Dear Cattle Friends,
W ow! As I looked back over the 2025 welcome letter, I thought of the phrase, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” While our lives here at Thomas Ranch were turned upside down on August 19, 2025, the “Thomas Ranch Family” (that includes both biological family and “chosen family”) all stepped up and kept the wheels turning. Harry & Kay, Clint & Cally, Laura Tostenson, Andy, Danielle, JW, Jady LeDoux, Rafe Wientjes (and Ryley!), Tony, Dilly, Paton (Jada), Landon, Jessie Coyle, Daphne Davis, Nick Bonilla, Jamie & Jen Nye, Mike, Renee, Cole, Darci, Anika & Reona Kindred. Our co-operators: C&S Cattle, Bruce & Jana Bradley, Freking Cattle with Jason & Darcy Krick, Travis & Sage Hofer, and Dockter Farms - Austin & Jordan. Dr. Dan with Famo Feeds, Dr. April Schilder and the Prairie View Vet Clinic crew, Farm Credit for helping with cooking, along with Loren Hansen with Crop 1 cooking. Ryan Dolieslager, Morgan Zeltman-Jones, John Reasor, Kyla Fawcett—and many more we are sure we are forgetting to mention— THANK YOU. Thank you for stepping up and helping move us into the next chapter for Thomas Ranch as we continue learning a new normal here. Just like last year, markets continue to be good for the beef industry. Cattle numbers in the United States remain at an all-time low. Heifer retention for herd growth is rising, but at a slower-than- anticipated rate. With high market prices, this is no surprise. This truly is “the time of our lives” in the cattle industry, and you—the cattlemen and women—deserve it. One of the most exciting developments so far in 2026 is that the food pyramid has been “flipped.” Protein is now at the top of the food pyramid. This is great news for the beef industry, and we need to work to keep beef there. Years ago in this letter, I wrote that when people around the world see increased income, the first thing they purchase for their families is better protein. Most of the time, that better protein is BEEF. Even when times seem tough for some, people continue to choose BEEF. We have been working hard here at Thomas Ranch to produce balanced, functional bulls that work in a variety of conditions in real-world operations. We do this by using genomics along with phenotype to produce the kind of cattle the North is known for. This spring we have been out in the countryside purchasing some exciting bulls that we are excited to put to work in our program. We take pride in offering cattle we stand behind and use ourselves. The word we have been trying to live by (probably not always successfully, but we are trying) is GRACE . That’s a word—and an action—we can all work on. Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God. We've been blessed by all of you through your kind words and actions as we continue to move forward. God Bless, V eaBea Thomas Harry & Kay Thomas Clint, Cally, Tee, & Tyler Kindred
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online