The Oklahoma National Stockyards Co., the nation’s largest stockyard, is up for sale after being under the stewardship of the same family for four generations, according to The Oklahoman.
Board Chairman Chris Bakwin, great-great-grandson of founder Nelson Morris, said his family owns a significant portion of the company’s shares, with the remainder owned by other Oklahomans in agribusiness and national investors.
The decision wasn’t an easy one for Bakwin to make. He told The Oklahoman, “It’s an emotional issue for me personally, but I can’t put my personal feelings above the interests of the owners of the company.”
Bakwin explained that the sale aims to secure a progressive agribusiness future for the stockyards amid cattle industry declines. The stockyards occupy 60 acres of the company’s 102 acres near Exchange Avenue in Oklahoma City, OK, while the rest is undeveloped.
