s ranch and his father’s office, discovering he loved horses more than horsepower. It took time for his father to support his career choice, in part because it meant he would attend OAMC.
“After I got up there, my dad fell in love with OSU and all my family since that point in time have attended Oklahoma State University,” says Fisher, who raised five children. “Everyone just fell in love with the family atmosphere of the town and the school, the surroundings and the great friendships there.” Among his 18 family members who have graduated from OSU since 1975 are the children of his two OU-alumnae sisters. Perhaps the best example of the family’s switch comes from Fisher’s son, David, a 1975 agricultural economics graduate. He walked onto the OSU baseball team as a freshman pitcher before earning a scholarship the next three years. David Fisher’s wife, daughter and oldest son are also alumni. Did his younger son go to OU? “Yes, I forget his name though,” David Fisher jokes.
A CAREER OF PASSION, DETERMINATION Three years ago, David Fisher retired from his career as a high school teacher and coach to work with his father.
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“This is his passion. My dad has been successful because of that,” he says. “He’s made some mistakes, but there have been a lot of victories because he stayed in there. That’s a great legacy to be passed on.” Roy Fisher’s daughter, Ann Robbins, also attended OSU and works at the ranch. “Dad is quite a businessman to keep it going this long, because a lot of ranches have gone under,” she says. “He knows how to handle money and people. I learn a lot from him that I can carry on in life, through every aspect, really.” Roy Fisher continues to partner with OSU, including working with the agronomy department to test weed and brush control methods. The university’s expertise and Fisher’s land combine to create an outdoor research laboratory with shared costs. Robert Kropp, an OSU animal science professor and executive secretary of Oklahoma Beef Inc., has known Fisher more than 40 years. He describes Fisher as a “salt-of-the-earth” man with tremendous work ethic, pride and appreciation for the land. “We need more people like that today,” Kropp says. “Anything involving OSU
extension in his area, he’s involved. If there is a meeting and Roy isn’t there, you better go check on him. We won’t even start until he and his wife, Glenna, show up.” Kropp adds, “Roy is always interested in being of service to OSU, especially through the Cattlemen’s Association. If he ever hears you are going to be in his part of the state, he will serve you a big meal and offer to let you stay at the ranch. “That’s Roy Fisher. He has always been a strong supporter of people in agriculture and the school.”
Above: Roy Fisher and his wife, Glenna, own and operate a 15,000-acre ranch in McIntosh County, Okla. Left: The Fisher family has established many ties to OSU since Roy Fisher, second from left in the front row, became a Cowboy. Pictured in front of his home are a few of these orange supporters. Front row, from left are Ann Robbins, Roy Fisher, Patti Fisher, Lacey Fisher and Ryan Fisher. Back row, from left are Jonas Fisher, Byron Fisher and David Fisher.
To watch a video feature on the Fisher Ranch, visit OSUgiving.com/FisherRanch.
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