For those of you who never knew Ferry Carpenter, he was probably one of the more interesting and influential people in the cattle business of the last 100 years. Born in the eastern United States, he attended Princeton University under Woodrow Wilson, who was president of the university at the time. He came west as a young man, got to know Charles Dawson, the famed Texas cowman, then bought a ranch near Hayden, Colo., where he also served as a prominent lawyer. He served FDR and authored the Taylor Grazing Act, which still governs grazing on public lands across the West today.
Ferry was an early pioneer in the performance-testing movement, and helped found the Beef Improvement Federation in the 1960s. His Hereford breeding program became one of the most prominent in the world, known for quality cattle and production of prominent AI bulls, including the great King Ten. My family bought bulls from him for many years.
Ferry passed away in the early 1980s, but I would encourage anyone -- especially the younger generation in our business -- to read up on him. His life was a true inspiration. One of his books, Confessions of a Maverick, is one of the most interesting reads I've ever read. Lots of great information about ranching in the early 20th Century.
His ranch, the Carpenter Ranch, is now owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. The group, which is the largest conservation organization in the world, continues to run cattle on the ranch, although now they are mostly South Devons. They bought the ranch to help protect the cottonwood forest along the Yampa River, and to ensure the land never gets developed. The ranch itself lies just west of Steamboat Springs, Colo., a top destination resort for tourists around the world.
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