The Petty family planted their roots in West Texas in 1932 when Robert Russell Petty, Sr. and Mamie Petri Petty moved to the area to teach in the Robert Lee and Bronte schools. R.R. Sr. was an agriculture teacher, and Mamie was an elementary teacher. R.R. Petty, Sr., was a part of the first college graduates in Texas to receive a degree in Vocational Agriculture Education from Sam Houston State Teachers College, where he met Mamie. A few short years later, in 1934, the Pettys moved to Nolan, Texas, where he founded the first vocational agriculture program in Nolan County at the Divide Independent School District. Sr also helped establish agriculture programs in many of the different surrounding school districts. He was also the head football and head basketball coach for the Divide Trojans. RR Ranch was established in 1936 when Petty Sr. bought the land where the current RR Ranch headquarters is located. The Pettys then started purchasing land for their flock of sheep and herd of Hereford cattle. 

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They had one son, Robert “Bob” Russell Petty, Jr. Bob grew up here in Nolan, Texas, where he attended Divide High School. While in high school, Bob convinced Sr. to purchase a couple head of Angus cows. These were the first black cows in this part of Texas; this area was commonly known as Hereford country. Folks would stop along the road to look at these black-hided creatures. Unfortunately, when Bob attended Texas A&M, the Angus herd had to be sold due to drought. 

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While Bob attended Texas A&M, he pursued his collegiate degree and was in the Army ROTC. Bob graduated from Texas A&M in 1963 with an animal science degree. He then went on to study for his master’s degree in animal husbandry. During this time in graduate school, Bob was called to serve in Vietnam as an Army Officer. Due to being called upon to serve our country, he was unable to complete his master’s degree. Upon completing his Army service, though he only had one semester left, Bob and his new wife, Nadene, decided to move back to Nolan in 1966 to join his father working at the ranch. 

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Bob met Nadene Daws in early 1962 when he went to visit his cousin, who was in College Station for county extension agent training.  Nadene answered the door when Bob knocked, and the rest is history. Nadene is a graduate from Texas Tech University, where she received a degree in home economic education. Bob and Nadene were married on August 11, 1962. Bob was a rancher and a farmer. His passion was Black Angus cattle. Bob and Nadene, along with Bob’s parents, formed the RR Ranch partnership in January 1967. Today it is known as RR Ranch. 

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Bob grew his herd of Angus cattle that produced several outstanding bulls, which were recognized for their performance by the American Angus Association. Bob was a big believer in the value of record keeping and performance testing, values that are still practiced today at RR Ranch.  In the late ‘60s, Bob collected carcass data from some of our own bulls for the Performance Registry

Internationals (PRI) Certified Meat Sire Program. Several RR Ranch bulls held titles of certified and Golden Certified Meat Sires. Weaning and yearling records were first collected in 1968 on RR Ranch cattle. In 1973, the American Angus Association (AAA) started the Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR), a program in which breeders submit data from their herd to help aid in generating Expected Progeny Difference (EPDs). RR Ranch was very excited to be able to submit data from 1968 to 1973 to

help aid in AHIR.

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In 1973-1974, RR Ranch had the Champion and Reserve Champion bulls in the Texas Angus Association’s bull performance test and sale.  Those bulls are pictured below:

 

 

 

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Those two bulls sold for $5,025 and $4,025, respectively. They provided the income needed to build the barn that was used to host bull sales at RR Ranch. RR Ranch began having annual bull sales in 1969. In that first sale, RR Ranch had eight lots of bulls to sell. As the Ranch and herd grew, so did our number of bulls we were able to offer. Peaking at two different sales, RR Ranch was able to offer over 100 bulls. 

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Bull sales were family events where all the family helped. Bob and Nadene had four boys,

Robert Russell “Russ” Petty III, Ronald “Ron” R. Petty, Randall “Randy” R. Petty & Rolan R.

Petty. The boys helped on the ranch, on the farm, and at the bull sales.  The boys also

participated in showing heifers from the ranch herd.  Bob and Nadene loved going to the

livestock shows all over Texas, where their sons showed their Angus heifers. Pictured to the

right are Ron, winning first in his Angus heifer class, and Russ, winning second in the class at

the Dallas State Fair in 1976. 

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Bob not only raised cattle, but he also felt that it was important to be a part of the cattle

community and the local communities around him. Bob and Nadene introduced crop

insurance to farmers in Nolan County in 1984, the year it forgot to rain. Together, Bob and

Nadene operated Petty Crop Insurance for 20 years, helping the farmers of Nolan County and

surrounding counties protect their crops. In 1988, Bob received the Outstanding Conservation

Farmer Award from the Nolan County Soil and Water Conservation District. Bob also served

on the Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital Board. In the cattle world, Bob was a member of the

AAA and served as a state delegate at the annual Angus Convention several times. For the

Texas Angus Association, he served on the Board of Directors (1991-1993), Texas Angus

Executive Board of Directors (1992-1996), and as President (1999).

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As the boys got older, Russ attended Texas A&M, where he received a degree in animal science in 1988. Ron attended Texas Tech (Nadene’s alma mater) and got a degree in education in 1990. He then completed a Master of Arts in Education Administration in 1998. Randy attended Western Texas College and got a degree in diesel mechanics in 1990. Rolan attended Texas A&M and received a degree in agricultural systems management in 1993. Upon graduating from higher education, Russ came back to work on the family operation. Russ split his time with Bob on the cattle side and on the farming side.

 Ron went on to teach and coach high school sports all around Texas, including Eagle-Mountain Saginaw, Andrews, Weatherford, Granbury, and Burleson. Ron enjoyed teaching and coaching, where he could make an impact on students’ lives. He then had the opportunity to apply and became an Assistant Principal at Godley, where he did that for a few years before retiring. During his retirement, Ron moved back to Abilene, Texas, and worked on the ranch during 2020. While working alongside his brothers, he began to miss teaching. After talking it over, He decided to go back into teaching, where he taught at the Taylor County Juvenile Justice Discipline Education Alternative Placement Center and now is currently teaching at Texas Leadership Academy. During his summer breaks, Ron is always eager to help on the ranch anyway he can.

Randy and Rolan joined Russ on the farm side after completing their higher education. In 1995, Russ also received the Outstanding Conservation Farmer Award from the Nolan County Soil and Water Conservation District. Russ aided in the management of the cow herd for several years. In 1997, Russ felt his calling was for graphic design and bought into a business called Vision Graphics in Sweetwater, Texas. He then became the sole owner and developed it into Creative Graphic Solutions, which is still in Sweetwater today.  Even though he has his own business, he still helps with A.I. breeding, sale catalogs, and advertising for the ranch.

Bob passed on the importance of serving the local communities and organizations. Russ has been on many boards in the Sweetwater community, including the Sweetwater Independent School District Board (12 years, 3 years as president), Rotary Club, Lonestar Learning Center Advisory Board, Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development (7 years), Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital Board of Directors (4 years), and Nolan County Coliseum Board (17 years, 7 years as president). Randy served on the Nolan County Water Conservation Board (2 years). He was elected as interim Fire Chief for the Nolan Volunteer Fire Department, as well as serving as Captain and Safety Officer in his 35 years of service. He is currently serving on the Central Rolling Plains Co-Op Advisory Gin Board. Rolan has served on the Texas Farm Bureau Board (9 years) and Central Rolling Plains Co-Op Gin Board (21 years). He has served as Assistant Fire Chief, Fire Chief, and, currently, Secretary/Treasurer for the Nolan Volunteer Fire Department in his 33 years as a member. Ron has also helped the Nolan Volunteer Fire Department fight fires and continues to support fundraisers.

During the summers at RR Ranch, it was very common to find one of Bob and Nadene’s grandchildren helping. Whether it was mowing, hoeing weeds in the fields, or even picking up rocks. RR Ranch has been the first job for many of them, and where many of them learned to drive. No matter how close or far any of the family may get, RR Ranch has always been a place that the family can come back to with open arms.

Around 2010, Randy and Rolan started moving the farming side into new farming methods.

Efficiency, integrated pest management, new seed technology in cotton, reduced tillage

practices, and traffic control are a few of the changes they made to the farming operation at

RR Ranch. These changes allow the farm to be managed with less labor, less cost, and better

soil management. These changes help increase higher productivity in good years and manage

losses in bad years. West Texas weather is one of many extremes, which are mainly hot and

dry years with few very wet years. RR Ranch farming takes advantage of new technologies if

the return on the investment is cost-effective. GPS guidance and John Deere stripper/balers

are just some of the new technologies RR Ranch utilizes. Currently, RR Ranch runs a 50/50

rotation between cotton and wheat. 

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Bob continued running the cattle operation, having yearly bull sales until the summer of 2011. Bull Sales were always a family event.                                                               Bob, Nadene, and their Sons not only helped, but as the sons' families grew, every played a role                                                               in running the sales. Randy’s wife, Larissa, and Rolan’s Wife, Leigh, helped Nadene serve the                                                                       provided meals at each sale. They also worked at the billing desk, taking payments and handing                                                               out registration papers.  In total, RR Ranch had 42 consecutive annual Angus bull sales, the last                                                                   one in 2011.  RR Ranch had the last offer of sale bulls in 2012 as private treaties. In 2011, drought                                                               caused RR Ranch to make the hard decision of having a dispersal sale. All females, except for 34,                                                               were sold. The 34 females (Legacy Herd) were kept back so Bob still had something to hold onto.                                                             Bob retired in 2012 after the herd dispersal sale.  He continued to aid ranch and farm decision-                                                                   making and manage his legacy herd. In October of 2018, Bob passed away, a loss for the whole                                                                 family, but his legacy lives on through RR Ranch. After Bob’s passing, Russ and Ron wanted to                                                                     keep the Legacy Herd and manage them.

A few months after Bob’s passing, Isabella, daughter of Randy, showed an Angus heifer in 2019, following in the footsteps of her father and uncles. While caring for the heifer, she started to understand why her GrandBob loved the Angus cow. Isabella, one of thirteen grandchildren, made the decision to become the 4th generation to work at RR

Ranch. She attended Angelo State University for an animal science degree and came back

to Nolan to help manage the cow herd. While in school, Isabella discovered that RR Ranch

still had 11 registered cows from the Legacy Herd. Plans were quickly formed to artificially

inseminate (AI Breeding) those cows, and eight calves were born from them.  From this, she

was able to start rebuilding the registered herd. Several years later, Isabella found that more

cows were descendants from the Legacy Herd and they could be registered with the help of

genomics and DNA testing. In 2023, these were the first registered bulls on the ranch since

2011. RR Ranch has been selling commercial and registered bulls every year since 2023 at

Jordan Cattle Auction in San Saba, Texas.​​

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In 2024, RR Ranch decided to add Red Angus cattle to the herd. The decision was based on a few important factors: to introduce new genetics to the ranch’s existing Angus herd, to help address the modern problems in the Black Angus breed, and to increase tolerance of the harsh West Texas heat. The ranch purchased our first Black Red Angus bull in 2024. In 2025, the ranch added the first Red Angus bull that was purchased from the R.A. Brown Ranch.

Currently, Randy, Rolan, and Isabella all work alongside each other at the ranch. Bob

believed and lived by the value of never asking someone to do something that he would

not do himself. That value was taught and is still upheld by his family. Everyone works

alongside each other, helping and aiding wherever it is needed.  They enjoy the help of two

wonderful employees, Carlos Mendoza and Jesus Gonzalez. Both employees have worked

on the ranch for over 20 years.

 

Together, they all keep RR Ranch running and operating.