Kohlhaas Cattle Co., Iowa

We are excited to feature one of our recent cattle website designs, Kohlhaas Cattle Co. of Lu Verne, Iowa.

The Kohlhaas family came to us earlier in 2012 because they really liked the work we had done for lots of other Iowa club calf producers, and also the website we had just done for Cyclone Trace.

And, no surprise, when we got the design instructions for KCC, guess what their design preference was....Red and Gold, Iowa State colors.

We love working with customers of all backgrounds, but family farms are always special to us. Kohlhaas Cattle Company is a 3-generation family cattle and grain farm. Their business began in 1989, when they bought their first club calf for a 4-H project at the Kossuth County Fair.

Like many others in the business, once they had that first calf, they were hooked. The Kohlhaas's said that that first calf ignited a passion within their entire family and motivated them to work harder each year to grow their success in the show cattle industry.

I guess if you had to say what is the most unique thing about this family, it would be their niche in market heifers. They are pretty much the experts on market heifers. In fact, they have exhibited FOUR grand champion market heifers at the Iowa State Fair and also two reserve grand champion market heifers at the Iowa State Fair. So yeah, they are the people that when you see them in your class, you are silently bummed because you know they'll be so hard to beat!

Since that first calf in 1989, more than 20 years ago, KCC has developed a respected program with proven consistency in the show ring. They use their experiences from what they learned while showing all those champions to help their clients.

This really was an awesome group to work with -- and I hope you will check them out at http://kohlhaascattleco.com.

And yeah, if you are in the market for a market heifer -- you know where to go!

Rachel Cutrer & Cari Rincker win Awards at A&M

Earlier this month we were very excited to celebrate two young women winning big awards at Texas A&M!

Rachel Cutrer and Cari Rincker (a client of RHD) were selected as the two winners of the TAMU Outstanding Young Alumni award from the College of Ag.

Here are the 2 videos about the winners, we are really happy for them!
Rachel's Video:

Cari's Video:

Moore Land & Cattle :: Jerseyville, Illinois

We love working with family businesses in the cattle business and our newest website is a great example of families working together and having a great time!

We made contact with Moore Land and Cattle through an old Shorthorn / MSU connection with our good friend Robbie Duis, who is now working at Moore Land & Cattle.

And, just check out this picture! Isn't it awesome! It's not every day that you can find four purple banners from the Denver stock show! WOW!

The Moore operation is located in Jerseyville, Illinois, and includes mostly Simi and Maine cattle, but they also have Angus, Shorthorn, Charolais, and some club calves. The Moore's will be hosting their fall production sale on October 6th. They are about an hour and a half from Illinois State Fair and they are inviting anyone to come out and look at the calves while you are at the fair.

This is an awesome family, and we are honored to do their website. Check out all of their winners at http://moorelandandcattle.com/winners.html...you will quickly recognize some of the recent greats in the Shorthorn and Maine and Simi breeds.

Thanks to the Moore family for choosing RHD!!!

3K Land & Cattle :: Texas Red Angus Breeders

Word of mouth referrals is one of the biggest ways we get new clients at RHD, and that is sort of how we first developed a relationship with 3K Land & Cattle.

For many years, we have handled the website for the Texas Red Angus Association. During this time, we made a friendship and working relationship with Judy Kay Ferguson, who volunteered for TRAA on their website. Through working with her on that site, we made contact and enjoyed working with this volunteer who was always organized and pleasant to work with.

Recently, Judy Kay decided she needed a website for her own ranch, 3K Land & Cattle, and she immediately came to RHD. We loved this project. The 3K site has a very western, ranchy look which is one of our favorite design styles.

3K Land & Cattle is a family owned and operated ranch located in the north Texas town of Drop, Texas. It was originally started by Wayne & Judy Kay Ferguson and originally had crossbred cattle. Wayne and his youngest daughter Brenna went to an auction to purchase "A" show heifer and came back with 13 heifers! Today the ranch is managed by Judy Kay and son-in-law Kyle DeVoe. The DeVoe family lives on the ranch and Kyle manages the day to day operations.

So how did they get the name 3K? It stands for the three females in the family...Judy Kay, Amanda Kay, and Brenna Kay! A family tradition continues with the next 3K generation....Karlee Kay, Kenedy Kay DeVoe and Emerson Kay Owens!

Big Jim's Cattle Service :: California

With a name like Big Jim's Cattle Service, you can't help but want to check out this website!

Big Jim's Cattle Service is owned by Jim Vietheer of California, who also is the onwer of HAVE Angus, another RHD website client.

Jim started this business in the late 80’s with hoof trimming services. He purchased a hoof trimming table because he didn’t like to wait for other hoof trimmers to come to him, and he wanted to trim his own way. Over the years it has grown to be a state wide business trimming almost exclusively beef cattle and show cattle.

Later, Jim began selling WW Livestock Equipment and WW Paul Scales. With retirement from his day job in 2008, and the growing sales business, Jim has been able to concentrate on more equipment sales and HAVE Angus. Due to Jim's relationship with Kirby Kelly, Bo Sanders, and Penny Edwards at the WW Paul Scales Division in Duncan OK, he has become a major source in California and beyond.

The third part of this Jim's diversified business is a small amount of custom fitting almost exclusively for the Red Bluff Bull Sale where he takes bulls for producers who either cannot or don’t have the expertise to take their bulls to the sale. Over the last 20+ years he has helped many breeders by allowing them to present and market their product with great success including many breed champions and sale starters.

As you can clearly see, Big Jim loves the agriculture industry and working with cattle people. Check out this great site at http://bigjimscattleservice.com/index.html.

PLJ Enterprises : Elk City, Oklahoma

As RHD continues to expand in serving different industries, one of the industries in which we are experience tremendous growth is web design for the oil and gas industry. We have been working with lots of clients who serve the oil and gas industry and it is always enjoyable for us to do these projects.

One of our newest websites to go up in July is PLJ Enterprises, LLC, based out Elk City, Oklahoma. PLJ Enterprises offers a variety of necessity services for the oil and gas business. Owned by Daryle Perry and Mitch Louis, the company brings forth a combined 50 plus year of experience working in the oil and gas industry.

So what exactly do they do? Hydro excavating, mud pit cleaning, tank cleaning, and more. The employees at PLJ Enterprise are extremely experienced in their field and are also as dedicated to customer satisfaction as the individuals who became the business.

While most of our blog readers are probably more interested in the ag industry, PLJ is a great site to visit because they are a great company serving the needs of a very exciting industry.Visit them at www.pljenterprisesllc.com to check them out.

Four Oaks Shooting Sports :: Texas

Another new website going up (making this new web site #79 for 2012) this week and it's one that we love!

Four Oaks Shooting Sports is a specially designed training facility located on the famous Mound Creek Brangus Ranch in Leona, Texas.

And just as a side note, I love Mound Creek Ranch! It is owned by my friend Eddie Blazek with lots of help from consultant Tracy Holbert. This duo selected one of my polled Brahman cows for a flush about 10 years ago to start some of their foundation Brangus. I always look forward to seeing them at Houston each year. These guys are great!

So back to Four Oaks Shooting Sports. Currently, someone else does Mound Creek Ranch's website and I always give Eddie a hard time when I see him about why he doesn't get me to do his site since we are friends! So when they needed a new website for this new venture, they finally gave me a chance! :)

We began working with Tracy Holbert initially on this site,which began with logo development for the business. We created the logo you see here with the four oak trees and the rustic look. We felt like this website was designed in a great way to capture the essence of the facility. Four Oaks Shooting Sports is becoming a great training facility since it is located so close to Dallas / Fort Worth, but has all the charm of small town life. The facility has some great bunkhouses, beautiful sunsets, and even serves Brangus steaks straight off the grill!

Though I'm not a shooting sports enthusiasts, it's easy to see that this is a one-of-a-kind facility. I hope you will check it out at http://fouroaksshootingsports.com/index.html and be sure to tell them RHD sent you!

Barber Ranch :: Channing, Texas

Oh boy are we excited to post this new website!
We have been working on the new website for Barber Ranch since early spring, and it is one that we are exceptionally proud of. 


We began working with the Barbers back in 2001, and they were one of our first website clients back in the days of "Two Girls Web Design." I had known the Barbers for forever through showing in TCCA. I mean let's be honest, if you're from Texas, and you hear the word Hereford, Barber is one of the first names that comes to mind. Actually, that probably remains true for the whole U.S. When you think of top Hereford show cattle and commercial bulls, the Barbers have an excellent reputation of quality cattle. 


We had done their website from 2001 to 2004, when they decided to switch to another firm. The period of 2003 to 2004 was one where our business was in a transition as I worked for Texas A&M full time. Because of my full time job, most of my website work was done at night and on the weekends, so at that time the Barbers wanted to switch to a company that did web design full time. I totally understood and though we didn't do business together anymore, we were still good friends. 


Back last fall, we began talking with the Barbers again about doing their ads and website once again. They had commented that they loved the work we were putting out and realized that now our business had grown to hold 3 full time updaters and a great team of marketing professionals. And we were thrilled to gain their business once again!


We began working on their sale ads for their Cowtown Classic sale. Emily traveled up to Fort Worth to photograph their sale. Then we began the process of the new website, which went live today.

Their website is one of my all time favorites. I'll admit I have a weakness for good Hereford cattle. Especially ones shown by adorable little girls like this one...


I hope you will visit www.barberranch.com to see our recent work and their great Hereford cattle. Thanks Barber Ranch for coming back to RHD!!!


P.S. Barber Ranch is part of our growing list of high profile Hereford clients. We have even more on the way that will be unveiled throughout the spring and fall! If you are a Hereford breeder we would love to give you a quote. We also have two great Hereford gals on our team if you prefer to talk to one of them. KC Kinder is available at kc@ranchhousedesigns.com or Ashley Middleswarth at ashley@ranchhousedesigns.com.

Eaves Angus Genetics :: Oklahoma Angus Website

We always find it enjoyable to work with new Angus clients on their website, and we are happy to present our latest creation: Eaves Angus Genetics. 


Over the past few months we have seen a tremendous growth in the # of Angus websites we are designing here at RHD, and we are very thankful to the Angus breeders who are choosing to use us for their designs. We are currently doing 34 Angus websites with the list growing every day. 

One of the things we enjoy about working with Angus clients is their passion for education and knowledge. Eaves Angus Genetics is at the top of this list, because they are extremely driven in their quest for performance.  In fact, their motto is EAG: The Prefix for Performance.

Eaves Angus Genetics is based out of Atoka, Oklahoma with the goal to provide bulls to the commercial cattleman containing the genetics that allow them to be profitable. With this goal, owner Ryan Eaves believes in using the total package of information available to best make his breeding and management decisions. He uses all available resources such as performance data, EPDs, index values, and carcass information to offer a sound information base to our clientele. Then, he applies stringent selection criteria to the EAG cowherd focusing on traits like fertility, conformation, and structural soundness. 


After working with Ryan, we quickly learned one thing: He gets it. He gets the beef industry and he realizes that his #1 customer is the commercial cattleman and he works hard to raise bulls that will work for the commercial-man. And that is something we can all appreciate, and relate to in the beef industry!

We hope you will check out Eaves Angus Genetics. Stacey handled the design on this one and Jessica did the content work. We think it's a great design, but also backed with great information and some awesome Angus pictures.  

Vansickle Cattle Co :: Indiana

One of our newest websites to go up is Vansickle Cattle Co., a cattle operation in Fortville, Indiana. We began working with the Vansickle's last year by helping them create custom graphics for their blog. They had previously had a website done elsewhere, and when their contract was up with that designer they wanted to switch to RHD because they were so pleased with the service we had offered on the blog design. 

 Working with Dave Vansickle is a joy. We had known of him through social media contacts because we followed him on twitter. We always enjoyed reading his thought-provoking posts and also his humorous posts too! Definiely check out @VCC_Cattle on twitter. 

Just like so many of our customers in the show cattle sector, the Vansickles are a family owned business that works together in everything they do. Dave began the business in 1999. While he was going after the club calf market, Dave is one of those smart cattlemen who also understands there is a material side to this business too. So yes, he works hard to raise high caliber show steers, but he also is just as concerned about the females. Because of this, VCC has become known as a great place to buy show steers and replacement females that can raise those clubby show steers too. 

The folks at VCC aren't 'cattle traders.' They know the business and they put their hearts into everything they do on the farm. Selection, high standards, and planned matings go into the success of VCC. They also match their cattle with a great program of customer service and integrity. Dave loves helping young folks and is happy to help every step along the way. That is one of the reasons we are so proud to work with this new client. 

Check them out at http://vansicklecattleco.com/. If you are in the market for a club calf or a club calf momma, VCC is a place to go!

Baughman Show Cattle :: Ohio

At RHD, we take extreme pride in developing long term relationships with our clients, and in many cases we have clients we have handled the advertising accounts of for 10 years or more.

We began working with Baughman Show Cattle about 5 years ago, and the only project we did for them was to design their August ads every August. So once a year, we would hear from the Baughmans, and design their ad, and each time was a great experience.

The Baughman operation started out in 1982 with Jim and Amber Baughman, a brother and sister team that showed in 4-H and FFA. In 1997, Jim started selling cattle and helping other families with their calves. After a few years, in 2000, the younger Jim and his wife Nancy teamed up with Jim, Sr. to start selling cattle on a much larger scale. Things grew even further in 2004 and the Baughmans have continually been selling high quality cattle every year since.

This year, when the Baughmans contacted us again to do their ad, they also asked about a website and a blog. They were currently working with another design firm for their website but inquired about moving everything over to us. We were honored.

The Baughman team already had a blog set up, which they were updating themselves. All they needed was for RHD to do some matching graphics and spruce up the design, so they didn't just have the same old template everyone else did. We were able to do this in a day.

Next, we went to work on their new website, which is now up at http://www.baughmanshowcattle.com. Their annual sale will be held September 11 and will be an online sale this year. We hope you will visit this new site for a great cattle family!

Rhyner Construction Services :: Rio Hondo, TX

When we first began the new website project for Rhyner Construction Services, Inc., we began with designing their new logo which would be used in all of their advertising pieces. 

I took on this task and began working on selecting the artwork of heavy equipment to be used as the main element of the design. She thought it was awesome. When we sent it to the client....they loved it, all except one thing: The heavy equipment was a SNOW PLOW.

What do I know? I'm not a heavy equipment expert by any means. But the funny thing about it is that Rhyner Construction services is located in...drumroll...Rio Hondo, Texas. For those of you northern friends, this is just about darn near Mexico. So the whole Rhyner team got a big kick of me trying to use a snow plow for their logo in a place who's average temperature year-round is probably around 90 degrees!

LOGO FIXED. 

We are really proud to launch the new website for Rhyner Construction Services, Inc. - you can visit it at http://www.rhynerinc.com.  This is a family owned and operated business, serving the south Texas construction industry since 1999. They are full service contractor with over 20 years of experience.

One of the best things about working with the Rhyner team is that they perform 95 percent of our work "in-house". They can handle anything from asphalt paving; site construction; earthwork, base, & subbase; curb & gutter; concrete & concrete paving; concrete structures; domestic water; sanitary sewers; flexible base; and storm water pollution prevention. They also offer work in sidewalks; caliche roads and pads; hauling; minor structures and landscaping.

We are so happy to be working with this great business and invite you to check them out at http://www.rhynerinc.com.

Turkey Feather Ranch :: Ada, OK

If you love Herefords then Turkey Feather Ranch is definitely one of our new websites you will want to check out.

Turkey Feather Ranch was founded in 1957 and since then, has continued a commitment to building a Polled Hereford program of functional and complete cattle.

In 2007, Rindy & Ernie Bacon took over the operation and since that time have been aggressively working on building up the herd through elite donor females and herd sires that are popular throughout the country.

We worked on this site a great deal with their marketing consultant, Paul Maulsby, a good friend of RHD. While working on the site we especially enjoyed seeing the pictures of their herd bulls like STAR TCF Lock N Load, the 2011 National Champion Hereford bull in Fort Worth and 2010 National Champion Bull in Louisville.

Another favorite was STAR Shock-Wave 131Y, the 2012 National Champion in Denver.

So as you can see Turkey Feather Ranch doesn't play around! They are home of 3 past national champions (2012, 2011, and 2010) and their love of the Hereford breed is evident to anyone who visits the site. Check it out! We hope you enjoy!

Bonham Show Cattle :: Newcastle, OK

One of our newest sites to go up is a new website for Bonham Show Cattle of Newcastle, OK and Hempstead, TX, www.bonhamshowcattle.com.

Bonham Show Cattle is actually a firm that began as a client of RHD in 2003. Through the years, the firm decide  to work with other individuals or firms for various reasons or another. Earlier in the year, the firm began visiting with RHD again and realized that they wanted to bring their business back to Ranch House Designs, Inc.

Now we have to be honest, sometimes when this happens, we tell people to go take a hike. But in most cases, we find all of our clients to be pleasant to work with and we were happy and excited to begin working with the Bonham team once again.

One of the nice things about their website was the decision to separate their winners pages into two groups: Slick winners and haired winners. This was Steve's suggestion personally...not that he knows anything about marketing cattle ha ha! :) He pointed out that slick steer winners are different than haired winners, and that it made better since to have them displayed separately. We totally agreed, and honestly thought why hadn't we thought of that before! So we thought it will be interesting now to see how many other firms began to separate out their website pages to have separate pages for haired and slick cattle. Great idea there Steve!

So we invite you to check out the new site, and to always keep Bonham in mind for your show steer and club calf needs.

Flycatcher Farm :: Brownsboro, TX Angus & Simmental Breeder

More websites going up, and this one is a great one!
Flycatcher Farm is owned by Joe and Kathy Smith of Brownsboro, Texas.

Suprisingly, before we did this website I had never heard of Brownsboro, Texas. Brownwood, yes. Brownsville, yes. But not Brownsboro.

So where is this town? It's a small town located in East Texas located on Highway 31 about halfway between Athens and Tyler. And if you're an Angus and Simmental person, you'll probably be getting more familiar with this name because it is the home of Flycatcher Farm!

This farm has established a top notch set of donors, including Simmental donors from Hudson Pines and Texas A&M University and Angus donors from top herds.

We really enjoyed working on this project because it gave us an opportunity to work with Paul Maulsby, who is their herd consultant. Paul is a very talented individual in the beef industry and it is always a pleasure to bounce around new ideas with him! We are excited about working with Paul to use our mutual expertise to help promote the Flycatcher program.

So we invite you to check it out at www.flycatchercattle.com!

On a side note, this makes our 32nd Angus website that we have designed. Idk if the Angus people are just now hearing of RHD or what :) But we have more Angus websites on our lists to be designed than any other breed. Maybe it's all those Angus burgers we've been eating lately from McDonalds that's giving us good karma. Regardless, it's always fun to do websites where we see those lovely Angus donor females and to work with Angus breeders. Thanks y'all!!

Crafty Cattle : Cattle Gifts

Get out your credit cards, because after reading this blog I'm  pretty sure every one is going to want to order one of these awesome "Crafty Cattle" wooden cutout gifts.  

Crafty Cattle is a family owned business that offers custom wooden cattle cutouts to show the pride of cattlemen. They look great as home decor, desk decor, or home decorative accents. Crafty Cattle is a partnership between father-and-son Michael and Cody Bond. They were referred to us by their relative Levi Bond, who has been a longtime client of RHD. 

If you visit their website, you can see all of the great items they offer, ranging from business card holders to clocks to wooden cutouts. 

To place an order, call Mike Bond at 580 231 2257 or email mikebond00759@yahoo.com.

Bush Show Goats : San Juan Bautista, California

RHD is cranking out the new websites, with 10 new sites going up in June so far...and more to come! As the world's best livestock advertising agency, we are proud to be the web designer for not just cattle producers, but horse enthusiasts, rodeo professionals, showpig breeders, and show lamb and goat breeders.

Our newest website to go up is Bush Show Goats from San Juan Bautista, California....better known as the home of Maximus.

I have to admit, I was really excited to do this website when I saw it come across our production calendar. Here at RHD, the way our production process works is that usually Tricia is the first contact for people. She does all the initial organization, legwork, pricing, etc. When the project is booked and ready to design, it goes in our project bins and is assigned to a designer. So for me, I'm a designer, and lots of times I don't know what project I'll be working on that day until I pick up my project from our bins.

So when I saw Bush Show Goats, from California, I thought...is this the same Bush family that judges Shorthorn shows? I looked on the folder and saw that the proofing contact was Dustin Bush. So I worked up the design, and asked him if he was related to Dan Bush from California. Turns out he was! I was so excited because I have shown under Dan Bush several times with our Shorthorns, and always find it a pleasure. So I was really excited.

I had no idea that the Bush family even raised show goats. I just knew Mr. Bush was a cattle judge so I thought cattle was their main focus. Turns out they have some great goats too! Just check out Maximus!

The Bush family is one of the many clients from California that we are excited to meet when we head out to the California State Fair later this summer. We think they are a great family and we are honored to be working with them.

Website: http://www.bushshowgoats.com
Project Team: Tricia, Liz, Stacey, Jessica

Curtin Land & Cattle :: Blue Mound, IL

Don't you just love the family pride you get when you visit the new website for Curtin Land & Cattle? One look at this classy and elegant site and you can tell that the Curtin family loves being a family business and loves Angus cattle!

The Curtin family runs about 200 head of registered Angus cattle and also maintain a corn and soybean farm. They have been in the Angus business more than 75 years.

During this time, one thing is for sure, they believe in 'The Business Breed.'  John Curtin, Fred Curtin, and T.J. Curtin have all served the Angus associations in various leadership roles, with T.J. serving as president of the Illinois Angus Association just last year. They love the breed and it shows.

We always love working with family businesses. To us, the picture down at the bottom of their website is just amazing. We love seeing father-and-son gazing out into the pasture of pretty Angus cows. That's what it's all about!!

The Curtin Land & Cattle site is just one of the many top Angus websites designed by RHD. We currently handle over 30 web sites for Angus breeders coast to coast, including many of the top Angus operations. If you're an Angus breeder, give us a call and let us give you a quote on designing your new website or giving your existing website a fresh new look. 

Cyclone Trace Cattle Company : Clarion, Iowa

At RHD, one of the things we always say is that we have the honor of working with the best breeders in the business. And though it sounds cliche, it really is true. Cyclone Trace Cattle Company is one of these breeders that is known as "the best of the best."  Within the past 5 years, they have totally emerged as one of the most competitive and consistent Shorthorn show cattle firms in the nation. Based out of Clarion, Iowa, the CYT team knows what it takes to reach the top by raising outstanding Shorthorn cattle matched by a great team of customer service!

Cyclone Trace has been an RHD customer since 2007, making that 5 years of putting their confidence in our team. Earlier in the year, we began working with Sarah Hunter on a new look for the CYT website. It was a great project from day one. Sarah is a marketing professional in her own right and gave us great material and photos to work with. Stacey led the design team on this project and the design she created was fantastic. It really brought a whole new level tot he CYT marketing program, and especially gave an updated look to their website that was designed in 2007. 

For this site, we went with the best of the best. Lots of flash slide shows, great photos, and great content. We are so excited to publish this one for everyone to look at! Check out the new look at www.cyclonetrace.com. 

PROJECT TEAM: Sarah Hunter of CYT, Stacey Shanks, Jessica Hobbs

Ippensen Family Shorthorns :: Bowen, Illinois

When you visit the Ippensen Family Shorthorns website, the first thing you see says "Showing Cattle Is A Family Affair...And That's No Bull!"

And if you know the Ippensen Family, nothing could be more true. This family has been loving the Shorthorn breed and the cattle business since 1958.

As you can see from the name, the business is a family operation, owned by Darrell Ippensen and his wife Luann, along with their children Kyle & Christina.  Throughout the years they have travelled thousands of miles across the country with their Shorthorn cattle. The family's love for Shorthorns, and youth programs in general, earned them the Hancock County 4-H Family of the Year Award in 2005. They raised the 1978 National Champion Shorthorn Heifer, and were also inducted into the Shorthorn Breeders Hall of Fame in 1988. Daughter Christina is a former National Shorthorn Lassie Queen, and the family has served as a national voting delegate on many occassions.

A quick look at the site and you can see that family and Shorthorns rule the roost at Ippensen Family Shorthorns. We are excited to publish their new site!  On a side note, Christina will be representing RHD at several state fairs this summer as one of our photographers. She will be capturing candid moments at lots of different events in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Look for her work on the RHD facebook page!

PROJECT TEAM: Darrell Ippensen and Christina Miller of Ippensen Family Shorthorns, Liz Tovar, Stacey Shanks, Jessica Hobbs