Betty Jo Gigot, Editor and Publisher

Stacy and Don McCasland make a strong team. “We are really tight,” Stacy replied when asked if the pair wanted their picture taken together. “I trust Stacy 100 percent,” Don added. The father-son team almost finishes each other’s sentences as they visit about the feedyard, their family and their goals for the 32,000-head capacity facility five miles west of Wheeler, Texas.

Long history
Don McCasland was born in Clovis, N.M. where his dad, Z, spent his life in the cattle industry, ranching in South Dakota, working with yearlings and grass cattle and running a small feedyard.

“I grew up around cattle feeding,” Don said, as has Stacy and now Stacy’s children. Tayt, Stacy’s 12-year-old, came in to check on lunch. His assignment for the summer is riding pens, and he assured me that he certainly could tell a sick animal from a well one.

Before buying the feedyard near Wheeler, Don learned some valuable lessons during the market drop in 1974. He quickly learned all he could about risk management and made that a part of the service at Wheeler Feed Yard. A tornado in 1995 took out most of the old yard, including the mill, two-thirds of the pens and the office.

“I had fed in over 50 feedyards,” Don said. “I knew what I wanted when we built the new mill.” He went back to the old-fashioned front-end loaders and open bays, with refinements. “We feed 30,000 to 32,000 head with one leg.” Interestingly, many of today’s feedyards are returning to the same technology with repair and fuel costs skyrocketing.

The pens were rebuilt, new ones added and a modest office houses the operation today. The facility sits in an ideal location, with few neighbors, good drainage and a close proximity to packers.

The commercial yard feeds for customers across the nation and has been relatively full for the last several years. “We have had a number of inquiries in the last few months from potential customers,” Stacy said. “Many of them come from the southeast, from people who think that the fourth quarter of this year and first quarter of 2007 will be strong. People are interested in the cattle-feeding business.”

The company and Don personally buy cattle from a number of suppliers, including Capital Land and Livestock, where they also use the Schwertner Select program. They appreciate the quality of the cattle they can purchase.

Don agreed with Stacy that people are interested and are looking for a place to put their money. “We know that the export markets will open,” Don said. “People are looking for a big move up in the market.”

Both Don and Stacy are very positive about the market and the future of the industry. “The real estate run is slowing down,” Don said. “The fund trade market is looking for cheap commodities to invest in.” Stacy thinks that cattle and certainly corn will figure in that market. “They look for commodities that are cheap world-wide.”

Reading grids
Don mentioned that Stacy was becoming proficient in placing cattle on the grid. Stacy’s original interest came from involvement in the Certified Angus Beef program and he has continued to learn about grids and the companies that offer them.

“We used ultrasound a lot at first to sort our cattle,” Stacy said. “We still do, but have learned a lot about what different cattle can do. Mike Lee, the head cowboy, and Stacy sort pens of cattle into loads when going out to match the program they are working on.

“I always think of grids when I buy my own cattle,” Don said. “My records show that we have added $30 to our bottom line with grids.

Stacy gives talks about grids to different groups and will speak to a group from Texas A&M next month. “They like to have a guy who is really doing it and putting cattle across the scale, so to speak.”

While Stacy is giving grid workshops, Don is taking on a more involved task. He will serve as the chairman of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association this next term. An active TCFA and NCBA volunteer for 30 years, Don is looking forward to his tenure as chairman. Not surprising, Don’s dad, Z, was one of the original TCFA founders.

Looking to the future is a very real part of the Wheeler duo. They both believe in individual animal identification, and source and age verification because they are strong believers in the necessity of the export market. They also know that there will continue to be consolidation in the industry, with many of the large companies setting up supply chains. But, in spite of that trend, they also believe that they will survive by paying attention to the ever-changing industry and progressively moving forward every single day.