Bob Gottsch: From a Service Station to Four Nebraska and Kansas Feedyards

Who Was Bob Gottsch?

Robert G. Gottsch, called Bob, was a Nebraska cattle feeder who built Gottsch Cattle Company and was inducted into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame in 2016. His Hall of Fame biography says he grew up on farms in eastern Nebraska during the Great Depression and served in the U.S. military police in Germany. He died in 2002.

A Drovers feature headlined as a Drovers profile of Gottsch gives his years as 1926 to 2002 and says his tombstone calls him a builder of men.

From a Depression Farm to a Service Station

Gottsch was one of eight children in a struggling farm family. The Drovers profile says he joined the military at 17, and the Hall of Fame says he tried college after World War II but left because he wanted to be working.

With his brother Pat he used about $3,000 to buy a service station business, which became Gottsch Brothers Transfer and Oil Company. They hauled corn and cattle and delivered fuel around Elkhorn, Nebraska, then began hauling grain and feeding a few head of cattle.

The Hall of Fame summary of his career adds that his sons have continued to build the business, which today runs four ranches in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas. That transition from a Depression-era upbringing to a multistate company took roughly four decades, if you count from the 1956 lease.

Dick Monfort's description in Drovers captures the contrast: fearless in business, with a big heart. The profile adds that Gottsch trained his sons in the feedyards from childhood, so the people who run Gottsch Cattle Company today learned the work on the same pens.

Building the Elkhorn Feedyard

In 1956 Gottsch leased an empty feedyard in Elkhorn and fed 2,000 head, including cattle from other farmers under contract. Custom feeding like this let him build a business before he could afford his own cattle. In 1957 he bought the Elkhorn yard and expanded it to more than 8,000 head.

Marketing was part of his approach. Dick Monfort, of Monfort of Colorado, said in the Drovers profile that Gottsch sold cattle in small lots of about 2,000 head so as not to flood the market.

Juniata, Deerfield and Red Cloud

The sources agree on the pattern but not every number. Drovers says that in 1975 Gottsch and Ken Morrison bought the 42,000-head Juanita Feed Yard, and Gottsch later took full ownership. The Hall of Fame spells it Juniata, in Juniata, Nebraska, and says it held 40,000 head, so sources differ on the name spelling and capacity.

Drovers says that in 1984 he bought a yard at Deerfield, Kansas, from the Garden City Co-Op, which grew from 20,000 to 50,000 head. In 1989 he built Red Cloud Feed Yard in Red Cloud, Nebraska, which Drovers says grew from 28,000 to 60,000 head, while the Hall of Fame says it eventually held 42,000. The company today operates four ranches in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas.

Family and Legacy

Gottsch married Lois Ruff in 1952, and they had four sons: Bobby Jr., Bill, Brett and Barry. They also raised Larry Christenson from age 11. His sons have continued to build the business.

For more on Plains cattle feeding, read farm.FM's ranching section, or a farm.FM story about a Nebraska cattle family.