by Peyton Haley
EDITOR’S NOTE: Considering the Limousin breed has been on this
continent a little more than 50 years, the number of active families
able to boast of four generations of involvement is about as rare as
hen’s teeth. As one would expect, the stories and memories of those
few families have developed more branches than the family trees
themselves. That said, we would be doing the newest members of our
breed a disservice to not at least attempt to cover a family journey as
long, winding and interesting as the one we are about to attempt.
M
ost people who knew Don O’Brien thought of him as a savvy
businessman; throughout his life he was involved in poultry
processing, quarter horses, feed mills, banking and realty. More than a
businessman, Don was a cattleman through and through.
Don O’Brien was introduced to the cattle industry in 1952, and
bought his first Limousin cattle—seven halfblood heifers—in 1970.
Those seven heifers set the standard for what would become a
Limousin legacy that continues to this day.
In its heyday, O’Brien Farms in Pineville, Missouri, was home to
500 registered Limousin cattle and a 700-head Limousin-influenced
commercial herd. Since 1971, the IO prefix has been registered more
than 9,000 times with the North American Limousin Foundation.
“Dad went to Denver in 1973 and bought a bull named Rousseau.
That bull threw really good females, that much I remember,” said
Kathy Brooks, O’Brien’s youngest daughter.
Beginning in 1975, the O’Brien’s held annual production sales—a
bull sale in March and a female sale in May. Those sales continued for
many years before the O’Brien’s made the transition to selling cattle
via private treaty.
In 2010, O’Brien Farms made the list as one of the North American
Limousin Foundation’s Top 20 Breeders. According to NALF, the top
20 breeders at the time had, together, registered more than 7,000
Limousin and Lim-Flex calves. ‘
The Bruce and Kathy (O’Brien) Brooks family represent the second,
third and fourth generations of O’Briens to make a lasting impact on
the Limousin breed.
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Kathy was just 13 years old when she bought her first two halfblood
Limousin cows at a DeMier-Sudbrink sale in Miami, Oklahoma.
“My siblings and I showed our cattle statewide, around Missouri, for
the most part, but my brothers David and Dick showed for O’Brien
Farms nationwide,” Kathy said.
The O’Brien family collected many champion banners over the
years and were named premier exhibitor at both the 1976 and 1977
World Limousin Futurity.
Don O’Brien served two terms as the president of the NALF board of
directors. He was also the 1999 Missouri Limousin Breeder of the Year.
“Dad absolutely loved Limousin cattle and stayed active in the breed
as long as he could,” Kathy said. “He must have been in his seventies
during his second term as president of the NALF board.”
• APRIL 2020