Meet the Meisters

Herman and Mary are retired folks living in East Texas on the edge of the Piney Woods Forest. They selected this area for its moderate temperatures, moderate rainfall (42 inches/year) and deep sandy loam soils for growing Coastal Bermuda grass. As a kid in Central Texas, Herman was associated with Shorthorns, Herefords, and Jersey cattle on his Dad's ranch. Even then, crossbreeding was recognized as a method of increasing vigor in cattle. Their research resulted in adding Shorthorn cows to their existing Red Angus herd with the primary objective of producing Durham Reds for the commercial market.

The 2011 Drought

For us in East Texas, the 2011 drought began in the middle of 2010 (now declared the worst one-year drought in history). From July of 2010 through all of 2011, we received less than 50% of our normal rainfall. We did not harvest any hay from our meadows in 2011. By the middle of July in 2011 we were feeding hay, as the pastures were brown and stock ponds too low to allow cattle to drink from. We were forced to reduce our herd to survive. We had increased the herd to 28 cows and had to sell 18 head. We sold the oldest and largest cows which unfortunately included some excellent genetics. Fortunately by this time we had established a small herd of Durham Red heifers that we are breeding to a Durham Red bull. Our objective to start a herd of Durham Red cattle has been successful, but only on a small scale.