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K MEMBER PROFILE k

By Emily Stribling, Contributing Writer

Corporron Acres Long-Time SGBI Member and Proponent of the Santa Gertrudis Breed Santa Gertrudis Fit the Bill at

LEFT: Corporron Acres includes three generations of family involvement. BELOW: Jessie Mendel, manager (right), and Primo Manzano, herdsman (left), have been at Corporron Acres for 20-plus years.

J im Corporron, of Corporron Acres, Schulenburg, Texas, has long been a member of Santa Gertrudis Breed- ers International (SGBI) and a strong proponent of the Santa Gertrudis breed. To Jim, the Santa Gertrudis breed was initially a solution to a need for hardy, self-sufficient cattle. In 1973, Jim co-founded Kent Elec- tronics, an electronics distribution and contract manufacturing company that would eventually be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Serving as Kent Electronics president, Jim was away more than half the year, traveling for work and spending most of his other days in Houston, Texas. With limited time to devout to his cow herd, he was in search of a breed of cattle that would be fairly self-sufficient while he was away. “Early on, my father-in-law, Alfred Pargac, helped with the cattle, but they were required to take care of them- selves for the most part,” Jim says. “They did that and so much more.” Jim was impressed by the perfor- mance of his Santa Gertrudis cattle, specifically their efficiency, fertility and ability to gain. Not to mention their abil- ity to thrive under less-than-desirable

conditions. They accomplished all this while also exceling in his crossbreeding program with genetics Jim has found complementary to a variety of breeds. Upon retiring in 1995, Jim and his wife, Dolores, moved to the ranch in order to devote more time to his cow herd. The breed’s continuous success led him to transition into a registered herd. Corporron Acres continues to thrive today as a multi-generational operation with more than 450 registered Santa Gertrudis and STAR 5 cattle, encom- passing operations in Lavaca County

in south central Texas. Jim’s son and daughter-in-law, Rodney and Barbara Corporron, own and operate Pinnacle Cattle Company, formerly Dos Bros Ranch, sharing genetics and resources with Corporron Acres. Despite their growing size, the operation has never had more than two outside employees. With a keen busi- ness sense, Jim knew the key to any successful business was hiring good people and letting them do their jobs.

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Jim Corporron has always been impressed by the performance of his Santa Gertrudis cattle, especially their self-sufficiency and ability to thrive under less-than-desirable conditions.

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SANTA GERTRUDIS USA