1858

On September 11, 1858, my great, great grandfather, Christian Klein, registered his cattle brand at the Gillespie County Courthouse in Fredericksburg, Texas. He called this brand the "half-moon K." A modified version of this brand, which is the "half-moon K" with a circle around it, serves as the holding brand and logo for Windy Bar Ranch.

1983

Although my ancestors have been raising cattle in Gillespie County since the 1850s, we only started raising registered Angus in 1983. In November 1983, we bought our first twenty heifers from W.A. Seidel at Golden Spurs Ranch in Knippa, Texas. At the time, south Texas was in a severe drought. When the group of heifers came into the pen for my Dad and I to inspect, they started eating the stinkweed that was growing in the pen. They seemed glad to have it. We figured any heifers that looked that good eating stinkweed should do pretty well on our Kleingrass in Gillespie County. So we picked out twenty head and, with the help of Edward Meier, hauled them to Stonewall. Mr. Seidel was eighty-nine years old when we bought those heifers from him. He was so pleased to make the sale, he threw in a bull for free. Those were the only bred heifers I ever bought.

1987

In 1987, I made my first trip to the Wye Plantation in Maryland. That’s when I bought our first Wye-bred bull and cow. But more importantly, while I was at the sale, I met some other Angus breeders from Comfort, Texas: Robin and Carol Giles. That was the beginning of a long and treasured friendship. One of many I would make in this business.

We bought our last group of outside females in 1989. Those were eight Wye-bred cows we bought from Texas Tech University, through Dr. Bob Long. Those Wye-bred cows made a tremendous contribution to our herd. Since that purchase, all our females have been bred, born and raised right here at Windy Bar Ranch. Since then, we have had a closed herd for females. We have not built this herd with trader cattle, but by careful selection and relentless culling for desired traits.

2000’s

For 16 years, we sent steers to the feedlots in Kansas and the Texas Panhandle to collect carcass data to use in improving the beef genetics of our cattle. In 2001, we started testing our cattle for the genetic markers for marbling. In 2005, we started testing for genetic markers for tenderness. For decades, we also have been using ultrasound to measure the marbling in our cattle. We use all this information to produce beef that is well-marbled and tender.

TODAY

Although almost 40 years as an Angus breeder may seem like a long time, I feel like I just now know enough about the genetics of my cattle to call myself a registered Angus breeder. It has taken almost four decades of patient observation and meticulous record-keeping to discover the genetics that are truly valuable in these cattle. Now, with the assistance of genetic testing for marbling, tenderness, and feed efficiency, we can make even quicker genetic progress. It has taken a tremendous investment of time, effort and money, but our customers are the ones who stand to benefit.