Gene Lowrey — A Commitment to Cattle & People

By Lindsey Sawin

When Gene Lowrey became a part of the cattle feeding industry 30 years ago, he hit the ground running, with a desire to learn, a passion to give back and to advocate for the rest of the industry, which is likely the reason he is serving as the Texas Cattle Feeders Association Chairman. 
 
“I was going to will my way through no matter what,” Lowrey said. “I was going to work hard, be honest, listen to people who knew more than I did and I was going to learn everything I could.”
 
Lowrey grew up on a commercial cow-calf operation in Southwest Alabama. Growing up on the ranch taught him the value of hard work, the importance of dedication and created a love for the cattle industry. 
 
He packed his bags in 1991 and moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to pursue an animal science and business degree at Oklahoma State University (OSU). He left with a burning passion to be involved in the cattle business. 
 
“Leaving home wasn’t the easiest thing, but on the other side of that I found a great opportunity where I am, and I have been involved with things that I had no idea I would ever be involved,” he said. 
 
While in college, he worked at the OSU Wheat Pasture Research Station. It was there that he was introduced to cattle feeding. Some of the cattle on trial were sent to Cimarron Feeders to be finished. Lowrey met John Rakestraw at the feedyard and later Rakestraw offered him his first job after college. He started as a feedlot trainee and has not looked back since. 
 
“I had no idea that I would stay this long, but I have no regrets, nor would I do anything different. I have learned so much and met so many great people,” he said. “If I would have picked up and moved back home and lived in my own little world, never ever would I have been exposed to the things I have been exposed.”

A desire to learn
Growing up in an area of the country that is not conducive to feeding cattle meant that Lowrey had not been around the size or scale of operation that was Cimarron Feeders. 
 
“The learning curve was pretty steep, I knew nothing about nothing,” he said with a laugh. “I had never been exposed to anything of that scale. The most cattle I had ever seen was at a sale barn coming from the southeast.”
 
While the knowledge gap was big, Lowrey was passionate about gaining the knowledge it took to manage a feedyard and to manage people. 
 
Lowrey spent four years at Cimarron Feeders where he said he learned everything he could before moving to Hartley Feeders in 1998. He started there as the feed manager and again took every opportunity to learn. Eventually, he was promoted to general manager at Hartley Feeders and in 2009 he moved to XIT Feeders in Dalhart where he currently works.  
 
He loves being able to share his knowledge with young employees and help them grow. 
 
“A big part our company’s philosophy is developing people from within,” Lowrey said. “It is tremendously exciting for me to see young people move up through the organization and take on more responsibility and produce great results. That is the thing that keeps me going at the feedyard.”
 
Paying it forward
Giving back to the industry that has provided him with unique opportunities is something Lowrey set out to do since the beginning.
 
“I always felt that if I was going to make my living in this industry, I needed to give back,” Lowrey said.
 
TCFA has provided him the opportunity to give back and play a role in moving the industry forward.
 
Lowrey is the kind of leader that is quick to listen, while bringing knowledge and perspective to the table, TCFA President and CEO Ben Weinheimer said.
 
“Gene Lowrey has been an engaged and productive member of TCFA for many years,” Weinheimer said. “He is passionate about feeding cattle and upholding the values of the industry and association while moving them both forward. We are thankful for his leadership and willingness to represent TCFA membership this year.”
 
Part of Lowrey’s efforts to give back include leaving the feedyard to make trips to Austin and Washington D.C. 
 
“While I may not be at the feedyard, I am still trying to help the people who are at the feedyard by making sure that the things that don’t need to happen don’t happen and that the things that need to happen do happen,” Lowrey explained. “I think it is a privilege to be a part of all of that.”
 
In his many years of involvement within the feedyard industry, he has seen it evolve and grow. As chairman, he wants to see the industry continue to make progress. 
“If we get complacent, the world is going to pass us by and it will replace us with something that doesn’t have the story and doesn’t have the benefits that our product has,” Lowrey said. 
 
He is ready to take on the challenges thrown the industry’s way this year. He wants members to pull up a seat at the table and continue to move forward together. 
 
“Everybody has a chance to say what they need to say and be a part of making the decisions and getting the decisions down to the people who need to hear them,” Lowrey said.
 
He wants to leave the industry better than where it was when he started. 
 
“It is a privilege to do this, and I do not take it lightly. I will do whatever the association and industry needs,” said Lowrey. “I care deeply for it, and it has afforded me a very good living. I have raised my family, and I am going to keep doing what I can to make it better.”
 
A passion for the cattle business was instilled in Lowrey years ago on a small family cattle operation, a passion that has not been lost in the shuffle of life but has grown and developed into the thing that drives him. 
 
“The industry has to remember that we are there for a bigger purpose,” said Lowrey. “It gets me up and going to work each day. Being a part of feeding people is something that feels good. It gives everyone a sense of higher purpose. We are able to do what we do, and people enjoy a good steak or hamburger. It is more than the long hours and cold days and hot days. We are doing something people like and want to eat.” ​