Solid Rock Ranch

Hi, I am Matt Jones, owner and operator of Solid Rock Ranch located near Franklin, TX. Let me tell you a little about myself and my operation. Born and raised in Oklahoma, I have a lifelong passion for beef cattle production. After obtaining a BS in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University I moved to the College Station are to pursue an MS in Animal Breeding and Genetics at Texas A&M University. Upon completion of a MS at Texas A&M, I worked a few months for a commercial operation near Kyle before getting the opportunity to join Camp Cooley Ranch which was located north of Franklin, TX. At that time Camp Cooley was the premier Brangus cattle operation in the world. While I was there, we also developed a phenomenal Charolais cow herd and a very good Angus cow herd as well.

While at Camp Cooley, I was able to lease some pasture in the area and began to build the current cow herd which is still located in the Franklin, TX area today. Having raised Angus and Chi-Angus cattle as well as commercial crossbred cattle in Oklahoma until the small family farm was sold while I was in college, I decided to build a herd of Angus cattle to supply bulls to the Central Texas region and beyond. Realizing their maternal value and the complementarity they offered much of the existing Brahman cross cow herd in the region, Angus was the natural choice of breeds.

After much contemplation of a name for this cattle operation and realizing that all we have is entrusted to us by God and that we are just His stewards, the name Solid Rock Ranch was chosen to reflect my trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior and the foundation for my life. I hope and pray all who read this have trusted or will trust Him as their Savior as well. The goal or mission statement for Solid Rock Ranch is to produce practical, functional females that will work in this environment of heat, humidity and relatively low quality forages and to provide bulls to commercial and registered breeders alike that will produce those kinds of daughters for them that will excel in their herds.

Calving ease, balanced EPD traits and functionality have been a consistent breeding objective in this cow herd from the start. The Angus breed has excellent carcass merit especially for marbling relative to most of the other beef breeds, so that has not received so much selection pressure that other characteristics such as adaptability, functionality, balanced performance, soundness, capacity, etc. have been compromised.

Solid Rock Ranch began in the winter of 2001 with the purchase of such foundation females as Partisover Witch 308, H A Eileen 3114, Ideal 2243 of 033 0206, Sedgwicks Lucy 4876, D F Sunset Pride 5028, O C C Dixie Erica 824B, O C C Blackbird 846B and RAB Miss 044 639H. In the following 3 years, additional females such as Deer Creek EXT 335, Twin Eagles Bonnie 769L, A L C Mayflower 7056 and RAB-GAR Ms PrimeTime 4545J were added. Cow families descended from these form the heart of the Solid Rock Ranch program today. AI sires and clean-up bulls to use natural service after AI, have been carefully selected to build on the functional strength of this cowherd base. Some of those sires which have had and are having an impact are S A V Final Answer 0035, Connealy Thunder, Mytty In Focus , V D A R Really Windy 4097, Basin Payweight 1682, C C A Emblazon 702, Connealy Timeline, S A V 8180 Traveler 004, Connealy Danny Boy, C R A Bextor 872 5205 608, Vermilion Dateline 7078, O C C Glory 950G, O C C Emblazon 854E, Coleman Charlo 0256 and others. New sires are carefully evaluated before they are incorporated into the breeding program here.

For many years bulls were sold through Camp Cooley Ranch’s cooperator program in order not to have a conflict of interest there. Upon the sale of Camp Cooley Ranch, I started selling bulls by Private Treaty and through various consignment and association sponsored sales. I had the opportunity to join the Foundation Angus Alliance in the fall of 2013 and started selling some bulls and females in the FAA sale in March of 2014. I continue to sell cattle in the FAA sale today. Bulls selling in that sale are all fall born bulls, but I also have a significant percent of my cowherd calving in the spring. I continue to market a large number of bulls and females by Private Treaty as well.

If I can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to call me at 979-777-7571 or send an email to mattj@solidrockranch.com. You may also see some additional pictures and cattle for sale at our website.

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