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Martinez family believes in Beefmaster

published: December 12th 2008
by: Martha Hollida Garrett

For the Martinez family, the Beefmaster breed fits their environment and their goals.
    The family enterprise, known as El Brazil Ranch, is located in Hebbronville, Texas and its beginning traces back to 1891.  The Martinez family includes Ascension “Chon”, and his sons, Humberto “Beto”, Ascension “Chon Jr.,” and Mario and daughter, Anabella. The ranch has been passed down for four generations and continues today with the next generation of Martinez children assisting their parents and granddad in cattle working and daily responsibilities.
    The cattle operation was always commercial and in the late 1950’s, early 1960’s they started using Beefmaster bulls and were some of the first to recognize the breed’s strengths for the cattle industry. Then in 1981, the family added a registered Beefmaster program.
    “In this environment you have to maintain some ear for heat tolerance. We need cattle that can travel to water and withstand the rough terrain,” explains Beto Martinez adding that their operation needs the six essentials of the breed—fertility, milking ability, weight, conformation, hardiness and disposition, for profitability.
    One other trait that the Martinez family stresses and like in the Beefmaster breed is the docile temperaments.
    “We only have one hired hand for the operation, and these cattle can be worked with just two people, as they are very calm and this saves us a lot of manpower over the course of time,” says Martinez.
    At weaning all their commercial and registered bulls are sold through two or three local sale barns.
    “We have found that it takes a lot of management and resources to develop bulls, so we have found it best to purchase our bulls,” says Martinez.
    The heifers for both operations are evaluated for replacements and also a portion of the registered heifers are retained for private treaty sales, as over the years the family has developed a strong demand for their heifers. These are marketed locally and as one might guess the customer base includes many repeat customers.
    “We have a closed herd from the maternal side, as we use only our replacements and do not buy outside females,” remarks Martinez.
    They rely strictly on natural service for breeding in both herds, largely because it is less labor intensive. They select bulls first of all on sheaths as the ruggedness of their land dictates that the bulls be clean made.
    “Then the next selection pressure for us is birth weights and birth weight EPDs. Our cows are run in big pastures and have to take care of themselves, so we take every measure to avoid calving difficulties,” after that they evaluate for weaning weights and milking ability.
    They purchase the majority of their bulls at the Live Oak Beefmasters Breeders Association (LOBBA) Bull Sale, held annually in January. This sale has long been the source of their bulls and they feel it is one of the best sources of bulls within the breed.
    “We appreciate that the breeders in the Live Oak Association put their best bulls in this sale. We feel the quality is the highest and we always find the bulls we need and want for our program. We have purchased some bulls from some other sales through the years, as well as by private treaty from McAllen Ranch,” he explains.
    Beto Martinez currently serves on the LOBBA board of directors and his dad is a past recipient of the coveted LOBBA Legends honor.  He also has served on the Beefmaster Breeders United Board of Directors. In 2006, El Brazil was presented a Certificate of Honor by the State of Texas Family Land Heritage Program for 100 years of agricultural contributions.
    The Martinez family was one of the first to invest in Beefmaster genetics and the investment has paid off for almost 50 years.
SLS