After receiving his B.S. in Animal Science from Texas A&M University, Jim married his high-school sweetheart, Luann, and they returned to his family ranch in Boling, Texas where Jim became the manager of the V8 registered Brahman herd. Luann then left her job in medical records andhospital administration and began working as the office manager of the V8 Ranch, which is owned by Jim's parents Sloan and Mollie Williams. Over the past 30 years, they have helped build the V8 herd of cattle into one of the most well-known Brahman cattle herds in the United States.

After 20 years of working on the Brahman herd, Jim and his family wanted a new project that they could work with together as a family and build from the ground up. They had used Brahman x Shorthorn recip cows on the ranch and liked the Shorthorn crossbreeding factor. Jim began studying more about the Shorthorn breed, and in 1986 they purchased their first Shorthorn female from Granada Shorthorns. In 1989, their oldest daughter, Rachel, began showing Shorthorn cattle. By 1992, when Catherine became eligible to show in junior shows, we were hooked on Shorthorn cattle.

Catherine especially enjoyed showing Shorthorns over the Brahman breed and holds the record of exhibiting three back-to-back Junior National Champion Females (1999, 2000, and 2001)…a feat that has never been accomplished before or repeated after in the history of the breed. Both girls were very active in the American Junior Shorthorn Association, winning both national leadership contests and national champion showman awards. Catherine is a former Vice-President of the AJSA and was awarded the highest honor bestowed on an AJSA member…Junior Breeder of the Year.

Jim judges many shows across the nation where he travels to many state fairs, major shows, and even local and county shows to evaluate the cattle and motivate and encourage the exhibitors. In leadership roles, Jim is the American Shorthorn Association's only three-time president. He is a former chairman of the Texas Beef Council and former executive board member of the National Cattleman's Beef Association.

The success of V8 Shorthorns would not be possible without the support and guidance from Travis and Beth Pembrook of Fairview, Oklahoma. Travis and Beth manage our show cattle and coordinate the showstring that competes at nearly 10 major stock shows each year. They joined the V8 Shorthorns team in 2003 and have been very instrumental in taking our open show program to an elite national level.

We invite visitors to the ranch at any time, and we always enjoy meeting and getting to know fellow Shorthorn breeders at shows and sales throughout the year.

Catherine (left) was third place behind winner Heidi Bowman of Ohio
and Andy Grathwohl of Kansas. Throughout their junior show careers,
these three were always in tough competition in showmanship.