Looking for potential

Simply put, Capstone Beef feeds cattle. Based in southwest Oklahoma and north-central Texas, the unconventional feeders work with more than a dozen feedyards to place the calves they buy.

The business has four partners: cousins David and Bailey Ballou, along with Kevin Smith and his son Spencer. Each brings a specific skill, creating unique synergy in the business. David buys the cattle. Spencer handles logistics. Bailey builds customer relationships. Kevin manages risk.

They’re looking for cattle with potential. For years, David bought cattle through auction markets and on video, learning from the “school of hard knocks.” He enrolled by winning the bid on his first set at 19 years of age. That profit was lost on the second group. He dug his heels in, paid close attention and learned from each buy and closeout.

“What made David a better-than-average buyer is the participation,” Kevin says. “A lot of buyers never own one. You learn a lot with skin in the game.”

Buying direct

Now they prefer buying directly off the ranch so they can track each calf through the feedyard. They saw a need to help local producers with average-sized herds of promising cattle, but unknown performance at the feedyard and packing plant.

“David felt like they needed to be rewarded for being particular in their genetic selection,” Kevin says.

It’s also easier on the calves.

“It all comes down to thinking about the cattle first,” David says. After nearly three decades, he considers every scenario that may affect animals through their lives and what will help them reach peak potential at harvest.

Buying this way also means they often own cattle longer than the rancher who calved them, and care just as much.

“Are you a man with cows, or a cowman?” David asks. For the cowman, doing things right for cattle is intuitive, from managing health and nutrition to breeding and comfort.

Capstone prefers yearling calves, but also buys calves to grow to 1,000 pounds, most fit for the feedyard. Being in prime wheat country, many groups are turned out to graze and better prepare for feedyard performance, David says.

Time, space and simply slowing down dramatically affect calves’ health and ability to grade, he adds. If 30% of a calf crop gets doctored, then 30% won’t grade Choice. If that’s just 5%, then 95% may reach premium Choice and Prime.

“That’s big time,” David says. More chances to beat plant average and earn premiums means more money for customers.

Looking for people

“We’re looking for good cattle,” Bailey says. “We’re looking for good people as much.”

They want to work with those who care about what happens to their calves when they leave the ranch, he says, noting feedback often includes photos and videos besides carcass data. When possible, Capstone takes customers to see their cattle nearing harvest weight — something most commercial producers never see.

Since Kevin, David and their late partner Bret Hull first fed cattle together in 2010, this approach has taken them from 60% to 92% Choice, from 10% to 35% Certified Angus Beef ^®  (CAB^®) and from 1% to 10% Prime.