BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio – Darol Dickinson is a pioneer in the Longhorn cattle world and he invites visitors to see his massive cattle and even learn some life lessons on his Dickinson Cattle Company ranch located outside Barnesville, Ohio.
The Dickinson Cattle Company ranch is world-renowned for its top-notch Longhorn cattle. Dickinson and his family produce the stunning Texas Longhorn cattle plus other unique breeds like African Watusi and the Dutch BueLingo.
Dickinson Cattle Company is a family-owned corporation owned by four siblings: Joel Dickinson (President), Chad Dickinson (Vice-President), Kirk Dickinson (Treasurer), Dela Lenz (Secretary). Their parents, Darol and Linda Dickinson, started raising Texas Longhorns in the 1960s.
Darol Dickinson and his family founded their cattle line in Colorado more than 50 years ago. Darol chose to leave Colorado due to harsh weather and government regulations and changes that were costly to the cattle industry. He considered starting over in Mexico but instead chose to live in Canada for five years, but regulations there were also strict so he looked for a new place to settle with his family and cattle.
Belmont County, Ohio was just what he was looking for and the Dickinson Cattle Company has enjoyed success on a massive spread of reclaimed mine land outside Barnesville ever since.
Darol’s Longhorns are top specimens and show winners. Cattle breeders from across the world breed and buy cattle from the Dickinson line. Darol exports frozen cattle embryos and semen to breeders worldwide.
we’Re exporting now to 33 countries in the world. And we’re working now on a shipment to Vietnam and a shipment to BushA, Georgia, which is right east of Ukraine. But we’ve started Texas Longhorn in 33 countries right now all over the world.
Darol Dickinson, Owner, Dickinson Cattle Company
from Paraguay to Alaska, to Hawaii, several European countries, even Nigeria.
Dickinson Cattle Company welcomes visitors for tours and features the Longhorns Head-to-Tail Store selling Longhorn lean beef, jerky, beef sticks, grind and smoked snack products. The natural beef jerky is delicious.
The ranch offers more than just cattle. You can also purchase hunting and fishing permits for the land and many ponds and lakes stocked with bass and catfish.
Darol says the ranch uses all parts of the Longhorn to make useful products. They make 74 products from the horns and even clean and sell skulls all over the world to artists, designers and restaurants including upscale eateries in London and Paris.
Succeeding in the cattle business isn’t easy. Darol says many ranches fail. But he says persistence and a old-time word called “larapin” are keys to making a business thrive and leading a happier life.
Darol is the author of several books including Larapin Horn which offers rustic, commonsense tips and tales about cattle, life, perseverance and success. You can purchase his book at the ranch or through this link.
Darol says the word larapin is an Old West term meaning something extraordinary.
“Larapin was a word used by Old Western Frontier people and it’s sort of an obsolete word. you can Google it two or three times. you almost can’t figure it out, but on Gunsmoke, Festus used the word Larapin seven times.
Darol Dickinson, Owner, Dickinson Cattle Company
My mother used it, but her family, and her mother used it. I would go to my mom’s house when she was alive and she says, ‘Hey, I just cooked a blueberry pie and it is larapin good, I want you to try it with this.’ But larapin was something that was better, more extraordinary, or more enjoyable, or more exciting and just good or great. Larapin Good. That’s the word L-A-R-A-P-I-N.”
In Larapin Horn, Darol explains how perserverance and faith can help anyone succeed in business and in life.
“my last book, ‘Larapin Horn,’ is about a number of people that tried to do something really hard. They studied and tried to figure it out and good advisors told them it can’t be done,
Darol Dickinson, Owner, Dickinson Cattle Company
Won’t be done, won’t be profitable to do it, don’t try it, you’re stupid, and they get it anyway. And there’s a series of people, all kinds of people, high and low, that just all the odds were against them, and they succeeded anyway… in the end, the people that are persistent….
there’s a verse in the Bible, it says, ‘The race is not to the swift, it’s not to the wise, but the race is to the persistent.’ And you can be a little lower IQ and work harder than the guy with the high IQ and you win.
Visit the Dickinson Cattle Company ranch to see the majestic Longhorns up close, shop in the Longhorns Head-to-Tail Store, maybe do some fishing and even learn how to live a “larapin” good life.
The ranch is located in southeastern Ohio, one mile south and 1.2 miles west of I-70, Exit 202. Four miles North of Barnesville, Ohio. Paid tours are available by appointment. Visit their website for more information.
