In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Donnie Robertson, vice president of Express Ranches, about the remarkable legacy of one of the nation’s top seedstock operations after the Funk family announced plans to disperse the ranch’s beef cattle operation.
When discussing elite seedstock programs in the U.S., Express Ranches has long stood alongside some of the industry’s most respected names. The ranch built a reputation for producing high-quality genetics that influenced commercial and purebred cattle operations across the country. Since acquiring Angus cattle in 1996, the ranch grew exponentially to become the largest registered seedstock operation in the United States.
The Early Years of Express Ranches
Robertson said the roots of Express Ranches stretch back more than three decades. “Yeah, Ron, it goes back well over 30 years. Bob Funk Sr. started the ranch, started acquiring cattle back in the late ’80s—somewhere around ’88 to ’89.”
The ranch first entered the Limousin business and held its first Limousin sale in 1993. “I came on board in the spring of ’94, and yeah, the rest is kind of history,” Robertson said those early years laid the foundation for what would become one of the most recognizable brands in the beef business.
Expansion into Angus Genetics
Express Ranches soon expanded into Angus cattle, a move Robertson said came from a practical breeding goal. “We got into the Angus business primarily because we were going to use Angus cows on Limousin bulls to produce a half-blood, which we did, and those cattle ended up being very good cattle.”
Those cattle helped push forward the Lim-Flex concept, combining performance and maternal traits from both breeds. As demand for Angus genetics grew, Express Ranches recognized a major opportunity. “We found a real need for Angus genetics here and obviously developed a really good bull market.”
Located in Yukon, the ranch benefited from access to major transportation routes, helping build a wide customer base. “We’re in a unique area here in Yukon where we’re so close to so many different interstates, and we’re able to sell a lot of bulls into Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico—a lot of different states.”
Building the Express Brand
Over time, the EXAR prefix became one of the most respected names in the Angus breed. Robertson said the Funk family intentionally built a program that excelled in multiple areas of the cattle business. “One thing that was important to the Funk family was to fight it on a lot of different fronts—whether it be show genetics or performance-type cattle that produced really good bulls.”
That strategy allowed Express Ranches to serve both competitive show programs and commercial cattle producers. “I think history will tell you there’s been a lot of good herds throughout the history of the Angus breed, but I think Express—the EXAR brand—is very historic from the standpoint of just the longevity that we’ve been able to establish here.”
He said the brand’s influence extends beyond the Angus breed. “I think that most people that are not only in the Angus business, but probably the livestock industry, look up to that brand.”
Never Forgetting the Ranch’s Roots
Despite Express Ranches becoming widely known for Angus genetics, Robertson said Limousin cattle remain central to the ranch’s story. “One should never forget where they came from. If it hadn’t been for Limousin cattle, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
He recalled the success the ranch experienced during the 1990s. “We hit the ground running. We were very competitive showing those cattle and had very competitive and record-breaking sales on the Limousin side.”
Robertson said the breed was especially strong during that era. “In that time period—from the early ’90s toward the late ’90s—the Limousin breed was very popular, especially in this part of the country and in the Southeast. It was a breed that was on the rise.”
A Historic Chapter Nears Its End
The dispersal of most Express Ranches females is scheduled for October, marking the close of an extraordinary chapter in the cattle business. Even as the operation changes, the legacy of Express Ranches—and the EXAR brand—will continue to influence the beef industry for years to come. Our conversation will continue with Robertson in our next Beef Buzz about that dispersal decision and the process.
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.
