October 07, 2025

James Coffey: ‘Customer First’ Mentality Wins in Business and Breeding

1 hour 8 minutes

HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCully 

GUESTS: James Coffey

James Coffey’s granddad discouraged him from returning to the farm. But he did it anyway.

This episode covers Coffey’s path from business owner back to the Hustonville, Ky., farm, and details his No. 1 focus: the commercial customer. Knowing their needs turned into a large customer buyback program, which is an additional source of both revenue and data for Branch View Angus. Coffey covers how the tobacco industry shaped the cattle business in recent decades, lessons from his outside business that he can apply to his Angus operation and how he views progress.

 GUESTS: James Coffey is a fifth-generation Angus breeder raised on the family’s cattle and tobacco farm, Branch View Angus, near Hustonville, Ky. Coffey has spent his life working alongside his father and grandfather helping with the cattle, and previously the tobacco operation.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, James worked for Coopers and Lybrand, Louisville, Ky., a Big Six accounting firm. With a desire to be closer to the farm, he joined Kerbaugh and Rodes, CPAs, Danville, Ky., and finished his CPA certification. In 1993 he purchased Pitman Creek Wholesale (PCW), a sporting goods distribution company. While expanding PCW, James set out to grow the family Angus operation. Since 2011 the family has hosted the largest annual Angus sale in Kentucky, one of the largest sales in the east.

James and his wife, LuAnn, have a son, David Reid, who is the sixth generation to grow up on the farm. James also has two sons, Addison and Bennett.