Our Story of Family & the Quality Beef We Raise

Our family ranching story began several generations before I was born, but my memories begin with my hero and mentor, my Grandfather, James Riggle.  Born in 1922, Granddad spent his formative years in the Great Depression. He picked cotton by hand, walking barefoot in the shade of the cotton plants just a few miles south of where our “home place” is today. He married my grandmother, Frankie L. Riggle, in 1946 and they rented a house about five miles southwest of Beeville, Texas.  They later bought that house and the acres around it, a few at a time. In the years that followed they grew crops, raised cattle, and his greatest accomplishment, had three strong daughters. I’m Matt Huie, the oldest grandson of James and Frankie Riggle and together with my wife Shambryn we have the privilege of continuing our family’s legacy and the JR brand. 

Granddad was the singer and storyteller. Grandmore the matriarch of the house and the best cook for miles around. No one ever left their house hungry! As the eldest grandson I rode the ranch with Granddad as a very small child. Cattle and horses were my first love, and still today, roundups are my favorite days. Days not spent in the pasture were occupied growing crops in the Claireville loam of our Home farm. Corn, sorghum, and cotton along with cattle provided the income that my grandparents used to raise a family and build the ranch and farm we now call Home. 

My earliest memories are the love of the outdoors, the pastures, the livestock, the crops, driving equipment, and fishing in the tanks on the ranch. Days spent on the back porch enjoying a driving rain or feeding cattle to try to survive the dry spells. Farming and Ranching were in my blood from the very beginning. Together, we studied the land, the weather, and the stock. We sang the songs of desperate cowboys, laughed together, and cried together. The greatest honor of my life is raising my family on the same land and by the same principles my grandparents taught.

Farming and Ranching is not for the faint of heart.  It takes faith, patience, optimism and grit. Shambryn and I have been partners in this farming and ranching venture from the beginning. We have been through some fun times and some hard times, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunities and lessons from the previous generations, and we work hard every day to continue those traditions and pass them along to the next generation. 

Faith in God. God will always provide. Faith in family. They will stand with you when the going gets tough. Optimism that things will work out. Grit to work things out and patience to see them through.  These essentials to both ranching and life were taught at my Grandparent’s table and are being passed down to our children and someday grandchildren.  

We hope to pass along those same principles to each of our customers in some small way. After all, that care and quality is what goes into each and every animal and crop raised on our ranch. With the JR brand, we are putting our heritage on, and in, every box of Raising ‘em Right Ranch to Table Beef.

Welcome to our family,

Matthew Riggle Huie