At the End of a Dirt Road - Double G Shorthorns

At the End of aDirt Road by Shelby Diehm, ASA

At the end of a red dirt road in a small town in western Oklahoma you can find a family-owned farm, established in 2010. Greg and Hunter George are a father and son duo who operate Double G Shorthorns in Hinton, Oklahoma.

Greg got his start with the breed exhibiting Shorthorn cattle when he was young, predominantly showing steers. In 1982 he showed the Champion Steer at the Oklahoma 4H and FFA show – now known as the Oklahoma Youth Exposition - with a Shorthorn steer named Cecil. Greg shared the photo of his red and white steer with a smile on his face as he told his story of his love for the Shorthorn breed.

“I love their demeanor and their color,” Greg said. “I loved how easily they handled when I exhibited them as a kid which is one of the things that brought me back to the breed. Now the excitement for me is when I go out in the morning or evening to see the new calves. Each one is unique.”

Greg and son, Hunter, are both independent pharmacists. They have nine pharmacies in the western Oklahoma area and the businesses take much of their time. Both Greg and Hunter attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) to obtain their pharmacy degrees. They chose pharmacy work because they enjoy helping people, and they really enjoy the retail environment in the small towns in which they practice.

After spending 19 years working as a pharmacist, Greg decided it was time to get some land of his own. The land was originally purchased for hunting and fishing but he soon decided to buy some cattle for a hobby on the farm. Once Hunter became involved, he quickly grew their herd from 15 to 70 head.

Hunter worked to improve their herd after they bought their first few head of cattle. They kept replacements heifers and bought more donors and breeding cattle.

Even though they only have 70 head they continuously add new genetics and improvements.

“We utilize EPDs and other technologies in our herd,” Hunter said. “We have found since we started that there is always something we can improve on and that is our goal.”

They have worked to improve calving ease, birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, and the spreads between them. They enjoy showing cattle, but they still earn their keep at the sale barn. Improving these EPDS has helped with both aspects – exhibiting and selling.

Greg and Hunter have spent many hours on the road, traveling to Shorthorn sales and farms all over the country. They were looking for better genetics and bloodlines to add into their own herd.

“We have really enjoyed the time we get to spend on the road together,” Greg said. “We get off work, drive all night to get there just in time for the sale. We would change our clothes in the truck and go into the sale to see what we could find to add for our herd. We spent many hours together and I have many good memories from our road trips.”

When they aren’t spending time improving their herd, they feed a few calves out to butcher for their family to have beef. They haven’t sold much beef yet but they continue to get more inquiries from people about purchasing beef especially following the pandemic.

“The beef is superior to anything I have ever tasted even though I may be a little biased,” Greg said with a laugh.

“When I cook steaks for friends, they always say it is the best steak they have ever had. I tell them all it takes is salt, pepper and Shorthorn beef!” Hunter shared. The passion for the breed is evident with Double G Shorthorns, from their ambition to improve their herd to their love for the characteristics – beef, color, docility and more. As we drove back up the red dirt road from looking at their Shorthorn cattle, father and son continued to share their stories and memories as they look toward their future with the breed. =