It was the 1970s and America’s cattle herd was as diverse as the producers who owned them. To the American beef consumer beef was beef and the breed of the cattle didn’t matter.
Cattle buyer John “Jack” Schmidt, now of Riverton, Wyoming, was working at the Kansas City Stockyards buying cattle for his customers. He had a knack for finding the mid-range feeder cattle, no matter what the breed, that his customers could feed and turn a profit.
His customers were not concerned with breed or pedigree — then…