A brand is a brand, no matter where we hang our hat in Oklahoma. In late 2019, we moved our operation from Greer County, Oklahoma, to Elmore City, Oklahoma for better grass and water. Today, the family operation consists of three generations of the Balentine family working side-by-side on the registered and commercial Angus operation
Jeff Balentine, the owner of J-Buckle Ranch, grew up farming and ranching with his family in Greer County. He attended Oklahoma State University studying computer science and mathematics, which afforded him the opportunity to spend over 20 years in the computer high-tech business. Jeff, along with his children and father, Ron Balentine, are developing a progressive ranch using the beef industry’s latest management tools.
Our history, like many of the families in Oklahoma, started with the land rush, cattle drives pushing north from Texas, and the search for a better life. After years of migrating within the United States, our family found the extreme southwest corner of Oklahoma, the "empire" of Greer County, to be home.
During cattle drives from northern and central Texas to Dodge City, Kansas in the late 1870s, a few cowboys were impressed with the good, tall grass in what is now Mangum, Oklahoma, in Greer County. They would let cattle in poor condition remain behind in the Mangum area, while the healthier cattle continued to Kansas. Cowboys were left behind to tend to the animals and soon ranches were established in Mangum.
The brand of one large cattle company was the letter J and then a buckle. This outfit became known as the JayBuckle. Their foreman kept their cattle near a spring four miles north of the present town of Reed. This spring is known today as J-Buckle Springs.
