Ranching & Cattle

Like the well-known innovators in breeding and range management techniques of earlier eras, the people of 21st-Century King Ranch continue to aspire to new levels of excellence and educate others using their extensive knowledge of ranching operations that are worthy of The Birthplace of American Ranching®.

Cattle

The ranching business remains a vital component of contemporary King Ranch operations, and is an ongoing, living link with the legendary past of Captain King’s domain.  Comprised of 1,500+ seedstock cows, 20,000+ commercial cows, stocker cattle operations and a 16,000 head feedyard, this pioneer of The Birthplace of American Ranching® is a vertically integrated cattle enterprise that continues to thrive as a vanguard of the cattle business on the 825,000 acres of its home ranches in South Texas.

The ideas that inspired Richard King to found his ranch continue to inspire the people in King Ranch operations to achieve higher degrees of efficiency and excellence, and better respond to the demands of an ever changing beef cattle market.

For information concerning cattle breeding, purchases or sales of:

Cattle Improvements

While steeped in history and maintaining rich traditions, King Ranch is a Profit Proven, progressive, vertically integrated ranching operation where our 20,000+ head commercial cow-calf enterprise remains the emphasis of our ranching operations.

Making the most profitable range cow continues to be our primary objective, just as it was when King Ranch developed the Santa Gertrudis breed in the early 1900s.  Our purebred unit serves to produce the seedstock for our commercial cow-calf operation and to be the catalyst and focal point of genetic improvements where cows are expected to perform in one of the nation’s toughest environments.  Our cattle compete against an ever improving national supply of feeder cattle, and thus, cannot compromise in fertility, efficiency, or carcass quality.

In the early 2000s, in order to effectively make selection decisions, King Ranch developed its own within herd EPD system which we maintain today.  We collaborated with Santa Gertrudis Breeders International to be the very first breed to utilize the single step genomically enhanced EPD model.  King Ranch balances rigid phonotypic selection parameters and cutting edge within-herd EPDs, including a suite of carcass, growth, and fertility EPDs as well as King Ranch PROVEN® indices: King Ranch PROVEN® Fertile, King Ranch PROVEN® Carcass, King Ranch PROVEN® Growth and our total index King Ranch PROVEN® Profit.  Having our own within-herd EPD database allows us to make data management decisions so that we have the best information available to make the best cow possible.

King Ranch DNA and parentage tests 100% of their commercial replacement heifers.  Fertility and calf performance data is then included in our King Ranch PROVEN® within-herd EPDs.  The King Ranch PROVEN® EPDs, unlike any other beef cattle production system, are heavily weighted with commercial performance data to accurately quantify the most profitable and economically relevant traits.

Cattle Services

Contact Us for more information or View our Cattle for Sale section for opportunities to incorporate King Ranch PROVEN® genetics to improve your herds.