By Shelby Shank
Field Editor
A look at beef cattle, specialty crops and challenges of farming and ranching in Far West Texas were a part of the 2024 Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Young Farmer & Rancher (YF&R) Fall Tour.
More than 100 young farmers and ranchers were in attendance.
The four-day event exposes young farmers, ranchers, college students and agricultural professionals between the ages of 18 to 35 to agriculture in a different region of Texas each year.
“My favorite part about Fall Tour is meeting people from all over the state and expanding my knowledge of agriculture,” Allison Hall, an agricultural science teacher at Lake Belton High School, said. “My husband and I are from Central Texas, and it’s been a great opportunity to see agriculture in another area of Texas, as well as how people farm and ranch there.”
This year’s tour included stops in and around Alpine.
At Williams Ranch Company, the group learned about the ranch’s history and diverse operation. They raise Brangus cattle and grow irrigated alfalfa hay. Discussion centered around regenerative ranching and soil health.
“It was great to hear them talk about soil health because it stemmed some ideas not only for us to apply at home like doing a soil test, but things I can do with my students,” Hall said.
Fall Tour participants visited Belding Farms, the second largest pecan grower in Texas. The farm produces an average of 5 million pounds of pecans a year on 2,200 acres of land. The orchard is irrigated with groundwater, prompting extensive measures to conserve water.
“It was neat learning how they manage their water for the trees,” Kelcey Kasper, a sixth-generation rancher from Farmersville, said. “It takes 60 inches of rain for one pecan tree, and they’re doing it in a county that hasn’t had but seven inches of rain this year.”
Another tour stop included Mandujano Brothers Produce where participants learned about the Pecos cantaloupe and other specialty crops they grow.
”It was cool to see how much they produce and how much goes into our grocery stores. I love to buy cantaloupe and watermelon, but I didn’t realize that when I picked one up at H-E-B, it’s most likely coming from them,” Hall said. “They let us pick our own cantaloupe in the field. I felt like a little kid in a pumpkin patch.”
Participants visited McKenzie Land and Livestock, a family owned and operated ranch. The McKenzie family has been ranching in Pecos County for over 120 years, raising both seedstock and commercial Angus and Angus-cross cattle.
Houston McKenzie shared the history of their ranch, challenges they’ve faced and words of wisdom with the young farmers and ranchers.
“Visiting McKenzie Land and Livestock, I think, hits home with a lot of young farmers and ranchers,” Kasper said. “Sometimes it’s hard to relate to some of these big operations, but the McKenzie’s are giving us hope that it’s possible to be successful.”
Young farmers and ranchers visited Sul Ross State University and heard from various speakers, including Wendy Roderick with Roderick Cattle Company, U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection Agriculture specialists.
“It was great to hear from U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection Agriculture specialists because you learn about things you don’t think about regularly that could cause an issue with our food supply,” Kasper said.
One of the final tour stops was at the Dixon Water Foundation’s Mimms Unit, which encompasses 16,000 acres on the northwest edge of Marfa. The Dixon Water Foundation promotes healthy watersheds through sustainable land management to ensure future generations have the water resources they need. The Mimms Unit is a working cattle ranch that demonstrates environmentally and economically sound ways to manage rangeland.
The Fall Tour concluded with a visit to Cibolo Creek Ranch, one of the oldest ranches in Texas, located in the Chinati Mountains.
The trip gave young farmers and ranchers a look at agriculture in Far West Texas, a chance to network and learn techniques to adopt on their farms and ranches.
“I think that’s the best thing about Young Farmer & Rancher events and Fall Tour. We have the opportunity to visit all these places, learn how they farm or ranch in a different part of Texas and take some of that knowledge home with you,” Kasper said.
This year’s tour was held Sept. 5-8.
For more information on young farmer and rancher activities, visit texasfarmbureau.org/YFR or email youngfarmers@txfb.org.
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