Cattle Feeders
Hall of Fame

After graduating from lowa State University in 1973 with a degree in Animal Science, Joe Morgan began feeding cattle. He started managing his first feedyard in 1983, east of Omaha. In 1985 he moved to Garden City, KS, to manage Poky Feeders and started the growth of Poky, from its original capacity of 17,000 head to...

Growing up on a farm in Stratton, Colorado, Dan May learned the value of hard work at a young age, milking cows, feeding cattle, and farming. He graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Farm & Ranch Management and a minor in Economics. He worked as a commodity broker, a feedlot controller, the Head...

Dr. Kee Jim, DVM, earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1983 from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan. After graduating, he established G.K. Jim Farms and Feedlot Health Management Services Ltd. Jim began his cattle feeding career with a 6% share pen of 300 head and grew to become a prominent figure in...

Dr. Jack Reeves, DVM, a fifth-generation cattleman, established a feedlot and introduced center pivot sprinklers on his family’s century-old homesteaded land. After earning his degree in veterinary medicine degree from Kansas State University, he served in the U.S. Army before launching his veterinary practice in Garden City, Kansas. Transitioning to the cattle business full-time, Reeves dedicated...

Growing up in the small town of Broken Bow, NE, Jerry Adams was born with a love for agriculture, especially cattle, and developed a work ethic milking cows and feeding calves. In 1972, the Adams’ operation consisted of five employees, 5,000 calves and 3,000 acres of farmland. Jerry, along with his brother Bill, grew the operation...

The late Ed Barrett of Barrett Crofoot Feedlots in Hereford, Texas, was in the cattle feeding industry full-time for over 60 years. Barrett ran Lubbock Feedyard before moving back to Emporia in 1968 where he built and operated Flint Hills Feedyard. In 1975, Ed worked with the Crofoot family to establish the Barrett and Crofoot Feedlots...

Norman Timmerman learned the virtue of hard work at a young age. Born one of six to a cattle feeding family, Norm actively contributed to his family’s operation from adolescence, often hauling cattle to the stockyards in the morning before school. Half a century later, that family tradition holds strong. Norm and his 3 brothers spent...

Raised on a row crop farming operation just north of Garden City, Kansas, Tom Jones has marked his career with a sharp emphasis on learning and advancement. From his time as an Animal Science major at Kansas State University to his diverse experience on both the live cattle and packing plant sides of the industry, he...

Raised in Hereford, Texas, Johnny Trotter is a true member of the cattle feeding community. Trotter has always posessed a strong passion for farming, ranching and horses, all of which became stepping stones that influenced his career. Today, Trotter owns one of the country’s largest individually owned cattle feeding operations, Bar-G Feedyard. Located in Hereford, the...

Steve Gabel has dedicated his career to improving and serving Colorado agriculture and the cattle feeding industry. Born and raised in Weld County Colorado, Steve graduated from Fort Lupton High School in 1975. He attended college at Colorado State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science. After nearly 4 years working...

Carl Glenn Stevenson was born and raised in California. He attended UC Davis and graduated in 1940 with a degree in animal husbandry. The next year, he was drafted into the army and joined a Veterinary Corp Unit in Ft. Bliss, Texas. stevenson served the entire four-and-a-half years of the war following the bombing of Pearl...

Born in Columbus, Nebraska, Donald Lee Oppliger attended the University of Nebraska and started feeding cattle in the early 1980s in Texico, New Mexico. Oppliger started his operation in 1980 by renting farm land in Hereford, Texas, and growing corn for Frito–Lay. He then purchased a 15,000–head feedlot in Farwell, Texas. The cattle-feeding operation thrived under...

After Notre Dame and a subsequent three-year tour in the Marines, Bill Foxley’s Foxley Cattle Company built a 15,000 head feedlot south of Omaha in 1962, with mill equipment developed on the west coast. Much of what Bill learned about the business was self-taught and acquired through hands-on experience. During his storied career, Mr. Foxley has...

James’ career began on a solid academic footing. After earning his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Herring graduated with an MBA from the Harvard Business School. James was a Founding Shareholder of First National Bank of Park Cities in Dallas, Texas and served as a Director from 1985...

Earl Brookover, a Scott County, Kansas native, grew up on a dryland farm. After working on various land development and irrigation projects in Texas, California and South America, and graduating with a degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University, Earl returned to southwest Kansas with a pioneering spirit. In 1947, Earl and his wife Denelda...

From the small town of Shickley, Nebraska, Jeff Biegert was born into agriculture where he grew up under the Midwest motto of “hard work never killed anybody.” He attended Texas Christian University, majoring in business, and post-college worked in Houston helping to build a large chain of daycare centers. In 1976, Jeff moved back to Nebraska...

Paul Brown was drawn to western Kansas by the allure of good soil and the potential for irrigation. He started running cattle in 1961 to counteract the cyclical nature of farming. It was the start of a career that would allow Paul to make a name for himself as an honest, hardworking cattleman in southwest Kansas....

Bob Gottsch grew up on farms in eastern Nebraska during the Great Depression. After high school, he served in the U.S. military police in Germany. When he returned from World War II, Bob tried college, but didn’t like it – he wanted to be working. Bob and his brother hauled corn and cattle and delivered fuel...

Loren Doll has been in the cattle-feeding business since 1961, when he and his father, Fred Doll, partnered with three Irsik brothers to construct and operate Ingalls Feed Yard. This feedyard grew from a one-time feeding capacity of 2,500 head to 40,000 head. Becoming the managing partner and chief executive officer of Irsik and Doll in...

Robert D. Josserand, a native of Pratt, Kansas, is the owner of AzTx Cattle Co., which includes two feedyards in Texas and Kansas.Bob served on the boards of directors of the National Livestock and Meat Board in Chicago, Beef Industry Council, Texas Cattle Feeders Association and National Cattlemen’s Association. He is a past president of Texas...

Jack Simplot revolutionized the food industry with the first commercially viable frozen french fries, carved a cattle empire out of sage brush and desert, and built a $6 billion agribusiness that employs more than 10,000 people worldwide. Today, his company’s land and livestock holdings include extensive farm and ranch properties in the western United States with...

In 1948, Roy Dinsdale received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and returned to the family’s cattle operation in Palmer, Nebraska. In the six decades since, Roy has nurtured Dinsdale Brothers into a large, diverse company involved in cattle feeding, ranching, farming, banking and other ag-related businesses. Third- and fourth-generation Dinsdales now oversee the...

After marrying Irene Meister, Leo Timmerman started farming with three milk cows and two dozen chickens. Leo and Irene lived off the money from the eggs and cream, but Leo found this farming practice lonely and slow-paced. During this time he bought two or three head of cattle, which began a successful career in the cattle-feeding...

Louis Dinklage’s vision for the cattle-feeding industry helped him become one of the most well-respected cattle feeders in America. Born in 1902, Louis never could have imagined that by the late 1960’s he would be considered the country’s largest cattle feeder. He influenced both the cattle-feeding industry and the community, as he mentored many young cattle...

As founder, owner and chairman, Bob displayed exceptional vision and leadership. He created a company that includes livestock breeding and ranching, commercial feeding, nutritional solutions, and beef processing. Under his command, Agri Beef Co. gave considerable focus to promoting sustainability throughout all organizational entities.

Willard’s passion for livestock and grain laid the foundation for his life within American agriculture. He was regarded as a leading agricultural economist, a cultivating businessman and a humble philanthropist.

As Chairman of the Board for the Beef Marketing Group and President of Innovative Livestock Services, Lee Borck has been instrumental in developing a unique approach to meeting retail customer needs through innovative alignment between the producer and the meat case.

Dave Wood is one of the most recognized cattlemen in the cattle-feeding business, and during his 40 years at Harris Farms, Inc., he helped make the Harris name a household word.

Ladd Hitch was an innovator in the cattle-feeding industry and one of the first feedyard owners to install large concrete silo pits and introduce one of the first irrigation systems in Oklahoma.

Kenneth Monfort revolutionized the cattle-feeding industry by building a packing plant in cattle-feeding country and inventing boxed beef to sell to foodservice and retail professionals.

In a cattle-feeding industry filled with hard workers and entrepreneurs, Paul Engler stands out for accomplishments both large and lasting.

Many in the cattle-feeding industry see William D. (“W.D.”) Farr as the founding father of our modern industry.