Fred and Judy Long and the L2 Ranch: Four Decades of Beefmaster Breeding

Who are Fred and Judy Long?

Fred and Judy Long run the L2 Ranch at Beeville, Texas, in the South Texas brush country where the Beefmaster breed was first put together. Beefmaster Breeders United, the breed association, inducted the couple into its Hall of Fame in 2021, and the association's profile of the Longs is the main public record of their work.

The honor came at the 60th annual BBU convention, held October 28 to 30, 2021, in Fort Worth. The convention report lists the Longs alongside Mike Collier of Brenham as that year's inductees and says they had spent more than 40 years improving the breed and their own herd.

The L2 Ranch in Beeville

The ranch covers 2,600 acres and carries 150 to 200 brood cows, along with about 150 recipient cows used for embryo transfer. The Longs sell mostly by private treaty and encourage buyers to come to the ranch and look at the cattle in person.

Fred joined Beefmaster Breeders United in 1976. The association's profile says the couple has spent 47 years breeding Beefmasters and that many of their top genetic lines trace back 55 to 60 years. That long view matters in a breed where a bull's value depends on how reliably he passes on his traits.

How does the L2 breeding program work?

Fred's program starts from the breed's 'Six Essentials' (weight, conformation, milking ability, fertility, hardiness and disposition) and adds a seventh, predictability. In the Longs' own order of priority, visual appraisal comes first, followed by balanced expected progeny differences, carcass improvement and a uniform solid red color.

The herd is built on line breeding and a strong maternal base. According to the BBU profile, animals must carry at least 15 generations of breed-dominant, productive dams in their pedigree. Embryo transfer has been a major tool for spreading the best cow families, among them the 293/3 Cow Family, and the ranch has weighed cattle and collected carcass data on every calf crop since 1990.

Awards and service to the breed

The Longs' honors run across four decades: BBU Breeder of the Year in 1988, the BBU Performance Award in 1997, the BBU Environmental Stewardship Award in 2006, the Live Oak Beefmaster Breeders Association Legend Award in 2015, and the Hall of Fame in 2021. Both served on the BBU board and on committees.

Association service is a quiet part of many hall of fame careers, and the Longs are a clear example. Officers keep the books, record the minutes and organize sales that help smaller breeders find buyers.

Where L2 genetics have gone

The BBU profile says L2 genetics are in use in the United States, Mexico, Central America, South America and Southeast Asia. The Longs promoted the breed in Mexico and South America and at the Houston Livestock Show International Week, a showcase that draws international cattle buyers.

Beefmasters were created for heat and rough forage, so tropical and subtropical markets are a natural fit. Wikipedia's breed summary notes that the cattle are adapted to many climates, one reason programs like L2's find buyers abroad.

Learn more about Beefmaster ranching

Readers who want the wider context can browse ranching stories on farm.FM, or read a farm.FM story about Beefmaster cattle for more on the breed. The BBU Hall of Fame page lists every inductee by year, and the Beefmaster overview covers the breed's origins.