Bud Williams
What Tom Dorrance did for horsemanship, Bud Williams did for stockmanship. Each were maverick thinkers who challenged conventional practices, and came up with something better.
Bud was born on his family’s farm in Southwest Oregon in 1932. Circa 1956 he and his wife, Eunice, started working on cattle and sheep ranches in Northern California, only taking jobs that were difficult and interesting. They began traveling and worked with farms, dairies, ranches, and feed yards all over the Western United States, Canada, and Australia where Bud developed a reputation as a “troubleshooter.” For example, they spent three winters working with wild reindeer above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, and wild cattle in Old Mexico and the Aleutian Islands.
As a keen observer of nature, Bud brought an astounding native intelligence to anything of interest, especially animal behavior. In fact, according to Allan Nation, longtime editor of the Stockman Grass Farmer, “Bud Williams is the only true genius I have ever known.” Bud spent a lifetime doggedly determined to study and understand animal behavior and to answer the question: How can I work animals better? That he succeeded brilliantly is beyond dispute, and in1989 he began teaching his stockmanship methods.
Bud was known all over the world for being able to work all kinds of difficult animals in difficult situations. He’s gathered 1500 head of wild reindeer by himself above the Arctic Circle and drove them for 22 hours and 18 miles to a corral; loaded wild cattle on a barge dancing in the surf; placed cattle in undesirable mountainous areas where they’d stay for days; walked in cattle in Mexico that had eluded capture for months; sorted hundreds of cattle at a time single-handedly; weaned cows and calves across a single-strand electric fence and trailed them out immediately after without incident; increased the productivity of ranches by at least 50% just by handling the cattle properly; and significantly decreased the incidence of sickness just by the way he handled them.
According to Steve Cote, author of Stockmanship: A Powerful Tool for Grazing Lands Management, “People who have seen what he can do never forget it.” Temple Grandin has said that “Bud . . . is absolutely amazing when he moves cattle. If we’d learn just 10% of what Bud knew about handling cattle it would profoundly change the industry.” Lynn Locatelli, DVM, a long-time student of Bud’s, says that “It was astoundingly remarkable to watch Bud transform the behavior of cattle in a matter of minutes. Before my very eyes I could watch newly received cattle at a feed yard develop calmness, confidence to eat and drink, and a willingness to cooperate with humans. I observed this repeatedly and at different locations.” And Richie Davies, owner of Vee Tee Feeders Ltd. in Alberta where Bud worked for 11 years, said, “I’ve seen Bud do some absolutely amazing, unbelievable things with livestock. He has incredible control over cattle even when others are wreaking havoc.”
Those of us in the livestock industry—as well as the animals—are extremely fortunate to have had the unique genius, accomplishments, and teachings of Bud Williams.
Contact information:
Bud Williams Stockmanship
Eunice Williams
Aldrich, MO 65601