Cagwin – A Last Name Has To Start Somewhere

Cagwin, a name that has always been impactful in the livestock industry when it comes to cattle; trimming feet, cattle dehorning/ chiropractic, to even capturing the essence of the hard work at shows. Blood runs thick, but the passion for the industry runs even thicker.

It all started with Donald Elwin Cagwin who found his love for cattle through the FFA organization in 1956. As a junior in high school, Donald drove to Colorado to purchase his first Shorthorn heifer from John Shuemin.

“Thats where it all started.” –Donald Elwin Cagwin

Captured in the photo taken by Unknown:

Bruce Brooks, Don Cagwin, Dave Greenhorn, and Brain Cates

Donald started like many others and got a taste for the ring. He started at his local county fair and from there went to state fair. Eventually this led to six plus national champions with his Shorthorn steers and heifers. From there, he went and worked for the National Shorthorn Association for two years and wound up managing Questing Hills Farm. He bought his own operation in 1970 and started building his legacy from there. Donald accomplished this success by buying whole herds and then selling majority and keeping the ones he saw fit for what he was trying to accomplish. He bought herds from all over, this is anywhere from Canada to Nebraska to Tennessee and so on. He held a sale anywhere selling from 50-60 head and kept selling and buying, keeping his herd size around 100 to 150 head.

Donald was the first person to bring Shorthorns over from Ireland. To import any Shorthorns from Ireland, you had to contact Donald. He traveled all over the world looking for the best; Australia, Italy, Ireland, Canada, and etc. Donald was also one of the first people to import full blood Chinana’s from Italy to Canada and traded the cattle there.

Through all this, Donald met his wife Kathleen Jewel Delaney. They had three children: Cindy, Jeffery, and Amanda. But that didn’t slow Donald down. It made the passion grow even stronger to have Cindy and Jeffery working with and beside him. Donald’s piece of advice is to upcoming cattlemen is to:

“I think buying groups rather than just individuals, then sort them around in your breeding program. Then you sell some and keep some is the way to go.” –Donald Cagwin

In the mix of growing up and watching his father fire his passion, Jeffery Donald Cagwin found a unique path of his own.

Photo taken by unknown of:

Jeff Cagwin Exhibiting a Grand Champion and Res. Grand Champion Heifer at his county fair.

Photo taken by Katelyn Turner of:

Jeff Cagwin in his natural habitat (trimming table).

Jeff started showing at the age of nine years old in 4-H, showing heifers and steers. He continued showing until he proved himself outside of the ring by dressing up cattle and working. That started on and off from 14 to 19 years old. During his travels, he started fitting for Jerry Talyor. Jeff and his crew took Mr. Talyor’s cattle to about every major state fair from Missouri to Iowa, and to Kentucky. They went to all of the bigger county fairs in Illinois. Basically, this meant being gone all summer long showing Shorthorns.

In the mix of working and traveling from state to state, Jeff had the opportunity and dedication to win Illinois State fair with his Shorthorn Land of Lincoln steer when he was 17 years old.

With Don always traveling, Jeff had to watch and learn when it came to maintenance work on their cattle. Trimming feet over the years from watching and practicing, Jeff became known for doing a heck of a job. He started trimming at 5 pm after chores and the trailers started rolling in. He did as many as he could until about 10 pm at age 16.

“Non-stop I’d do probably over a 100 head on a weekend.” –Jeffery Cagwin

On top of trimming feet, Jeff had one of the biggest fitting services at the time. Starting in 1983, he won numerous titles, Herdsman of the year, over 30 National Champions, over 5 Shorthorn Junior National Champions, plus having Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion at Junior Nationals two years in a row. Those National Champions consisted of Charolais, Sillars, and Shorthorns. Whenever they were at a show, he had anything from 15 to 40 head of cattle in his string and over 40 different owners.

Jeff worked at the M6 ranch in Texas, taking care of Charolais. They hired him to be in charge of the show cattle and all of the medical work for the 900 head they ran. That’s where he picked up the skill to dehorn.

“We went everywhere, wherever there was a show. Colorado to Louisiana, all the shows in Texas, to Missouri, about every State Fair. If there was a show we went to it, it was non-stop with the M6 crew.” –Jeffery Cagwin

After a while, Don wanted Jeff to come back home. So, they made a deal. If Don bought “Miss Bee” as a three-week-old calf he’d come back home. Miss Bee was out of a cow that Jeff and M6 Ranch made a National Champion. The three-week-old calf (Miss Bee) later went on to produce a bull calf (Be Cool). Be Cool put the Cagwin name more on the map. Jeff and Don syndicated Be Cool. From there on Jeff no longer considered himself a shorthorn guy. He was all in on Charolais cattle.

“We won numerous State Fairs with the Charolais. We hardly ever got beat. We had top selling bulls multiple years in a row in Denver, topped the Iowa Beef Expo sale 3-4 times.” –Jeffery Cagwin

In Virginia, Illinois, Don and Jeff got up to 40 head of Charolais and still carried on with his fitting service. Later on, Jeff moved to Peoria, Illinois, and got up to 200 head of Charolais. Through this transition, he wanted to keep furthering his knowledge of structure and how to structurally correct cattle from the ground up. He started researching and training to do chiropractic work. Jeff is now currently in Kickapoo, Illinois running around 150 head of Charolais. Still trimming feet and dehorning, on a normal day averaging anywhere from 18-25 head a day. While in heavy show season can vary, they come from all over the country and at any time of day or night.

Jeffery Donald Cagwin has three daughters: Brooke Lee (Cagwin), Kylie, and Ella. Who all have spent their fair share of time in the barns. Jeff is still going day in and day out not only trimming feet, dehorning, and chiropractic work, but also striving to keep his genetics one of a kind.

A passion started and turned into where he made his living.

Some may call him “the hoof God.”

Captured in the photo taken by Cindy Cagwin Johnston:

Kylie, Ella, Jeff, Brooke, and Brexton

As a third generation Cagwin, I am born with a passion of the agricultural industry. I want to give back to FFA and agriculture, which has done so much for my family. In order to do this, I plan to educate and give students the same chance to make an impact like my grandfather did. I cannot wait to, hopefully, inspire the future generations to go after their dreams and know the sky is the limit when it comes to paving their own road.

Meet the Author

Hi, my name is Ella Cagwin, and I am a Senior at Western Illinois University. I am majoring in Agriculture Education with a minor in Animal Science. I am involved in many different clubs on campus including: Ag Vocators, Hoof N’ Horn, Livestock Judging team, Ag- Council, Collegiate FFA /Ag Ed/ PAS club, Sigma Alpha, and hold numerous positions in those clubs. I am from Kickapoo, Illinois, where we raise purebred and commercial Charolais cattle. I have my own small engraving business, Cagwin Creations. I am so excited to further my passion for the livestock and agricultural industry!