HISTORY OF THE HEREFORD HERD

Ochs Bros. began ranching in 1972 in the Gunnison Valley, one of the great ranching areas in the world. It is also one of the toughest proving grounds with the shortest growing season and coldest winters in the U.S., with summer range at elevations up to 11,500 feet. They ran a good herd of commercial Hereford cows, and became quite concerned when their milk production waned and calf weights and cow size stagnated even though they had been buying top Hereford bulls of popular U.S. bloodlines.

They embarked on a search to look for breeding that could improve their situation. After two years, they concluded that the best Herefords went back to Canadian bloodlines. Well, the rest is history. They made scores of trips to Canada, decided to get into the seed stock business, and bought Canadian Herefords, including the Jim Hole cowherd, acknowledged by many to be the best in Canada. They were careful not to buy animals who had a dose of small U.S. breeding which was the vogue for several years.

This cowherd ended up being the largest group of imported cows in the U.S. with the biggest individuals anywhere. The imported bulls were the largest in the U.S., so they could breed to accomplish goals other than size alone, which has so greatly occupied the efforts of most breeders. With the commercial background, they could see the folly of the show ring fads and of breeders and professors telling ranchers what they should be raising. So they let the commercial operators tell them what kind of bulls they needed.

Listening has paid off in grand fashion. Their production bull sales were unmatched in the world and they were widely recognized as being the top Hereford breeders producing for the commercial cowman. They spared no effort or expense in their quest to raise the very best Herefords.