Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with cattle industry leader, Bob Drake. Drake has served as the president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, the last President of the old National Cattlemen’s Association, and vice president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
In the most recent episode of the Road to Rural Prosperity podcast hosted by Ron Hays, Drake is featured talking about his lifetime of service in the cattle industry.
Drake tells Hays he did not grow up with dreams of being in the cattle business, but he was pulled in any way in the 1960s.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Drake said. “My father passed away when I came out of the service, and I was going to law school.”
After his father’s passing, Drake said everything changed.
“My brother, myself, and my mother became partners with a very unforgiving partner- one that no one wants to deal with,” Drake said. “The name of that is the IRS. I say that because if anyone is listening and they haven’t done their estate work, get an expert to do it for you. Don’t try to think you can do it yourself.”
In 1965, Drake said, with the help of the Noble Foundation, his family was able to smooth everything over to enhance their management practices and be successful in the cattle business.
“I started getting involved more with the Farm Bureau and the Oklahoma Cattlemen,” Drake said. “That was the part I enjoyed the most. The organizations and the people. Mainly the people.”
During his involvement in several organizations, Drake said he enjoyed the political side of things. He tells Hays that looking back on his time spent with lawmakers- Republican or Democrat, he remembers mutual respect, which is hard to find in today’s political world at times.
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 for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
