6 min read

Living Their Legacy | October 2024

By Cheryl Kepes

Photos courtesy Pembrook family

Pembrook Cattle Company is dedicated to creating a lineage of champions in and out of the show ring.

The line of national champion show heifers bred or raised by Pembrook Cattle Company stretches through generations of cow families and covers more than half a dozen breeds. Behind the purple banners at many cattle shows across the country is someone positively impacted by Travis and Beth Pembrook’s expertise in selecting, fitting, and showing champions.

Travis and Beth have owned and managed Pembrook Cattle Company (PCC), located in Fairview, Oklahoma, for almost 30 years. The family run enterprise consists of a multi-breed show heifer business and an Angus seedstock operation. The Pembrooks focus on raising national champions for the show ring and high-performance herd bulls for commercial customers. But the Pembrooks gauge their success on far more than the number of wins or lots sold, their heart and soul centers on building strong relationships with customers and mentoring the next generation of cattle producers.

Generations Deep

The Pembrooks run their operation on a vast generational property located in the Gloss Mountains of Oklahoma. “Beth and I had the opportunity, it was a blessing, my great-grandparents who homesteaded in this area, they actually sold us their original home place when we moved back here from Kentucky in 1996,” Travis Pembrook explained.

Travis’s great-grandfather one was the first in the family to show cattle, then future generations followed in his footsteps. Beth’s grandfather also enjoyed showing cattle and his passion continued with his children and grandchildren. Beth grew up on her family’s registered Limousin seedstock operation near Lexington, Kentucky. Travis and Beth’s background and knowledge combine to form a dynamic cattle couple that’s taken PCC to new heights.

In the early years of their marriage and cattle operation, the couple offered a custom fitting service. For a decade, the Pembrooks exhibited cattle for big ranches, taking show strings to competitions all over the country. Those experiences gave Travis and Beth the opportunity to hone their skills under the mentorship of some of the best in the business including the late Bill Couch, former general manager of Express Ranches, and Jim Williams, owner of V8 Ranch.

The mentorship Travis and Beth received from their family and from legends in the cattle industry shaped the future of their operation. “The whole time you are seeing some of the guys you are doing this for, and you are like, ‘Please help us to be able to do this sometime.’ And be careful what you pray for because it will happen. Now this has just went crazy for us,” Travis shared.

Winning Combination

The Pembrooks’ business grew like wildfire. Shortly after starting their operation in Oklahoma, they expanded into a variety of breeds. “We had so many people asking us, ‘Do you have this, and do you have that?’ And so, we saw the need to diversify where we could offer some different breeds,” Travis said.

PCC sells show heifers from breeds including Angus, Simmental, SimAngus, Chianina, Limousin, LimFlex, Shorthorn, Shorthorn Plus, Maine Anjou, Maintainer, and Red Angus. Many of the show calves are the result of PCC’s robust IVF and embryo program rooted in elite donor females and national champion sires.

What the Pembrooks don’t breed themselves, they find by visiting herds across the country. They are always working to have industry leading genetics that will give their customers a competitive edge. “A lot of that for the show ring is based on trends and what you see is doing well now. So, you are always trying to make that great one or find that great one. Either make her or find her every year,” Travis explained.

When visitors walk through the PCC show barn this time of year, they will find as many as 80 future sale heifers in the making. When the current show calves being tended to for upcoming competitions are included, the PCC show barn head count pushes 100.

The heifers that make the final cut for PCC’s production sale have proved themselves to be the cream of the crop. “On these show cattle, if we end up with an 80 head sale, we may start with 120 or 150. As we get them in, wean them, and get rolling towards the sale we start trying to take the risk out for people,” Travis stated. That means animals with a poor disposition or subpar structural soundness are automatically culled from the sale group.

It takes quite a few helping hands to keep things running at PCC. Derrick Wood serves as PCC’s herdsman. “Derrick is incredible and a huge part or our operation,” Travis said. Derrick’s fiancée, Rilee Hall, also plays an important role in the operations at PCC. The Pembrooks appreciate Derrick and Rilee’s contribution to the cattle business.

And most every day the Pembrooks’ sons, Bret (15), and Bryson (10), are pitching in wherever needed. “They are involved with everything we do. They live this with us, and they are a part of it. We appreciate their help,” Travis shared. “Bret has as many customer names in his phone as we do,” Travis added with a chuckle.

Angus Seedstock Operation

The Pembrooks operate a registered Angus seedstock operation with about 250 momma cows. Most of the cows in the herd have Montana-based breeding. “The cows are really hardy, easy-fleshing type cows. They just go out and work and do what they are supposed to. If something isn’t working for us, it is like the show cattle, they are out of here, they get culled from the program pretty quick,” Travis stated.

PCC utilizes some ET and a lot of AI work to develop the genetics of the registered Angus herd. The herd sires turned in as cleanup bulls are AI sires that could be found on the pages of genetic services publications.

The primary focus of the registered Angus operation is to produce herd bulls for PCC’s commercial cattle customers. The bulls are raised in large, open pastures where they have space to move. They are developed on a forage plan that utilizes alfalfa and grass in the summer months. The Pembrooks aim to raise bulls that will hold their condition when turned out to work. The bulls are sold via private treaty at 18-months to 2-years of age.

Mentoring the Next Generation

One of the Pembrooks’ greatest passions is mentoring youth. Much of their desire to serve others stems from their own experiences. “Our entire life we have been blessed to have great people around us who have mentored us and brought us along whether it was a family member or people in the industry, we always had great people around us that taught us well,” Travis said.

Several years ago, PCC started offering summer show cattle camps because they recognized the need for additional training opportunities for young people. The Pembrooks provide several sessions tailored to different skill levels. Youth from all over the country attend the camps to learn about cattle selection, nutrition, breeding, care, showmanship and more.

Travis and Beth never miss an opportunity to share what they have learned with others in the industry. “Whether it is people who buy cattle from us or whether it is the college age kids who work for us, we like teaching them and like training them. We hope someday they are better than we are at things. We want to see people do well,” Travis said.

Travis has served as judge for many state and national cattle shows. Recently, Travis and Beth have had the opportunity to judge shows together.

PCC’s Slogan

The slogan at PCC is – It’s all about the people. “That is just huge for us. Everything we do is about the people,” Travis said. From youth to customers to neighbors, the Pembrooks seek to live out a philosophy that honors others.

“We try to work and develop an honest relationship with our customers where we can evaluate or know their needs. We are always trying to figure out their needs. What can we do better here?” Travis explained. “We want to go the extra mile to help. Whether that is being at a show to help get someone’s animal ready or if someone is local it is going to help them work a set of calves or move cows from one place to another. Or simply answering our phone and just being there to help,” Travis added.

Their faith in God and heart to be good stewards of their land and cattle operation are central motivators in the Pembrooks’ lives. Travis and Beth are preparing now to make sure their operation is ready for their children to take over in the future if they would like to.

There’s never a dull moment at PCC, with so many different facets to balance and manage. “We are always ready to move with the times in terms of handling the future, and you are always wondering what could be next within the future, how can we better ourselves or things for our customers too,” Travis said. And one can bet, no matter the challenge the Pembrooks will consistently be up for the task.