Helping Hands, Helping Herds
How the Zybachs built a reputation on cattle care, community service and a commitment to doing things right.
By Briley Richard, freelance writer for Certified Angus Beef
“When I die, I want to come back as one of your cows,” murmurs a friend to Steve Zybach. Full to the brim from an alfalfa ration every day, bountiful fields of lovegrass stretched out across the Texas Panhandle—and owners who leave no ounce of cattle care up for question.
The Zybachs’ motivation for this level of dedication to their Angus cattle is simply love.
“It’s not always an easy lifestyle, but it’s one of the best there is because I love being with the cattle and working, and just the rural atmosphere,” says Steve’s wife and top hand, Joy. “There’s just nothing like it.”
An equal driving force is the fulfilment of moving ahead and lifting others along the way.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Steve says. “And there’s always room to help people.”
That dedication to wider progress earned recognition as the 2025 Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Progressive Partner at the brand’s annual conference in September.
A Shared Passion
Zybach Angus is exclusively run by power couple Steve and Joy. The two complement each other’s work. Joy takes feeding, daily rounds and administrative duties—practically a jack of all trades.
“I don’t really doctor calves,” she says, knowing when to call reinforcements. “If something needs to be doctored, that’s where Steve comes in.”
The resident cow man makes all the mating decisions and uses the Zoetis HD50K test to support his selections with genomically-enhanced EPDs. The science only confirms much of what he already knows by instinct. He can pick out his favorites in a sea of black hides.
“He’s been around cows all of his life,” Joy says. “His parents tell stories of them having to go out and find him, and Steve would be in the corral with the cows.”
The operation conducts one female sale and two bull sales annually, together with a few local ranchers. But the preparation is continuous.
“Every day is sale day,” Steve says. “They’ve got to look the part so if some guy calls tomorrow, our cows are good enough and nice enough looking, we can sell them.”
Creating Opportunity
Not only does Steve have a knack for cattle, but for helping others, too. When he saw an opportunity to serve the Texas Angus Association (TAA), he jumped in to play a role in moving the needle forward.
“The first year I was on [the board], I didn’t say much,” he recalls. “After that, I decided, if you’re going to be on this board, you better make a difference.”
So he dove in headfirst, identifying the need for more ways to make commercial cattlemen money. And he acted on it, implementing feeder calf sales in conjunction with special sales at various auction barns across the state.
“It’s just another way to expand the avenues of the commercial guy to make more money,” Steve says, though the effects are felt at both ends of the market. “It’s also for the breeders to be able to merchandise their bulls and help their customers come back and return the favor.”
The TAA encourages use of AngusLinkSM paired with other value-added programs to garner more profit. And so far, TAA Angus feeder calf sales beat all other sale opportunities.
“I’ll be the first one to say, ‘I don’t think we can beat this price in Oklahoma or Dalhart or wherever—’ and so far, I haven’t had to eat those words!”
Steve’s efforts aren’t about building a name for himself, but building something others can count on, especially those often overlooked.
All are welcome, he says, but the focus is on those with smaller herds because “they’re kind of the ones that get a little more neglected.” These sales allow those who can’t support their own production sale to market their Angus genetics for a premium.
“It’s just to help people,” Steve says. “The market’s crazy right now, but when that market drops—and it always does—we will have our operations in place and those guys will hopefully come to us and let us help them.”
Radale Tiner, Texas regional manager for the American Angus Association, highlights the excitement Steve helped drum up in the state.
“He’s sparked momentum that’s gotten commercial cattlemen genuinely excited about participating and marketing high-quality Angus genetics,” Tiner says. “The seedstock business works best when the commercial guy sees value in the bulls they’re buying, and Steve’s helped bring that full circle.”
Progress With a Purpose
The Zybachs progression is fueled by a fear of complacency.
“If you don’t continue to push the envelope, you do get a little stale,” Steve says. “We want to keep enthusiasm for Angus cattle going forward.”
That’s what keeps Steve and Joy striving for more.
“I help everyone if I can,” he says. And with that top of mind, the cattle business will keep progressing a little more every day.
This story was originally published in the October 2025 Angus Journal.
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