About Houck Rock Creek Ranch
High-Quality, Kansas-Raised Black Polled Simmental & SimAngus Cattle
The Houcks have been raising homegrown Simmental and SimAngus cattle on their family-owned ranch for more than 50 years. Houck Ranch began as a commercial cow-calf operation that sold steers and commercial females and raised hay and row crops. Jim Houck and his father ran the operation until Jim married his wife, Jean, and she also became an integral part of the ranch. Jim and Jean have four children: Cindy, Jimmy, Jeff, and Brandon. All four kids attended Kansas State University, and Jeff returned to the ranch following graduation.
When Jeff came home, the Houcks began using Simmental bulls on their females and eventually started registering their cattle. It didn’t take long for Jeff and Jim to turn the crop fields back to brome and native grass for grazing purposes. Jim and Jeff began keeping a few bulls each year for themselves.
Houck Ranch transitioned to a private treaty sale when neighbors started asking them to keep a few bulls for them. The private treaty sale eventually transitioned to the bid-off system because of increased interest in the sale.
Jeff’s daughter Kaitlin became the newest member of the family to return to the ranch in June of 2023. She is also a graduate of Kansas State University and worked for an embryology company outside of Manhattan from graduation until she came home. Jim, Jeff, and Kaitlin now work side-by-side each day to run Rock Creek Ranch.
Our Breeding Philosophy
The goal at Rock Creek Ranch is to produce big-bodied, easy-fleshing, low-maintenance cattle that will go out and produce for our customers. We are hyper-focused on good-quality udders, feet, and attitudes. Our goal is never to have to help a cow calve or suck.
The guiding force behind this family operation is homegrown, superior genetics. We raise a registered Simmental and SimAngus cowherd that’s split into spring and fall calving units. Both of these units use a dedicated breeding program that includes artificial insemination, embryo transfer from proven donors, and a powerful herd bull battery. All of our heifers are artificially inseminated using proven, high-accuracy AI sires or ranch-owned bulls. We hold two bull sales each year, one in mid-February and another in mid-October. We also sell bred heifers two times a year, selling an AI group and a bull-bred group each season.
