The first question about Partisover is, “Where did the name come from?” We purchased the piece of land, now Partisover, in 1971 while I was at UGA. I probably spent more time at the new place, clipping sale cows or going to some show than I went to school. I liked to judge, or I would probably never have finished school. I had a really good year on the judging team, and letters started coming from the judging powers wanting me to go to graduate school and coach. My head was swelling, so I took those letters to Pop’s office and asked what he thought. His reply was, “It’s hard to tell the ones that can’t from the ones that won’t.” I didn’t want to go to school and realized that those schools didn’t just want me because I could judge, but because I was Dan Daniel’s son the assumption was that I’d be interested in academia. Pop asked that day, “What do you really want to do?” My answer was I really wanted to run cows. His response was, “That’s great, but the Party’s Over.” If we had spelled it that way, it would have eliminated a lot of conversation over the years. The upside-down wineglass brand is self-explanatory, but it is not necessarily accurate all the time.

If ever there was a privileged background in this business it was mine. We were kids in Oklahoma while Pop was in graduate school at OSU. He was the only PhD student working at the beef barn because he wanted to learn from the best. Doing chores at five A.M., collecting liver biopsies and blood samples in the afternoon while doing his PhD research. Five years at Panhandle State University then back to OSU to finish PhD, and back to PSU as Dean then. Then, Dr. Bob Long who was in graduate school with Pop hired him to move to Georgia. Jake White was already here and his family have been our lifelong friends. Pop hired Orville Sweet, Curly Cook, and Clyde Triplett, all were Okies, and they went to work. I grew up around these guys as well as Dr. Bob Totusek, Pop’s lifelong friend and mentor, and Dr. Don Good, where we’d go on weekends hauling cows back and forth to breed to KSU bulls. These guys were the iconic figures of the industry, and I just knew them as the people we spent all of our time with. These are the same friends that nominated Pop to be hung in the Saddle & Sirloin portrait collection, the most prestigious recognition in the livestock industry. His 1st round selection is something we are certainly proud of. When I finished school and started judging a little, Pop told me that I’d get a chance to judge everything if I’d forget all of that crap that we talked in college. Be humble, honest, and fair, and always remember that the show is not about the judge. Pop said to talk to people as if they were in your lot and just describe the cattle. Pop loved to judge, and was darn good at it, especially juniors, and passed that on to me. One of the highlights of my judging career was judging the steers at Fort Worth and Pop went with me to the show that he had judged thirty years before. Special memory! Judging let me go to 40 states, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and left me with true friends everywhere. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.

We have truly been blessed to have lots of talented young people over the years.
Wes Hopper- Wes was our first employee. Cows weren’t Wes’ forte, but work was. Wes essentially built what little infrastructure we had.

Frank Jackson- Frank has become a superstar in this business, and we are really proud. Frank started helping us when he was 14 and was a sponge who loved this business. We could not be more proud of this guy.

Grant Johnson- Of course, Grant was a seasoned veteran when he came to Partisover. We were lucky enough to have him for 2-3 years before he moved with our cows to Oklahoma. Grant is a treasured friend.

Chandler Akins, Jacob Holmes, and Stewart Harbin- We were so fortunate that these guys after attending junior colleges out West decided to come back to UGA. All 3 are very talented. We had some great sales as well as great times while they were here. These were some of the most enjoyable times at Partisover.
Callie Akins- Pop taught Callie and Chandler’s Dad when Parrish was at UGA. Parrish has been a great friend, but even better because he let us have both of his kids. We sold them calves as juniors, followed their collegiate careers, and were lucky enough to have both at Partisover. Callie went to Butler, then to OSU to judge. She was extremely successful judging at both places as well as an academic superstar. Callie thought she wanted to be a banker, but couldn’t deny her cow addiction. With Callie around, it’s like a judging contest every day. She keeps me on my toes and has been a huge asset to Partisover.

Todd Alford- Todd grew up with us and has been a true friend all his life. Todd is a loyal and valued friend as well as an incredible stockman.

Mike McGuire- Mike moved to Athens when his Dad was on Pop’s staff at UGA. Mike has been one of my best friends since he was young. Mike is another of the truly talented guys we have been blessed to call a friend. Johnnie Johnson- I’ve fought with this guy more than anymore I’ve ever known. He and Callie are responsible for stealing this incredible set of cattle for this sale. Johnnie can be beyond frustrating, but undeniably one of the all-time talents. All of the above is absolutely true, but there is nobody I respect more.

In the early 70’s and while doing good to just hold on to the place, Pop said, “Everybody is going to have access to the same sires eventually so the guy that has the cows will be the one that gets ahead.” This has been our philosophy since that day. Because of our Oklahoma roots, our search took us there to study the Emulous cattle that were really popular with performance advocates long before that concept was readily accepted in purebred circles. We went everywhere to study those cattle. We concluded that Bob Hartley at Spur Ranch had the kind of cattle that we wanted and that Emulous Master 209 was the best at Spur. After purchasing 40 females for us and three others. Pop asked Bob to see his elite replacements. Somehow, Pop talked Bob into selling us 3116, the foundation Burgess female at Partisover. She was exactly what we wanted then and 50-plus years later still is. Every cow on this ranch with three exceptions traces back to that cow. Feminine, broody, the right size, perfected uddered, big bodied, fertile, and would outperform anything we had ever seen. We could not propagate 3116 fast enough until embryo transfer came along in the next generation.

In the next 25 years, while the frame game dominated the scene, we continued to use the performance “cow maker sires”. You’ll study a ten-generation pedigree and never find that “poison” sire. I would have probably jumped ship at times but my partner would keep me grounded. When producers started to pay attention to the new tools available our cows started to get a lot of attention. I clipped sale cattle, traded steers, sold equipment, and anything else to pay the bills while Beth and Pop did the day-to-day while raising two great kids. We started getting interest, visits, and opportunities we had never had before. My friend Randy White was at Austin Land and Cattle in Oklahoma, and he told me before we made a move that he would like to bring Guy Austin to look at Partisover. We sold them the entire herd while maintaining ½ interest in the top twelve cows. Guy and Randy were great, flushed the heck out of those cows, and we rebuilt from there. Today, all of those Burgess cows trace back to those twelve. At Partisover collecting performance data was never an option. As far as I know, we’ve never had cattle here that did not have a complete set of records. When you grow up listening to your Dad teaching the value of performance programs, you are programmed yourself. My favorite thing as a kid was going with Pop to weigh and grade BCIA calves. That complete data that we’d always kept and used put us in a position when the breed started to recognize the value. Where we probably vary from the norm now is in how we use it. For us to build a cow that will meet our needs on grass, it doesn’t allow us to use bulls that are simply too big or cattle that will outgrow our environment. We loved the Right Time 24J daughters. Grassmaster was our favorite of his sons. My friends thought I was nuts but we used him and wished we would have used him more. He sired 133, the most unique specimen we have ever produced. Partisover philosophy differs from the popular thought that turning generations always results in perceived progress. In the history of Partisover, there have been five to six game-changing cows. Had we chosen to have done what is popular today, we would have never identified these cows much less have used them to solidify our base. 133 is that cow in this chapter of the Partisover story. Over the last twelve years, her progeny have always stood out for their unique look, structure, balance, power, and undeniable producing ability. 744 has proven herself to be another one of those game-changing cows for us. She has proven over the last several years to be as potent as her mother. She offers so many of the same things as her mother along with more relevant numbers that have been proven by progeny. She along with her progeny are just beginning to write their chapter of the Partisover story.

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