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The branches on John Warren’s family tree may have expanded over the generations, but the roots run deep straight down into the Nebraska Sandhills. “All sides of my pedigree and my wife Jessica’s pedigree for the past 100 years have been born and raised within a 30-mile radius,” said the Logan County rancher.Part of that family legacy lives on at the Paxton Ranch, which was originally established in 1933 by Jessica’s father, Chester Paxton, with the purchase of 640 acres near Stapleton, NE.
While the region’s sandy soil makes it unsuitable for crop farming, it is ideal for cattle grazing, and Chester and his wife, Ida, and later, John and Jessica, were able to build and expand the ranch holdings over the years. Today, the operation consists of 40,000 deeded acres and a 10,000-acre grazing permit in the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey, NE, that they’ve maintained since 1948. Originally a Hereford operation, the family began using Red Angus genetics in the early 1970s to produce red baldy females, and by the mid-1990s, they were exclusively red.
“We started using some Red Angus bulls on our first-calf Hereford heifers and really liked those calves, so we continued using the red bulls more and more,” Warren said. “We sold quite a few bred heifers back then and invariably, people would pick out the solid red ones when they had the choice, so the Red Angus female became a big item for us.
“My father-in-law was pretty easy to get along with, and as much as he had liked the Hereford cattle, he knew times were changing.”
Building a maternal herd
Red Angus females still reign supreme at Paxton Ranch. While the family retains ownership on most of their steer calves and a few heifer cuts, Warren will tell you their 2,000-head herd is maternal-based. “We’re not afraid to grid our fed cattle, but we’re more concerned with the female side of things,” he said. “If feeders are gaining four pounds a day at the feedlot, that satisfies us, but when we only have to pull about one out of 1,000 calves each spring, that really makes us happy.
“We expect our cows to go over the hill to calve on their own and bring a calf in year in and year out.” In addition to calving ease, Warren said he also appreciates the docility, hardiness and longevity of his Red Angus cows.
“They’re just really good mamas,” he said. “We typically cull everything at 10 years old and can sell most of those cows to other ranchers in the area who might be able to get another five years out of them.”
Those strong maternal traits are especially important in the operation’s heifer development program. The family exposes 85%-90% of their heifer calves for 23 to 30 days starting June 10. They use a 25:1 bull-to-female ratio with an average 75% conception rate. Replacement females winter on cake, range and mineral, but never get hay or see the inside of a pen.
“Whether they’re going to Iowa where they’ll get lots of feed or they go someplace like Texas or South Dakota where they have to hustle for feed, we think they make a better cow if they’re never locked up,” Warren said.
Paxton Ranch typically retains about 400 of the bred heifers, with a cut right out of the middle.
“The biggest heifers and the littlest heifers go to the sale pen,” Warren said. “It’s not uncommon to experience several consecutive dry years here in the Sandhills, which can really affect our forage resources. We like to maintain a moderate size frame in our cowherd to minimize maintenance requirements.” For the past 15 years, a group of the remaining bred heifers has been consigned to the Cross Diamond Cattle Company annual production sale, and the family uses that market as a starting point for private treaty sales into the winter.
Adding value to feeder calves
Paxton Ranch annually enrolls about 900 steers and open heifers in the Red Angus Feeder Calf Certification Program (FCCP), which provides age, source and genetic verification for Red Angus-sired calves and affords access to international markets and exclusive grids. A group of the best feeder heifers is typically consigned to the Superior Livestock Auction Bighorn Classic sale in Sheridan, WY, each year.
Warren said he particularly likes marketing cattle through Superior so he can avoid the added shrink often associated with hauling to the auction barn and capture premiums associated with value-added programs like FCCP and industry-recognized vaccination protocols. Paxton Ranch calves are vaccinated at branding, preconditioned for a minimum of 45 days and then given a booster before leaving the ranch. Retained calves bound for the feedlot are first sent 120 miles south to graze on wheat and oat pasture for 100 days, and then on to a grow yard for another 70 days.
The family has a longstanding relationship with Darr Feedlot near Cozad, NE, where the Warrens appreciate the operation’s consistent gain and strong marketing abilities.
“We’ve been doing business with Darr for 30 to 40 years,” Warren said. “You really have to trust the way a feedlot markets your cattle, and we’ve always felt they deal with us fairly.”
Continuing a legacy
With so many moving parts to the ranch, Warren relies on a strong supporting cast to get through the day-to-day responsibilities and keep the engine running.
“We couldn’t do all of this without help from our longtime employees and several family members, including our son, Joel,” he said. “Jessica and I have always been focused on sustaining a profitable ranching operation and making it possible for another generation to carry it on, and it’s good to see these younger people interested in working hard and learning the business.” — Macey Mueller for Red Angus Magazine
