P BAR S RANCH The Little Ranch with the Big Genetics
by Megan Silveira
In 1991 , Paul Sisemore had a home with a small yard in Sand Springs , Oklahoma . He was also business partners with a man named Berry Keeler , who happened to have a sizable ranch in Fairfax , Oklahoma . Today , Sisemore has assembled substantially more than a house with a white picket fence — he owns P Bar S Ranch , a 6,000 acre seedstock operation with a herd of about 400 cow-calf pairs .
Sisemore said it was a bit of an afterthought to start raising cattle , an idea that came to him after he saw Keeler ’ s herd growing and being marketed to producers across the country .
Ready to embark on his own journey in the cattle business , Sisemore made the decision to invest in the property around his home — purchasing land , cleaning it up and establishing grass pasture . When the pasture was ready , Sisemore purchased 12 females from Keeler .
“ My original thought was I ’ ll do this and raise a few of my own and put them in his production sales ,” Sisemore explained . “ But when you get into this , you just keep growing and growing and growing . Next thing I knew , I had 700 head .”
Sisemore ’ s original 12 females didn ’ t spontaneously grow into a herd of that magnitude overnight . He said he knew it was time to commit to expanding the ranch when Keeler left the seedstock business to focus on commercial cattle .
“ That is the reason I had to grow ,” he said . “ I had no other outlet to sell what cattle I had . At that point , I decided we might as well keep going .”
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• OCTOBER 2021