Sustainable Stock: Reviving Legacy Genetics

 Episode 31: Imported Dependency with Oscar Jimenez of Costa Rica  -Full video episode available on YouTube- What happens when cattle, management, and genetics are imported into an environment they were never built for? In this episode, Patrick Powers sits down with Oscar Jimenez of Costa Rica to talk through what he is seeing in both dairy and beef production across the country. For years, Costa...

Episode 30: PCOS Round Table -Full video episode available on YouTube- What started as scattered observations across different herds slowly turned into a much bigger conversation. In this episode, Patrick Powers sits down with John Atkinson of Cashmere Cattle, Grant Vassberg of Kallion Farms, and Dr. David Rainosek to discuss fertility, hormonal balance, embryo production, and a growing theory sur...

Episode 29: Profit Per Acre and Practical Fertility with Johann Zietsman  -Full video episode available on YouTube- Bigger cattle. More inputs. Lower fertility. Slower progress. If that sounds familiar, this conversation challenges what “better” cattle and “good” management have come to mean. In this episode, Patrick Powers is joined by Johann Zietsman, a world-renowned cattleman, grazing consulta...

Episode 28: The Next Steps in Herd Improvement with Hays Boyd  -Full video episode available on YouTube- What separates cattle that look good from cattle that actually hold up? In this episode, Patrick Powers sits down with Hays Boyd of Backbone Ranch to walk through his recent trip across Australia, sharing photos, stories, and the cattle behind them. From ranch to ranch across Victoria, New Sout...

Episode 27: Volatile Markets, Reliable Cattle with Chengetai Mukosera   -Full video episode available on YouTube- What happens when unstable markets force you to rethink what actually holds value? In this episode, we sit down with Chengetai Mukosera of Zimbabwe, an accountant turned cattleman who entered the industry with spreadsheets and theory, only to have real world conditions reshape his enti...

Episode 26: The Gap Between Function and the Show Ring -Full video episode available on YouTube- What happens when the traits rewarded in the show ring drift away from the traits that keep cattle productive in the pasture? In this episode, Patrick Powers is joined by Grant Vassberg and John Atkinson to discuss Grant’s recent trip to Thailand, where he judged cattle and got a firsthand look at how...

Episode 25: Panama’s Fertility Paradox with Roderick Murray -Full video episode available on YouTube- What happens when a country selects cattle for trophies instead of calves? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Roderick Murray to unpack hard numbers, hard lessons, and a practical path back to fertility and profitability on grass. Drawing from herd-level observations and long-term production da...

Episode 24: Matching Cattle to Country with Matt Robbins  What if the fastest path to profit is choosing cows that match your weather, then letting grass lead the schedule? We sit down with Matt Robbins to unpack how his family left hay dependence, heavy inputs, and misaligned genetics behind and built a resilient, profitable herd for hot, humid Arkansas. Matt explains why management and genetics...

  Episode 23: Small Acreage, Big Results with Joseph Klotz  What if a 12-acre ranch could outlast drought, dodge input spikes, and still raise fertile, gentle cattle that pay their way? That is the story Joseph Klotz tells from Seely, Texas, a rancher who proves you do not need a thousand acres or a show banner to build a profitable, resilient herd. We dig into how his family’s weekend Brahman ope...

 Episode 22: What Dairy Can Teach Beef with Ben Gotschall  What happens when a poet comes home to rebuild a family dairy with grass, genetics, and a bison herd as his calendar? Ben Gotschall invites us inside Holt Creek Jerseys, a ranch dairy in the Nebraska Sandhills that treats milk like a seasonal food and manages cows by the rhythm of the prairie, not the demands of a spreadsheet. We dig into...

Episode 21: Grazing School with Charlie Totton, Courtney Tyrrell & Bart Carmichael  Think you know what your cattle will eat? Watch that certainty crumble when ten heifers meet a “weedy” paddock and turn it into beef and soil armor. We sit down with Charlie Totton and Courtney Tyrrell, along with educator and rancher Bart Carmichael, to unpack the South Dakota Grassland Coalition 2025 Grazing...

 Episode 20: Preserving a Legacy with Watt Casey Jr. of Casey Beefmasters  What does it take to build cattle that pay their way without props? We sat down with Watt Matthews Casey Jr. of Casey Beefmasters to trace a 77-year line of selection grounded in the Six Essentials—fertility, weight, conformation, hardiness, milk, and disposition—and a ruthless commitment to real-world performance. From a c...

  Episode 19: Generations of Stewardship with George Kempfer  What happens when cattle are expected to perform in one of America's most challenging environments? They either adapt or fail. At Kempfer Cattle Company, five generations of ranching experience have created herds specifically designed to thrive where others can't survive. George Kempfer takes us inside his family's operat...

Episode 18: Docile Brahmans?!? with Grant and Nicole Vassberg of Kallion Farms What happens when a breeder decides to push back against everything the cattle industry holds sacred? Grant and Nicole Vassberg of Kallion Farms have been doing exactly that with their bold approach to Brahman cattle. For 15 years, Kallion has carried the label of “black sheep” in the Brahman world - systematically bree...

Episode 17: Soil to Steak with Steve Campbell Forgotten wisdom meets modern ranching challenges in this fascinating conversation with Steve Campbell, a seasoned cattle coach who helps producers improve everything from soil health to cattle selection. Campbell shares the profound concept of the "Solo Cup Cow" – a simple yet powerful visual guide that reveals why cattle conformation matter...

Shooting The Bull: Episode 4 Preview What happens when cattle breeding principles stay focused on function instead of fashion for three generations? The Meitler brothers reveal the extraordinary power of consistency at their family's Hereford operation, where their bulls routinely work for 10 to 12 years while mainstream operations sell replacements every 2 to 3 seasons. From their hunting ca...

Episode 16: From the Breaks, Built to Last with Charlie & Courtney Totton Deep in South Dakota's challenging Missouri River breaks, Charlie Totton and his daughter Courtney are quietly revolutionizing cattle production with a refreshingly straightforward approach. For nearly three decades, they've focused on breeding moderate-framed, fertile, low-maintenance Angus cattle that thrive...

Shooting The Bull: Episode 3 Preview What does “proven” really mean in the cattle industry? In this preview, Patrick Powers sits down with John Atkinson and Grant Vassberg to pull apart one of the most overused and misleading terms in the business. From herds with 900-day calving intervals still being sold as “elite,” to bulls kept marketable with 30 pounds of grain a day, they call out the market...

Episode 15: French Cattle. American Truth. with Scott Fredrickson & Matt Henley When two cattlemen from opposite corners of the country—Scott Fredrickson in Montana and Matt Henley in North Carolina—land on the same obscure French cattle line without ever comparing notes, it raises eyebrows. But when those cattle quietly outperform mainstream genetics in both programs, you start paying attenti...

  Episode 14: Timeless Cattle in a Trend-Driven World with Mark DeBoo  "Cattle have to earn their keep." That straightforward philosophy has guided three generations of the DeBoo family at Diamond D Angus in Montana, were function trumps fads and longevity reigns supreme. Mark DeBoo joins us to share how his family's no-nonsense approach to cattle breeding has created extraordinary...

Episode 13: Sell Truth, Not Hype with John Atkinson A candid conversation with Australian cattleman John Atkinson reveals profound insights about the cattle industry's struggle with honesty, fertility, and sustainable breeding practices. Since our last conversation, John's operation has secured a milestone export deal to Africa, not through slick marketing, but through straightforward co...

Shooting The Bull: Episode 2 Preview Not everything worth knowing comes with a data sheet. In this episode, Patrick Powers is joined once again by John Atkinson of Australia, and Kansas cattleman Darris Meitler, for a conversation about the kind of cattle that last. They don’t chase trends, they watch cows. They visit herds. They ask the right questions before ever looking at an EPD. From moderate...

Episode 12: It's About the How, Not the Cow with Bogs Peralta What if everything we've been taught about cattle breeding is wrong? In this eye-opening conversation with Filipino cattleman Bogs Peralta, we explore how conventional wisdom about "bigger is better" has led ranchers astray across the globe. From the lush tropical landscapes of the Philippines emerges a story that wi...

Shooting The Bull: Episode 1 Preview Something feels off, and veteran cattlemen can see it a mile away. In this preview of our debut episode of Shooting The Bull , host Patrick Powers sits down with Grant Vassberg and Australian breeder John Atkinson to expose the red flags that reveal a breeding program built on marketing, not function. From donor cows that never calve to surrogates doing the rea...

Episode 11: Wrong Background, Right Results with Jesse Colón What happens when a California city boy inherits his father's struggling cattle ranch in Mexico? For Jesse Colón, it became the unlikely beginning of a regenerative ranching revolution in the semi-desert of Zacatecas. Jesse's story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the most innovative paths forward begin with honoring what...