CALF_News_December_2020_January_2021

38 CALF News • December 2020 | January 2021 • www.calfnews.net R ecollections Robert Douglas "Bob" Josserand 1931-2020 BY LARRY STALCUP CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Editor’s note: Larry Stalcup of our editorial staff had fond recollections of his last interview with Bob Josserand, industry stalwart and good friend of CALF News , who passed away recently. Along with his many other activities, Bob served as an advisor on the CALF News Editorial Board for several years and was a much- respected source of leadership for us and for the industry as a whole. W hen Bob Josserand passed away in early November, the nation’s beef industry lost a pillar of leadership and a friend who never stopped giving back to his local, state and national cattle organizations. Whether as a small-committee member or head cowboy of the national associa- tion he loved, Bob shouldered virtually every challenge to help benefit cattle producers and feeders. Along with his service to the beef industry, Bob was devoted to his family and hometown, Hereford, Texas. He proudly reminded everyone that it was the “beef capital of the world.” His com- passion for the arts, education and com- munity development across Hereford, the Texas Panhandle, and his state and nation helped spur the advancement of all three. During a visit with Bob at his office at AzTx Cattle in Hereford, he stressed to me the importance of giving back to the industry, or whatever business or orga- nization that helped one prosper.“One thing I’ve prided myself on is the ability to be of service to the beef industry,” he said.“I felt like I was making a difference in the lives of people in the beef industry. I’m happy to have been able to accom- plish that and wouldn’t take anything for the experiences I’ve had in our wonder- ful industry.” A native of Pratt, Kan., Bob grew up on a farm and cattle operation. The family bought sale barn cattle, raised them and then sold them to feedyards in the Corn Belt.“Occasionally, we would finish some cattle, put them on rail and ship them to the Kansas City stockyards,” he remembered.“One of the thrills was riding in the caboose when we delivered those cattle.” He attended Colorado State (then A&M) University before joining the Air Force. After returning to Colorado, he spent time as an assistant county agent in Springfield, before becoming Sedg- wick County agent in Julesberg. Bob ventured back into the cattle business by helping run a small feedyard and cowherd for a regional farmer. Soon afterward he became regional manager for Farr Better Feeds in Hereford in 1971. He was then hired by ProChemco oil and gas in Amarillo to manage its cattle feeding company.“I replaced Paul Engler, who went to work for IBP,” he explained. When the petroleum company was sold, Bob had an opportunity to buy the feeding operations. And in 1983, feedyards in Hereford, Pampa and Far- well, Texas, along with yards in Rocky Ford, Colo., Mid-American in Nebraska, and Hughes & Ganz outside Phoenix became AzTx Cattle Co. Dimmitt and Garden City feedyards also became part of the Hereford-based group. The AzTx financing deal with what was then First National Bank of Ama- rillo was done “with not a whole lot more than a handshake,” Bob recalled. Overall feeding capacity approached 250,000 head. Several years later, packer and industry consolidation caused AzTx to downsize. Still, Bob remained involved in running the Hereford Feed Yard and ranches in northeast Texas and eastern New Mexico. That was after son, John, had found a niche market that involved buying, feeding and exporting quality cattle for a Russian company. The Russians had gotten a taste of American beef and wanted to raise their own quality cattle. They wanted primarily black cattle that had no white coloring.“But there were some very nice baldies in the groups we put together,” he said.“We bought them and placed them on grass in northeast Texas.” Better beef quality was the aim of the Beef Checkoff, approved by cattlemen in the 1980s. Bob was a leader in helping get the Beef Checkoff approved. He later was a member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the checkoff board he so heart- edly supported. Bob Josserand 1931-2020. The beef industry will miss this cattle-feeding pioneer who gave much of his time to promoting better beef quality and improving beef demand.