In 1916, Jim’s father homesteaded the land in southeastern Montana that is now Courtney Herefords. Eventually, his father purchased adjoining land in 1929 right before the Great Depression. Despite the hard times, Jim’s parents raised sheep and kept the ranch together through the 1930s. Jim graduated from Carter County High School, where he met his future wife, Hazel. He was the 1950 Carter County class salutatorian, but did not go to college. Instead, he returned home to help his parents run the ranch. He continued to build his knowledge and gain insight to the livestock industry by attending many Extension classes related to sheep and cattle breeding. However, Jim credits most of his knowledge to direct experience on the ranch. When Jim and Hazel married in 1953, there was not a cow or bull on the place — just 1,000-1,500 head of sheep.

In 1957, Jim’s friendship with neighbor, Walt Crago, led to the beginning of Courtney Herefords. Walt raised registered Herefords and offered to lease 40 heifers to Jim. All were half-sisters making a solid genetic foundation for the start of the future Courtney herd. Jim leased the Hereford females for three years, retained the heifer calves and sent the bull calves to Walt. The semi-arid, Badlands grassland and limited water resources where the Courtneys reside was considered traditional sheep country since the early days of open range and early settlement. Yet, through diligent stewardship of land and water, Jim established a registered Hereford cow herd and built one of the breed’s most respected seedstock programs in this challenging environment. In both the cattle and sheep industries, the Courtney brand is recognized for outstanding quality and functional, efficient stock that fit their climate — the result of a good stockman’s eye and a continued quest to improve performance with each generation.

With more than 50 years dedicated to its breeding program, Courtney Herefords became one of the most unique gene pools in the American Hereford breed. Founded upon the Real Prince Domino bloodlines from Canada’s premier herds, Jim built his program on structured line-breeding and outcrossing based on time-proven genetics. Courtney’s range country environment and the needs of their bull customers strictly dictate the direction of their breeding plan. This is a true grass and cake outfit featuring a factory of great, problem-free, efficient mother cows that hustled, calved on the range and grazed out year round.

The Courtney brand is recognized for powerful, traditional Hereford cattle — multitrait Herefords that accentuated the breed’s long-proven strengths for soundness, fleshing ability, fertility and longevity. Loaded with quality, they were backed by the impressive Britisher, Ardmore and Standard Lad sires in North America. Courtney has a complete and thorough knowledge of Canadian Hereford genetics. He knows the cow herds across Alberta as well as any in North America, evaluating them through the eyes of an American cowman, which benefits his program and customers. Jim became the American Hereford Association (AHA) president in 1999 at a time when the Hereford breed needed him most. Jim was a fighter for his industry. Serving several turns as an officer of the Montana Stockgrowers Association and on the board of directors of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Jim is known as a man of integrity who will fight for the betterment of the industry. His no-nonsense style and straight-to-the-point attitude is, and has always been, about taking the side of the cattlemen. Deep down, Jim always knows that you have to fight to sustain an economic and political environment for ranchers. His family has depended on it. As it relates to the Hereford breed, Jim helped drive the AHA to focus on the needs of the commercial cow-calf industry.