Cactus Feeders in Texas: History, What It Does, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Cactus Feeders is a Texas Panhandle cattle feeding company founded in 1975 by Paul Engler, who was inducted into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame in 2009. The company is listed with the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and operates in the High Plains, where a large share of U.S. fed cattle is finished.
| Location | Texas Panhandle; a trade listing shows an Amarillo mailing address |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975, per Drovers |
| Sectors | cattle feeding; feedyards |
| Scale | Not published in the sources reviewed |
| Why it is elite | Founder Paul Engler is in the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame (2009); listed with the Texas Cattle Feeders Association |
| Ownership | Private company founded by Paul Engler |
| Official website | Cactus Feeders website (as listed by the Texas Cattle Feeders Association) |
History of Cactus Feeders
Drovers reports that Paul Engler founded Cactus Feeders in 1975, shortly after he moved to Dumas, Texas. Engler is remembered as a cattle feeding pioneer and died in 2024 at age 94, according to Drovers and Beef Magazine headlines.
Farm Progress coverage in 2009 describes Engler as one of the first inductees into the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame. The Texas Cattle Feeders Association lists Cactus Feeders as a feedyard company with an Amarillo mailing address and website.
What Cactus Feeders Grows and Raises
Cactus Feeders feeds cattle in commercial feedyards on the Texas High Plains. This region concentrates feeding because of grain supply, climate and proximity to packing plants. The Ogallala Aquifer, which supports irrigated feed crops, supplies water for more than 40 percent of U.S. feedlot beef cattle, according to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Specific head capacity and yard numbers were not published in the sources I reviewed, so this profile does not state them. Check the company's own site and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association directory for current figures.
How Cactus Feeders Makes Money
Custom and company-owned feeding
Feedyards earn money by feeding cattle to market weight, either on their own account or for customers, with income tied to feed efficiency, gain and cattle prices. This is general industry information, not a statement of the company's contracts.
Risk management
Feeders typically hedge feed and cattle prices and manage death loss and health. Participation in industry groups such as the Texas Cattle Feeders Association supports that work.
Relationships with cow-calf producers and packers
Feedyards sit between ranches and packers. The better the data and cattle quality, the more both sides value the relationship.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Cactus Feeders
Specialize in a stage of the chain. A feeding company concentrates on a single link, which lets it build scale, buying power and know-how that ranch operations rarely match.
Plan around water. Because High Plains feeding relies on the Ogallala, groundwater planning and conservation programs are part of long-term operations.
Cactus Feeders operates in country where the cattle outnumber the traffic lights, which is a gift to anyone who writes farm satire. Readers at farm.FM can find farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes about the feedyard life, from dawn pen checks to market-week coffee. It is all meant fondly toward the Panhandle's cattle feeders, who work long hours.
farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, also runs Tractor Tunes, a country music lineup for farmers. For a sample of the writing, try the archive of one of its staff humorists.
How to Contact Cactus Feeders
Website: http://www.cactusfeeders.com
Only the website is listed here. An address and phone appear in a trade association directory but not on the company's own pages I reviewed, November 2026; confirm directly with the company.
Cactus Feeders Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Cactus Feeders website - Company site as listed by the feeders association
- Paul Engler obituary - Drovers coverage of the founder
- Texas Cattle Feeders Association listing - Directory entry for Cactus Feeders
- TSCRA on the Ogallala Aquifer - Water supply behind High Plains cattle feeding
- USDA Census of Agriculture - National and state farm and ranch statistics
Cactus Feeders FAQ
Who founded Cactus Feeders?
Paul Engler founded it in 1975, according to Drovers.
Where does Cactus Feeders operate?
In the Texas Panhandle and High Plains, with a mailing address in Amarillo listed by the feeders association.
How big is it?
The sources I reviewed did not publish capacity figures, so none are given here.
How can I contact the company?
Use the company website, which is linked on this page.
Cactus Feeders is a reminder that specialization can build a lasting agricultural business. For the bigger Texas picture, read the state guide linked on this page and compare it with the other operations profiled here.