Poky Feeders in Kansas: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Poky Feeders is a custom cattle feedyard based at Scott City, Kansas, that has grown from about 17,000 head of capacity to roughly 100,000. Its CEO, Joe Morgan, was inducted into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame in 2025, and about 95 percent of the cattle fed belong to customers.
| Location | Scott City, Kansas (the CEO moved to Garden City in 1985 to manage the yard) |
|---|---|
| Founded | Founding year not published in sources found |
| Sectors | Custom cattle feeding; leased feedyards; ranch land; pork; other business interests |
| Scale | About 103,000 to 105,000 head of capacity depending on source; began at about 17,000 |
| Why it is notable | CEO Joe Morgan inducted into the 2025 Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame; US Premium Beef board member since 2007 |
| Ownership | Led by Joe Morgan, with his son Grant managing the company |
| Official website | Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame biography of Joe Morgan, Poky Feeders |
History of Poky Feeders
According to the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame biography, Joe Morgan graduated from Iowa State University in 1973 with a degree in animal science and began feeding cattle in 1983, managing his first yard east of Omaha. In 1985 he moved to Garden City to manage Poky Feeders.
Under his leadership the yard grew from its original 17,000 head of capacity to roughly 103,000. Drovers reported in February 2025 that customers now include third-generation families, and that new facilities and a technology-equipped feed mill have been added over time. Morgan is a long-time member of the Kansas Livestock Association and NCBA and a founding member of U.S. Premium Beef.
What Poky Feeders Grows and Raises
Poky is a custom feedyard: about 95 percent of the cattle belong to customers and about 5 percent to the company. The company also partners on leased feedyards in Kansas and Nebraska and holds extensive ranch land, according to Drovers and the Hall of Fame bio.
Diversification is part of the model. In the late 1990s Poky entered pork, with a sow unit on site and production fed in Iowa and Minnesota. Morgan's family businesses also include long-term health care and memory care facilities across the Midwest. Joe's son Grant manages the company, which shows an active succession plan.
How Poky Feeders Makes Money
Custom feeding services
Customers pay the yard to feed and care for their cattle, so most of the cattle inventory is not on Poky's balance sheet. This fee-for-service approach reduces exposure to cattle price swings compared with owning every animal.
Company-owned cattle and leased yards
About 5 percent of the cattle are the company's own, and Poky partners on leased feedyards in Kansas and Nebraska. These add capacity without building new pens.
Pork and other businesses
The sow unit and pork production in Iowa and Minnesota add a second protein stream, and unrelated holdings, including care facilities, spread risk beyond agriculture.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Poky Feeders
Serve customers, then hold some risk yourself. A 95/5 customer-to-company split keeps the yard full while limiting exposure to the cattle cycle.
Reinvest in the mill and facilities. Drovers reports repeated additions, including a technology-equipped mill, an approach that supports efficiency as capacity grows.
Diversify outside the pen. Pork and non-farm businesses give a large feedyard other income when the cattle margin tightens.
Joe Morgan's career took him from a yard near Omaha to Garden City, a journey that deserves its own entry in farm satire even if nobody gets lost on Highway 83. farm.FM admires any feedyard where the cattle belong to customers and the farm humor belongs to everyone. The ranch humor here is lighthearted about 100,000 head, and our farm jokes will never criticize a mill that is on time.
farm.FM calls itself the nation's first satirical farm site, and between the headlines it spins Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers; a good place to start reading is this farm.FM columnist's archive.
How to Contact Poky Feeders
Website: https://cattlefeeders.org/bios/joe-morgan/
No official Poky Feeders website appeared in my research, so the best verified page is the 2025 Hall of Fame biography. No address, phone or email was verified. Information as of November 2026.
Poky Feeders Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame bio - Hall of Fame biography of Joe Morgan of Poky Feeders
- Drovers profile - Independent 2025 profile of Joe Morgan and Poky
- The Angus Conversation podcast - Interview on the Poky Feeders growth story
- Kansas Livestock Association: cattle feeding - State producer association listing of Kansas feed yards
- USDA NASS Kansas Cattle on Feed - Official Kansas cattle feeding inventory report
Poky Feeders FAQ
Where is Poky Feeders?
Scott City, Kansas, per the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame page.
How big is it?
Sources report about 103,000 to 105,000 head of capacity, up from about 17,000.
Who owns the cattle?
About 95 percent belong to customers and about 5 percent to Poky, according to Drovers.
Who leads the company?
Joe Morgan is CEO and his son Grant manages the company.
Poky Feeders illustrates how a custom yard can scale on service while diversifying carefully. For more Kansas operations, read our Kansas farms guide.