McCoy's Farm and Ranch Family: the Eddleman Family of Region III

Congratulations to the McCoy’s Farm and Ranch Family of the month; the Eddleman’s! Don Ed, Pam and Will own and operate the ElevenSixteen Ranch located in southern Coleman. The bulk of their family business consists of a commercial production cow/calf operation; however, in the recent years they have started breeding show calves as well. At one point they also had a quarter horse operation with ten brood mares. They raised and trained several colts; some of which made appearances in the NFR and National High School Rodeo Finals.

The cattle ranch was originally owned by Will’s grandfather, but after his passing in 2005 the Eddleman family took over. Don Ed grew up rodeo-ing; however, he did not have experience running a ranch prior to Eleven-Sixteen. According to Pam, her father had a dream of one day owning a ranch in the country, but until his retirement he worked in the service station business while living in central Dallas. “My dad was a big bird hunter most of his life,” Pam said. “When he decided to retire and move - he bought twenty head of cows and a bull, and that is what he did during his retirement.”

Since then, Pam and Don Ed have managed to learn (and conquer) the ins and outs of ranching on a learn as you go basis. They are responsible for checking cattle daily, making sure everything goes smoothly during calving season, breaking ice or hauling waters and making sure everything is getting plenty to eat since they farm wheat for their cattle. Within the past few years the family has started artificial insemination and embryo transplant while breeding for show calves. Will currently has five show calves on feed.

Pam explained how the whole family has completely fallen in love with the production side of raising cattle. From the genetics and embryo transplants, to watching the calves mature and seeing their potential evolve, the family says it has been really interesting to see the progress the calves make.

Outside of ranching, the family enjoys travelling to rodeos and livestock shows, both of which take a lot of time dedicated toward preparation, discipline, and responsibility. “The ranch comes first, and then you just kind of work everything else in,” Pam said.

The family spends a large amount of time preparing show calves for livestock shows, and practicing for rodeos. Will is a competitor in the tie-down roping, team roping and the reining cow horse competition. He even qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in the reining cow horse event his freshmen year of high school.

In addition to ranching and travelling with Will to rodeos and stock shows, Don Ed is the rodeo coach at Cisco College. During the college rodeo season his career requires several late nights assisting with college practices. He spends five weekends in the fall semester travelling and helping out at the college rodeos as well as five rodeos in the spring semester. During that time, Pam explained how her and Will just pick up the pace and get things done. “It is a lifestyle that is probably not made for everyone, but it’s a rewarding lifestyle,” she explained.

The family said they are honored to have been chosen as the McCoy’s Farm and Ranch Family of the Month, and they are thankful for McCoy’s support of the THSRA.