Dan May and Joe Morgan Welcomed Into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame
By Larry Stalcup Contributing Editor
Cattle feeding legends Dan May of Stratton, Colo., and Joe Morgan of Scott City, Kan., received warm welcomes into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame (CFHOF) during the recent Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in San Antonio.
Set in the shadow of The Alamo, the 16th annual CFHOF ceremonies drew more than 500 people. Most were part of the far-stretching cattle feeding family that keeps the beef supply chain moving from pasture to packer and consumers. Pillars of the industry honored their distinguished peers, as did the families, friends and colleagues of award recipients.
Along with May and Morgan, the CFHOF presented the Industry Leadership Award to Tom Jenson of the First National Bank of Omaha. George “Frank” Littrell, Jr., of Midwest Feeders in Ingalls, Kan., received the Arturo Armendariz Distinguished Service Award.
Dan May
Dan May, associated with 4M Feeders, Herd Co., and Magnum Feedyard, used his skills in buying and selling cattle to become an industry leader. He was raised on a farm in eastern Colorado outside Stratton. He developed an ardent work ethic while helping with farming, milking and feeding cattle. May graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in farm and ranch management and a minor in economics. His ability to handle cattle buying and marketing was apparent in his early role as a commodity broker and feedlot controller.
In the early 1980s, he became head of cattle procurement and commodity trading for Seckler Cattle Co., which was in partnership with Louis Dreyfus Corp. Part of his early ventures included setting up some of the industry’s first feedyard computer software. He was assisted by Betty Jo Gigot, who was among the first developers of feedyard software. (Betty Jo, longtime CALF News publisher, was a CFHOF Industry Leadership Award recipient in 2014.)
Dan later became head of cattle operations for Foxley Cattle Co. The savvy Foxley (a 2019 CFHOF inductee) preached the importance of having proximity to feeder cattle, to packers and cheap corn, a formula that worked well. Along with Foxley operations, May eventually devoted more time to his family’s farming and cattle feeding enterprises. His brothers, Jim, Tom and Steve, grew their small family farm and a 2,500-head feedlot into numerous farming, feedlot and ranching operations in Colorado, Nebraska and Nevada.
Their feeding operations at 4M Feeders, Herd Co., and Magnum Feedyard (in partnership with Steve and Audrey Gabel) now have a one-time capacity of 175,000 head. They also farm grain and forage on more than 35,000 acres and run 10,000-plus cow-calf pairs. May notes that the operations’ many employees are keys to his family’s success.
He remains active in commodity trading and markets more than 400,000 head of cattle annually. He and his wife, Becky, have been married for 37 years. They have three children, Zach, Alyssa and Josh. Becky has been heavily involved in financial and other areas of the operation.
Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan has been involved with Poky Feeders in Scott City for more than four decades. He grew up on a farm in western Iowa, where he attained the values of hard work. After earning his animal science degree from Iowa State University in the early 1970s, he fed cattle and farmed before accepting a feedyard management job outside of Omaha in 1983.
When a position opened at Poky Feeders at Scott City in western Kansas, Morgan headed to the High Plains. The 17,000-head yard faced pressures other yards encountered in the financially stressed ‘80s. But Morgan’s loyal relationships with partners, lenders and a strong producer customer base helped the feedyard exceed the 40,000-head capacity level in the 1990s. It grew to the 103,000-head yard it is today.
He was among several feedyard operators who formed an alliance to produce, feed and market higher quality beef. After long nights of near-secret meetings, the group established what would become U.S. Premium Beef (USPB) – a milestone in cattle production and marketing. That was in the mid-‘90s, when most fed cattle were still marketed as a commodity. USPB opened the gate to market premiums to producers and feeders for their cattle, which were processed through National Feeders.
In the late ‘90s, Poky expanded into pork production. But cattle feeding remained the company’s strength. Poky Feeders expanded its partnerships with producers and others in Kansas and Nebraska to grow the operations. In recent years, Morgan’s son Grant became manager and later general manager of the yard. Morgan remains as CEO of the company. He points out that, with water conservation in mind, Grant’s innovative ideas convinced him that Poky needed to build a water recycling system. The yard now recycles some 80 percent of its water.
About 95 percent of Poky cattle are custom fed. Morgan’s dad told him, “If you make your customer money, he’ll be your customer forever.”
There are now third-generation feeders who send cattle to Poky. During his CFHOF induction, Morgan praised the devotion of his wife, Janyna. He also thanked other family members, friends, partners, venders, lenders and especially employees for their support. He credited all for playing a powerful part in making Poky Feeders a success.
Tom Jensen
Tom Jensen is among the ag lenders and partners who helped the industry flourish after battling through hard times. As a youngster in Omaha, Jensen helped his dad sort and load cattle at the bustling Omaha Stockyards. Hard work and business ethics were in his blood. After earning a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, he started his career in ag lending.
He first worked for Northwestern National Bank at the Livestock Exchange Building in Omaha in 1980. Four years later, he joined First National Bank of Omaha in the correspondent-banking department. He started the FNBO Agribusiness Department in 1985. From then until 2020, Jensen and the department’s team of ag lenders handled some $2.5 billion in ag commitments.
Before retiring in 2020, he was FNBO senior vice president and a member of its board of directors. He has long been involved with the Nebraska Cattlemen and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He also served on the CattleFax Board of Directors and has been a guest presenter for agricultural economics classes at multiple universities. Jensen and his wife, Mary Ruth, have been married 45 years and have three daughters.
George “Frank” Littrell, Jr.
George “Frank” Littrell, Jr., a 31-year employee with Midwest Feeders, received the Arturo Armendariz Distinguished Service Award for going above and beyond to help improve the cattle feeding industry. The native of Alva, Okla., went to work for Midwest as a feed truck driver in the 1990s. With a passion for caring for cattle, he moved up to head cowboy.
Now, as cattle foreman, he runs a crew of 21 cowboys and two outside processing crews, and works weekly with consulting veterinarians. Littrell uses the feedyard’s AMS software to help manage animal health, including treatments, processing, implanting, shipping, receiving and inventories. As Littrell’s role has expanded, he misses riding pens but enjoys working with his team and the cattle. He excels at managing people, is highly organized and maintains immaculate records.
Men and women like Frank Littrell are as important to the feeding industry’s success as any executive. CFHOF members and others have long recognized that fact, and none more so than the late Paul Engler, who passed away last spring in Amarillo.
Nominees for the 2026 CFHOF are: Kent Bamford, Bamford Feedyard; the late Dallas Horton, Horton Feedlots and Research Center; the late Bob Foote, Foote Cattle Co.; the late Glenn Mull, Mull Farms and Feeding, Inc.; and Jeff Rudolph, Hi-Gain Feedlot.
Nominees for Industry Leadership Award are: the late Dr. Kenneth Eng, consulting nutritionist and author; the late Greg Henderson, editor of Drovers Journal; John Matsushima, Ph.D., Colorado State University pioneer in animal health and steam-flaked corn; and Temple Grandin, Ph.D., renowned developer of animal handling techniques.
Visit cattlefeeders.org to vote for the 2026 CFHOF inductees.
