Meet Gearld Fry

Hi, my name is Gearld Fry and I was born and raised in small town named Rose Bud which is located in Arkansas, USA.  I grew up on a farm and helped my father with the family dairy until I graduated high school and left for the Army Reserves.  At that point I swore I would never look at another cow again or have anything to do with a farm or agriculture. But, within six months after completing my army activities I bought myself a small group of cows and there has never been a day from that time forward that I have been without cattle.

It is said that farming is in a person’s blood and I must say I am a testament to that.  I did not believe how much I missed those cows when I was away from home for that brief period after high school.  I soon got married and started a family. At that point I had my own dairy and milked cows for 10 years.  Then I made the transition to beef and built a herd of 500 momma cows. 

It wasn’t long into my dairying days that I decided to use artificial insemination to incorporate high producing genetics into my herd.  The fellow who agreed to show me how was too busy and I couldn’t afford to pay someone so I saw no other way than to do it myself.  I was successful at learning how on my own and have become very proficient at inseminating cows and checking for pregnancies.

I have always been enamored with bovine reproduction and the intricate details of getting a healthy calf on the ground from each cow every year.

During the time when I was building my herd of 500 commercial beef cows, I established the Fry Reproductive Center.  My services included collecting semen, processing and storing frozen semen, artificially inseminating and preg checking cows and embryo flushing and transfer work – all self taught.  I would bring the cattle to the center and keep them there for most of the work that needed accomplished.

What taught me the most about management, nutrition and genetics was when I learned how to fix cows that wouldn’t get pregnant or bulls that couldn’t get cows pregnant either by live cover or with their frozen semen.  Had I not experienced all of that I would not have been able to create American Herbataurus cattle or have that range of knowledge I desire to share with the society’s members.

What I have come to learn is how critical the genetics on the male side are, how crucial it is for cows to have the genetic profile to produce high butterfat milk, and how the calf requires this rich nutrition from conception all the way to approximately 20 months of age in order to develop and have proper glandular function throughout its entire life.  Good glandular function is just as important for animals as it is for humans and without it cattle suffer from a plethora of abnormalities that reduce our ability to make a profit.   

After 25 years I realized the importance of genetics and selecting and breeding for specific traits, especially the ability to efficiently utilize grass, for reproductive performance, and for quality carcass and milk indicators as can be seen by a visual evaluation. These are outlined in my Fry Herd Management Program. 

I have come to learn and see first hand many things through the years.   One misconception that we all seemed to have experienced is the goal for high weaning weights.  Breeding merely for pounds is not the road to profitability or success.  Continually bringing outside bulls is the quickest way to loose predictability and genetic consistency.  Fancy, high production genetics from another part of the country did not make my operations any more profitable.  Who talks about the dollars lost during an animal’s adaptation phase to a new environment, management and nutrition?  The losses are immeasurable yet very costly.

In 1990 I begin to search for a breed of cattle or even a herd that possessed all the genetic characteristics to produce quality meat (tenderness & fine texture) and milk from an all grass diet.  I crisscrossed America numerous times working with my clients and searching for the kind of cattle that enables a stockman to be successful.  I found no herd or breed that had or could maintain all of the desired traits.

I contacted several Devon breeders around the globe and connected with Ken McDowall and his Rotokawa® Devon herd.  I believe it was by divine grace.  I knew the first day of my visit that I had found what I was looking for and would get a chance to fulfill my dream of producing a consistently gourmet food product.  At that time semen from 3 of Ken’s top herd sires was purchased and exported to America and we began rebuilding the Devon herds here in America.

It didn’t take long for the commercial cattleman to take note and see the quality coming from these Devon bulls and I started selling semen to that industry.  Those commercial breeders wanted their half Devon calves to be given the credit they deserved and that was the start of the American Herbataurus Society.

I am reminded of Caleb in the Bible.  He was one of the ten spies that were to bring back a report on the land of Canaan to the Israelites.  At 80 years of age he asked Joshua for the land that had been promised to him by Moses.  Caleb told Joshua that he was as good a man at 80 as he was at 40.  He said he could go out and do battle or he could come in and give Godly counsel. 

I feel my many years of experience, observation and being a student of the likes of Dr. Jan Bonsma, Harlan Doeschote, Buck Chastain, Larry Leonhardt, and others has equipped me to direct the affairs of the American Herbataurus Society and teach my fellow cattlemen how to consistently produce gourmet meat and milk. 

My dream to develop a quality breed that is consistent in all traits and does everything on a grass and hay diet is becoming reality.
Meet American Herbataurus Cattle.

Blessings,

Gearld Fry