End of an Era

[Caustic Burno]

Great topic, although very sad.

I agree on the garden hoeing and also any house work as the ruination of an otherwise good day during childhood.

Yes, the ranching community has changed and not for the better. Cattle auctioneers are an endangered breed.

After selling off my mountain ranch property due to health and neighbors subdividing and California people with money buying it, I moved to the edge of town where my backyard was pasture and hayfields as far as I could see. That changed a few years ago and now several hundred large high priced houses are in between me and ranch land.

I once could have bought the entire bordering 300 acres for $150,000 and now they are getting $150K for HALF an acre.

I was shocked to read that most of the cattle ranches in Texas have less than 50 head.

It was actually less tha 2% had over 100 head.
Lots of boomers running millions of cattle.

 

[greybeard]

I wave on local roads, especially the pitiful excuse for a road I live a pitiful excuse of a life on.

I will always remember, about 15 years ago, my brother bringing up my father's wave when we were kids riding in his old '60 F100. His big fat left index finger would rise up off the steering wheel and his head would nod to to everyone we met; mattered none who it might be. He kept his right hand free to better tune in the ball games on that old AM radio he pulled out of some junker years older than the F100. It came 'option free' which meant no radio, no heater, no air conditioner, no nothin except that straight six/3 on the tree w overdrive that ran for years and years.
I some days, sit on a bench in my front yard and I wave at everyone that comes down or up Blue Bird Trail's steep hill (I have never seen a blue bird here in Copperas Cove)
Most people do wave back...

 

[greybeard]

most recent ag census Texas (cattle portion)

 

[Lucky]

It's not the "not waving" that bothers me. It's the 70 mph, throwing rocks on me, watching the cell phone in one hand and holding the wheel in the other... as they don't wave... that bothers me.

Those non-wave people are generally only concerned about themselves on that road... and probably life in general.

It's the same way here. 90% of the drivers on the FM roads drive 15-20 mph over the limit and could give a rip what's going on around them. I used to just think most people don't understand that tractors only go 20 mph and a cow doesn't know if it's in the road but it's too the point now that I think everyone is so self centered they just don't think about anything else.

 

[greybeard]

It's the same way here. 90% of the drivers on the FM roads drive 15-20 mph over the limit and could give a rip what's going on around them. I used to just think most people don't understand that tractors only go 20 mph and a cow doesn't know if it's in the road but it's too the point now that I think everyone is so self centered they just don't think about anything else.

Many of those Farm to Market roads don't have a shoulder to get off on either...some you're lucky if there isn't a giant deep ditch right beside the asphalt...

 

[Warren Allison]

Back around 2010 I attended a TAMU workshop. One of the topics discussed was cattlemen like myself wouldn't exist by 2035.
I don't know the numbers today as I haven't attended a Workshop in a while. I am attending one next month.
At that time over 90% of all cattle raised in Texas were on ranches with 25 to 50 head.
We used to have breakfast at the local feed co-op on Saturday morning with standing room only.
Today there are four of us left.
The co-op today makes the majority of its money off the deer hunters.
I have watched sale barns close and thousands of acres of pasture that was full of cows are now empty .
Cooperate chickens and hogs work maybe cattle will as well soon.
I can see the beef gene pool only having a shallow end as dairy in the future.
Been one heck of a journey and a hell of a vision in the rear view mirror.
To quote Roy Rogers

Agriculture in my neck of the woods effectively ended last week. The sale of Mike's place was officially approved last week. 900 acres for $90mil. tI was a done deal even before the hearings: the data center people had already gave him a $9 mil deposit that he used to buy the Alabama places. I had told about in my Update: Yellow Tag Day Tomorrow thread. I had said we were selling back to him, about 500 of the 732 Corr cows, and keeping just the 200+, and go back to just running them on the Kudzu Place and that cut-over timber land I bought last year. But last week, he came to me and wanted them all. And he said he wanted to pay us for the calves on the ground, too, at the average price he has been buying them at weaning for. This past week they hauled all of them to his new place in Alabama, along with the bulls we had. He has moved his Brangus seed stock down there, too. And this weekend Clay is taking all of his red Char and Black SIm x Chu i-Angus cattle down there too. I think he is gonna just move into one of the houses on the property, now that school is out. And, I talking with DNR about leasing the Kudzu Place and my new ground beside it, for a WMA for public hunting. They not only lease it, but you are also exempt from property taxes on land youy place in those programs.
We are going to fence off about 7 acres at the front gate of the Kudzu place, where the arena, pole barn and pond is. That will give me a place to keep cows I might be trading on, etc. And right next to it, I am fencing off about the same size area to build my barndominium and covered arena.

I have been moving back into my mom's house because I have to take care of her now. Prices for houses and and have been obscenely high for about 4 years now in this area, and people are always wanting to buy her place. And my grandparents' old place across the road, where I have had that 8 acre Bermuda hay field since 1972. With Mike's place bringing $100k an acre, all farmland will be taxed based on that and a couple of other deals, so everyone will have to sell out and quit farming or ranching in this county.

In a way I am lucky...it has all hit just right. We are getting $1.2mil for the cows, and gonna get about $1500 each for the 400 something calves on the ground. And we have absolutely not a dime in them. Before 2020 hit, and people went crazy buying houses around here, (I guess it was Covid that made them lose their minds) those 2 places of my mom's would have brought about 400k..maybe. Now, the smaller will be 500k and the larger will be 650k or more. I should be overjoyed at all of this, but instead I am kinda depressed. Sad about what is happening not only in my area, but to ag all over the nation. Especially the cattle business. And sad that at my age, I have no desire to take this windfall and expand our cattle operation. All we, me and Scott, are gonna have is those 5 Brahma/dairy heifers each year. But I sold them last year after weaning, and probably will these new ones, too. and I still have 8 roping steers up here at the practice pen. I guess I will carry them with me down to Unadilla. But gonna still fool with horses...Mike asked me to find him abut 8 more good working cow horses to take to Alabama. And I will do some buying and selling of some cattle. But, looks like it truly is an end to an era, and it is getting to the last chapters of my life as well. Good thing is, we have just fully funded Zeke's trust accounts. And maybe now I will get to spend some time fishing. I am looking for a place down around Steinhatchee, Cedar Key or even further down the golf coast. Gonna get a boat for intercoastal and near-shore fishing, too ,I guess. And, as soon as I, Scott and Mike figure out all of the tax consequences, we might go in and buy up some shares in some syndicated stallions. I might buy some yearlings and put them on the track, too.

I might be crazy, but right now I'd trade it all if somehow things could go back to how it used to be, the struggles to make a profit or just make ends meet and all. I already miss the past 68 years of my life, and do not see anything I like that may be coming down in the future. Well, excpet finally getting to fish for my speckled trout, redfish and flounder!

 

[Travlr]

Agriculture in my neck of the woods effectively ended last week. The sale of Mike's place was officially approved last week. 900 acres for $90mil. tI was a done deal even before the hearings: the data center people had already gave him a $9 mil deposit that he used to buy the Alabama places. I had told about in my Update: Yellow Tag Day Tomorrow thread. I had said we were selling back to him, about 500 of the 732 Corr cows, and keeping just the 200+, and go back to just running them on the Kudzu Place and that cut-over timber land I bought last year. But last week, he came to me and wanted them all. And he said he wanted to pay us for the calves on the ground, too, at the average price he has been buying them at weaning for. This past week they hauled all of them to his new place in Alabama, along with the bulls we had. He has moved his Brangus seed stock down there, too. And this weekend Clay is taking all of his red Char and Black SIm x Chu i-Angus cattle down there too. I think he is gonna just move into one of the houses on the property, now that school is out. And, I talking with DNR about leasing the Kudzu Place and my new ground beside it, for a WMA for public hunting. They not only lease it, but you are also exempt from property taxes on land youy place in those programs.
We are going to fence off about 7 acres at the front gate of the Kudzu place, where the arena, pole barn and pond is. That will give me a place to keep cows I might be trading on, etc. And right next to it, I am fencing off about the same size area to build my barndominium and covered arena.

I have been moving back into my mom's house because I have to take care of her now. Prices for houses and and have been obscenely high for about 4 years now in this area, and people are always wanting to buy her place. And my grandparents' old place across the road, where I have had that 8 acre Bermuda hay field since 1972. With Mike's place bringing $100k an acre, all farmland will be taxed based on that and a couple of other deals, so everyone will have to sell out and quit farming or ranching in this county.

In a way I am lucky...it has all hit just right. We are getting $1.2mil for the cows, and gonna get about $1500 each for the 400 something calves on the ground. And we have absolutely not a dime in them. Before 2020 hit, and people went crazy buying houses around here, (I guess it was Covid that made them lose their minds) those 2 places of my mom's would have brought about 400k..maybe. Now, the smaller will be 500k and the larger will be 650k or more. I should be overjoyed at all of this, but instead I am kinda depressed. Sad about what is happening not only in my area, but to ag all over the nation. Especially the cattle business. And sad that at my age, I have no desire to take this windfall and expand our cattle operation. All we, me and Scott, are gonna have is those 5 Brahma/dairy heifers each year. But I sold them last year after weaning, and probably will these new ones, too. and I still have 8 roping steers up here at the practice pen. I guess I will carry them with me down to Unadilla. But gonna still fool with horses...Mike asked me to find him abut 8 more good working cow horses to take to Alabama. And I will do some buying and selling of some cattle. But, looks like it truly is an end to an era, and it is getting to the last chapters of my life as well. Good thing is, we have just fully funded Zeke's trust accounts. And maybe now I will get to spend some time fishing. I am looking for a place down around Steinhatchee, Cedar Key or even further down the golf coast. Gonna get a boat for intercoastal and near-shore fishing, too ,I guess. And, as soon as I, Scott and Mike figure out all of the tax consequences, we might go in and buy up some shares in some syndicated stallions. I might buy some yearlings and put them on the track, too.

I might be crazy, but right now I'd trade it all if somehow things could go back to how it used to be, the struggles to make a profit or just make ends meet and all. I already miss the past 68 years of my life, and do not see anything I like that may be coming down in the future. Well, excpet finally getting to fish for my speckled trout, redfish and flounder!

Now the question is... how much of it is reality.

 

[Warren Allison]

Now the question is... how much of it is reality.

I truly wish none of it was. That 8.6 mil square foot data center is bad enough, but Plant Bowen, located a mile as the crow flies from this place, currently has 4 coal fired generators, and Ga Power said they'd build 4 more, just to power that date center. So that will be 2 major construction projects going on. The data center is going to break ground fall of 2025, they said. And I am sure there will be businesses to supply and service this place popping up all over, too. This rural area will look like the industrial districts of Atlanta by next year. I talked to 2 guys that live within 5 miles of this place. They farm about 2000 acres each, and only own about 400. The rest is leased. Both said they are going to lose their leases next year, and are looking at moving over to Alabama themselves. They are both 70-72 years old. Another family owns the only gin around this part of the state right now. They are located right next to the Ga Power plant, and that is where Ga Power will have to put some of the new generators. They do raise cotton, both on their place and on leased lands, and those lands will be lost too. Oh, and that 8.6 mil sf data center covering that 900 acers? They say they will eventually have only 800 employees total for all 3 shifts. There are plans before the zoning board right now, for 8500 apartments, town homes, and condos to be built. It is almost a nightmare, to me. I have watched the documentary the last 2 nights about Sitting Bull. The same thing is kind of happening to us.

 

[mwj]

They show a completion date of 2035 for the data center. A lot can change in the next ten years. There was a huge ammonia fertilizer plant going in south east of me. Multi billion deal. They bought enough property to construct a huge rail loop to load cars, That project has been pushed back at least 4 times in the last 12 years.

 

[Ky hills]

The newest controversy here is the plans to redone some land next to an interstate for the purpose of building a truck stop with parking for 150 road tractors, and 4 fast food places in side of it.
It's far enough from us it shouldn't be a major issue but the folks in the subdivisions near the site are really upset about it.
So many of the folks fuss about farming and agriculture, until some kind of development comes to their back yards and then they get real nostalgic about that farmland next to them.

 

[Brute 23]

I had the opportunity the past couple years to put a property back together. The previous owners bought it but then sold off sections over time to generate money. The original property purchased by my boss was not the main hub so it didn't make sense. Plus it was burried in years and years of mesquite. It was like you just had one puzzle piece. The great thing about Google earth is you can track back and see how it use to be, to some extent. We dozed out big concrete troughs, pens, traps, etc. You could see some one had put a lot of thought in to it, originally. Over time we acquired the other neighboring pieces and lastly the main house. In the main house was a map of the water system and there valves going out to the pastures.

It's rare that you an opportunity like that to put one back together and restore it to its previous glory. It's probably one of the more gratifying things I've done in that category of life.

 

[Warren Allison]

They show a completion date of 2035 for the data center. A lot can change in the next ten years. There was a huge ammonia fertilizer plant going in south east of me. Multi billion deal. They bought enough property to construct a huge rail loop to load cars, That project has been pushed back at least 4 times in the last 12 years.

Yep. That's 10 years from when they break ground this fall. They told Mike they just bought the land, that he could dismantle and move his big metal buildings and any other infrastructure he has.

 

[mwj]

You can not believe anything until it happens. If they do break ground in the fall it will be a tiny step. This is not the same as Walmart or some other major company making an announcement.

Large global investment company's that finance these projects are very good at harvesting tax breaks and grants. Building infrastructure usually is at the bottom of there list.

 

[Warren Allison]

You can not believe anything until it happens. If they do break ground in the fall it will be a tiny step. This is not the same as Walmart or some other major company making an announcement.

Large global investment company's that finance these projects are very good at harvesting tax breaks and grants. Building infrastructure usually is at the bottom of there list.

Whether they build it or not, the damage is already done. They have killed agriculture here, as the sale will drive up property values, thus taxes, to the point that only developers and industry can afford land here.

 

[TexasRancher]

Now the question is... how much of it is reality.

Life's too short to lie about things. I hope Warren is being truthful and accurate. $100k / acre farmland seems like could only happen near a big city.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

@Warren Allison, you should at least talk to your SWCD about the CAUV program. It amounts to a (at least partial) tax shelter from property tax based on the Current Agricultural Use value. I don't work for the District or the County, but both often utilize conservation plans developed by the NRCS for CAUV (which a plan is required) and NRCS will, at times, use plans developed for CAUV specifically for practice selection and development of conservation contracts. I have a passing familiarity with CAUV and think it might be of help to you.

 

[Warren Allison]

@Warren Allison, you should at least talk to your SWCD about the CAUV program. It amounts to a (at least partial) tax shelter from property tax based on the Current Agricultural Use value. I don't work for the District or the County, but both often utilize conservation plans developed by the NRCS for CAUV (which a plan is required) and NRCS will, at times, use plans developed for CAUV specifically for practice selection and development of conservation contracts. I have a passing familiarity with CAUV and think it might be of help to you.

Thanks, Mark. We will look into that.

 

[Lucky]

Whether they build it or not, the damage is already done. They have killed agriculture here, as the sale will drive up property values, thus taxes, to the point that only developers and industry can afford land here.

In Texas land in Ag Use (Ranch or Farm ground) is taxed on it's production value and not the actual cash value. My place is valued at around $4k an acre and the taxes are about $1or 2 an acre. Is land in Georgia taxed differently?

 

[Mark Reynolds]

In Texas land in Ag Use (Ranch or Farm ground) is taxed on it's production value and not the actual cash value. My place is valued at around $4k an acre and the taxes are about $1or 2 an acre. Is land in Georgia taxed differently?

This is likely the CAUV I spoke of earlier or some variant of something similar to this. I don't know if CAUV is a state or a district thing for sure, although I'd lean towards it being state. If it is district, the rules and regs that govern districts are a bit more national/universal than state rules, but I'm not well versed in either.

 

[Lucky]

This is likely the CAUV I spoke of earlier or some variant of something similar to this. I don't know if CAUV is a state or a district thing for sure, although I'd lean towards it being state. If it is district, the rules and regs that govern districts are a bit more national/universal than state rules, but I'm not well versed in either.

I always try to argue any time they raise our property values but it rarely does any good. The only reason I argue it is because they can change the laws on ag use. They did get us good on one place we own this year. We built a little house for my FIL on a 70 acre place we have and because it's not on our 200 acre homestead they were able to hit us really hard on the taxes.