Texas Agriculture Daily

By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor

Heston and Stevie McBride are booth rooted in agriculture. They are third-generation ranchers who have a passion for the land, cattle and running successful businesses.

They raise cattle and are the owners and operators of AgroTech, an agricultural service business that provides liquid feed, dyed diesel, fertilizer, herbicides, agricultural equipment rentals and more to farmers and ranchers in the Lampasas area.

“Heston and I both come from long-time ranching families. We met in college at Tarleton State University, and we found we both shared a love for cattle and ranching. So, we pursued that when we graduated by moving to East Texas, where he took a ranch management job,” Stevie said. “We ended up moving back closer to his hometown when we had an opportunity to, along with a couple of partners, acquire AgroTech.”

Stevie oversees the administrative aspects of AgroTech—paperwork, accounting and other jobs that need to be managed at the office.

Heston handles the operational side of the business. He directs the employees on jobs, handles customer inquiries and helps clients decide which fertilizers or herbicides they may need or what equipment to rent.

“We specialize in fertilizer and herbicide applications for hay and forage production. Our clients are mainly landowners in Lampasas, Llano and Mills counties,” he said. “We try to tailor our business, so we have something to offer operations of all sizes.”

Many of their clients are first-time landowners or people who have moved from larger cities to the more suburban or rural setting of Lampasas and the surrounding areas. That’s changed how the McBrides approach customer interactions.

Heston noted he spends more time on education and assisting them in making appropriate land management decisions.

The couple also manages a small commercial cow-calf herd through leasing several properties across two counties.

Raising cattle is something both of their families were involved in as they were growing up, and it’s a venture they wanted to continue as adults.

Working alongside the love of her life can be fun, Stevie said. It’s also tough to manage the work-life balance, however.

“I don’t really get to say, ‘Hey, when you get home, you take care of the baby while I go do this,’ because we work together all the time, and we do everything else together, too. We both have to load up and feed cows after work or go fix fences or do whatever needs to be done. We have a business, a cattle herd and a family,” she said.

Managing a business and a cattle herd takes many hours during the day.

“There’s a lot of struggle that goes on behind the scenes. We deal with a lot of things that, typically, most people don’t experience or would never understand. So, sometimes there’s a lot of heartache involved. But we always, always try to remain positive. And we love our lives,” Stevie said. “We like to stay busy, and we get to do everything together, so it works for us.”

In the future, they’d like to expand their cow-calf herd and get more involved in working cow-horse shows. They hope to see their son, Hetch, involved with the horses and cattle, too.

For now, they’re enjoying their time as a busy, young family.

It’s challenging sometimes to own and operate a small business in a small town and manage their cattle herd. But Heston said there are many rewards, too.

“There’s a lot of freedom that comes with owning and operating your own business,” he said. “We felt like this was something we wanted to pursue, and we’ve both been really happy and are glad we chose this path.”

And there’s nothing like an agricultural community in which to raise a family, Stevie added.

“Agriculture has always been near and dear to my heart. I grew up that way. Heston grew up that way,” she said. “The people are great, and we definitely want to continue on that path and raise our son in the same kind of community we grew up in.”

Click here to watch a video interview with Heston and Stevie McBride.