Each year the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association sponsors a tour of varied venues that are of interest to cattlemen. This year the tour ventured across northern Texas and back through Oklahoma. This year 55 people gathered for the five-day learning experience.
The trip started off at Tyson Case Ready Plant in Sherman, Texas. Beef and pork are both processed here. The plant can process 200 steaks a minute per line and 18,000 patties a minute per line. Three knife sharpeners work 24 hours a day to keep all the knives sharpened.
The group then stopped at Oswalt Ranch-Noble Foundation in Marietta, Okla. The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation was established in October 1945. Its early efforts focused on educating and encouraging area farmers and ranchers to practice land stewardship and resource conservation. Through the years the foundation has expanded its vision to include biomedical research, plant science research and more recent research that seeks to transform fundamental discoveries into new, more useful plant varieties. The foundation also consults with farmers and ranchers.
The third stop was to R.A. Brown Ranch in Throckmorton, Texas. Donnell Brown was an excellent host. His family had started this ranch back in 1895, running Herefords. Now they’ve switched to Black Angus, Red Angus, Sim-Angus and a new four-composite breed that Donnell called Hotlander.
The Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association then took its participants to the 160,000-acre 6666 Ranch in Guthrie, Texas. While at the 6666 Ranch the group toured the “mare motel,” where 84 stalls are all under one roof. Their horses are shipped all over the world. They raise show horses, race horses and working horses.
Next on the list was Lubbock Feeders. At the time of the tour they were feeding out 30,000 head of cattle and keeping them for approximately 120 days. The cattle have been brought in from New Mexico, Mo., and all over the Midwest. They mix their own rations and use lots of cotton and rice byproducts, as well as corn and other grains.
The group visited Texas Tech, also located in Lubbock. This beautiful campus of 32,000 students contains many colleges, but their destination was the Animal and Meat Science department. The group participated in a “sensory panel” sampling three different pieces of meat and judged the juiciness, taste and tenderness of each.
Other tour stops included Cargill Meat Solutions, Ranching Heritage Museum and Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum.
To keep informed, watch in ACA’s Arkansas Cattle Business for information on next year’s tour. Register early because seating is limited.
