Home in the High Desert Herefords thrive in the high-elevation of an eastern Arizona ranch. by Julie Mais
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ocks peek through the and to relocate to Nutrioso, Ariz. pastures, and mesas In 1952, along with his wife and dot the skyline in the high children, Robert settled outside Across America desert of eastern Arizona, Springerville and began the where a Hereford cattle herd Hooper Hereford Ranch. grazes. Deemed “rough country” Robert’s daughter, Roxanne, by even those who live there, White Mountain and her husband, Galyn Knight, purchased land Herefords, Springerville, Ariz., has thrived in this next to Robert’s and started an operation of their low-precipitate, high-elevation environment own — they raised their three sons, Daric, Lance, for years. and Traegen, in the ranching way. Daric and Patty Knight have been raising “A few years after we got married, my wife said Hereford cattle for nearly two decades on the it was time for us to get cattle of our own,” Daric Little Colorado River Plateau at the base of says. “We purchased a majority of our herd from Arizona’s White Mountains north of Springerville. my grandfather as he was getting older in age. We While White Mountain Herefords was officially got our start out of the Hooper Hereford Ranch established in 2004, the herd’s genetics and cow herd.” Hereford heritage go back much further. After establishing their herd, Daric and In the late 1940s, Daric’s grandfather, Robert Patty began influencing their herd genetics Hooper, chose to leave the Texas lumber business with bulls from Hutchens Herefords, Fallon,
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