Relationships Are a “I chose Santa Gertrudis cattle because I thought that’s what time, then sold at a local livestock sale in Unionville, Tennessee Fundamental Part cowboys ought to have,” Smith adds. “It’s more about the cattle “We’ve tried several ways to market the calves,” Warren says. culture for me but also that they are good cattle and take care of “We’ve put them in a cooperative, sent to a feedlot - it always de- themselves.” pends on the market. Typically, we sell a short time after wean- Ravenswood Farm’s cattle have always been Santa ing.” of the STAR 5 Gertrudis-influenced. They started with purebred Santa Gertrudis Warren adds that in the commercial beef cattle business, they but have moved to the crossbred STAR 5 cattle. Warren says the are trying to raise a calf that pushes the scale down as fast as it cattle from Corporron are gentle, raise a good calf and are good can, trying to get to a number as quickly as possible with the Stephen Smith (l) and Marty Warren (c), with Ravenswood Farm are Female Business milkers that haven’t had udder problems. least amount of expense. pictured with Jim Corporron at the San Antonio All Breed Bull and “We appreciate the Hereford-influence in the Santa Gertrudis Besides having growthy calves, Smith wants to have cattle Commercial Female Sale. Ravenswood Farm are repeat Star 5 fe- By Kelsey Pope, Freelance Writer, cattle for being gentle and raising good calves,” Warren says. that look good, too. males customers for the Corporron Family. Reprinted courtesy of Santa Gertrudis USA “Disposition is a big thing to us because Steve and I enjoy work- “Cattle in San Antonio are all fat and slick and look good, and ing them and handling them. If they are mean or try to run you that’s how we want our horses and our cattle,” Smith says. “We out of the pen, they are not a lot of fun, and that’s when we de- like the fat, slick, red ones with a white face. That’s the STAR 5 Santa Gertrudis cattle were largely chosen by Jim Corporron’s found that adding Hereford to our Santa Gertrudis cattle fit our cide to cull.” cattle from Mr. Corporron.” father-in-law for their self-sufficiency. Today, Corporron Acres, op- program,” Corporron adds. Warren grew up on a small farm and was hired by Smith 27 Since buying their first pen of STAR 5 pairs from Corporron, erated in south central Texas near Schulenburg, is still a believer They began advertising their cattle in local newspapers for a years ago to manage his horses and raise about eight to ten Warren and Smith have returned every year to buy his cattle. of Santa Gertrudis cattle with a long list of reasons to raise them. few years and then began marketing their cattle at consignment foals per year. He then took over as manager of cattle and “We buy a pen of five pairs at the San Antonio sale as our re- Jim Corporron’s family operation, Corporron Acres, is run with sales, such as the Bluebonnet Classic, Tri-Star Sale and the horses in 2000. placements,” Warren says. “We enjoy going to the sale and buy- his son Rodney’s herd, Pinnacle Cattle Co., LLC (formerly Dos Houston Livestock Show. For the last decade, they have also The Ravenswood Farm team runs approximately 60 females ing something that is better to improve our cowherd.” Bros Ranch), where they share genetics and resources. His consigned STAR 5 pairs annually to the San Antonio Livestock All that they crossbreed to Sim-Angus, Chi-Angus or straight Angus Corporron goes above and beyond customer service to estab- grandson also runs Pinnacle Whitetails, where he breeds and Breeds Bull and Commercial Female Sale. In 2015-2016, they because there is a better market in Tennessee for blackhided lish a relationship with his customers. He always sends a hand- raises Whitetail deer. earned Grand Champion Pen of Females paired with Angus calves. With these calves, they will typically sell some heifers pri- written letter with a nice token of appreciation and makes In addition to the self-sufficiency attributes that got the family calves, competing against 500 other crossbred animals. vate treaty or keep the females and breed to a low-birthweight follow-up calls to be sure Smith and Warren are satisfied. into the breed, Corporron has found many attributes in Santa It was at this San Antonio sale where Steve Smith and Marty bull to sell as bred females. “That’s another reason why we continue to keep buying cattle Gertrudis cattle to keep them involved in the breed. Warren, Revenswood Farm, Brentwood, Tennessee, discovered “We try to keep our cattle uniform with the STAR 5 red-and- from Mr. Corporron,” Smith says. “Number one, they are really “They are excellent for crossbreeding, heat tolerance and hy- Corporron and his quality females. white-faced females, so we don’t keep any replacements since good cattle, and number two, he goes above and beyond to en- brid vigor, to name a few,” he says. “We were introduced to Jim at the San Antonio sale, and we we are breeding to black bulls,” Warren says. “We keep heifers, sure that we are happy with the cattle and he appreciates the Corporron uses several tools and seeks the assistance of top bought a set of first-calf heifer pairs from him,” says Marty War- then sell private treaty to other producers.” business. It’s a pretty easy thing, but a lot of people don’t do that, cattlemen to continue his program’s improvement and genetic ad- ren, Ravenswood Farm manager. “He took the time to get our in- The bull calves from their herd are castrated and sold either at and we appreciate that about him.” vancements. formation and say thank you. He’s the type of guy who shakes weaning or after they are weaned and fed for a short period of “The tools we believe in using to improve our cattle pedigrees your hand and looks you in the eye and says, ‘thank you’. He include top genetics, extensive EPD analysis, focusing on confor- wanted us to be 100 percent satisfied or he’d make it right, what- mation and phenotype and artificial insemination and embryo ever it took.” transfers,” Corporron says. “We also utilize analyst, Brad Wright, Warren added that Corporron always calls a week or two after RanchHand Analytics, who helps us analyze EPDs of dams and the sale to make sure they made it home and to check on how potential sires.” the cattle are doing. This type of customer service is why Steve Corporal runs nearly 250 Santa Gertrudis females, half bred Smith keeps returning to San Antonio to buy replacements for his to purebred Santa Gertrudis sires and the other half to Hereford cattle herd. sires. They run their herd on approximately 1,200 acres of owned “We really like STAR 5 cattle,” says Smith, Ravenswood Farm and leased ground that also includes hay production. owner. “We don’t have a good scientific reason, but if we’re going When the Corporrons started crossbreeding to create com- to buy any cattle, we’d just as soon buy them from Mr. Corporron. mercial, STAR 5 females, they chose Hereford sires for their hy- We also like San Antonio because it’s a good stop in the middle brid vigor and growth. Many other producers in south central of winter.” Texas appreciate this cross in their crossbreeding programs to Smith is in the real estate business as a home builder, but has put on Charolais, Brangus and Angus bulls. raised Santa Gertrudis cattle and Tennessee Walking Horses for “Several producers were asking us for a crossbreed, and we several years. SUMMER • 2019 • SUMMER Ranch headquarters conveniently located 5 miles south of I-10 on Hwy 77 at Schulenburg, Texas indicus influenced breeds is 50 degrees to 81 degrees, making them much better suited to southern beef production patterns. This infor- Females mation clearly confirms that incorporating Bos indicus influenced Santa Gertrudis genetics New name, into a breeding program is a profitable alterna- tive option to the heavily Bos taurus influenced, black-hided breeding program adopted by so thatBy John FordFit many of the nation’s Southern Cattlemen. same commitment Santa Gertrudis Breeders International For a number of years, we have Santa Gertrudis cattle perform profitably in a operated under the name of Executive Director 3148 CR 229 Schulenburg, Texas 78956 Texas Schulenburg, 229 CR 3148 wide range of environmental conditions, from Corporron Acres-Dos Bros Ranch. The thermometer outside my office window the lush improved pastures of the Mid-south to Dos Bros reflected Jim Corporron’s indicates it is currently a warm 104-degree sons, Randy and Rodney’s operation. the challenging arid conditions of the desert June day in sunny South Texas. The abundant Southwest. Rodney and wife, Barbara and son, rainfall witnessed in the fall and spring is now The foundation for a profitable cow herd is a Connor have established Pinnacle just a memory, as is the lush green grasses it balanced efficient female. More is not always Whitetails and now will be operating produced. Unusual? No, just another South better – avoiding extremes and matching their cattle program under Pinnacle Texas summer that is capable of lasting be- cowherds to the operation’s forage resources Cattle Co. and Randy will continue tween 10 and 12 months. Unfortunately, many will almost always result in a profitable set of his cattle under Hidden Antlers cattlemen do not consider the environment and cows well-adapted to the ranch’s environment.