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Whether he is at his
ranch in west Grayson County or his office in Plano, the name
Jim Nelson is synonymous with success. Though he came into the
cattle business late in life, he has carried over his success as
a land developer into the Hereford game. In a short time, Nelson
has developed a reputation for high-quality calves, and has
become one of the local innovators of internet auctions. Through
hard work, good planning, a few common sense purchases, a lot of
good decisions, a little luck, and a little help, Nelson’s
company, Nelson Land and Cattle, has quickly become a model for
how to build and develop a successful ranch in relatively short
order.
Jim at the
ranch with his Kawasaki “mule” in Whitesboro.
Nelson was born in Geary, Oklahoma, about 75 miles west of
Oklahoma City. His Grandfather was in the registered Hereford
business, and was one of the first to bring horned Herefords
into west Oklahoma at the turn of the 20th century. Nelson grew
up around the business, and his grandfather supplied him with
Hereford steers and heifers. His grandfather passed away when he
was in junior high school, and Nelson lost interest in Nelson
Land & Cattle cattle. He eventually left his tiny Oklahoma home
town for Oklahoma State University.
“I really wasn’t into agriculture,” he said laughingly. “I was a
typical small-town boy back then, trying to get out of town to
go see the bright lights and the big city.” Nelson went into the
meat business after college, which is what brought him to the
Dallas/Fort Worth area. In the early ‘80’s, he sold his business
and went into real estate. He currently works with his son and
daughter in land development.
“I just kind of sit around and let them do all the work – let
them make their old man a little money along the way,” he said.
At an age where a lot of successful men retire, he decided to
scratch an itch he’d had for some time, and take up a second
job. He bought his ranch in Grayson County and
Texas.
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bought his first Hereford cows from Scott Galyon at K Bar K
Ranch in Pottsboro.
“They say, when you
get older, what goes around comes around,” he said. “When I got
out of high school, I couldn’t wait to get to the city. After
spending most of my life in the city, I was ready to get back to
the country.”
"I would go nuts retired,” he continued. “I got tired of playing
golf and making double bogeys.” He started out with ten
commercial Herefords, but was reticent to enter into the
registered business without a full-time ranch manager to watch
over things while he was tending to his real estate business. He
met Ron Dugger, who has managed his ranch ever since, and who he
gives credit for what success they have had. The pair had an
opportunity to buy 24 registered cows from a man getting out of
the business. Some of the cows were poll, some were horn. As
luck would have it, all of the cows were bred to a bull named BR
DM L1 Domino 146, originally bred at the Barber Ranch in
Channing, TX.
That year, the Barber
Ranch and Don
Moler were showing a heifer bred from
Domino 146 that was winning its share
of prize money. Nelson and Dugger showed two heifers that were
also bred from Domino 146, and they both won division
championships in Fort Worth. One was grand champion in Houston,
and the other was grand champion in San Angelo.
From the beginning, Nelson proved that his interest in Herefords
was more than a hobby. Later that year, he bought half interest
in a poll bull named Git R’ Done from Star Lake Cattle Ranch in
Skiatook, Oklahoma.
 Jim’s
original herd of 10 cows purchased from K-K Polled Herefords.
The following February, the bull won grand champion in Fort
Worth. In one year, Nelson owned a grand champion bull and two
division champion females. |
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“I was telling
somebody, ‘man, this is kind of an easy deal,’” he said
jokingly. “Whatever I get into, I want to see how to make it
really work.
I knew I wasn’t going to be the biggest Hereford breeder in the
world or be able to compete with some of the bigger ranches
around the country.” Nelson turned those first ten cows into
what he describes as a boutique ranch. He now owns 100
registered cows, 17 donor cows, and 140 commercial cows for
embryonic transfer.
He bought full
possession of Domino 146 from Gary Buchholz’ GKB Cattle ranch in
Bardwell, Texas. After that purchase, Nelson and Dugger
ratcheted up their breeding system, and are now primarily
breeding Domino 146 into all of his cows, and flushing all of
them.
Nelson Land and
Cattle and GKB are the two largest ranches producing calves out
of 146 Domino. NLC shares the semen sales with Barber and Moler.
“We’re not the biggest ranch out here,” he said. “We pride
ourselves on high-end quality items. When someone wants a really
high quality heifer or steer, come to Nelson Land and Cattle and
you can find it. It may be more expensive, but you know what
you’re going to get.”
Fall heifer calf champion of 2006 Fort Worth National Polled
Show, NLC Ms Vicki 146 Dominette 30P, shown by Josh Dugger. One
of 2 division winners that Nelson had that year.
Nelson has
also taken a modern approach to selling cattle. He had his first
internet auction last April. The auction boasted 135 registered
bidders from 15 different states. All of the cows auctioned were
Domino 146 calves. They averaged $5,600 per heifer, the highest
selling at $14,900 to a bidder from California. To market the
cows, Nelson hired Katie Colyer, an Idaho rancher and
photographer / video specialist, to shoot short videos of the cows and take
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their pictures. He has also invested
a lot in his own website, nelsonlandandcattle.com, in order to
court younger buyers. “I’m so old, I barely know how to turn a
computer on,” he said. “We deal a lot with the younger buyers.
They’re a lot more accustomed to using the internet.”
“With fuel prices getting the way they are, you can’t drive all
over the United States looking for a good heifer,” he continued.
“But if you can find one sitting at your desk at home, without
having to burn up a lot of gas, it makes it easier on the buyer.
But, they have to be comfortable that you’re an honorable
organization.”
 Christ
United Methodist Church Plano, Texas presented their pastor Don
Underwood a Hereford cow/calf pair from Nelson Land and Cattle
Co. as an anniversary present. Christ United is Jim’s church in
Plano. Pictured (l to r) Desi McGuire, Brooke Nelson, Jim
Nelson, Betty Jane Brame, Ron Dugger and front and center Miss
Riley Nelson.
Nelson believes that internet auctions will become more common,
especially for smaller sales. He said that several other
ranchers have already asked him how to pull off such an auction.
One of the benefits of an online auction, Nelson said, is that
it saves on expenses. The one thing that has surprised Nelson
about the cattle business has been the cost of fuel. He said,
had he have known that the cost of diesel would double; he might
not have jumped into the business head first. But, he also said
that he is having fun, and remains optimistic about the future
of the Hereford business.
“The Herefords are probably in as good a shape as they’ve been
in years, because there are a lot more people coming over to the
Hereford side of the spectrum,” he said. “Angus ruled the roost
for the last 30 years or so, but the Herefords have made a huge
comeback in the last 4 or 5 years since I’ve gotten back
involved in it. It’s a good place to be.” |
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