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Gene Kuykendall: Beefmaster Breeders United Hall of Fame Inductee (1994)

Gene Kuykendall was inducted into the Beefmaster Breeders United Hall of Fame in 1994, honored for contributions to a breed born on a Texas ranch.

Who is Gene Kuykendall?

Gene Kuykendall is listed on the Beefmaster Breeders United Hall of Fame page as a 1994 inductee. The page is a roster, not a biography, and it does not give his home, ranch name or the work that earned the honor.

The hall list gives the year and the name and nothing else, so this entry treats the honor as the documented fact and gives the breed history around it.

How the Beefmaster breed began

The breed these men worked with began on the Lasater Ranch in Texas. According to Oklahoma State's breed profile, Ed C. Lasater started the program in 1908 by buying Brahman bulls for his Hereford and Shorthorn herd, and he introduced Guzerat blood in 1925. After his death in 1930, his son Tom Lasater combined Brahman and Hereford cattle, used registered Shorthorn bulls, and gave the resulting animals the name Beefmaster.

Breeders selected hard. The same page says herds ran with multiple sires and that culling was strict, judged on disposition, fertility, weight, conformation, hardiness and milk production. These became the Six Essentials, and the breed's own site says Beefmasters were built on them. Selection was aimed at beef production rather than at horns, hide or color, which is why the breed has no color standard, though brownish-red is the most common color.

The association and the early years

The breed's growth in the twentieth century is the setting for these inductions. As the BBU history page tells it, Tom Lasater began crossing Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle in the early 1930s, hoping for cattle that could make money in hard times in South Texas. USDA recognized Beefmasters as a pure breed in 1954, and Beefmaster Breeders United was founded in 1961.

The same page reports that the breed spread quickly from South Texas beginning in the early 1970s. BBU membership rose from 300 in 1974 to nearly 7,000 by 1998, and the page now puts membership at about 3,000. It calls BBU one of the five largest U.S. beef breed registries by membership and one of the top ten by registrations.

What the Hall of Fame says

The hall itself is described on a BBU news post as an honor for exceptional, visionary men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the Beefmaster breed. The post does not explain how inductees are chosen, and it does not mention this inductee, so the record here rests on the hall's own list.

The hall page places Gene Kuykendall in 1994, between the 1980s classes and the 1998 induction of Watt Casey. Over on farm.FM, the ranching section follows the same kind of cattle history across breeds and regions.

Why It Mattered

A hall of fame entry is a short record, but it points to a long one. The documented parts of this story are the breed's origin, its selection standards, the creation of a breed association, and the recognition BBU later gave to people like Gene Kuykendall.

Because the available pages do not detail this inductee's own work, the lessons below come from the documented history of the breed that the hall honors.

  • Start with a clear purpose: the breed was built for cattle that earn money in hard economic times.
  • Measure what pays: weight, conformation, milk, fertility, hardiness and disposition.
  • Cull on those traits, not on color, hide or horns.
  • Use many sires and keep records so the herd improves in a visible way.
  • Organize breeders: BBU was founded in 1961 and grew from 300 members in 1974 to nearly 7,000 by 1998.

What we still do not know

The official hall page lists Gene Kuykendall and a 1994 induction year, and nothing more. Birth and death dates, home ranch, herd size and the specific contributions behind the honor are not given there, and we found no other source that documents them. We have chosen to leave those blanks rather than guess.

If you have family records, a ranch history or an old BBU publication that covers this inductee, it would make a better profile than context can. In the meantime, a farm.FM story about Beefmaster cattle gives a feel for the cattle and the people who raise them.

Timeline

  1. 1908Ed C. Lasater begins adding Brahman bulls to his Hereford and Shorthorn herd
  2. 1925Guzerat blood introduced to the herd
  3. 1930Ed C. Lasater dies; son Tom Lasater continues the program
  4. Early 1930sTom Lasater crosses Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle
  5. 1954USDA recognizes Beefmasters as a pure breed
  6. 1961Beefmaster Breeders United is founded
  7. 1994Gene Kuykendall is inducted into the BBU Hall of Fame
  8. 1998BBU membership reaches nearly 7,000

Frequently asked questions

Who is Gene Kuykendall?

Gene Kuykendall is a Beefmaster Breeders United Hall of Fame inductee, listed on the association's hall of fame page with a 1994 induction. The page gives no biography, so personal details are not documented in the sources we reviewed.

When was Gene Kuykendall inducted into the Beefmaster Hall of Fame?

The BBU hall of fame page lists Gene Kuykendall among its inductees for 1994.

What is a Beefmaster?

Beefmaster is a beef breed developed by the Lasater family in Texas from Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle. USDA recognized it as a pure breed in 1954, and it is selected on the Six Essentials.

Who founded Beefmaster Breeders United?

BBU was founded in 1961, according to its About page. The breed itself was founded by Tom Lasater, who began crossing Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle in the early 1930s.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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