B (2:29)

Awesome. Awesome. Yep. Yeah. Well, where I'd like to start is just the beginning. Like, what brought you into the cattle industry as a whole? Did you show in high school? What was that? Like, maybe what led to college?

D (2:42)

Yep.

E (2:42)

Yep. So I grew up on a stalker operation there in Lorena, Texas, which would have been about 15 miles south of Waco. I was really, really blessed to get to just kind of live every kid's dream. Grew up on a ranch, had a great family, a father that I really look up to. Always enjoyed that I was in the cattle industry and had a passion for it, even though sometimes he didn't want me to be in the cattle industry. I took a little different venture than he did, but was blessed with that. Grew up with two younger siblings. Yeah, I started showing since I was in third grade. It's actually kind of a funny story to get started showing. So I went to kindergarten in Loreno the first. First through third grade. I was actually homeschooled. So I got to go around with my dad all across the US Mainly through the Texas, through Oklahoma, Kansas, and, you know, checked on stocker cattle with him. And we really got hooked up with a guy up in Canadian Texas by the name of C.H. long. And he actually got me introduced to show and steers. His son Vac showed at Fort Worth all the time. And ever since I was in first grade, I remember I always wanted to have a steer. My grandparents grew up in Fort Worth. I remember always going to the Fort Worth Steer show when I was in kindergarten, all the way to third grade. And I just thought it was the absolute coolest thing in the world.

D (4:03)

I wanted to do it.

E (4:05)

That really wasn't my path when I started out, though. My dad roped, and I always kind of wanted to follow in his footsteps. Wasn't quite as talented as he was. So I kind of carved my own route where I didn't have to be quite as athletic. I got the short, kind of roly poly jeans in my family pool. So I had to kind of figure out what to do. And showing was kind of where I did that at starting third grade. Like I said, I remember the first calf we bought was actually the first year Heat Wave came out. Me and dad went to AW Thorn Thorn and Cattle up in Oklahoma. Got two Heat Wave actually my first calf came out of stocker pasture. Second year we went up there, bought the first heat wave broadly cross. I think probably the only one that was ever made. That was the first. First couple cattle I showed, showed them at the county fair. Then after that CH actually went to go work for Colby Collins after that. And I got hooked up with Colby for two years. Showed showed some cattle from him and then just due to being close, I kind of got hooked up with Jacob Toussa. And he kind of took me under his wing. Was a real big mentor for me. He helped me throughout my entire showing career. I don't really have a lot of accolades showing cattle. The only one I have really was my senior year. Got to was fortunate enough to win the State Fair of Texas. But growing up, I guess you could call me the Freddy 4H kid. Pulled a half a bumper pull half covered trailer until I think I was a sophomore in high school to shows. Begged my dad to get a 24 foot elite. But we had to make sure it was tall enough to put the horses in the back. That way when we weren't showing, we could get use out of it as well. So that'd be my showing career. Not a lot to just stamp on, but man, it was just absolute, a lot of fun. Got hooked up with a lot of really good people when I grew up. You know, hung out with Taylor shocker.

D (5:57)

For when he was young.

E (5:58)

Brent Cromwell, Cody Lucheck, Brady Ragland, Clay Morrison, Tyler Yancy. I kind of hung out with a.

D (6:05)

Group older than me.

E (6:07)

Um, so it was kind of enjoyable just to kind of have them kind.

D (6:10)

Of mold me into, you know, in.

E (6:12)

My younger days into doing that. So that was kind of my showing career.

D (6:17)

Yeah.

C (6:18)

Sweet. So after that you went to Texas Tech, right?

E (6:21)

Yes, that's right. Yep. So I just, I judged in high school, was coached by Donald Kelm, Shane McClellan and David Grodzke and really took off when David moved into our county. Was very fortunate to have him as a judging coach. He came in my freshman year, or actually I was in eighth grade. Was on really competitive lifestyle judging teams, you know, in high school and just kind of got hooked up going to Texas Tech and never looked back.

B (6:50)

You must have gotten the old, the real young good looking Dave Grotchke. Not to call him out, but that must have been a way back.

E (6:59)

I got the young buck. David Grotsky, fresh out of college helped actually got him right after he helped coach with Ryan Raspin at A and M. So it was really enjoyable we can tell. We can tell a lot of stories, some that are good and some that aren't.

D (7:14)

And I probably.

E (7:15)

I probably needed some of those. So good. But, man, it was absolute blast. And really, I mean, he kind of catapulted, and I probably don't. Haven't said it as much as I need to. He kind of really catapulted my career into lifestyle judging and really finding out who I was at a young age in that scheme of things.

C (7:32)

So now we're kind of talking about college and everything we know, like. Like us and a bunch of other teams. You let, like, these colleges come and do workouts kind of. Why. Why do you do that? And kind of what is your motivation? Is it just kind of helping them or some teaching them, learning kind of. What's your goal behind that?

E (7:48)

Yeah, so I love having kids come up, you know, look at all the cattle and stuff. And I really thoroughly enjoy colleges coming by. And I've got a lot of guys that I either judged against or were a year older, a year younger that are coaching now. And we're all really good friends, and it's. It's fun to have y' all come out and just kind of let y' all see something different. I mean, they're not always going to be like, y' all came and judged them open heifers. This year we had a lot of classes of them. And I know probably they're not just 100% contest logic, but I think it's cool to see a lot of different types of things, especially since most of them are more on the club calf side of things. You can break them down and really see different types of, you know, skeletal width, skeletal quality, structural soundness, you know, body dimension, and just see a lot of different things, you know, So I really enjoy that. I really enjoy working with young people because really and truly, if I. If I didn't have judging and showing, I really don't know what I'd be doing right now. So I. I mean, if I make an impact on one kid's life to kind of, you know, help their future, I mean, my job's complete, you know.

C (8:58)

Oh, yeah.

B (8:59)

And so now that we're talking, like, we just hopped on the topic of being part of judging teams and. And you hosting them, what benefits do you see young people doing that maybe even in high school or.

E (9:10)

Or collegiately as well, in terms of lifestyle judging, Just being on judging teams.

B (9:16)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

E (9:17)

So, like, yeah, I was fortunate. I went, you know, I went to tech. I was on the Wool judging team there. We had a really good group of us that were on that. And you know, that just the camaraderie of it and just being able to, you know, be around your friends, having like minded people that, you know, not only want to win, but want to become better people, better humans as a whole. And I think it's great. And I think it helps. I think it helps in the long run just as you mature and get older in terms of being able to deal with different personalities, dealing with, you know, being around guys all the time, be around girls all the time, just trying to figure out how everything just fits together and how to, you know, how to maintain yourself in those close quarter bands is, is quite a deal. And I'm sure y' all can testify to that as well as I can.

C (10:07)

Oh yeah.

E (10:08)

I mean, I mean you gotta kind of have to understand how to make everything work, you know, but that and then just being on judging teams, just being able to, you know, hold each other accountable, whether it's showing up on practice on time, making sure that they're really being committed to it and holding and letting other people hold you accountable as well is really what I think it teaches along with, you know, being able to make very wise decisions, critical thinking, whether it's not just poison for animals, but just that helps you as you mature, as you get to run your own business and do stuff like that.

C (10:51)

Oh yeah. Simply just coming up with a decision and being able to stand behind it with confidence.

E (10:56)

Absolutely. Yeah, that's exactly right.

C (10:59)

So now kind of while we're on the. Still on the judging topic, I'll keep us on that. And like, I know we know that you put a bunch of contest officials together and listen to a bunch of reasons in these contests. So maybe kind of what some things as a reasons taker that can help us and make sure we're being efficient and effective, kind of get in and get out, like, because I know people can have a bunch of different types of styles. Some people like to put a bunch of fluff and make them sound cool. Some people like to cut straight to the point. So kind of what's, what's the give and take in listening?

B (11:27)

The reasons.

D (11:28)

Yeah.

E (11:28)

So I'm probably gonna be on an island by myself for a very small island. In terms of reasons, I, I think nowadays for what I. I haven't listened to a lot of reasons. I enjoy putting on more contests and doing classes and stuff like I do at San Antonio. I thoroughly enjoy that. The listening to reasons stuff. I haven't been able to do that quite as much, but the few that I've been in, you know, I think it seems like nowadays that we're so just timid to lie when you talk reasons and you're. It just seems that way and we're trying to get in and get out too fast.

D (12:06)

I'm more of the guy when I.

E (12:07)

Talked reasons back in the day, I mean, I enjoy talking long sets because I wanted to describe every inch of the animal and, you know, talk them from nose all the way down to the tip of the tail all the way down to the ground, you know, so. And I think nowadays it just seems like everyone's just almost too concise. And I've listened to enough reasons now too, that I don't care if you took a two minute set or a minute set. I've heard minute sets that sound longer than two minute sets and I've heard two minute sets that sound shorter than one minute sets because it's all just in terms of how you flow. And you know, I, I thoroughly enjoy when individuals come into the room with confidence and they break down the animals because that shows, that tells me as a reasons taker that, hey, they understand what the animal is all about, you know, I mean, they see everything about it. Now obviously we can all make different calls and, you know, different spectrums in terms of where we think acceptability is, in terms of whether it's muscle structure, depth of body. Look, that's all in the eye of the beholder. But I would rather a kid come in there and just absolutely flat out try to describe the animals rather than just get, come in, say a short set and say, at least we're done with that one, let's move on to the next, you know, not maybe an island by myself, but that's just kind.

D (13:30)

Of how I, I like it, you know.

E (13:32)

But that's also, that was also my reasons for Matt because I, I had a, you can ask all the kids that were on my team and Ryan as well. I had an absolutely terrible face when I talked reasons and couldn't smile. Was really poor at putting all the fluff in there. So I just went in there and tried to describe as much as I could because I wasn't going to out present anybody out there. I was just going to try to out describe them, you know.

B (13:58)

Right.

D (13:58)

But I, I think when it comes.

E (14:00)

Down to reasons, I think it's, you know, and you are in junior college. I think when you, you know, the more you talk reasons, the more you figure yourself out I think everyone, as long as you can self evaluate yourself honestly and figure out what best fits your presentation and your style, that's how I think a person needs to go and do it. If that makes sense.

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B (17:03)

And so we've talked about all the judging stuff and getting your perspective on that. I want to really focus on your operation now. It's appreciates, obviously known for excellence and lots of people's opinions. I'll stand behind that. You've grown at a rapid pace. Like you just said. You've been doing it for three years, four years full time and you already built it to have multiple grand champion steers all over the country. Pretty flat impressive in my opinion. And so I want to start from the beginning. What did you seek in terms of females and building a foundation to have all these cattle come and honestly just seek all the profit off of it.

D (17:44)

Yeah.

E (17:45)

So when I was in college, I started buying. You know, I went around in terms of less is more by quality, you know, and that's not everyone's direction I would buy. I try to buy whatever was in my budget, the best cow that I thought I could afford. I tried to buy cows, proven donor cows just to try to build my operation quickly. And you know, I. I don't really necessarily have a time. I like you just unique pieces that are hard to create in livestock. So it's really hard to say exactly.

D (18:24)

Like what I like.

E (18:25)

I mean, y' all been to my place. People who know me know I. I'm.

D (18:29)

I like them edgy. I like them.

E (18:31)

I like them just as wild looking as you can make them, but still be able to, you know, hopefully we can cross the finish line and hit the. Hit the banner, you know, been fortunate, you know, bought a couple cows off the ones that really catapults me. I bought a couple cows, I've shared the brand. Got hooked up with Kevin Newman. Very fortunate. Got to get mentored by him by just for a little bit, you know. Still do to this day. He's one of my very good friends. Really look up to him, respect him. Bought a couple cows out of there. One of the cows, he actually raised the calf. But it was a cow that actually come from Brandon horn that saw a gold Judge 419. He raised the calf, but it ended up winning. Austin kind of kept some of those females back. Bought that queen cow and share the brand. That one year raised quite a few in God we trust right there out of the gate that were. That were very competitive. That was. They actually none of them got to show because they all. It was the COVID year. So it was very unfortunate.

D (19:26)

But they.

E (19:27)

I mean, I. I would like to think that we had the fan favorite. I mean everyone has a fan favorite when you don't get shown, but they look good, you know.

B (19:35)

That's right.

E (19:36)

And then, you know, just kind of from there on.

D (19:39)

And then, you know, I went up.

E (19:41)

To Steve Bottoms, bought several, several open heifers out of his place when he would go around and buy all them open heifers. I try to go up in there as early as I possibly could, try to buy some of those to make my foundation. And now I'm lucky enough where I get to travel around and I'm not naive and I'm not too prideful to think that I'm going to raise the best females every year. So every year I try to go out across the country. I actually enjoy buying open heifers more than I enjoy buying and trading steers. I'll go out and as many open heifers that I can buy that I can afford, I really try to acquire as many good ones of those as I can. Because there's. Look, there's a lot of people. I mean there's people all the way from Pennsylvania, all the way out here to California. Everyone puts in a lot of time and effort. They put in a lot of thought process behind it and they spend a.

D (20:33)

Lot of money on them.

E (20:34)

And I like to acquire as many outside genetics as I possibly can because obviously they're doing something that I may not. They may have a breeding piece that I like. I really like and enjoy buying those open heifers.

D (20:50)

You know, every year, you know, it.

E (20:52)

Just depends on how many I'll buy. But every year I try to keep one or two, so.

D (20:58)

So I like to buy them because, I mean, and y' all been to my place, y' all put several heifers last in the judging classes that I want to keep to make a reading piece. And because they're really unique and I have different ideas of what I want to do with them. And I'll sell some of the better looking ones just because, I mean, obviously you got a cash flow. I mean everything's about cash flow. And, and it's. And I really actually enjoy selling the bread heifers, letting someone else buy it and then seeing them get to raise extremely good cattle. Like that one I sold and share the brand a couple years ago that Raleigh McFarland bought. I sold half of her in that share the brand sale. First round out of the box. She, she raised that gray and white one that Luke James has that's been extremely successful this year. Another brother I sold myself that Steve Bonham bot that went down to Kevin's and Luke has him now and then raised the bull and then that guy ended up buying me out and you know, get to get, get to have friendships like that where other, other, other people get to raise high quality cattle and I just hope that they'll call me and hope they want me to sell their calves. So. But right. Hopefully.

B (22:06)

Yeah.

C (22:07)

So like you had said you like a magi and I think even when we were there I thought, I mean a handful of the ones that we saw and honestly a bunch of them like they were starting to push the limits and, and even the real top end ones, like they were still good. So I want to know like how do you push those limits in terms of like power and feature but still keep their structure.

F (22:23)

Right.

C (22:24)

And kind of what is your goal when kind of breeding into that or going for that?

D (22:28)

Yeah, so I like to push the envelope. Not every one of them is going to hit. I know that, my customers know that. But I like, I, I like when they do hit, they're, they're fun to go to the show. I mean, yeah, they hit. I mean then. And they don't always hit. And I've had more, more that don't hit, that do hit. But it is fun to. Because it's fun to look at stuff that's extremely hard to make. Whether it's the long choke necked ones, I mean that's not normally my mo. I like them as husky and big bodied and as big boned as we can make them still keep their feet and legs together. Obviously that's extremely hard. That's what everybody's trying to accomplish. If it was easy, everyone would do it and there'd be a lot of it.

B (23:09)

Right.

D (23:09)

You know, but you know, just pushing the envelope. I mean I take those cows and I mean I don't put as much thought process as some might think. I keep it real basic. I just try to breed good on good and hope they come out better. I mean there's not, I mean there's not really a whole lot of thought process that goes behind it. There's not a lot of thought process that I put in life anyways. I usually just try to go with the flow as much as I possibly can, you know. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, you know. And I've had cows that you know, are, I thought would be the absolute greatest generating animals in the world and they fight out a whiff and that's just the risk we got to take. You know, I've always, I've always thought to myself, you Know, if you don't swing and miss, then you're not trying hard enough. Absolutely, is my thought process. And, and you know, in raising them, you know, I trade, I trade a bunch. I don't raise as many as I used to. Just moving from Waco, I used to have a really good reset herd and would raise my own. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Moving to the area that I'm in now where you have to have more land to be able to raise cattle. My operation has kind of shifted just a little bit, and I'm still trying to find my path in terms of raising them right now. I still put in quite a few embryos, and I've been fortunate to still raise some that banners that I've, I've raised. But it's like even the open heifers, like, I was talking about going and buying them. That's why I thoroughly enjoy going around looking across the country at cattle, trying to buy, buy a bunch, because I know I'm not going to raise, raise a bunch that are going to go win. I mean, just, I'm not going to. And there's a lot of guys that have really good stock across the country. That's very fun to look at.

B (24:57)

Absolutely, I agree. And you know, talking about that like you're traveling across the country, I'd like to know maybe who are some of these people that you kind of go after or, or seek after their stock, and how did you build those connections to have access?

D (25:11)

Yeah. So when I was young, I, I was never the kid, and I'm still not the one that sits in the back. And you know, I'm terrible at fitting, terrible at clipping. And everyone that's seen me can testify. I, I, I can slice your one. That's about it. And I know that wasn't my calling. There's a lot of people that are very talented at that. So I always just tried to meet as many people as I possibly could and was fortunate. You know, when I was going under, Jacob growing up, you know, he kind of hooked me up my freshman year. I was fortunate to go work for Bushy park for a month and then got hooked up with Nick Ryman for the rest of that summer. And that was one of my absolute most favorite times in the world. Met a lot of people when I worked up there. And I just try to meet and just be around as many people that are very good at what they do because I look up to all of them. I mean, just, I mean, there's a lot that I could name and I'd hate to go down the list because I'm going to leave people out and then they're going to call me and complain that I didn't say their names. But, I mean, there's a lot of people that are very, very good at it, whether it be, you know, just. Just go off the top. Brandon Horn, Brad Smith. Luke doors, Ryman Ranches. R.J. chad Thompson. You got people out here in California like Ferris Simon and, you know, the Carrolls were out here. They moved to Oklahoma. There's a bunch of people out east. I mean, there's just so many people that are really entrenched with the show calf world. But I just try to go by absolutely everybody's place. There's not just one operation that, you know, that I, like, try to hone into. I just try to go to as many places as I can and, you know, meet people while I'm there and try to, you know, have conversations with them and see what their thought process was while I'm there on, you know, what. What their kind of operation looks like, you know, because you can take. You can take something away from everybody. I mean.

B (27:05)

Oh, yeah.

D (27:05)

I don't. I mean, whether it's how they design their pins all the way to how many promotionals they have, you know, like Wade, I mean, it, you. You learn something new going to everybody's place. And that's what I really actually enjoy the most, is going and seeing those people and seeing their operation and kind of how they built it and hearing their backstories as well, huh?

B (27:27)

Absolutely.

C (27:28)

Yeah, I like that. So now that you kind of even brought a promo. Bulls. I know. It's kind of another thing. We wanted to talk about a hot topic being the one that you're promoting. Golden ticket. Kind of know why. Why you promoted him and kind of what. What do you think he brings to the table being a versatile tool in your operation?

D (27:43)

Yeah. So that cow. That cow's got the crazy story because I actually. When I. When I bought her, I actually sent my dad to go look at the heifer. He was actually coming back from going hunting in Kansas, and I sent him. Sent him by Duron Halderman's to look at the heifer. And he doesn't. He doesn't like to say it, but he's actually got a better eye than I do. I actually tried to carve my own path, to do my own thing where maybe he wouldn't have as much of an opinion, and he's better at it than I am. And he told Me that night she was kind of getting high. And he said, laramie, you need to buy that effort. So you're going to race something really, really good. And the very first year I flush her to mab of all bulls. Had that shorthorn that the Campbell family exhibited that was very successful. Won a bunch. He was actually third in the heavyweights at fort Worth. We pulled him from the cell. They made the right call, took him to Houston as reserve. The other flushmate brother was champion red to him out at Phoenix. Then that very next year, I flushed her to God we trust and raised a group of them. And I thought he was as unique of an animal as I had raised. I mean, absolutely perfect feat. Huge bone, just structure is a hundred. His body's incredible. His width and dimension is awesome. You know, color may not be ideal, but hey, I think it stands out. And I think he throws every color under the sun. All of his bro, all of his brothers were solid gold. We sold one for a lot of money in tie. Sold another heifer for 25,000 for half and then sold that one that actually Kevin Newman bought this year and share the brand that he's going to go to his operation for quite a bit. And I thought that flush was just so good and I thought he was just the next level. I think he brings the table. That cow just absolutely does not miss every time you breed or something. He's raising a calf that makes a sale, sells extremely high, but not even sells high, but goes on and feeds extremely good. They get better with time. They're easy feeding cattle that can just gain off of air. They always look burly, they always look dense. Their structure is usually always great. And I think that bull that that's what he brings to the table is that that bull just makes some great structured, good bodied, dense cattle. Now, you know, our first cattle are on the ground and I'm. I'm impressed with them so far. I bred a bunch of cows back to them. I brought them to everything I had, whether it be I bred th carrier cows, triple dirty cows, triple clean cows. And I've got every shape and size and color under the sun. And you know, some of the, some of the guys around the country, some of my good friends have cattle that are out of them and they bred back to them. So that's always a good confidence boost, you know, and the bull and the bull deal really isn't. You know, I'm not going to ever claim that I'm going to be no Brandon horn. Heck, Phil lautner back in his Prime Wade Rogers. But it's cool to raise one raid another one this year that we call Ready for War. That's actually a full brother to that one that Brian Martin bought part of that. It's a brother that one Luke James has. And they got another one with, with Brian McKay. That's actually a full sib to the one that I sold that one oye for the Yokem family. And you know, I just like dabbling and I, I think to be extremely successful in this business, I think you have to be very well rounded. I don't think you can just do one thing and just hone into it anymore. I think you have to style heifer, sell steers, have bulls because it just gets you more diversified and lets you open more doors and meeting more people and it's kind of fun. I mean I'm not, I'm not gonna say he's the next. I hope he is. I, I think the cattle are good, you know, but I mean I, I think the bulls calf crop, you know his rookie season is our quality.

B (31:28)

Awesome. Awesome. And you were talking about like all these different sires and, and people having all different kinds and types. Like even like talking about Phil back in his day he had an immense amount of bulls and so does Wade. But what of today are some of the sires that you've been utilizing regardless of if it was like golden ticket or ready for war or what are some that have just like hit you pretty hard. You like those type of cattle?

D (31:58)

Yeah, I think, you know, nowadays there's you know, getting to go around and see as many cattlers I'm blessed to get to do. It's fun to see what kind of bulls work where. And I think, I think a lot of bulls have a lot of uses. I'll be honest. I, I have, I actually have never flushed to. Here I am, I only flushed two cows. The end guy we trust. I kind of, I, I go off the beaten path a little bit because my mo is more so raising like sheer cattle. That's obviously our market down in the South. Now I've started partnering with more guys trying to you know, know diversify, raise more haired cattle this, that and the other. But I mean, you know, I breed a lot of next man up. I like some of those cattle breed how great thou art quite a bit. I'll still use mab here or there. I'll use some sugar bear, use some golden ticket. I still think some of the absolute best cattle that walk the face of the earth or the Slickshire world is good business. 419 I think. I mean that bull for as few chasms he's probably had on the ground has probably won more Slickshire shows than his hit rate's pretty high. You know, he makes them. He makes their structure where they're great, turn to their stifle and shape to their shape to their hip. For slicks your cattle is great. Their spines are great. I mean use that bull. I've used some of that back to good bull this year of Wade's a little bit. I think that bull for you know, for a shorthorn bulls nice, you know, and then the clean bull. There's just so many bulls out there. I think I use a little here or there of just some random stuff, you know. I think some. Anything goes. I've seen some of those that are extremely nice. The how greats are obviously extremely high quality. And there's nothing I never had against Here I Am or in God We Trust. I just knew I wasn't going to outsell Brandon Horn, Steve Bonham, Kevin Newman raising Charlotte cattle. So I try to actually raise more my operation, I try to raise more breed cattle just because I think they're harder to come by, you know, and, and I don't, I still don't view myself as one of the quote unquote guys in the industry. I still, I still view myself as one of the low men on the totem pole, work my way up the ladder and I think I, I've had a very nice, you know, market in terms of trying to sell breed cattle that are still good enough to compete to win the shows. And obviously you've seen it time and time again here, especially down in Texas where, you know, whether it be breed exotic steers, breed American steers and stuff like that, where you know, they've been just as successful at hitting the. Getting the big banner, you know. But that's kind of been my MO in terms of raising cattle. I try to raise more breed cattle. Try to get off the beaten path a little bit from where I'd say 90% of the entire industry try to focus on in terms of raising starlight black hided cattle. I want to raise, I want to raise weird colored ones. I like looking at weird colored ones. People know whether they showed for me or not. I've. I like them. I like the, the jersey colored ones as some of my real good friends will say. I've had some real good jersey colored ones that show. I, I like black and white Holstein painted ones. I mean I just enjoy the color.

B (35:11)

You Know, just no, just no blue roans. Just no blue.

D (35:17)

Yeah, I like a good blue R. Don't, don't kid yourself. I like them. There's. Hey, hey, hey. There's always some family. There's. There's always, there's always people that like a good blue R. You can't. Don't. You can't hate on. Oh yeah. Somebody likes hate on too much. Somebody likes them. Just might not be you.

C (35:35)

Some little girls think that's pretty.

D (35:37)

Yeah. I'm not going to call Weston Hendricks to come buy no blue rs. I'll call somebody else. No, I will say, I don't know about a blue row in six year, but hey, a good blue wrong sometimes pretty good. I've seen a blue room win a time or two. Seen a blue room win a big show a time or two.

B (36:02)

Awesome.

C (36:03)

So now maybe kind of talk to us like the process on what you've learned by breeding because kind of sounds like, like you said, you like to just kind of throw it out there and give something a go. Like, do you like you say you like them edgy? Do you kind of go like edgy bull and edgy cow or do you kind of like, like that one safer than the other or is it just kind of mix it up and hope something comes out?

D (36:21)

And I'll be honest, I, I probably toned back. A lot of my good friends will say when I'm out looking at cattle or breeding or something, they'll say, man, that one's old Laramie looking. I've kind of dialed it back a little bit. I don't think that's right for the times, you know, and I've tried to reel that in. Now you throw a real big bone, burly, stout, wide one to me. I'm, I'm gonna like it more so than a lot of people, but I try to dial back my operation in terms of just, you know, fundamentals are obviously what makes the world go round, you know. And I think we're in a real big trend in the industry now where we need to perfect whether it's right, wrong or indifferent. Now obviously with my stocker channel ground, just feeding paddles, going to feed yards and stuff like that, like, in my opinion, this is a little off topic. In my opinion. If they reach 1500 pounds, right, and they're show steer in my eyes, and if they're market ready and they reach 1500, I call them structurally sound. Now is that the same as structurally attractive? Absolutely not. And I think nowadays we're so big on perfecting structure right when they hit the ring. All of our judges, not all, but a majority of our judges. And y' all are the same way when you judge, when you're in judging contest were so first impression based where as soon as they hit the ring, if they don't have the presence. And in my cowherd, I'm trying to perfect their hip and hind leg structure. And I want them to be where when you're looking at them, you're wondering if they're a little wild, but they're not. They just have that presence, if you know what I mean. Because. Because if the cattle don't have it when they hit the ring and they don't have that next level, hey, I'm here to win the show. This deal's gotten so tough anymore. Well, when they turn the corner, the judges are just so first impression based in terms of which is not a bad thing. I'm all for it, but I think that is really what we're. What's winning shows nowadays. I don't know if we're necessarily just breaking down all the cattle and. And I don't. I don't mean that as a negative thing, but I'm not saying that the best cattle don't win the shows because I do think 95% of the time one of the best, best 10 seers of the show win. And that's all you can ask for when you're going into the show is if you got one of the best 10 and one of the best 10 wins the show in Gates Reserve. Or whether it's your breed or your class, man, you just have to be lucky enough. You have to be good enough to be lucky enough to win. That was the same my dad always told me, I mean, you gotta have luck on your side. And right now I'm trying to perfect hip and hind leg structure, make sure they got that big fat foot on them big rear ankle. They have to utilize their hip and hind legs so good. Try to be as clean jointed as you possibly can. And you just need to have them cattle when they walk, they just have their natural head carried where it's high because I think it's so big anymore. If you watch, watch across the country. And I catch myself doing it too. And you, you actually sit there, watch the judges. I mean, we go looking at everything and then we go right down to the rear foot in terms of how they set their rear foot and the rear ankle on the ground. And I think that's so big right now in our industry. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I, I like it. I like it as much as the next person. I have to like it more at my house. Y' all been to my house? I think my ground's the hardest thing to actually view cattle. And I think it's worse than walking on concrete. I got a caliche pit out there that looks like concrete with rocks on it. It's terrible. I have to have them good footed because I can't get away with it, you know, and, and, and that's what I'm trying to capitalize on, you know, along with give me as many extras as you can possibly get.

C (40:00)

I love how you said the way you like them to look like they're crazy, but they're not. Because just recently I was picturing. I was picturing some cell cabs and there was one that was pretty hot and, and she looked crazy and she was crazy. Needless to say, the, the picture lady.

D (40:16)

There'Ll be a little while.

C (40:18)

Oh, yeah.

A (40:18)

The.

C (40:19)

I'll just say the picture lady has a collage of me and the calf running and both of us getting thrown into a fence, but hey, yeah, her picture was no doubt one of the best.

D (40:27)

Oh, for sure. And also, I mean, I mean, I always had that. I, I have three or four online cells a year and, and obviously having that photogenic look when they hit the picture pin never hurts. But I also think it correlates with when they hit the ring as well, you know, because I mean, if you have a cat that's out there walking with his head down, you know, and they're just almost lethargic acting versus one that got his head in there. Which one do you look at first? It's always going to be the one that's got a little bit more presence and a little bit more, hey, look at me, top look. Rather than the one that's, you know, just kind of walling around in the.

B (41:01)

Dirt and you can tell me if I'm wrong or not. But, but the hardest part about that whole vice versa situation is finding enough families and kids that can get the job done to get those crazy ones out in the ring and presented the right way.

D (41:16)

Yeah, I mean, I mean, yeah. And, and, and there's. There, there's. There's becoming more and more families. I mean, heck, in our state there, there's so many people that are good at feeding and very good homes, you know, that there's more of them than there used to be. But I also don't like to sell now, they're not always just the gentlest things in the world, but, you know, if the family's at home, put in the time and effort. Usually, usually they can capitalize on cattle like that.

B (41:46)

And so I kind of start to wrap up the episode. Not necessarily right now, but. Yeah, we've gone to Winter Workout, and I don't think that, like. And I'm not saying this because we're obviously interviewing you, but I'm saying this because you. Your place is one of the most memorable that I had gone to. And that's just me personally, because I loved the entire barn layout and how everything was presented.

D (42:08)

Yeah.

B (42:08)

But I have something specifically wrote in my steno, and it's a phrase that you had said, if people don't laugh at your goals, then they're not high enough. That spoke volumes to me because my path of getting this podcast where it is, I had a lot of people leave in circle, got tighter. And that's okay. But. But I want you to talk to the audience who does listen in depth about why you decided to preach that and still preach that.

D (42:33)

Yeah, I mean, look, if you're not. I mean, and I have crazy goals, and. And. And I actually. I actually heard that quote. I mean, of all people, one of y' all guys down there in your country, Johnny Manziel said in one of his interviews, and I. It stuck with me since I was. Since I watched him when he had that interview. He. He had said that. And, you know, I think it does speak volumes, because if you don't. Now, obviously there's other character flaws neither here nor there, but I did like that quote right there, you know, But I do think that, you know, if you don't set your. The bar high enough, I think you will underachieve. Like, I just got done listening to a book called. Of David Goggins called Can't Hurt Me, and then I listened to another one of Jocko Willett, which, I mean, just to try to train your mind into being able to just have aspirations, shooting for the stars. Because I don't think if. If you don't do that, I think you're selling yourself short. I think. I mean, you. We only utilize about 60 of our minds. Well, if you don't. If you set the bar too low and you're like, yeah, I just want to go. Just use y' all for an example. Go to judging contest. Yeah, I just want to make sure I don't four way. Four way a class in the contest. Which that might be great. That might be shooting for the stars for some people. But if it's not and you just set the bar that low, well, what are you really achieving? You know, I mean, I mean, when I would go to a contest, I mean, I wanted to win every single contest. Never won one in senior college. And, you know, and that's fine. Our team still won Louisville. Very blessed to have done that. You know, I didn't get to win a contest, but I set my goal on every time I stepped into that judging arena. I wanna, I wanna win a contest going through the show, you know, I want, I want my families to win the show. And, and, and I think that, you know, if you don't, if you don't set the bar high enough, I think you're just underachieving yourself. And, and I think in the, in the scheme of things, you have to, you have to expect the absolute best out of yourself. Because if you don't expect the best of yourself, nobody else is either.

A (44:43)

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C (47:19)

Yeah, I think that's great. Now even switch up. I think I know me and Weston kind of want to maybe even get some advice. I know we've been doing a couple of the, the post games kind of like we did in, in the spring y and we're going to kind of keep doing that. Do you see benefit in that and maybe other some other ways even they think we can grow and become better?

D (47:39)

Yeah, yeah. No, I, I, I really do enjoy y' all getting to get those guys on the podcast now. Sometimes I have to cool down before I listen to them because obviously we all have channel that are at the show that we thought I could have done better. And you know, it is really cool to hear and even talking. You know, I've had friends that have done shows and I don't like to call them, you know, I give them a month or a couple weeks off before I talk to them. Just where everybody's, you know to. I really enjoy hearing the thought process of the judges after the shows because I think you can take something away from that every time in terms of you may not have the best cat for the show, but if you hit them at the right time, right breed, you know, you know, where would they might have struggled at? Where do they think that, you know, we need to be better as an industry and you can just take little snippets after every time you interview those guys. I think if you listen to those with intent of trying to get better as a, whether it's a trader, a family, people that raise them instead of listening to them with well, I just want to hear what they say because they I thought my calf should have won and they Put him third, you know, but listen to it with intent of what was their thought process? What. What did they think of the show? Do they like the layout? Did they like how the cattle came in? You know, stuff like that is. I think that's what wins more shows. Rather than just showing up with a calf and thinking you should win the show. I mean, you gotta do all the little things.

B (49:04)

Right, Right. And you'd mentioned, like what we think about the layout. One, something I want to ask you. So we. And this is for everybody that that is listening or will listen to this episode. And we're going to be doing post games of American Royal and Denver. And those are two post games we've never done before. And I'm super excited about those. But Denver's not going to be on the hill anymore. I want to know. Maybe. I mean, that's just random thought of mine. What do you think of the new layout for Denver and how that is going to approach itself?

D (49:31)

Yeah, yeah. So that's going to be quite interesting. Got to go tour the facility while we were up there. And it's awesome. I mean, I'm thoroughly excited that Denver is getting back, trying to get back to where they were when I was in college, because I don't think that younger people have got to really get the experience to hold Denver deal, which I do really enjoy that Cattleman's Congress is going on, because I do think the more shows that there are, the better it is for the industry. More people to get wins, more people to get their animals out and get exhibited. But I do think I do like that Denver built that arena. The facility is going to be great. They hired West Allison. I think it's going to be great up there. It'll be interesting. On the layout of the rink. It's a big ring. I mean, it's not as big as Fort Worth, but it's getting gosh dang close. And, and, and the lighting, the lighting plays factors. I mean, when you go to shows and stuff, I mean, just the lighting difference, the kind of lights that they use, whether they're LEDs or those yellow light bulbs, are they gonna put extra turf down? They gonna put dark, dark dirt down? How are they gonna set the ring up? How did the cattle come in? Are there going to be the bleachers right next to it? Or is it going to be like a stadium wall like the old Fort Worth used to be, where the people are hovering over them? I mean, it'll be interesting how that. How that gets laid out. And I think different kind of cattle could possibly win that show from what everyone deems a Denver one is quote unquote supposed to look like. I do think it'll, it'll alter it a little bit and I think it'll be really neat to see that. And I do think it's going to take a lot of learning experience on what kind of cattle actually fit that ring. I mean, I think, I think people now are just now starting to figure out what really looks good in the new Fort Worth ring. Just going from the old, old ring to the ring we're in now. You know, I mean the type of cow that you kind of have to exhibit is vastly different from when we had a white wall behind it where it would make them look burlier. You could take a prettier one. Now you got to be the real dense, husky, low to the ground, burly one. You know, I mean, I think it'll be interesting. I think it'll be really, really neat to see. And I don't know if they've made any decisions. I bet they keep it hush, hush till the very end and it'll be really cool to walk in there and we're gonna roll a couple dice out and see how it goes.

B (51:51)

Right.

D (51:52)

I like how you brought up, but I'm gonna be the stubborn one because I still have the same kind that I like and I'm sure they'll all be about third and I'll be beating my head against the wall. But hey, it is what it is. Oh yeah. Needless to say, I'm slightly hard headed.

B (52:10)

There is nothing wrong with that, honestly.

C (52:15)

So I like how you brought up like, like you said, people think there's a specific con that fit Denver and even this new ring and having different lights that might even change the kind kind of as a whole. So I want to do you find there's kind of different types ranging from even like down here in Texas majors and different types up north. Like do you find the ones that are winning down here? Down here and up there are different or maybe a different kind that kind of fits, fits each place.

D (52:37)

Like I've been to some of the state fairs up here and each ring a different kind of calf looks better on different rings. Like Indiana is completely different than Ohio. Both them shows are completely different than Iowa. But I think that all them guys up there have figured out what kind of cattle usually look good up there. And I mean, let's keep it simple. 90% of the time, if you're the soundest, the heaviest muscle the Best bodied and good looking. You're probably gonna be in the background nine times out of ten. You should be pretty high in the class, you know. But there are different kinds of cattle that look better in different rings, like Indiana. You know, you talk to some guys out there, them real good looking ones because they have that white wall right behind them like, like Fort Worth does or used to. You know, them. Them ones that are. Have a really good silhouette and they get. And look even getting the paint them versus not is so much different. Like they don't get the power and you got to have a. I mean you got to have cattle for those shows, I think.

B (53:44)

Yeah.

D (53:56)

Yeah, I agree.

B (54:16)

Absolutely.

A (54:17)

Yeah.

B (54:18)

And something else I want to ask as well is the, the Cattleman's Congress show. I've heard that that's specifically the steer show not going to happen. But for sure, the American show. I was real upset about that because I was almost about to go this year with my sisters. We had two or three that we thought we could take American wise. But that show, specifically the steer show at Congress blew up especially over the course last three or four years. But I think incorporating like, not necessarily majors, but big, big jackpots, like those big payouts are something that we kind of need more. Honestly.

D (55:21)

It.

B (55:58)

For sure it.

C (57:03)

Okay. Well now, Laramie, I think as we kind of start to wrap this up, you know as well as anybody, this get. This game ain't easy and it can be tough and hard. So maybe let's see some things that keeps you going every day. Any quotes, Bible verses, songs even that kind of keeps you motivated and keeps you going.

B (59:04)

I did.

C (59:04)

Yeah.

B (59:48)

Absolutely.

D (60:02)

It.

B (60:27)

There's it. Absolutely. Yeah. And what I want to tack on is, you know, we usually have a Bible verse at the end of the episode. I. I don't think it could have been any better in corporate what we've talked about in terms of endurance and priorities and goals throughout this episode. But I there we're in season five now and I've been doing this since I guess, summer of my senior year. And I never really think it'd like grow to this amount that it has. But there's one question that I've always kept. But Laramie, I want to know what, what empowers you to be better than who you were before. Absolutely, I completely agree. So with all this said, I do appreciate, Laramie, you coming on and joining us. It's meant a lot and it's been something that I've wanted to do for, for quite some time. So for you to be able to make it work. Sure. Sure makes me glad. And you've been selling personally. Me, I've looked up to for a couple years now. I've always liked seeing your cattle and hearing you talk, especially when I work out. So you being able to come on it. I I'm almost positive a lot of people see benefit in this episode.

A (63:47)

I.

D (63:57)

That is a win.

B (63:58)

That is a win. That is a win. You got to yes.

C (64:11)

That's awesome.

B (64:13)

Awesome. Awesome. Well, Larry, appreciate it. And to everyone that's listening, thank you all for coming back and tuning in. The season is one of the best seasons I think we could put together. I know I said that the previous season before, but that one doubled in numbers in terms of downloads and streams. So I'm going to keep saying it and maybe it'll double even more. So with all this said, this is gonna be Laramie Priest with on Empower you. Thank you all for tuning in and we'll talk to you all next time.

C (64:40)

Thank you.

A (64:43)

Make sure to check out our website@empowerupodcast.org where you'll find our team's story, sponsor highlights and merchandise. But also make sure to check out our social media on Facebook and Instagram powerupod to stay up to date on episode, sneak peeks and releases, merchandise updates and sponsor announcements. We are proud to have you as a listener on and hope you gained more knowledge through us. Make sure to give us a five star rating and have a blessed day.