Bar Oak Ranch, nestled in the shadows of
Comanche Peak in Tolar, Texas, was established in 2001 by my
wife, Sharon, and I. All three of our sons, Craig, Kent
and Scott, and their families are involved in the various
aspects of operating a progressive Hereford breeding
program.
We at
Bar Oak Ranch are continuing a legacy of Hereford breeding
that began with Howard and C.W. Barnes of Itasca, Texas from
the 1950s to the 1980s with seed stock from W.R. Gollihar of
Whitney, Texas. Growing up in a farming community with
immediate and extended family all engaged in farming and
ranching, I was involved in the showing of Hereford cattle
from the fourth through the twelfth grade – from local
county shows to regional shows in Waco and Houston to the
national show in Fort Worth. Though I was sidetracked for
the past 40 years, I relish the opportunity to again be
involved in the raising of Herefords.
Staying
current with the latest breeding techniques of embryo
transfer, coupled with high quality A-I sire availability is
allowing us to continue to improve our herd and to create a
proven, predictable product with consistent genotype and
phenotype, combining the best of horned and polled
Herefords. Our seed stock herd began with cattle from
Larson’s Polled Herefords and
Star Lake Cattle Co. We
enhanced that herd with the addition of donor cows and a
herd bull from Barber Ranch. In 2007, we developed a
friendship and working relationship with Gary & Kathy
Buchholz of GKB Cattle Co. and we purchased 20 of their high
quality females for our breeding program. We also
invested in a young promising herd sire,
GKB Downtown B627
ET. This bull has continued to demonstrate high marks
in style, muscle, disposition, and balance all in one
package. His potential as a herd sire will upgrade
both genotype and phenotype characteristics of a wide
spectrum of cow families. We appreciate the
willingness of Gary & Kathy Buchholz in sharing their
breeding knowledge and assisting a young program like ours.
We are proud to be a
part of the development of the new Hereford.
