History

The History of the Ranch

The Start of a Dream

The story of Didier Ranch doesn’t start in the plains of Oklahoma, it starts in the mountains of South France - where a young Pierre Didier had a dream. The dream to pursue a life of freedom in an area where there seemed to be no boundaries. In 1877, he made that dream come true and found his way to the United States. On his journey he met a beautiful French woman named Marie Reneau. They soon wed and she was now part of this great dream of his. In 1897, they had made their way throughout the heartland of the U.S. from Pennsylvania to Ohio to Kansas and finally settling in Oklahoma with there now five children. When they got to western Oklahoma there wasn’t much for those who didn’t know how to farm, which is what the Didier’s decided to do. In 1902, Pierre purchased a quarter of land in Fay, OK, for his family to raise crops and cattle. Little did he know, this dream of his was just the start of a family tradition that would carry on for generations.

The Fortitude of the Dream

For decades the Didiers continued to farm and raise cattle as their main way of life. The family saw everything that happened in 20thCentury right from the homestead. They felt the pain of sending off young ones to fight in a World War. They withstood the dirty winds of the Dust Bowl and kept working the land while so many others moved West. This family had a dream and nothing was going to deter that dream. Even when Pierre passed in the late 1940’s, his youngest son, August, decided he would buy the entire homestead from his siblings and keep the family dream moving forward. Right as August was starting to get the farm & ranch going with his vision – he and his youngest son, Jimmy, were in a car wreck that tragically took August’s life and leaving Jimmy, at 14-years-old, in charge of continuing the family dream.

Keeping the Dream Alive

Determination runs in the Didier family and with the help of his uncle Bert Carnahan, an Irish rancher, Jimmy was able to keep that dream alive. From 1952 to 2010, Jimmy took Didier Ranch under his watch and expanded it into various fields of agriculture. With the help of his wife, Kay, and his two sons, Chris and Grant, Jimmy was always adapting to what worked and what didn’t. He chased the dream in ways that set Didier Ranch up for a destiny that his grandfather could have only imagined. From wheat farming to raising all breeds of cattle – the ranch was doing what it took to survive in the ever-changing weather of western Oklahoma.

Handing Over the Dream

By 2006, the family homestead had grown from a little quarter section of land to over 2,000 acres of wheat and grazing pasture. Once again, the ranch was faced with more adversity when Jimmy was diagnosed with cancer. He handed the day-to-day operations over to Chris and Grant while he battled but he never stopped working - in true Didier fashion. In 2010, Jimmy passed away and the ranch was left with Kay, Chris, and Grant to carry on the dream. Like their dad, the Didier boys decided it was time to make another move and fully covert the family farm & ranch into a cow-calf operation. They turned those wheat pastures into hay pastures and grew their black Angus herd to over 200 momma cows by 2016. The dream continues.

The Dream Continues

Today, Didier Ranch is a fully operational cow-calf ranch that uses the latest technology and ethical ranching practices to produce the highest quality of beef in America. Chris and Grant oversee the day-to-day operations and continue to keep the family tradition going well into the 21stcentury. Now, they are bringing their beef directly to the consumer all with the help of Kay, who in her 80’s has become an internet sensation known as Granny Bibbins, and the youngest of her and Jimmy’s grandchildren, Gatlin (who also has built a platform of over 5 million followers on social media).