2025 World Hereford Conference
Sunday, October 26
Travel from Kansas City, Mo. to Oklahoma City, Okla.
Dinner at the famous Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, located in Historic Stockyards City
Monday, October 27
Breakfast and Meeting with Cattlemen’s Congress Team
Tour and Lunch at Express Ranches
Evening and Chuckwagon Dinner at Bar A and Genesource, Nocona, Texas
Tuesday, October 28
Tour of GKB Cattle, followed by fajita lunch
Cocktails and appetizers at Bowie House
Evening to explore the Fort Worth Stockyards on your own
Wednesday, October 29
Tour Buck Cattle Co. and Moore Cattle Co.
Lunch and tour of Oklahoma Steel and Wire
Visit D&H Cattle Co., Ardmore, Okla.
This shows a preview of the high-points of the tour.
The most detailed and up-to-date schedule is the printable PDF provided.
Post-tour
About the tour:
History and Herefords mixed with some of the most iconic stops on any tourist’s agenda as attendees head south to Cowtown. On the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 26, attendees will fly to Oklahoma City and begin the tour through Oklahoma and Texas. Attendees will stay in Oklahoma City Sunday night and then on to Fort Worth for the rest of the tour. This tour will take attendees to leading Hereford operations and to the famous Fort Worth Stockyards. A visit to a leading semen distribution company, followed by stops at a prestigious Hereford operation who are leaders in the showring and also have a presence in the rodeo industry in America. A highlight in Oklahoma will be a visit to Express Ranches and their famous Clydesdale horse operation. The tour will conclude in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 30, with flights out of Dallas Fort Worth Airport or a continuation of your stay in the U.S. This tour includes coach bus transportation, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday hotel accommodations; meals and a flight on Sunday, Oct. 26, to Oklahoma City.​
MEET YOUR TOUR HOSTS
EXPRESS RANCHES
Yukon, Okla
Founded in 1991, under the guidance of the late Bob Funk, Express Ranches grew into one of the largest purebred beef seedstock operations in America. Express develops, tests and markets genetics for every step of the beef production chain — emphasizing performance coupled with phenotype and structural soundness, which makes their cattle excel in the showring and the feedlot. The operation feeds as many as 50,000 head of cattle per year, while also breeding and exhibiting national champions across the country. Express Ranches markets more than 1,500 Hereford and Angus bulls and 1,200 purebred Hereford and Angus females each year. CattleFax has recognized Express as the largest producer of registered seedstock for nine consecutive years.
Bob was also the co-founder of Express Employment Professionals, which employs more than 552,000 people across more than 825 franchise locations worldwide. The company has used the Express Clydesdales as a neighborhood marketing tool for the Express brand since 1998.
BUCK CATTLE CO.
Madill, Okla.
Since 1987, the Buck family — Jirl and Brenda Buck, and daughter, Bailey — worked to develop Buck Cattle Co., into a premier source for Hereford and Maine-Anjou seedstock. Their goal has always been to produce cattle with the style, balance and power to compete in the showring, but also able to perform in the real world of beef production. The family hosts an annual Fall Premier Sale and Spring Edition Sales along with several online sales. Buck Cattle Co. focuses heavily on customer service and avidly supports and believes in junior livestock programs.
More recently they added a bucking bull breeding program to the mix and have seen much success in the pro rodeo and Professional Bull Riders Inc. (PBR) circuits, including owning the three-time world champion PBR Bucking Bull of the Year and Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) Reserve Bucking Bull of the Year, 32Y Sweet Pro’s Bruiser.
GKB CATTLE
Desdemona, Texas
Gary and Kathy Buchholz established GKB Cattle in 1987. The couple raises Hereford cattle designed for purebred and commercial cattlemen alike, alongside Angus, Red Angus, Simmental, Brangus and Brahman genetics. Today, GKB Cattle runs more than 900 Hereford cows across its four Texas locations — Waxahachie, Desdemona, Tarzan and Madisonville. GKB hosts four production sales each year and markets 150 Hereford bulls annually. Gary and Kathy are especially passionate about supporting young people involved in the industry and enjoy watching them succeed.
The Buchholzs take pride in sharing their operation with visitors and customers from across the country. “We are excited to host the World Hereford Conference tour here at GKB Cattle,” they say. “We hope attendees enjoy learning about different climates and how Herefords thrive in a wide range of climates, not only in the U.S., but worldwide.”
BAR A CATTLE CO.
Nocona, Texas
Bar A Cattle Co. (BACC) founder, Dave Allan, started in the Hereford business with his 4-H project in 1978. Today, he and his wife, Becky, and their children, Tyler, Mason and Landry, run about 115 cows, including a large portion of recip cows to support their progressive genetic program. The family specializes in producing functional cattle that will work in the pasture while still having the look that their customers crave for the showring. BACC females are marketed through two online sales each year, while bulls are offered private treaty. The Allan family has a long record of showring success, from Dave being named Hereford Herdsman of the Year in 1992 alongside his brother, to his sons’ numerous winners including the 2018 reserve champion female at the VitaFerm® Junior National Hereford Expo (JNHE) and the 2023 champion female at the Cattlemen’s Congress, both of which were raised by the Allan family. The family also showed the champion bred-and-owned female at the 2022 and 2025 JNHE.
In addition to Bar A, the family founded Genesource, a multi-breed semen distribution company, in 2012, and The Brand Co., which is a promotional product company specializing in the agricultural industry, in 2001.
Father-son duo, Dillon and H.D. Page, started D&H Cattle Co. more than 30 years ago, when H.D. was still riding bulls. Since then, the operation nestled on the banks of the Washita River, just north of Dickson, Okla., has raised top-quality bucking stock. Today, D&H is one of the biggest bucking bull breeders in the world, and their genetics have spread across the globe with D&H cattle influencing rough stock in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and Australia.
The Page family has produced more than 120 bucking bulls that have been honored to showcase their athleticism during the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). In 2024, 18 of the 100 bucking bulls chosen by the PRCA to participate in the NFR were raised by D&H Cattle Co. Other awards earned by the family’s bucking bulls and stock contracting include: five-time PRCA world champion, NFR Top Bull award, five-time PBR world champion and five-time PBR Stock Contractor of the Year.
Madill, Okla.
D&H CATTLE CO.
OKBRAND Fencing Products is the agricultural and industrial wire product brand produced by Oklahoma Steel and Wire and Iowa Steel and Wire. Oklahoma Steel and Wire was founded in 1979 by B.L. Moore, his wife, Coleen, and his brother-in-law, Robert Lockridge, focusing exclusively on manufacturing livestock panels. By 1982, the company expanded its offering beyond livestock panels to include barbed wire and field fence machines. In 1989, the Moore family reopened Iowa Steel and Wire in Centerville, Iowa, to expand their portfolio to include industrial wire products. The business expanded in 2004 to include Mid- American Steel and Wire in Madill to serve as a reliable source of raw materials while enhancing production efficiency and quality. The Melt Shop Division was added in 2011 to keep pace with the ever-changing steel market. Today, OKBRAND proudly offers quality products made by an American family-owned-and-operated manufacturer using 100% recycled materials.
The Moore family is familiar with the quality cattlemen demand, as the family owns Moore Cattle Co. in Madill. The operation produces elite Hereford and Maine-Anjou seedstock, and often partners with Buck Cattle Co. to present, market and place successful show stock.
Madill, Okla.