Texas Cattleman Awarded Beefmaster Breeder of the Year

SAN ANTONIO – Swinging B Ranch, owned and operated by Loran “Mackie” Bounds and his wife Norma Jean, was announced as the 2013 Beefmaster Breeders United (BBU) Breeder of the Year during the “Beefmasters United in Cowtown” 2013 BBU Convention held in Fort Worth, Texas from October 31 – November 2, 2013. Swinging B Ranch is located in Axtell, Texas.

Bounds started the Swinging B Ranch in 1991. He began with a commercial herd and in 1996 Swinging B Ranch moved into the “Beefmaster world” when Bounds’ two children showed interest in exhibiting the Beefmaster breed. By the end of 1997 the Beefmaster female had become the prominent momma cow at the Swinging B Ranch and in May 1998 the ranch was one hundred percent purebred Beefmaster.

Mr. Bounds is known in the “Construction World” as an industry leader. He has owned Brazos Masonry since 1989 and today it is recognized throughout the country as an “elite” masonry contracting firm. He took the same attitude toward the cattle world. Just being a purebred breeder was not enough; he felt they could be better. Bounds is always happy with today, but he believes “we can do better tomorrow”.

The vision at the Swinging B Ranch includes three core values for the cattle they produce; performance, pedigree and pretty. Performance is a must and in his production Bounds records birth, weaning and yearling weights on all of his cattle. He also has carcass data collected on every animal produced by the Swinging B Ranch. The ranch is now also recording udder scores, calving ease and disposition scores. EPDs are studied and considered as Swinging B Ranch breeds for the future. The ranch also participates in the BBU program Whole Herd Reporting, along with parent verifying every animal produced. They want to be able to say “you are buying what we say you are buying”.

Bounds is active in his local church, community and of course holds multiple leadership positions within BBU. He has served on the Junior Beefmaster Breeders Association (JBBA) adult committee and continues to serve on the finance and advertising committees associated with BBU. He is currently serving as the BBU Vice-President and has recently been elected to the Board of Directors of the South Texas Beefmaster Breeders Association (STBBA). Mr. Bounds also supports the beef cattle industry as a member of the Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He gives his time and energy wherever he is needed.

The Swinging B Ranch is the home of Bulletproof, one of the top bulls in the Beefmaster breed. The core values of performance, pedigree, and pretty can always be seen in the production of the Swinging B Ranch. The cattle produced by Swinging B Ranch and the leadership displayed by Bounds made the decision of awarding him breeder of the year an easy one. BBU looks forward to his continued leadership in the beef cattle industry.

For more information about Beefmaster Breeders United and its award program please contact the BBU office at 210-732-3132 or visit www.beefmasters.org. Stay connected to BBU through Facebook, view our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and receive our news updates through joining our mailing list.