After 5 years, essentially all of the high profile United States genetics were culled out. Out of the original 900 females, only 33 survived Grant's program. That was the turning point where he finally saw Brahman cattle he could believe in, cattle that could actually do their job.

Grant often says he dislikes the modern Brahman breed, not because Brahmans cannot be great cattle, but because the mainstream version of the breed has drifted far from functionality. The cattle developed at Kallion Farms are so different from generic Brahmans that Grant frequently says they could stand as a breed of their own.

When the original Kallion partnership dissolved in 2016, Grant and his wife Nicole purchased a select group of females and bulls that aligned with this new breeding philosophy. That group became the foundation of today’s Kallion herd.

After acquiring the headquarters in Normangee, Texas, located an hour from College Station, the Vassbergs began implementing major changes in how the land itself was managed. During Grant’s travels throughout Central and South America, he observed ranchers practicing forms of regenerative agriculture that produced real and visible improvements in soil and pasture health. After witnessing the impact firsthand, he brought those practices back home.

Kallion Farms now practices regenerative grazing:

• No chemical sprays or commercial fertilizers

• Pastures divided with a single strand of hot wire

• Heifers and bulls developed entirely on grass

• Cattle rotated multiple times each week

Grant’s travels, beginning in 2020, through many developing countries around the world revealed a harsh reality. In these regions, American genetics had severely weakened the productivity and fertility of entire national herds. Ranchers who depended on cattle that could function on grass alone had been sold genetics that simply could not survive under those conditions. These experiences reinforced the direction of the Kallion program. Although the operation had always been low input, Grant made the program even tougher by selecting only cattle that could develop, maintain condition, and rebreed without any grain, which led Kallion Farms to become a strict grass-only operation.

Today, the Vassbergs operate a herd known for its unmatched docility, safe enough to be handled daily around their two young children. Kallion Farms has raised the bar for Brahman cattle by developing a herd that is:

Highly fertile

Easy calving with vigorous, healthy calves

Structurally sound with quality udders

Naturally docile

Capable of marbling and performing while being raised entirely on grass

One of the most surprising discoveries came from the data itself. When the program transitioned to low input, grass-only development, the cattle that survived and reproduced under those conditions consistently showed strong natural marbling. Grant learned that true fertility and natural marbling are not opposing traits, but biologically aligned. The cattle that are hormonally balanced enough to rebreed annually are the same cattle that marble efficiently without grain.

Because of the program’s early data heavy foundation, Grant also gained a rare perspective. He watched how the numbers changed when the breeding program shifted toward naturally fertile, low input, functional cattle. The patterns were unmistakable. The cows that rebreeded annually and maintained body condition were the same cows that marbled naturally and produced fewer but higher quality embryos in ET work. The animals that appeared exceptional on paper were, overwhelmingly, the ones that underperformed in the real world.

What makes Kallion Brahmans different from the mainstream is clear:

Selected under grass-only conditions

Zero grain development

Fertility-based culling, not performance-based

Udder and structural soundness

Calm, safe cattle proven daily around young children

No dependency on EPDs, pedigrees, or industry fads

Kallion Farms continues to evolve by learning from ranchers around the world and refining its strategies. The philosophy remains consistent: improvement requires constant learning. Kallion Farms is not merely preserving the Brahman legacy, it is redefining it.

Kallion Farms is proving what the cattle industry forgot: functional cattle outperform fashionable cattle every time.