Complete Dispersal of the Ford Ranch
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 • Jacoby's Cafe, Melvin, TX • 11:00 CST
Spring Calving Bred Heifers & Bred Cows • Herd Bulls
The Ford Ranch is about as "Deep in the Heart of Texas" as one can get - located just a few miles from its geographic center near Brady, Texas. Since 1892 the Ford Ranch herd has been converting native Texas brush country into pounds of beef. The ranch's 30,000 acres provide an expansive, low input, and low labor home for one of the most productive Red Angus herds in the Lone Star State.
The People
Forrest Armke, General Manager of the Ford Ranch
For more than 3 decades, General Manager, Forrest Armke has guided the Ford Ranch herd into one of Texas' most efficient from a forage utilization and reproductive efficiency standpoint. A Bud Williams disciple, Forrest has a cow herd that is truly a joy to handle. Docile and respectful, the Red Angus cows at Ford Ranch can routinely be called from deep in the brush and be moved by one man. Disposition is really a necessary trait when there are only three men to handle 800+ cows on 30,000 acres.
Scott Moore, as trust manager has used a balanced trait approach to select genetics that not only retained the cow herd's environmental fit but added valuable post-weaning traits of feed conversion and carcass merit. A strategy that has resulted in some of the highest-selling females from the southern plains over the past few years.
The Cattle
Though beef cattle have called the Ford Ranch home since 1892, the origins of the current herd evolved from a multi-year contract to annually purchase 200 Red Angus sired replacements - hand-picked, from the storied King Ranch program. Those foundation Red Angus females were built upon with multiple generations of Red Angus bulls from the legendary Texas seedstock supplier, R.A. Brown Ranch from Throckmorton County. Bulls were selected to add marbling, muscling and feed efficiency - all while maintaining the functional, low maintenance traits of the cow herd. Each year the young females with the freshest genetics were exposed to the same environmental challenges as the running age cows. Thus allowing natural selection to develop a herd that annually harvests maximum pounds of calf off of some rugged, brushy central Texas range with no extra labor or inputs.
Ford Ranch Dispersal Resources
About the Sale:
The auction will be held at Jacoby’s Cafe - 101 North Main Street, Melvin, TX (7 miles from the Ford Ranch). All animals will be preg-checked and screened for udder quality, broken mouths, and overall soundness. Any cattle found lacking will be sent to the packer. Only sound, pregnant females will sell.
Cattle will be lotted in uniform groups by age and reproductive status. These lots will vary from 30-150 females each. Successful bidders will take a gate cut of 10 head from the lot on which they are bidding but will have the option of taking additional "gate cuts" of 10 head from the same lot. For Example: If Lot 5 consists of 60 5-year-old Red Angus cows, the successful bidder may take 10, 20, 30, 40 50 or all 60 of those females.
Cattle will be videoed by lot in mid-October. Videos will be available for viewing on DV Auction and Superior Click to Bid; both of these services will also provide online bidding options.
A digital sale catalog will be available by download from groopllc.com/betterheiferscom - Ford Ranch, or we will be happy to email you one.
If you need someone to look at cattle on your behalf, or if you have questions about the cattle, please feel free to call or email any of the representatives below:
Contact:
Scott Moore - Marketing - 361-219-0430 - scott.moore@cushwake.com
Greg Comstock - Dispersal Consultant - 804-647-0127 - greg@groopllc.com
Clint Berry - Superior Livestock Auction, Buyer Representative - 417-844-1009
From Brady to Ford Ranch:
From Hwy 377/87 in Brady travel west on FM 2028 for 12.8 miles to CR 124. Turn Left (South) on CR 124 and travel 2.5 miles to the Ford Ranch Hunting Camp
From Ford Ranch to Jacoby's Cafe (Dispersal Sale Location in Melvin, Texas)
At the FM 2028 /CR 124 intersection - turn left (West) traveling 7 miles to Jacoby's
