By Larry Stalcup Contributing Editor
Carson Kirkland had a question about pen placements. His dad, Robby, advised him on how to handle the situation – just like his father, Perry, helped guide him through feedyard management nearly 30 years ago.
Robby has had the reins for a few years now. He leads a team of about 30 employees at Kirkland Feedyard in Vega, Texas. It’s a family-owned and operated yard with a feeding capacity of 29,000 head. While his family, the feedyard and farm operations get most of his attention, he also heads a team of industry leaders as 2025 Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA) chairman.
TCFA membership includes more than 160 feedyards, nearly 400 industry associates and more than 4,600 overall members. It is a leading voice for cattle feeders and producers and is a major arm of regional associations that support the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
“It’s an honor to be trusted to serve as TCFA chairman this year,” Robby tells CALF News. “My dad was a backer of TCFA early on and has served on various TCFA committees. I learned from him the association provides many services for smaller, independent feedyards that would normally require contracting for outside services at our own expense.”
Grab a Shovel, Get a Horse and Let’s Go!
Perry Kirkland entered the cattle feeding business in 1983. It was at a small grow yard on farmland he and his wife, Melanie, bought outside Vega. While farming wheat pasture for grain and grazing, as well as corn and sorghum, the grow yard expanded to about 8,000 head capacity.
Robby helped out while attending school in Vega, often feeding cattle using a 5-gallon bucket. After graduation, he attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock. “I first studied business, then switched to ag econ,” he says. “I ended up with a degree in animal science, with plenty of experience in the other fields.”
While at Texas Tech, he also spent summers working at the feedyard. “Dad never pressured me to join the yard after college,” Robby says. “He told me to do what makes me happy. Those summer days at the yard helped make my decision. I learned to appreciate the opportunity before me. I wanted to be part of the operation.”
That was when Perry was working to expand with more pens. When Robby decided to go all in, he told him, “grab a shovel, get a horse and let’s go.”
“That was in about 1995,” Robby says. “We were expanding to approximately 15,000-head capacity and increase our custom-feeding capabilities.”
Custom Feeding Tops 95 Percent
Kirkland Feedyard increased capacity to more than 20,000 head in the early 2000s. In 2024, the Kirklands were pushing 30,000-head capacity. “We’ve strived to operate as a custom feeding operation,” Robby explains. “Dad has done a wonderful job of serving many producers who sold us cattle or retained ownership.
“About 95 percent of our cattle are from customers. Most of our cattle are placed from Texas ranches, with a close second being Florida, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, as well as cattle from New Mexico and Oklahoma.”
Robby helps ranches develop the right feeding and marketing plan to fit their cattle. That’s a trend he learned from Perry and Melanie. “Everyone has a business model. We try to work with them by helping finance feed and cattle if needed,” he says. “We sell to all four major packers, STX Beef and some regional meat companies. We help producers market their cattle on various formula grids and other forward contracts, as well as cash sales.”
Kirkland Feedyard has long supported Consolidated Beef Producers. Robby has served on its board of directors. The feedyard markets a few of its customer cattle through Creekstone Farms. Creekstone strives to procure cattle with genetics in the top 1 percent of Black Angus cattle.
“We try to help people find a niche for their cattle,” Robby says, “even it involves sorting 10 to 15 high-quality cattle for customers.”
The Kirklands have welcomed animal health companies and other vendors eager to test the effectiveness of new products and services. As the age of electronic ear tags (EIDs) and other technology grows, Robby works with allied industries to measure the effectiveness of EIDs in reading cattle health to stay ahead of BRD and other diseases.
“As an industry, we need to use artificial intelligence and other technology to help us increase the efficiency of feeding cattle,” he contends.
Robby and his wife, Amy, have been married 30 years. She is a lifelong educator in the Vega school system. She has also served on TCFA committees and currently serves on the Industry Relations Committee. She and Robby are longtime backers of the national Beef Checkoff and the Texas Beef Checkoff.
Amy is in her third year as part of the Texas Beef Council and was recently appointed to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. “I love feeding cattle and our industry, and she embraces being a feedyard owner’s wife,” Robby says.
Along with their son Carson, Robby and Amy have two daughters – Cydney, a sophomore at Vega High School, and Calleigh Rogers, who is pursuing her masters in speech and hearing sciences at West Texas A&M University. Her husband, Cooper Rogers, is part of the Cargill animal nutrition team in Amarillo.
The girls have been involved in feedyard activities themselves, helping with various chores over the years. Carson is taking the next step in becoming part of the management team. After earning a bachelor in animal sciences from Texas Tech in 2023, he is being baptized into the business side of the cattle feeding, ranching and farming family.
“Dad challenged me when I returned from college,” Robby remembers. “He acquired another little grow yard and told me to figure it out and run it. It was a great experience. After Carson got more involved, we bought a small ranch southwest of here.
“It had a small grow yard and we turned Carson loose straightening out a bunch of 275-pound calves. He did a great job. Now he’s learning about every job at the feedyard, from reading bunks to operating the mill.”
Robby can’t say enough about what he has learned from his mom and dad. “My dad is my hero and my mentor. I don’t go a week without asking him some question on something,” Robby says. “He and Mom are giving people [both] at the feedyard and in our community.”
As TCFA chairman, Robby has the same attitude and ambition, even it means grabbing a shovel and going to work.
