Straight Up | October 2025

A conversation with everyday Stockmen,

Featuring Kevin Jensen, Jensen Ranch of Courtland, Kan.

About the Stockman.

"We entered the cattle business in the spring of 1967 with a Jersey- Angus bucket calf gifted to me and my brother from our maternal grandfather. The heifer calf’s name was Kijsa and our paternal grandfather provided the farm to raise her on. That was the beginning of the cattle operation. I have been in the cattle business basically my whole life. Today we ranch in northcentral Kansas and southcentral Nebraska. My wife, Sheila, along with our son Brady and his family, run a purebred Hereford operation. We have recently started to build an Angus herd. Brady and his wife, Allie, along with their three daughters Kelli, Kirbe, and Kya returned to Jensen Ranch two years ago to join the ranching business with us. Our herdsmen, Lute Judy, is integral in the day-to-day operations of the ranch. We host an elite female sale, The Chosen Sale, each October at Sanders Ranch located 45 minutes south of the American Royal. We have a bull sale the first Thursday in March each year on the ranch in Courtland, Kan. Additionally, we offer an online fall heifer sale each April and most years we host an online embryo and semen sale in December."

What about the beef cattle industry excites you the most?

"What excites me the most is when we have young people entering the business, especially when it is young people who want to start a cattle operation but didn’t necessarily come from one."

What is the most used tool on your farm? How old is it?

"The most used tools on our ranch are our side-by-sides and four-wheelers. They range in age from pristine to piles of junk."

Describe your best and worst day.

"The best day is when I am with grandkids. The worst day is when we lose a calf."

Which animal (any species) has left the greatest impact on you?

"It would be our donor cow 2054. She has been gone now for 15 years, but she is a mainstay in our herd. If you look at our herd pedigrees, she is likely to be in there three to five times in a lot of pedigrees."

What is your go-to sorting apparatus?

"My go-to sorting apparatus is a portable cattle pen made by Blattner Livestock. We go from pasture to pasture and use it when we are preconditioning, weighing, and moving cattle. We use it all the time."

Your favorite non-farm activity to do in your free time?

"I enjoy cattle judging, especially youth shows. I also like to slip in an open wheel car race on dirt."

The most important lesson you’ve learned in this business?

"The most important lesson I have learned is to try to make cattle as problem-free as we can. I use the term no-excuse cattle. Not all our cattle are problem-free, but that is our goal. Another lesson is to always treat customers with respect because you won’t have them as a repeat customer if you don’t."

What is your least favorite job on the farm?

"It is a toss-up between several different chores, but fencing is probably my least favorite – sometimes I just don’t have the patience for it."

The Chosen Sale:

Thursday, October 23, 2025

At the Sanders Ranch, Louisburg, Kan.

Photos courtesy Jensen family

learn more www.jensenbros.net