Tom Basabe: From Pen Rider to Head of Simplot Land and Livestock

Who is Tom Basabe?

Tom Basabe runs one of the biggest cattle operations in the Mountain West from a base in Grand View, Idaho. He is the president of Simplot Land and Livestock Group, the cattle feeding, ranching and farming arm of the Simplot family of companies, and he has held that top job since 1988, when he took over from his father, John Basabe.

What sets his story apart is where it began. According to his Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame biography, he started in 1968 as a pen rider while he was still in high school. That is the entry-level job of the feedyard, riding the pens to spot sick or off-feed cattle. He never left the company, and by the time of the 2027 Hall of Fame announcement the page counted 58 years on the Simplot payroll.

From pen rider to president

The Hall of Fame page lists the jobs Basabe held on the way up: farmer, feed truck driver, equipment operator, feeder cattle buyer, fat cattle salesman, risk manager and cattle manager. Taken together, that is nearly every function in a vertically integrated beef business, from growing the feed to selling the finished animals.

He succeeded his father as head of the company in 1988. Today he also oversees Simplot Western Stockmen's, the animal health and feed distribution business, and the farming side of the operation, which the Hall of Fame page puts at more than 100,000 acres of irrigated farmland.

How big is Simplot Land and Livestock?

The Hall of Fame biography describes the group as the largest cattle feeding and ranching operation in the Pacific Northwest, the seventh-largest cattle feeder in the United States and the second-largest ranching operation in the country. It also says the group holds more than 4 million acres of federal grazing permits. Those are the Hall of Fame's own figures, and rankings of this kind shift from year to year, so treat them as a snapshot rather than a fixed standing.

Under Basabe, the page says, feeding capacity grew to 230,000 head, and the ranching side expanded to 16 ranches running 32,000 mother cows. A cow herd of that size feeds the company's own feedyards, which is the point of owning both ends of the business.

Genetics and branded beef

Basabe's years at the top brought two moves beyond simply getting bigger. The company created a proprietary line of Charolais genetics, so it controls part of the breeding that goes into its calves. It also partnered with CS Beef Packers, a beef processing plant in Idaho.

Those pieces came together in branded beef for food service. The Hall of Fame page names the Lot 29 and 3 Creek Ranch products, which it describes as completing a vertically integrated beef business: cattle bred on company ranches, fed in company yards, processed through a partner plant and sold under company brands.

Service to the Idaho cattle industry

Basabe has also given time to the industry outside his own fence line. He chaired the Idaho State Brand Board for 20 years, the body that oversees livestock brand inspection and the records that prove who owns a cow. He has served on the Idaho Cattle Association board in various capacities, and the page lists an Idaho Cattle Feeder of the Year recognition, though it gives no date for it.

Honors and the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame

The Idaho Cattle Association gave Basabe its Industry Leader Award in 2024. He was then named to the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame class of 2027, with the Hall of Fame nominee biography spelling out his career, and the Drovers announcement of the 2027 inductees listing the full class. The induction is announced, not yet held, as of this writing. Past classes are listed on the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame site.

Because Basabe is living, this profile sticks to his public professional record. Anyone wanting the current state of the company should check the company's own materials, since herd sizes and capacity change.

Learn more about ranching in the West

For more on how big ranching and feeding operations work across the Mountain West, see the ranching section of farm.FM. Readers can also try a farm.FM story about an Idaho cattle operation for a closer look at life on this kind of operation.