Legendary cattleman shares five decades of wisdom on cattle procurement, video auctions, and risk management strategies
When Richard Stober attended his first livestock auction as a child, he had no idea he’d go on to become one of the most influential figures in the cattle industry. In a recent episode of the We Live It podcast, this third-generation cattleman sat down with Live Ag COO Ty DeCordova and Blue Reef AgriMarketing’s Casey Mabry to share the incredible journey that took him from weekend auctions with his father to handling over 380,000 head of cattle annually.
Building a Foundation: Early Years in the Cattle Business
Born in 1947 in California, Stober’s education in the livestock industry began at his father’s side. “I went with him ever since diapers,” Stober recalls. His father, Ernest “Red” Stober, was a packer buyer who preferred teaching through experience rather than direct answers. “He would create more questions,” Stober remembers. “I would go with him and ask ‘what will they yield?’ And he’d tell me, ‘well, you write it down what you think they’ll yield and then we’ll check.'”
This hands-on approach shaped Stober’s analytical mindset and deep understanding of cattle value—skills that would prove invaluable throughout his career. As a young man, he gained experience on every side of the industry, from harvesting baby Holstein calves for veal to working in a packing house pushing cattle up the kill ramp.
Pioneering Video Cattle Auctions
Perhaps Stober’s most significant contribution to the cattle industry came in 1980 when he helped revolutionize cattle marketing. Facing 2,100 heifers on pasture in uncertain market conditions, Stober and his partners had an innovative idea: what if buyers could see cattle on video instead of traveling to view them in person?
“Video technology had just come out and we went and bought a video camera and recorder,” Stober explains. “The recording box weighed 25 pounds and it had a big old strap on it and some batteries and we had a camera that the second person had to hold.”
In April 1980, they held the first-ever video cattle auction at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California, offering 15,000 head. The timing was challenging—the futures market had hit limit down just seven days before the sale. But the auction proceeded with strict rules: all cattle had to sell (no reserves), and only first-hand cattle (no trader cattle) were allowed.
Despite initial skepticism and some dramatic moments at the sale, the concept proved viable. This pioneering effort evolved into Western Video Market and helped establish video cattle auctions as a legitimate marketing channel that continues to grow today.
Building Volume: From Stockers to Superior
Following the video auction success, Stober expanded his stocker cattle operation dramatically. With the financial backing of Bob Fulton, whom Stober calls his “angel financer,” he built a business running 12,000 to 15,000 stocker cattle annually on grass. “The year before I met Ty, I had handled 120,000 cattle and it had been that way for four or five years,” Stober notes.
His success attracted attention from a Fort Worth-based video auction company, which hired him as general manager in 2007. There, Stober created the groundbreaking “Value Added” concept of marketing cattle. Partnering with Pfizer Corporation, he developed the Enhanced Vaccination Program, which ensured buyers received healthy animals while creating value for both parties. From 2007 to 2009, under Richard’s direction, the video auction company offered 4.7 million cattle for sale.
The Harris Ranch Years
In 2010, Stober received a career-defining call from Dave Wood, CEO and COO of Harris Ranch Feeding Company. The opportunity to lead cattle procurement for California’s largest feeding operation—120,000 head capacity—was what Stober describes as “one of those aspirational things that I kind of always wanted to do.”
For fourteen years, Stober managed to buy 1,150 cattle daily for Harris Ranch, plus an additional 75,000 to 100,000 head annually for Wood Livestock’s ranches and feedlots. “I had one 80-year-old man that went to three sales a week for four hours at each one,” Stober explains about his lean operation. “I bought 350,000 to 380,000 cattle a year.”
His wife Nancy would ask why he didn’t want to talk when he got home. “I’d tell her, I’ve had 104 calls on my phone today, you know? And so all my visiting was pretty much used up by the time I got home.”
The Philosophy That Built a Career
Throughout the conversation, Stober repeatedly emphasized the principles that guided his success: “Love what you do, work hard and help others along the way. Most importantly, never stop being a student of your craft.”
This philosophy of continuous learning served him well across multiple cattle cycles. As Mabry noted, “You’ve been in this business for three or four cattle cycles. Most of us have been through one or two.”
Stober’s approach to mentoring reflects this same philosophy. “I’ve had a dozen proteges, and I tell them the same thing. If you work hard and you’re a student of what you do and you’re honest, no matter what happens, you’ll make it.”
Risk Management Wisdom for Today’s Market
With feeder cattle at all-time highs, Stober’s insights on risk management are particularly relevant. His recommendation? Establish a clear profit objective.
“One of the things that you need to establish is what’s your profit objective?” Stober emphasizes. “That brings a point of clarity. If you’re buying cattle that make X and they get to X, sell them. And you’ll be there for the last of the market.”
This disciplined approach contrasts with the emotion-driven decisions many producers make. As deCordova observed, “If we look back and see all the wrecks that have happened, I want to say 80% of them are due to greed. They ran past that profit objective.”
Stober advocates for forward contracting through video auctions as “a perfect hedge” without margin calls. “There are no margin calls. You’ll put some down money maybe, but you’re set and you have a bit of weather risk on gain, but you can take care of part of that or all of it with a slide and a decent estimate.”
The Value of Predictable Performance
Drawing on his packer background, Stober highlighted the importance of cattle that meet consistent performance expectations. He discussed the remarkable performance of F1 Angus-dairy crosses, which he fed extensively at Harris Ranch. A recent small pen of heifers graded 27% prime with 47% CAB and upper-third choice—numbers that demonstrate the predictability packers value.
“We were $50,000 to $60,000 ahead on purchases of those things,” Stober notes about the economic advantage. “They just performed up and past every expectation.”
For stocker operators buying cattle, Stober recommends video auctions where you can purchase directly from ranches with known reputations. “If I buy Ty’s cattle and they perform up to my expectation, I’m gonna bid on them again. If they exceed my expectation, I’m gonna try my hardest to buy them.”
Looking Forward
In 2022, Stober achieved what many in the cattle business aspire to: the ability to choose when to work. Now semi-retired in Purcell, Oklahoma, he still feeds cattle in Texas and Nebraska while staying current on business news, world events, and cattle industry developments.
His legacy extends beyond the millions of cattle he’s handled. In 2024, Stober was inducted into the Cattle Marketing Hall of Fame—an honor he attributes simply to “getting to stick around” and being a lifelong student of the industry.
For the next generation of cattle marketers, Stober’s final piece of wisdom is simple yet profound: stay disciplined, establish clear objectives, and never stop learning. As he reminds producers navigating today’s volatile markets, “It’ll always do the same thing. You just have to watch the news and try to inflect that into what somebody else is thinking might do to your operation.”
In an industry where less than 2% of cattle sold annually go through video markets, Stober sees enormous potential for growth. His pioneering vision from 1980 continues to shape how cattle are marketed today, and his wisdom on risk management, profit objectives, and consistent performance standards remains as relevant as ever for producers navigating unprecedented market conditions.