THE RANCH
CHILDHOOD DREAM BECOMES A REALITY—AT LAST
BROOKSVILLE-BASED CATTLE RANCH BRINGS JOY EVERY DAY TO BOB KINYON JR.
Written by: Ava Grace
When Robert “Bob” Kinyon Jr. was growing up in Lutz, Florida, about 15 miles north of Tampa, he was involved in Future Farmers of America—raising cows and hogs and showing them at the Florida State Fair. That early experience started his love of ranching, and he hoped to own a ranch one day.
“It was something that brought me joy inside and took me to my ‘happy place,’ so to speak,” Kinyon explains. He was also inspired by his hard-working, blue-collar entrepreneur father, Robert “Bob” Kinyon Sr., who showed his family members the importance of pursuing their goals and dreams.
The younger Kinyon joined the military; after getting out, he moved to Wesley Chapel in Pasco County and became a firefighter with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. He later married his wife, Lindsay, and they stayed busy raising their two boys.
However, in July of 2018, life as he knew it changed. Kinyon’s father, who he describes as his “idol, mentor and best friend,” passed away. “I realized then that life is short, and I needed to go after my dreams and make them a reality,” Kinyon says. And that’s exactly what he and his family did.
In June of 2019, the Kinyons sold their home in Wesley Chapel and bought a house with about 10 acres in Brooksville, in Hernando County. “Both the house and the land needed some serious attention but had loads of potential,” notes Kinyon. He managed to garner some help from a good friend, James Miley, who volunteered to bring his tractor and brush hog. Kinyon also purchased a tractor with attachments—and they got to work.
“Miley, my two sons and I went to work dropping fence posts and running redtop cattle fence, creating the pastures to start putting cattle on,” Kinyon says. There are now 12 head of beef cattle, and two heifers and two cows were soon expected to calf out. The breeds are Hereford, Angus and Charolais.
The Kinyons’ two sons, Mason and Justin, help with all duties. “The boys get up every morning and make sure that all of the cattle have feed, there’s hay in the pastures, the water troughs are kept clean, the automatic watering systems are fully functioning, and we all round up the cattle as needed.”
Kinyon’s Cattle Ranch, named in honor of Robert “Bob” Kinyon Sr., brings joy to the rancher every day. That’s because he gets to work with cattle, teach his two boys—and show them a life that not all young men get to experience.
The Kinyons have been connecting with other central Florida cattle ranchers, who guide them on their goal to expand the ranch and market their beef in the near future. They are also branching out by selling shirts, hats and other merchandise that sport the Kinyon’s Cattle Ranch logo. Currently, the items are sold at the Remington Outpost Western Outfitters store in Brooksville.
“My advice to anyone that has a dream that they truly want to achieve is to never let go of it. They should work as hard as they can to make that dream a reality,” says Kinyon. He remains employed full time as a firefighter with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, and plans to do so until he retires.
ROUNDUP
Kinyon’s Cattle Ranch
813-838-1096, kcranchfl@yahoo.com
facebook.com/KCRanchFL/