Oscar Flowers (Greg's grandfather) exhibiting an angus bull in l948 at Percy Powers Skyland Farm field day.
Henry Hale accepting the Grand Champion Award won by Flowers and Hale at the l966 Texhoma Livestock Commission Annual Carlot Feeder Show and Sale in Texhoma, Oklahoma
Greg Hale taking care of his steer at the l973 Ochiltree County Livestock Show, Perryton, TX
Greg Hale showing a steer at the l973 Top of Texas Livestock Show, Pampa, TX
Trevor Hale helping get bulls ready at the 2009 NWSS, Denver, COGreg recalls, “I went to visit Mr. Charles Hardesty in Paola Kansas. He took me to see his weaned calves first, and I will never forget how impressive they were. I knew then I was at the right place to find the cows I had been searching for. I bought his whole herd of cows and his bulls, and that set of traditional Simmentals was the start of my herd today.”
While that was the beginning of the Simmental influence on the Hale Ranch, it certainly was not the beginning of cattle production. Greg’s grandfather Hale bought his first registered Hereford’s in the 1920’s. His grandfather Flowers started his registered Angus herd in the 1940’s. Greg’s parents also raised registered Angus prior to their commercial herd. Greg learned from his family the kind of cattle it would take to survive the harsh environment of the Texas Panhandle. Our area has a stocking rate of 25 acres per cow and requires good, sound, functional cattle that can handle the summer heat and the cold winter without help. Greg’s intent was to use his new Simmentals to improve on the foundation his family had begun.
The results were immediate. Greg says, “At the time our commercial herd was weaning 500 pound calves. I got Dad’s attention with my first calf crop. That set of calves weaned off at 660 pounds, with nothing but milk and good grass. That year Dad sold his older bulls and bought 10 Simmental bulls. The resulting calves from the same set of cows weaned at 610 pounds. At one dollar per pound, that was an additional $110.00 per weaned calf, and that was certainly the direction we needed to be going.”
Always looking for improvement and not having much luck finding replacement heifers led to the beginning of an AI program on the ranch in 1992, followed by the addition of an embryo transfer program in 1997. Both of those programs added new genetics to the herd and the cattle really started to excel.
Hale Ranch was producing quality cattle that could do well in all environments and Greg was ready to put his product out for the public to see. In 2004, he took a pen of bulls to the National Western Stock Show in Denver and came home with first place. In 2005, he went back and had the Grand Champion Pen of Three Bulls. As of 2011, he has exhibited 11 Grand or Reserve Champion pens at that show.
Hale Ranch genetics have now reached customers across the United States and into Canada. The success stories continue to grow as we continue to raise sound, moderate framed cattle that have lots of performance and eye appeal. Our cows raise their calves with only help from good grass. For the past 15 years our weaning weight has been at least 700 pounds at about 230 days. We have excellent kill data on over 1200 head. It has taken many years and much dedication to produce the quality of cattle that we have today, and we will continue to accept the challenge to constantly improve. At Hale Ranch, we are always watching the bottom line!
