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Cattle Barons and Land Owners

Nolan Ryan: The Pitcher Who Built a Beefmaster Ranching Business

After 27 seasons in the majors, Ryan put the same attention to detail into a Beefmaster-based cow herd on the Texas coast and in Gonzales County.

Why is Nolan Ryan in a cattle hall of fame?

Most people know Nolan Ryan from baseball. The Texas Highways profile counts 27 major league seasons, nine with the Astros and five with the Rangers, ending in 1993. Cattle people know him as a working rancher.

Beefmaster Breeders United inducted him in 2007, according to the BBU Hall of Fame roster. He later presented the association's Legends Award, as the Wittenburg article notes.

Where Ryan ranches

Texas Highways says Ryan has cattle operations in five counties: Brazoria, Gonzales, McMullen, Live Oak and Sutton. The Land Report says he runs three ranches, so sources differ on the count.

He grew up in Alvin, a small town when he was a boy, and said he had been interested in cattle and ranching for as long as he could remember.

Building the Gonzales County ranch

The Land Report interview says the Gonzales County property, along the San Marcos and Guadalupe rivers, was assembled over roughly 30 to 40 years by buying adjacent tracts. Ryan said that in the late 1960s smaller tracts sold for about $150 to $200 an acre.

He reported upland prices of $2,500 to $3,000 an acre at the time of the interview, depending on location, size, mineral rights and access, and said the best river-bottom land had no real ceiling. Those are his figures, not an appraisal.

What Made It Work

Ryan's cow herd is Beefmaster based. Those cows, a three-way cross of Brahman, Hereford and Shorthorn, are bred to Red or Black Angus bulls, while a separate purebred Beefmaster herd supplies replacement females. Surplus females are sold commercially.

He culls for temperament, in part because stressed cattle can produce dark cutter beef, which sells at a discount. The approach joins a hardy mother cow to a terminal sire that adds carcass quality.

  • He bought land patiently, adding neighboring tracts over three or four decades.
  • He kept a purebred Beefmaster herd to produce his own replacement females.
  • He crossed Beefmaster cows with Angus bulls to combine adaptation and carcass quality.
  • He culled poor-tempered cattle to protect beef quality.
  • He lent his name to industry work, speaking at cattle conferences and traveling to Japan for the Meat Export Federation.
  • He invested in the Nolan Ryan All-Natural Beef brand, tying the ranch to retail.

The cattle: why Beefmaster

Tom Lasater built the Beefmaster in the early 1930s from Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle to earn money in rough South Texas conditions. The Beefmaster overview lists the Six Essentials: weight, conformation, milking ability, fertility, hardiness and disposition.

Coastal Texas heat and humidity suit cattle with Brahman blood, and the breed has become popular in crossbreeding programs for hybrid vigor, a pattern Ryan's herd reflects.

An advocate for the beef industry

The Land Report says Ryan attends cattle industry seminars, spoke at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver and served as a spokesman for the U.S. Meat Export Federation on a trip to Japan. Texas Highways notes his stake in the Nolan Ryan All-Natural Beef brand.

Only public professional facts are used here. Ryan's baseball achievements are covered widely elsewhere, and this entry concerns his cattle work.

Land, prices and patience

Ryan's account of Gonzales County shows land buying as a long game. He bought adjacent tracts over decades, and by his own report the acreage that sold for a couple of hundred dollars per acre in the late 1960s now commands more than ten times that for upland. The numbers are his, offered in an interview, and local prices vary with minerals, access and river frontage.

The same article says he added operations in several counties, which helps explain why accounts of his holdings differ. He is a rare case where a hall of fame in the cattle world and a hall of fame in baseball overlap, but the cattle record stands on its own: cows, bulls, land and years of culling.

Learn more about Texas ranching

For more on ranching, farm.FM offers ranching coverage and a farm.FM story about Nolan Ryan's ranching. The Beefmaster association's hall page lists Ryan among its 22 inductee entries.

Timeline

  1. Late 1960sRyan cites $150 to $200 an acre for small tracts in Gonzales County
  2. 1993Retires from baseball after 27 seasons
  3. 2007Inducted into the BBU Hall of Fame
  4. 2013Astros join the Rangers in the American League West
  5. 2017Presents the BBU Legends Award at the Galveston convention

Frequently asked questions

Does Nolan Ryan raise cattle?

Yes. Texas Highways reports cattle operations in five counties, and the Land Report describes a Beefmaster-based cow herd bred to Angus bulls, plus a purebred Beefmaster herd for replacement females.

When was Nolan Ryan inducted into the Beefmaster Hall of Fame?

Beefmaster Breeders United lists him as a 2007 inductee on its Hall of Fame roster.

What breed of cattle does Nolan Ryan raise?

His base cow herd is Beefmaster, a Brahman, Hereford and Shorthorn cross, bred to Red or Black Angus bulls, with a separate purebred Beefmaster herd supplying replacement females.

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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