About Speakers

 Nolan Ryan might be best known as a Hall of Fame professional baseball player, but his roots run deep in the cattle industry. Nolan grew up in Alvin, Texas where he bought his first calf for $1 at the age of 10. He confesses that he kept the calf in the garage for a short time. After winning the World Series in 1969 with the New York Mets, Nolan and Ruth bought their first ranch in South Texas. He took his ranching operation seriously, studying cattle management and genetics while he was on the road. That began a 6 decade passion for cattle ranching.

Nolan played professional baseball for 27 seasons and became a baseball legend holding 51 total MLB records, including: 5,714 career strikeouts (next-most is Randy Johnson with 4,875) 7 career no-hitters (next-most is Sandy Koufax with 4). He was named one of 100 greatest baseball players of all time. 

In 2000 he launched Nolan Ryan Branded Beef, with quality beef products available in Texas, Louisiana and the southwest. There are several breeds of cattle on their varied ranch locations, and Nolan is a passionate spokesperson for the cattle industry and the Beefmaster breed.

Married to his high school sweetheart Ruth since 1967, they have 3 children. Sons Reid and Reese followed Nolan into Baseball. Daughter Wendy Ryan Bivins followed her father into ranching, her husband Andrew is the 5thgeneration on the JA ranch near Amarillo.  For his support of the cattle industry, Nolan received the Golden Spur Award from the Ranching Heritage Association. He is also honored in the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Texas Trail of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Joining Nolan will be lifelong rancher Alan Schutts.

Emcee Tom Johnson will lead Cowboy Conversations. He has a longtime friendship with Nolan and Alan. Tom operates 87 Ranch and Johnson Cattle Marketing.