The Artesian Story

Our experience in the beef industry began well before Artesian Ranch came to be. The King Family has a history in the ranching industry with their family owning a ranch in Lometa, Texas for generations. In 2013, Dr. Robert King set out to pick up his own piece of land and purchased a ranch on the Colorado River near the town of Winchell, Texas. The name Artesian Ranch was formed from the two artesian wells on this property. There he started a yearling operation and later added a commercial Angus cow herd. The following year he purchased the McMinn Ranch in the Leon River Valley of Comanche County, just east of Gustine, Texas. 

This is where our ranch managers, Tim and Susie Stallings, enter the story. The Stallings had managed the McMinn Ranch since 1988. They relocated with McMinn Ranch to Gustine in 2003.  

pecan_harvestDr. King selected the property due to its unique ability to have dual income with cattle and pecans. These were not typical native pecan trees with a crop every third year. They had been managed so well, they produced annually. With the purchase of the property, he purchased the existing cow herd.  For many years Angus bulls were used and most of the heifer calves were kept as replacements. What has come to be the Artesian cow herd base has been a closed herd for many years.
Dr. King had recently been introduced to Akaushi cattle and their health benefits. A few weeks after purchasing the ranch, he met with the Stallings about the Akaushi breed. Tim had been studying the breed since 2012 and was ready to take the operation in that direction. That year they attended the Akaushi Convention and purchased 10 Akaushi herd sires to use on their cow herd. 

Before 2014, the ranch used Angus bulls for many years, selecting herd sires for their carcass merit and maternal traits. Utilizing those genetics, they achieved a 19 percent Prime carcass. Their first set of F1 or half-blood Akaushi calves' carcass data results came back at 55 percent Prime on the same cow herd. Since then, Artesian has continued to improve its beef quality while maintaining a focus on functionality, phenotype, and maternal traits. 

artesian_cattle

In 2020, Artesian purchased their first full-blood Akaushi cows to raise their own replacement bulls. Tim selected 11 cow/calf pairs for their maternal strength, phenotype, strong feet and legs. Little did he know, he had just selected some of the most elite genetics in the Akaushi breed. Our goal in building the Artesian cow herd is to focus on those same traits producing cattle that will go to work for the commercial cattleman and deliver exceptional carcass.

 

Meet Ranch Owner - Dr. Robert King

Since his purchase of the property, Dr. King has introduced Akaushi herd sires, launched our beef program, grown the cow herd size, and started our full-blood herd. He is passionate about producing high quality beef for consumers building genetics that go to work for the commercial cattleman.