The Ranch History
Our program started in 1975 with no knowledge of cattle and a dream. Charlene and her 3 children were living in
Lewisville, Texas. Having decided horses were great fun but they would never make a living and working in an office was just not “living”, she decided to try Texas Longhorns. “Having to borrow $450 against my car, (the bank would have never loaned me money for cattle, having no experience owning one in my life), I bought my first heifer and put her in my front yard. I named her Alpha, the beginning, and I never wanted an omega”. From this beginning, a new life was launched. Alpha was Artificially Inseminated to Texas Ranger (at $4.50/unit), the resulting calf was sold for $900 and the bank was paid back, to establish a credit history so they would loan enough money to buy 6 more cows. These were put in a rented pasture up the road and the “longhorn business” was on its way. From these original 7 females, the existing herd of over 200 head now find Perry, Oklahoma their home. Two herds and two association were also started; one in Australia and one in New Zealand. “After all these years, I love these cattle now as much as when I first bought Alpha.”
The moral of this story is that you don’t have to have cattle experience or a lot of money to get started in this great business. A strong desire, a big dream, and some effort on your part are enough to get you started. Two necessary ingredients are the right genetics and a marketing plan. We work with new breeders (we have sold the “first longhorn” to over 500 people) to get them started with those two ingredients. The many tax advantages are also very appealing to the investor who wants something more interesting and fun than stocks, bonds, etc. “There is nothing I could have done for this many years to make a living and still be enjoying it today.”
From not even knowing gestation time for a longhorn to being heavily involved in international export of semen and frozen embryos, our program has come a long way. Our cattle have been Grand Champions in 10 different states, including such shows as National Western, Denver, Co, New Mexico and Texas State Fair and the TLBAA World Show in Ft. Worth, TX.
Charlene has been awarded 1998 TLJ Breeder of the Year (voted by her piers), the 2000 TLBAA President’s Award and 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award (the youngest and only female to receive this award), the highest award of recognition given.
Your visit to the ranch to “kick the tires” and see these great cattle in their world is always welcomed. We will be glad to show you what has worked for us and help you with what will work for you in whatever direction you might want to venture.
New Beginnings
As
stated in the January 2016 Trails Magazine, we are excited about the
changes going on at the ranch!! Charlene Semkin has been in the longhorn
business for 40 years, and has done an excellent job producing industry
leading blood lines. After Charlene moved her herd to Oklahoma in 1992,
Matt’s love for these cattle began. Matt was able to learn the
techniques needed to handle these wonderful cattle by working with
Charlene’s son David, day in and day out. Matt later switched hats and
began to see what all Charlene did for the business, listening to her
market the cattle either over the phone or to people visiting the ranch.
All the while working on the ranch, Matt continued to grow his own herd
of Longhorn cattle.
After Matt graduated with a degree in Ranch Operations at Oklahoma State
University (GO POKES) he decided to diversify himself by working on a
ranch in Nebraska. After that he moved to Illinois to work on a ranch
before deciding to get back to his roots, so he moved back to Perry, OK
where his family staked land during the Oklahoma Land Run over 120 years
ago.
After getting settled and marrying a Perry native, it became apparent
that God was leading him to run his own ranch. This was when the idea to
merge two great operations Semkin Longhorns and McGuire Land and Cattle
came about. This was a win win for Matt and Charlene. Matt was able to
continue a program he had grown up knowing and Charlene would get to
continue to do what she loves, marketing Texas Longhorns.
The ranch now consists of over 600 head of Texas Longhorns and a
recently added commercial herd, to help with our recip program,that are spread out over 3,000
acres in 5 counties. Matt is a firm believer in raising calm cattle so
he incorporates the use of horses to check and gather cattle as often as
possible. Matts love of cattle and his over 22 years of experience
allow him to operate with confidence and be able to further the legacy
that was started 40 years ago.
We would love for you to come to the ranch and see the cattle.