From our humble start in Alba more than 40 years ago to our herd now in the heart of south-central Texas, we’ve always focused on building and maintaining a cowherd that is best suited to the environment we’re in. Whether in the deep pines of east Texas, the southern plains of north Texas, or to now on fertile Blackland Prairie soil with river rock in Staples, the cows have to thrive and be productive.

Longevity, profitability, efficiency — these are the three factors we strive for every day, and they all go hand-in-hand. You can’t have longevity in a cow if she isn’t profitable, and you can’t have profitability if she’s not efficient or wastes resources. We need a cow that doesn’t fall apart after a couple of breeding seasons, can handle steep river banks and river rock, sticky Blackland clay when it rains, maintain body condition even during drought, and contributes back to the cowherd base with a calf every year - otherwise, she’s consuming precious resources without giving anything back.

There is no selection tool too small. Our cow herd has to meet several criteria, starting with docility. Injuries and farm accidents are why agriculture ranks as one of the most hazardous industries. In our mind, there is no place for an animal that risks one’s life or serious injury. Our cows must be able to distinguish between a predator and protecting and raising their calf vs being handled by us. We practice Beef Quality Assurance and calm cattle handling practices to ensure our cattle and family can coexist and be in the pens together safely. Even “good” cattle with stacked genetics don’t get to stay in the herd because cattle are flight-or-fight animals and it can take only one to cause an entire herd to become spooked or run, risking injuries.

The next criteria our cows have is to raise a calf every year. There’s a misconception of having “unlimited water” living on a river, but the reality is, we have to be even more conscious of our natural resources on the river in order to protect the aquifer. We’re also prone to severe drought. While we know cattle are part of the solution to climate change and protecting natural resources, part of their environmental benefits come in the exchange of producing nutrient-dense protein in beef in exchange for the grass and feed they consume. Every day a cow isn’t raising and/or growing a calf, she’s still consuming. The most sustainable beef, which we strive to raise, means the cows have to provide in exchange for what they consume. Shifting our herd focus from breeding stock to supplying local beef means the cows have an even greater responsibility and role of helping us be as sustainable as possible.

When a cow is productive, she also has longevity. There are a lot of registered cows and breeders who will turn over their cowherd every few years. We aren’t against this, but we also know a good cow, is a good cow. We aren’t chasing fads in the Angus breed where we risk a cow being less valuable after a couple of years. That’s never been our philosophy. We think it’s important to make sustainable genetic improvements and notice where trends are going, but we never want to be so extreme a cow loses her value when a trend shifts. We’ve been breeding the Kemp Angus herd for more than 40 years and some of the cows today are only 2-3 generations from the original females our Papa bought in east Texas. That’s more than 13 years of production for some of our foundation bloodlines.

One of the ways we’ve been able to focus on profitability, longevity, docility and improving genetics without being too extreme in trends is artificial insemination. Our herd has been 100% AI since the early 1990s. We aim to utilize sires that will add value for carcass traits but still being conscious and critical of production and maternal traits. We simply don’t have the resources for a high milking cow, but she still needs to produce a calf that will grow, add pounds and has the best chance of achieving High Choice or Prime on the rail. And these go without saying the calf needs to have good docility, good feet and leg structure. A calf that isn’t structurally sound or can’t be handled is likely to never grade high-quality beef.

Since we raise and feed-out our calves, we have a really good understanding of what our females can do. Almost all the beef we sell from our cattle grades Prime, well above the industry average. Since 2017, Certified Angus Beef and the American Angus Association have set parameters to identify animals more likely to sire/calve offspring that will qualify for Certified Angus Beef. The national average is 1 in 4 non-parent Angus bulls qualify for the designations of “Targeting the Brand.” Currently, more than 70% of our entire herd is designated and 100% of the bulls we raise and sell carry the designation.