Tidy rows of pine trees grow where cattle once grazed through the rolling hills of East Texas.
Housing developments and lignite mines have swallowed prime pasture land.
Around Longview, cows and calves are dotting fewer landscapes, and local ranchers blame rising costs, fluctuating markets and changing lifestyles for pushing people from cattle production, a rural business with long ties to East Texas.
“The older generation is passing on, and the younger ones don’t pick it up,” said Byron Ford, a Hallsville rancher who runs the Longview Livestock Commission sale barn. “There’s not a lot of money in it, and it’s hard work.”
The number of cattle in the area has fallen by nearly half in the past three decades, but it’s hard to tell that on a Thursday in Longview. That’s when the livestock commission holds its weekly auction, where men in denim shirts and wide-brimmed hats still gather around the cafe at the sale barn just as they always have.
They chew on chicken-fried steak and shoot the breeze. Later, they’ll wander the catwalk high above the holding pens, inspecting the week’s offering. There will be breeding bulls, horses and goats, as well as heifers destined for somebody’s pasture and yearlings and worn-out mama cows destined for the feed lots and slaughter houses out west.
Among the onlookers will be only a handful of serious buyers. Though several East Texans still run large operations, many say they hold onto a few head of cattle as a hobby or for nostalgia. They’re just happy to break even on the endeavor.
“Most of our clients will be people with smaller herds. They’ve been in it forever and were raised in it,” Ford said. “It gets in you. People do it because they’ve always done it.”
Longview’s sale barn was built in the 1960s. There are other sale barns operating around East Texas, including ones in Carthage and Henderson. Ford expects that sales have slowed at all of the East Texas auction houses, and he said he wouldn’t be surprised if some begin to close in the years to come.
“If our numbers don’t pick up, everybody can’t stay in it,” he said.
A small-timer’s habit
These days, most small-time ranchers hold other jobs to pay the bills.
Among them is Danny Jordan, who retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture after 36 years and now runs a small herd and hauls cattle for a rural sale barn on the weekends.
“Back when I was a kid, back in the ’50s, that was when East Texas was fencing up, and my granddad had a few old cows. It wasn’t nothing because everybody had a few head of cattle,” he said. “Now it has evolved over the years that we have either got some big operators or we’ve got a lot of small operators like me that have a town job to support their habit.”
In the early part of the 20th century, Jordan said, many rural East Texans grew crops for their livelihood. Following World War II, they converted to cattle production. They didn’t have massive spreads like those found in cattle-producing areas of South and West Texas.
“The problem over here in East Texas is everybody’s got 80 acres of land,” he said. “We don’t have any real big landowners. As the cattle industry evolved over the years to better types of cattle, better breeding and better feeding, we had to expand or go out, and there was just so many people here, and I’m exactly what they are.
“Everybody had 75 to 100 acres, and it wasn’t enough to run cattle full time,” he said. “There wasn’t enough money there so they had to go to town and get a job.”
Jordan runs around 60 head of cattle on 92 acres in Laneville.
“I’m so small-time it’s ridiculous, but that’s what I want to do,” he said. “I don’t want to go fishing.”
Fewer cattle, more people?
The USDA figures that show a declining cattle population in East Texas might not tell the complete story, according to Greg Clary, an economist at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Overton.
“There may be less cattle, but that doesn’t mean there are less people involved,” he said. “We have so many small herds in East Texas and across the South, there’s just a lot of people that have some cows.”
Clary is among several Texas A&M experts who are leading a “grazing school” this week at the Overton facility, in which greenhorns learn about forage management, genetics and other basics of livestock production. Clary, who is also chairman of the Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, said some small producers still make money from their cattle.
“The possibility is there,” he said. “There are more people that are not making money than are, but there are some that do make money. But you have to really pay attention to all the management aspects of it and keep track of what’s going on from a production standpoint and a cost standpoint.”
Back at the sale barn
Before Thursday’s auction began in Longview, a long line of trucks waited to unload their livestock for the noon sale. Around 600 head of cattle were expected to pass through the auction gates that day, and Art Dudley was next in line to drop off a dozen head.
Dudley, a full-time cattle producer in the Henderson area, said he was just doing what he has always done.
“It’s what I like,” he said. “I don’t want to work for anybody else.”
5,816 responses to “Cattle ranchers dwindling in East Texas”
I am very happy to read this. This is the type of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best doc.
I?ve read a few good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to create such a wonderful informative site.
I don?t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
It’s best to participate in a contest for top-of-the-line blogs on the web. I will suggest this site!
That is a good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Brief but very accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!|
Hello, i feel that i noticed you visited my weblog thus i got here to go back the want?.I am trying to to find issues to improve my website!I guess its ok to make use of a few of your ideas!!|
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for keyword|
Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, terrific blog!
Terrific post but I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Thanks!
Thanks for your publication. I would like to opinion that the first thing you will need to conduct is to see if you really need credit improvement. To do that you will have to get your hands on a copy of your credit score. That should not be difficult, since the government necessitates that you are allowed to get one cost-free copy of your credit report yearly. You just have to request that from the right people. You can either check out the website for the Federal Trade Commission or even contact one of the major credit agencies right away.
Thanks for sharing such a nice idea, article is nice, thats why i have read it completely|
At this time it sounds like Movable Type is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Throughout the great scheme of things you get an A just for effort. Exactly where you lost everybody was first in the particulars. As they say, the devil is in the details… And it couldn’t be much more correct in this article. Having said that, let me tell you just what did do the job. The writing is really persuasive and that is possibly the reason why I am making an effort to opine. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Second, whilst I can certainly notice a jumps in reason you come up with, I am not necessarily sure of exactly how you seem to unite your details which in turn make the final result. For now I will, no doubt subscribe to your point however trust in the future you connect the dots much better.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something informative to read?
Howdy! I simply wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the good info you might have here on this post. I can be coming again to your blog for more soon.
I’m in awe of the author’s ability to make complicated concepts accessible to readers of all backgrounds. This article is a testament to her expertise and commitment to providing helpful insights. Thank you, author, for creating such an captivating and enlightening piece. It has been an absolute pleasure to read!
Thanks for your publiction. Another factor is that to be a photographer includes not only problems in catching award-winning photographs but also hardships in establishing the best video camera suited to your needs and most especially problems in maintaining the grade of your camera. This is very correct and noticeable for those professional photographers that are in to capturing the nature’s exciting scenes – the mountains, the forests, the wild or perhaps the seas. Going to these amazing places unquestionably requires a digital camera that can meet the wild’s tough natural environment.
of course like your website however you have to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the reality then again I will surely come back again.
I’m curious to find out what blog system you happen to be using? I’m having some minor security problems with my latest website and I would like to find something more risk-free. Do you have any solutions?
En fonction du tissu employé, cela peut être une robe habillée ou
décontractée.
I’m curious to find out what blog system you
are using? I’m having some small security issues
with my latest blog and I’d like to find something more risk-free.
Do you have any solutions?
Dans les guinguettes, la musique est dansante, festive
et populaire.
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Many thanks
One thing I’d prefer to reply to is that weightloss program fast may be accomplished by the suitable diet and exercise. Your size not simply affects the look, but also the entire quality of life. Self-esteem, despression symptoms, health risks, and also physical skills are impacted in weight gain. It is possible to do everything right and still gain. In such a circumstance, a medical problem may be the perpetrator. While an excessive amount of food rather than enough exercising are usually at fault, common medical ailments and traditionally used prescriptions might greatly add to size. Thanks for your post right here.
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my website thus i came to ?return the favor?.I’m trying to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!
I would also like to say that most individuals that find themselves with out health insurance are generally students, self-employed and those that are unemployed. More than half with the uninsured are under the age of Thirty five. They do not feel they are wanting health insurance since they are young and healthy. Their own income is frequently spent on housing, food, in addition to entertainment. Some people that do represent the working class either entire or as a hobby are not provided insurance via their work so they proceed without because of the rising price of health insurance in the states. Thanks for the concepts you talk about through your blog.
Hello, Neat post. There is a problem along with your website in web explorer, would test this? IE nonetheless is the marketplace chief and a large component to other people will pass over your magnificent writing because of this problem.
Thanks for expressing your ideas. I’d also like to mention that video games have been at any time evolving. Modern tools and improvements have helped create genuine and fun games. Most of these entertainment video games were not as sensible when the actual concept was first of all being tried out. Just like other styles of know-how, video games also have had to develop by way of many years. This itself is testimony for the fast continuing development of video games.
Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the web the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people consider worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
I like what you guys are up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I?ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site 🙂
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn anything like this before. So good to seek out any individual with some unique ideas on this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this website is one thing that’s needed on the web, somebody with a little bit originality. helpful job for bringing something new to the web!
I’ve really noticed that credit improvement activity ought to be conducted with tactics. If not, you might find yourself endangering your rating. In order to reach your goals in fixing to your credit rating you have to confirm that from this time you pay all of your monthly dues promptly prior to their scheduled date. It really is significant on the grounds that by definitely not accomplishing so, all other steps that you will decide on to improve your credit rating will not be powerful. Thanks for revealing your suggestions.
It is my belief that mesothelioma is definitely the most fatal cancer. It’s got unusual characteristics. The more I actually look at it a lot more I am persuaded it does not react like a true solid flesh cancer. In the event mesothelioma can be a rogue virus-like infection, then there is the prospects for developing a vaccine in addition to offering vaccination to asbestos subjected people who are vulnerable to high risk associated with developing long term asbestos linked malignancies. Thanks for discussing your ideas about this important health issue.
Hi, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, very good blog!
My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on several websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be really appreciated!
Thanks a lot for the helpful article. It is also my belief that mesothelioma has an extremely long latency period, which means that signs and symptoms of the disease might not exactly emerge right up until 30 to 50 years after the original exposure to mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma, that is the most common style and has effects on the area across the lungs, might result in shortness of breath, upper body pains, and a persistent coughing, which may result in coughing up body.
Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; we have developed some nice procedures and we are looking to exchange methods with other folks, be sure to shoot me an email if interested.
asli arcan global
smile hair clinic
dr terziler
Throughout the great scheme of things you actually receive a B- just for effort and hard work. Where exactly you confused me was in all the facts. As people say, the devil is in the details… And that couldn’t be much more correct in this article. Having said that, allow me inform you just what did do the job. The writing is very engaging which is most likely the reason why I am taking the effort in order to opine. I do not really make it a regular habit of doing that. 2nd, while I can certainly notice the leaps in reason you make, I am definitely not confident of just how you seem to connect the details which in turn produce the final result. For now I shall yield to your issue but wish in the foreseeable future you actually link your facts better.
I loved as much as you’ll obtain performed proper here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an nervousness over that you wish be handing over the following. sick definitely come further until now again as precisely the same just about a lot continuously within case you defend this increase.
Thanks, I’ve recently been seeking for details about this topic for ages and yours is the best I’ve discovered so far.
deniz küçükkaya
güncel
dr kandulu
bien life
bien life
dr ?aban
güncel öztürk