Country Lifestyles
Brands of the Texas Ranch Roundup
By Judy Wade
Hundreds of years ago, ranchers foresaw the need to identify their livestock, particularly the cattle, to distinguish them from other owners and deter rustlers. Thus the practice of branding was born.
When the 10 ranches participating in the Texas Ranch Roundup ride into Wichita Falls August 17-18, they will proudly display their distinctive brands on their flags in the introduction, their chuckwagons and on some of their horses. Not only does each ranch have its unique brand, each has its unique history.
BONDS RANCH
Bonds Ranch was founded in 1933 when P.R. (Bob) Bonds purchased 5,000 acres of the Charlie and Mary Hicks Ranch located just north of Fort Worth, Texas. As part of the purchase of the ranch, Bonds received all the Hereford cattle as well as the Turkey Track brand. Bob hired Owen Burnett (or Big Pete as he was known) as ranch foreman in 1944. Big Pete mentored Bob’s youngest son, Pete Bonds, after Bob died in 1954.
Pete took over the management of the ranch in 1970 when he was 18 years old, and after finishing his degree in Business and Certificate in Ranch Management from Texas Christian University, Pete grew and diversified Bonds Ranch’s operations. Today, Bonds Ranch is a commercial cow/calf, stocker, and fed beef cattle operation located in 26 Texas counties and eight states.
Being a family operation, Pete relies on his wife of 41 years, Jo, and their three daughters, Missy, Bonnie and April. Missy and April work alongside Pete at the ranch headquarters in Saginaw, and Bonnie and her husband, Clint Anderson, live and ranch in Colorado with their four children, Kaycee, Larkin, Ace and Owen.
R.A. BROWN RANCH
The R.A. Brown Ranch developed through merging Brown, Thomas and Donnell family ranch lands, some of which dated back as early as 1876. It has been a family business since 1895 and continues to be recognized as a leader in raising top quality cattle and Quarter Horses.
The ranch covers 33,000 acres in Texas and Colorado and is best known for its powerful breeding bulls and the four breeds that make up the cow herd: Angus, Red Angus, SimAngus and Hotlander, a breed developed on the ranch.
After the retirement of Rob Brown and wife Peggy in 2013, the ranch underwent a generational transfer and is now operated by their children, the fifth generation: Rob A. and wife Talley, Betsy Bellah and husband Jody, Marianne McCartney and husband Todd and Donnell Brown and wife Kelli. The stylized RAB connected brand has only been in use since about 1980.
To read more pick up a copy of the August 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-8729-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Local celebrity dancers of the greater Gainesville area brought the house down recently at the second annual “Dancing With Our Stars” contest in Lindsay. The event raised more than $200,000 as the sponsored dance teams did their best to take home the grand prize.
The money raised will go to the “Heart of NTMC” Campaign for the purchase of a cardiac capable CT machine for the Gainesville hospital. Rodolfo “Rudy” Martinez and Sherry Sherriden took home the Mirror Ball Trophy.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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