King Ranch | Cattle Ranching, Agriculture, Wildlife (2024)

FAQs

What animals are raised on the King Ranch? ›

Over the course of over 160 years, King Ranch led some of the first cattle drives, developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle, bred the finest Quarter Horses, and produced champion Thoroughbreds—all under its iconic Running W® brand.

King Ranch is home to tens of thousands of migratory birds as well as many game and non-game species, including bobwhite quail, white-tailed deer, nilgai antelope, and Rio Grande turkey. King Ranch stewards what is probably the largest and most diverse population of wildlife on a single ranch in the nation.

Beginning in about 1910, the ranch began to develop the breed of beef cattle known as Santa Gertrudis, which is part Brahman and part Shorthorn. Oil and gas leases, first contracted in the 1940s, provided additional income.

Around the World and Back

Together, they initiated a series of innovations that kept King Ranch successful and at the leading edge of the ranching industry. This era saw the development of mechanized brush control methods and innovative corrals for working cattle.

Ranchers commonly raise grazing animals such as cattle and sheep. Some ranchers also raise elk, bison, ostriches, emus, and alpacas. The ranching and livestock industry is growing faster than any other agricultural sector in the world.

Today, King Ranch – Florida is involved in sugar cane, sod, sweet corn, green bean and specialty lettuce production. Additionally, King Ranch is the largest juice orange producer in the United States.

Henrietta King's sole surviving child, Alice Gertrudis Kleberg, and her husband Robert J. Kleberg Jr. inherited over 800,000 acres that were incorporated as the King Ranch in 1934.

Today, King Ranch sprawls across 825,000 acres of South Texas land, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. As the home of 35,000 cattle and over 200 Quarter Horses, King Ranch is one of the largest ranches in the world today.

Every horse on King Ranch is a descendant of OLD SORREL, the foundation sire of King Ranch, and one of the foundation sires of the American Quarter Horse breed. Every horse on the ranch descends from PEPPY SAN BADGER or MR. SAN PEPPY on the top or bottom side.

As of 3 December 2020, the ranch was being sold in accordance with the will of owner Anne Burnett Marion, who had died in February that year; it was listed on the market for a total of $347.7 million. In May 2021, a buyer group represented by screenwriter Taylor Sheridan purchased the ranch.

Does King Ranch get royalties from Ford? ›

Contrary to popular belief, Ford does not have an ownership stake in King Ranch, and King Ranch is to this day a privately owned organization. Ford simply licenses the right to use the King Ranch name, which the company has trademarked.

The mystique of the Kineños is alive and well, and descendants of the original Cruillas residents still live and work on the Ranch today – providing a vital link with the past and giving the Ranch a key aspect of its unique atmosphere.

An entry in James Marten's book Slaves and Rebels: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1861-1865, confirms there were slaves on the King Ranch noting that "When Union troops invaded South Texas and tried to entice slaves away from the King Ranch, a Houston newspaper proudly reported, they "remained with their mistress . ...

The 825,000-acre King Ranch covers nearly 1,300 square miles, an area larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, on four separate Divisions of land known as Santa Gertrudis, Laureles, Norias, and Encino.

After the war that made Texas what it is today, land owned by Mexican-Americans was legally and/or violently taken by scions of the founding father, Captain Richard King, who established one of the largest ranches in the world, today comprising 825,000 acres.

In the early twentieth century, under the leadership of Robert Kleberg Jr. and Dick Kleberg, Sr., King Ranch produced the Santa Gertrudis breed. This breed is recognized worldwide as being able to function productively in hot, humid, and unfavorable environments.

Black and red Angus cattle are popular among beef producers because of their meat quality and marbling. Black Angus has the largest mature weight of any major beef breed and Red Angus weigh a little less, according to Banta.

Ranchos were large sections of land used to raise cattle and sheep and in the beginning were not available for purchase because the land, roads, and trails belonged to the King of Spain.

King Ranch offers a variety of hunts and packages guests can select. You can hunt for nilgai antelope, White-tailed deer, Rio Grande Turkey, Dove, Javelina, Hog, and Archery Hunts.