In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Donnie Robertson, Vice President of Express Ranches, about the next phase of the Express Ranches dispersal. In Part 1, Robertson discussed the family’s decision to hold one final major event. In Part 2, he detailed the dispersal of Express Ranches females set for early October. Today, the conversation turns to the final chapter—how Express plans to disperse its renowned bulls and complete the transition.
Final Bull Sales Planned for 2026 and 2027
After the female dispersal in early October, Express Ranches will move forward with a two-stage bull dispersal. “We’ll have a bull sale on the 19th of October, roughly 300 bulls, and we’ll also sell a few commercial females in that sale, like always,” Robertson said.
The process will continue into next year with one final spring sale. “Then, when you look towards 2027, we’ll have a spring bull sale in 2027—roughly three to 400 bulls in that particular sale, along with some of the leftover females that we just really didn’t have room to put in the dispersal,” he said.
Robertson explained the logistics of marketing such a massive number of cattle played a major role in splitting the offering into multiple events. “One thing about the headquarters here, where we’re at today and where we have all of our sales—it works great for three or 400,” Robertson said. “We don’t know how it’s going to work for 2,400.”
By separating cattle into categories and sale dates, Robertson believes the ranch can maintain the high standards customers expect. “If we could separate those categories of cattle a little bit and get them away from each other for room more than anything, we think we can pull it off,” he said.
Managing a Massive Dispersal
Robertson said one of Express Ranches’ greatest strengths during this transition has been its team. “One thing that we’ve been proud of here at Express is that we have a great group of employees,” he said.
Unlike some operations that outsource sale preparation, Robertson said Express handles nearly everything in-house. “We don’t hire a sale manager—we lay the catalog out, we lot it, we take all the pictures, so we do it all,” Robertson said. “This one was a little different animal for us in terms of sheer numbers, but we’re getting through it.”
Balancing Data and Phenotype
Robertson also reflected on how the Angus industry has evolved, especially with genomic technology and the amount of performance data now available on cattle. “Everything here, like most purebred Angus operations, everything here is genomically enhanced, so we send blood in, so all the cattle have genomic-enhanced EPDs,” he said.
At Express Ranch, Robertson said selection pressure has long focused on cattle that combine calving ease with growth. “For us here, it’s always been about birth weight and yearling weight,” Robertson said. “We’ve always been focused on that.” That philosophy dates back decades and remains central to the program today.
As the Angus breed has increasingly emphasized high numerical indexes such as Dollar values, Robertson said Express has worked to improve those numbers without losing visual quality. “Yes, we have bred somewhat for the big-numbered cattle without sacrificing phenotype,” he said.
To Robertson, numbers matter—but they are not everything. “They still have to be good-looking cattle,” he said.
Rather than chasing extreme index values simply because they are trending, Robertson said Express remains committed to practical, balanced cattle. “Not necessarily shoot for the fences in terms of just the $450 or $500 cattle that seem to be the trend these days in the Angus breed,” Robertson said, “but more importantly, not to devalue those really good cows that are $300.”
He added, “We’ve tried to supply cattle that customers would want to buy and that they would like to buy without sacrificing the look in them.”
Customers Remain the Foundation
Robertson said the loyalty of Express customers has helped build the ranch’s legacy. “That’s one thing we’re really proud of,” he said.
He credited both Bob Sr. and Bob Jr. for establishing a culture centered on customer relationships. “Bob Senior instilled in all of us, and Bob Jr. as well, that you have to take care of your customers, and you have to appreciate every customer,” Robertson said.
That appreciation extends to buyers of every size. “Regardless if they come here and spend six figures or they come and spend $5,000, they’re all the same to us,” he said. “Because it takes all of those people to make it successful.”
As Express Ranch moves through its final sales, Robertson said honoring customers and partners remains the top priority. “The one thing that Bob Jr. stressed is that we’re going to go out the right way,” Robertson said. “We’re going to take care of our partners, we’re going to hold our heads high and just do the right thing.”
And for Robertson, that commitment defines how Express Ranch wants to be remembered. “That’s what we’re doing,” he said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR above for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
