Customer Testimonials
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Batty Family Ranch
Vernal, UT
Batty Family Ranch is located in Vernal, Utah. We run cattle on two different mountain ranges in the summer time with elevation ranging from 7,000 feet to 9,500 feet. The bulls from Skinner Ranch have always held up for us with good feet, legs, and disposition. They range to places for feed that others won’t. That is why I was interested in the Salers breed.
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The cows from these bulls have been excellent mothers. They are very attentive to calves, have good udders, and raise and wean heavy calves.
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With two separate mountain ranges I can get 5 to 6 years out of a bull. The cattle are problem free. With 350 head of mother cows we have 98.5% calving unassisted; that is everything to us. They have the depth, thickness, and a look that is always very impressive to buyers that view them.
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Skinner Ranch has been willing to help me in any and all decisions that we have had and are always willing to share their knowledge with us.
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They have always stood behind the bulls they have sold. One of the bulls we purchased had his feet go bad before they delivered him. They called me and we discussed it. They replaced it with another one sight unseen. They were also willing to get us a different one if we had not been happy with the replacement. We were very pleased.
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I would recommend them to anyone.
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Morgan W. Batty
Graveley Black Mountain Ranch
Avon, MT
At Graveley Black Mountain Ranch in the Avon valley we have been using SRS bulls for ten years. We are a black angus cow-calf operation that utilizes native pasture and wild hay, put up with a beaver slide. I guess we are a little slow coming around.
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The first thing that brought us to the Skinner Ranch Seedstock sale was their high standard for conformation and natural performance. At the Skinner Ranch they realize that not everybody has first and second cutting alfalfa to feed all winter.
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The quality of the bulls is what keeps us coming back. The attention to detail that Skinners put in their cattle is obvious. From conformation and feeding to productivity and phenotype, they use a sharp knife. The uniformity of our calves has also increased. We no longer have twenty percent of our calves that don’t fit the herd.
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Ron, Kim, and Tim have always been willing to answer questions about any facet of the beef industry. From mineral packages to suggestions on what to breed the heifers to. Their advice is sound and conscientious. They would rather you the customer be happy than sell you a bull.
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Charlie, Will, & Matt Graveley
Hilger Ranch - Catherine Campbell
Gates of the Mountains, MT
In 1988 Cathy Campbell bought the historic Hilger Hereford Ranch, which was established in 1889 at the Gates of the Mountains north of Helena, Montana. Today the ranch still operates as a cow/calf operation in a very trying environment, the ranch is all mountain terrain that receives an average annual rainfall amount of less than 10 inches.
We started buying optimizer bulls from the Skinners 11 years ago, looking to improve the carcass traits in our cattle. We keep going back year after year because of the well balanced traits of these cattle. The bulls are grown right with great feet and have the longevity to hold up in our challenging environment.
The attention the Skinners put into their females show when calving our ranch raised replacements. Our females out of Skinner genetics consistently have great dispositions with excellent mothering ability and udder quality. This all adds up to trouble free cattle. We will be back at the Skinner sale in 2017 to get trouble free cattle that perform.
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Ross Morgan, Ranch Foreman
Jacobs Ranch
Stockett, MT
The Jacobs Ranch is just south of Stockett, Montana. My mom and dad, Helene and Bill, started it; growing up I helped them until 1986 when I took it over. My wife Kandy and I raised 4 kids here on the ranch.
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I’ve known Ron for over 20 years and he is as honest as the day is long. His family is following in his footsteps. If they tell you something about a bull you can bet it is the truth.
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This is our 10th year of buying bulls from the Skinner family. We started out buying 1 bull a year for 2 or 3 years. This year we are buying all our bulls there and plan on doing so for many years to come. We’ve bought 17 bulls from SRS and I’ve never had any regrets on them. Feet, disposition, fertility have all been outstanding. I only had to get rid of one bull early because he broke his leg.
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I talk to Kim and Tim about the type of bull I’m looking for and they point me in the right direction. They really know what they’re talking about. I’ve learned a lot from Ron and his sons.
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This fall our steers weighed 735 lbs and the heifers weighed 690 lbs.
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Dean Jacobs
Mikes Ranch
Cascade, MT
We have been taking in the Skinner Ranch Bull Sale for over two decades, it started with going to the sale with my father-in-law Sam Steffan as he bought registered bulls and heifers from Ron & Bev.
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I have enjoyed watching the Skinner family and ranch grow as they expanded into Optimizer and Angus cattle. We were also growing our herd of predominantly Angus cattle at the time. We run on mostly native grass pasture in the foothills around Cascade, MT.
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Our bull herd is now over 90 percent SRS blood lines, with many of them half-brothers. We are impressed with the way they maintain their condition and structural health.
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SRS bulls fit our program of breeding length & thickness of loin into cattle. We are also pleased with the calves’ ability to grow and finish without becoming oversized for our part of the country.
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Calves are born between March 1st and April 15th. This last fall on the 2nd of November 100 percent of our steers loaded on the trucks with the average weight of 708 lbs. A pen of steers we thought were very even, thanks to the use of Skinner Ranch Bulls.
Tracy & Kelly Mikes
Miller Angus Ranch
Salmon, ID
Miller Angus Ranch bought our first bull from the Skinner family in 1995. In 2007 we bought a Lead On son out of a very good cow from the Skinner Ranch. That bull’s daughters are stand out cows in our herd.
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We moved to Salmon, Idaho from Montana in 2012. In Montana our cows were on irrigated pasture with very few hills to climb. With our Salmon Ranch came 5000 acres of BLM ground ranging from 4000 to 7000 feet in elevation. Quite an adjustment for those cows! But adjust they did and learned to climb those hills, work for a living, bring back a nice calf, and breed back in time. We try to calve in 60 days. In 2016 our conception rate was 3 open and 5 late cows, which we were extremely pleased with!
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We have always found Ron and his family extremely helpful and knowledgeable and they stand behind their program 100%.
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A big thank you from the Millers to the Skinners!
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John and Ruby Miller family
Nemitz Ranch
Ismay, MT
We purchased the ranch we are on now in 1989 and moved our family from Glendive, MT, where Joe’s family has ranched for 60+ years. Our cattle graze the plains of Eastern Montana. We began purchasing SRS bulls in 2007. We like the disposition of the bulls and they continue to help improve our herd. We try to purchase moderately sized bulls with thickness and length overall; they travel well to cover our cows.
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Last fall all of our steer calves were the heaviest we have ever had with a 637# average. That is with an end of March calving date, no creep feed, and a dry spring and summer. They were sold on October 24, and put on feed for 80 days. They had an average daily rate of gain of 3.3#. We are pretty proud of our operation; thank you to SRS for raising such quality outstanding bulls and standing behind them.
Joe and Nadine Nemitz
NLD Ranch Inc.
Choteau, MT
NLD Inc. is a family cow-calf, hay, grain, and horse operation. We are based out of Choteau, Montana and our operation runs in three north central counties: Teton, Pondera, and Choteau.
We have been using Skinner optimizer and Salers bulls for over 15 years.
Our main objective in bull selection is maternal bulls with longevity, easy maintenance, and as much performance as we can get without sacrificing our primary goals. We select bulls that make great, fertile daughters with udder quality, milk, disposition, and doability to bring in a quality calf every year—NO exceptions.
Skinner bulls meet our needs every time.
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Ron, Kim, and Tim are very easy to work with and are a great help with bull selection. In fact, in all the years we’ve used Skinner bulls, I’ve only been to two sales. Their judgment, knowledge of their cattle, and honesty make buying sight unseen an easy option.
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As long as I’m in the business and Skinners are raising bulls, I plan to be a customer.
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Nels DeBruycker
Parker Cattle Co.
Logan, UT
I have been purchasing bulls from the Skinner Ranch for almost 15 years. I continue to purchase bulls there for the little things they are constantly striving to improve within their program. Their focus on disposition, udder structure, teat size, feet and legs, pelvic width and reproductive efficiency are just some of the things that are critical to all commercial operations.
I have seen them pass up getting bigger several times to not sacrifice quality. In short, I continue purchasing bulls from the Skinner Ranch because of what I see them continue to do with their females and how that influences my herd.
Jason Parker
Pratt Ranch
Kooskia, ID
We have been using SRS bulls for 14 years. We run on the steep breaks of the Clearwater River. SRS bulls have worked great for us; they are sound and extremely athletic, have no trouble traveling the hillsides, and hold their flesh very well.
I have also liked SRS bulls because I know what I am getting and have a good idea how their offspring will develop and perform. The countless hours Skinners have spent looking for their herd sires and the criteria they require for a cow to be in their herd takes a lot of the guesswork out of bull buying.
Chad Pratt
Root Ranch
Scotia, NE
Bill and Penny Root of Scotia, Nebraska run 180 cows at a family farm on the eastern edge of the Sandhills. We purchased our first two Optimizer bulls from Skinner Ranch in 2004 and have been satisfied customers ever since.
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The herd we started with 35 years ago, included females purchased from a couple different seedstock producers and some black baldy lease cows. There was not a lot of uniformity in terms of size, type, temperament or nutritional needs and there were health concerns to address. We made some improvement over time, but when we brought in the Skinner bulls we began to see very encouraging progress.
Weaning weights increased while the cow size moderated. The udder and prolapse problems that plagued us were eliminated. From year one, we were impressed with the vigor and will-to-live of the baby calves. It’s very unusual to have any type of calving problem. These really are problem-free cattle.
The herd adapts so well to changes in available feedstuff. They are easy keepers and make great use of winter forage. We especially appreciate the disposition of the Skinner Ranch bulls, as either one of us can walk out in the pen or pasture and move them.
Our marketing plan depends on the resources available and what we think the market will do. Some years we sell shortly after weaning and other years we grow the calves for a while. Either way the cattle have been profitable and we’re so pleased with how they look in the ring. Lots of length and thickness, adequate frame and very uniform. The maternal traits they emphasize, such as soundness, good udders and longevity are very predictable in females sired by their bulls and retained in the herd.
One reason the bulls have worked so well for us is the good advice we’ve gotten from Ron, Tim and Kim over the years. They’ve seen our cows and listened to what our needs are, and given very honest feedback about which bulls might be a fit. We’ve had a few opportunities to stop at their ranch but we made all our selections based on the catalog and videos along with talking to the Skinner family. They are trustworthy and really care about their customers’ satisfaction.
Skinner Ranch Seedstock bulls prove their value in our herd and they are the only kind we own.
Bill & Penny Root
Tyler Ranch
Moore, MT
I'm a third generation farmer/rancher from central Montana. My ancestors came from Iowa in the 30s. I mostly farm, but also run about 200 cows. Since most of my efforts are directed to the farming, early on I looked for help to improve my cow herd and found it in Ron Skinner.
I purchased bulls in his first sale in 1987 and nearly every one since. It's been the best kept secret in the bull business. His knowledge, expertise, and veterinary skills have taken the guess work out of it for me. Not only his emphasis on bulls that work but his quest to build the perfect cow has formed a great balance. The traits we all look for: weaning weight, calving ease, disposition, maternal ability, and bull soundness have always been there. I've always been impressed with their length and thickness.
I've also purchased numerous females from Ron, and their fertility and longevity has been a great asset to my herd. I calve Feb 1st and ship Oct 5th and the weaning weights are consistently 700-750 lbs. That's with no special care and running a high percentage of older cows.
Ron has been very involved in the industry and this bodes well for us all. Now, his sons are continuing the tradition. It's been a great pleasure in my life to know Ron, Bev, and their family. I would recommend SRS to anyone.
Paul Tyler
Wright Ranch
Tuscarora, NV
Our ranch is located in the high desert of northern Nevada. The climate here is sometimes difficult for cattle to adapt to, snowy sometimes cold winters to hot and dusty summers. We are very fortunate to have been buying bulls from Skinner Ranch since 1990 as the Optimizer and Salers genetics fit very well.
The Salers’ maternal influence in their herd, has helped us create a herd of cows that doesn't require a lot of babysitting. They are able to calve on their own, mother, and raise their calves with minimal help from us. Cows get out and travel to feed and water, whether on sparse lower elevation pastures or in steep mountainous summer country.
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In addition, Ron has been so helpful sharing his knowledge of cattle and herd health issues and that has been a tremendous asset to us. The last several years, Tim and Kim have been delivering bulls and are more than helpful keeping us informed about their bulls and breeding program. The integrity of the Skinner family is second to none.
Jay & Glynis Wright
Yoder Angus Ranch
Stevensville, MT
Yoder Angus Ranch is a family owned cow-calf operation in Montana’s Bitterroot valley. We want to thank the Skinner crew for their help with our Angus cattle. Our bulls and some cows come from SRS. Our bottom line is selling calves in the fall. Calves weighing 775 lbs on the heifers and 835 lbs on the steers is really exciting.
These bulls stay sound for a long time. Skinner Ranch cattle will help you reach your goal.
Jake Yoder