Braunvieh World Summer 2023

LOSING A LEGEND: A Tribute to Ron McBee By Jessica Wesson, Contributing Writer

“He was totally immersed in his ranch and cattle,” Bob says. Deana Imhoff, owner and operator of Imhoff Family Farm and current Braunvieh Association of America (BAA) Board member, lived near McBee for more than a decade. “We were interested in breeding Braunvieh, and I saw him on a televi sion program,” Imhoff says. “I real ized he was only 20 minutes away, and I couldn’t believe it.” The Imhoff family took the short trip to McBee Cattle Company with only the intention of learning more about the Braunvieh breed. Instead, they got a front-row seat to McBee’s operation and his way of conducting business. He spent two hours driving the family around his land, showing them his cattle and explaining the positive traits of the Braunvieh breed. “That’s how he developed his busi ness,” Imhoff says. “He was the best mentor in the breed and the cattle industry. He went above and beyond in his willingness and excitement to teach and guide.” “If Ron told you something, you could count on it. It didn’t have to be written down or shook on. It just had to be said.” – Robert Williams, BAA President

The two families continued to raise Braunvieh cattle, with the Imhoffs learning all they could from McBee. They bought two bred heifers and raised them on their operation. “Ron generously offered to have our cows bred on his place, so we took them up there for 45 days. We were in touch all the time from that time on,” Imhoff says. “He was a good friend, and our relationship became so much more than the cattle business.” The neighbors became like family over the years, and McBee became like a grandfather to Danny and Deana’s daughter, Gracie. “She’d help clean the bull pens and cook and help out at his sales,” Imhoff says. “We’d go to national Braunvieh meetings together, and we celebrated his birthdays with him.” He mentored Gracie while she worked for him on his operation. Im hoff says that he took time to teach her daughter about life. “He taught her about farm op erations like raking hay and other things,” Imhoff says. “But Gracie struggled with math and numbers, and he challenged her to learn those skills. Whether it was grain rations or feed prices, he used daily farm life to challenge her and teach her.” One of McBee’s defining character istics was his trustworthiness, Imhoff says. “Anytime a customer has a prob lem with an animal they bought from him, he would always make it right,” Imhoff says. “He was always good to his word and would honor a verbal agreement.” Robert Williams, Braunvieh Asso ciation of America president, agrees, saying that McBee was a special man. “If Ron told you something, you could count on it,” Williams says.

There are certain people who make a difference in the lives they touch. Ron McBee was one of those people. He inspired everyone he was around, and he was a pioneer in the cattle industry. He passed away in March of this year. McBee graduated from high school in 1970, and he continued his educa tion at the University of Missouri with a degree in agriculture science and animal husbandry in 1974. Shortly after graduating, he started McBee Cattle Company. In 1990, the McBee family was looking for a change for their herd because they needed more maternal traits, including milk pro duction in their cows. McBee began breeding commercial cows to Braunvieh bulls and bought a group of halfblood, bred females. That is all it took for him to recognize the value of the Braunvieh breed. From there he was a champion of the breed and of the cattle industry as a whole. Bob and Marilyn Brink, owners and operators of Brink Livestock, are fellow Braunvieh producers and knew McBee for more than 20 years. “It was Ron’s idea to start the Herd Builder Braunvieh Sale,” Marilyn says. “We started with eight coopera tors. Ron was one, and we were one, along with six others.” The Brinks described McBee as a man concerned with producing qual ity cattle.

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Braunvieh World  Summer 2023