McFarland Show Cattle operates out of the J Bar M Ranch, a 550-acre cattle ranch located in Montague County Texas. Established in 2005 by John & Meredith Bentley, the ranch was initially used for gathering family and friends and tending a small herd of longhorns. As John’s time freed up due to the sale of his company J Bar M established a herd of registered Black Angus cattle and became a cooperator with 44 Farms.  In 2020 Rawley & Megan McFarland invited the Bentleys to partner with them to expand McFarland Show Cattle.  J Bar M is now a proud partner in McFarland Show Cattle and is pleased to be raising top-notch show cattle.  While cattle are our business, our passion remains faith, family and friends.

Megan grew up on a purebred Charolais operation that moved from Montana to Arizona when she was just four years old. Her family raised and showed heifers and bulls and entered Denver, Houston, Albuquerque and the Arizona National. She participated in the open shows while she was young and then joined 4-H showing steers as soon as she could.

Rawley grew up on a Corriente cattle ranch where his family also raised rope horses. He went on to ride bucking horses and bulls professionally and he found great success while getting the opportunity to compete and learn alongside numerous world champions. Rodeo gave him a love of competition while also being extremely satisfying work. Winning never got old but riding and working on his skillset is what he finds himself missing the most today.

After retiring from rodeo, we made the move to Texas to be closer to family. It was close to this time when our daughter, Madelyn, started showing and going through the Texas majors. Rawley was unsure of the kind of experience the family would get in the show cattle world but after attending a few shows he began to really enjoy the dynamic and family aspect of cattle shows.

When you get started in the show cattle industry and see the way it brings families together and helps children learn to work hard, it’s difficult not to get hooked. That’s exactly what happened to us.

Madelyn quickly fell in love with showing and we put a lot of work in on the cattle as a family. Jason Lawson saw the work we were putting in and believed in us enough to send a few good steers Madelyn’s way. Not long into her show career, Madelyn made the sale at Ft. Worth and our family was hooked. 

Working on the Angus operation at J Bar M raising bulls had been feeding Rawley’s love of genetics but looking into the show cattle world lit a whole new fire under him and his passion for good cattle and knowledge of genetics. Rawley wanted our family to get to a place where we could raise our own calves, not just buy them from others. We watched a lot of shows and paid attention to who was making moves and asked questions of those who were at the top. Rawley studied the genetics that produced the cattle he liked so the family could be prepared to make the initial investment in show cattle. 

The hunt for cattle that worked lead us to Chad Thompson’s operation in South Dakota and the U19 donor. U19 had a proven history producing winners and high selling steers. After several months of talking we set the foundation of McFarland Show Cattle with the purchase of one-half interest in U19.

After acquiring U19, the next step was to purchase recips. The first eggs went in Late November 2021 and the first set of calves are due September 2022. Having a good mix of high quality calves to offer was a priority for us and along with our interest in U19 we also acquired a cow from Brandon Horn and bought embryos from Lautners and Priest Genetics. Our family is excited about this calf crop that should have a variety of colors and types that will work from slick shear to hair calves.

Going all in on quality in the beginning was an important decision for us as we know the value in genetics. These calves should be able to find homes with good families that will help them reach their full potential. Studying pedigrees day in and day out has brought us a confidence in the cattle we are starting this program with. We know what works and what has the ability to be competitive and we could not be more excited to watch this first year unfold.

Starting this journey has been a full circle moment for Megan, her dad had recips and donors and she always thought it was an interesting process and now we’re doing it here. Having both grown up on ranches, we have a huge advantage in our knowledge of stockmanship and knowing how to get one started right. Cattle that are treated and raised correctly will be easier for kids to get in and handle and we will also have the ability to be able to match kids with a calf whose disposition fits them.

We don’t want to just make it, we want to compete with the best. It’s exciting for us to push steers into the weight class that the champions will be selected out of rather than playing it safe and being a couple pounds heavier or lighter than them.

Show cattle are a family endeavor. While Madelyn has played softball and participated in other activities and we both enjoyed rodeo, we don’t believe there’s a better industry or sport that combines everything needed to raise kids and a close family than show cattle. We are excited about where this industry has taken our family so far and look forward to watching our calves help other families raise their kids.

Please feel free to reach out to us at any time to discuss our upcoming calf crop and genetics. We look forward to the future and invite you to be a part of this program with us.