TheBullLady
Well-known member
I thought this article was interesting.. I came across it this morning.
In a previous thread I mentioned what type of "ranchers" I'm seeing buying farm and ranch properties in Texas.. this pretty much sums it up.
I'm sure it's the same scenario in different parts of the country. Sad but true. It's been happening for years.
Texas agricultural life slowly being plowed under
06:51 AM CST on Sunday, November 28, 2004
By RENA PEDERSON / The Dallas Morning News
Though the Lone Star State still leads the nation in cattle production, it also leads in the number of farms and ranches lost to development.
RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT/DMN
Alf Means has worked the Y6 in Valentine, Texas, most of his 84 years. But development throughout the state is encroaching on that lifestyle. According to the American Farmland Trust, more agricultural land was paved over in Texas in the 1990s than in any other state and that trend continues.
Several trends are converging, including:
Cities are gobbling up more ranch land as they grow. From 1992 to 2001, more than half a million acres near urban areas were converted to nonagricultural use.
In rural areas, historic ranches are being splintered into smaller and smaller pieces. Each year since 1970, about 1,000 new farms and ranches have been established in Texas. At the same time, the total area devoted to agricultural uses declined by almost 3 million acres. That means there were 33,000 more farms and ranches on 3 million fewer acres.
Ranchers can make more money from their land by selling out to developers or absentee landlords. The appraised value of agricultural land in 1998 was $519 an acre; the productivity value on the same land was $83 an acre.
"It really is sad. We all hate to see what's happening," said Ben Love, a rancher-Realtor in Van Horn, in far West Texas. "A lot of families have kept these ranches since the 1880s and can't make it work any longer. We're losing something in Texas."
Why should Texans in urban areas care about the loss of ranch land? Ranchers say the public benefits when open lands are conserved. Sources of drinking water are protected. Wildlife habitat is preserved. Vegetation helps balance air quality. Agribusiness provides locally grown food and fiber and less dependence on imports.
The downward trend in ranching has been noticeable the last 10 years, says Richard Conner, professor of agricultural economy at Texas A&M University. Blame it on drought, encroaching brush, fluctuating consumer tastes, government regulations, family divisions and simple economics: You need at least 500 mother cows to make a living, Dr. Conner says, but it is difficult to pay the overhead it takes to carry the volume.
To make ends meet, many ranchers lease their lands for sport hunting, sometimes charging as much as $3,500 a deer. And many have diversified into raising what are called "meat goats" because the market for goat meat has been growing by leaps and bounds along with the Hispanic and Muslim communities.
But the cultural price is steep for such substitutions: Nobody's likely to make a John Wayne Western about raising goats or shooting game from a deer blind.
Julie Shackelford, programs director for the Conservation Fund in Austin, shares Dr. Conner's concern. "We are losing a culture, what has traditionally made Texas like Texas. It will always live on in myth, but in reality, it's going to be a different story."
In a previous thread I mentioned what type of "ranchers" I'm seeing buying farm and ranch properties in Texas.. this pretty much sums it up.
I'm sure it's the same scenario in different parts of the country. Sad but true. It's been happening for years.
Texas agricultural life slowly being plowed under
06:51 AM CST on Sunday, November 28, 2004
By RENA PEDERSON / The Dallas Morning News
Though the Lone Star State still leads the nation in cattle production, it also leads in the number of farms and ranches lost to development.
RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT/DMN
Alf Means has worked the Y6 in Valentine, Texas, most of his 84 years. But development throughout the state is encroaching on that lifestyle. According to the American Farmland Trust, more agricultural land was paved over in Texas in the 1990s than in any other state and that trend continues.
Several trends are converging, including:
Cities are gobbling up more ranch land as they grow. From 1992 to 2001, more than half a million acres near urban areas were converted to nonagricultural use.
In rural areas, historic ranches are being splintered into smaller and smaller pieces. Each year since 1970, about 1,000 new farms and ranches have been established in Texas. At the same time, the total area devoted to agricultural uses declined by almost 3 million acres. That means there were 33,000 more farms and ranches on 3 million fewer acres.
Ranchers can make more money from their land by selling out to developers or absentee landlords. The appraised value of agricultural land in 1998 was $519 an acre; the productivity value on the same land was $83 an acre.
"It really is sad. We all hate to see what's happening," said Ben Love, a rancher-Realtor in Van Horn, in far West Texas. "A lot of families have kept these ranches since the 1880s and can't make it work any longer. We're losing something in Texas."
Why should Texans in urban areas care about the loss of ranch land? Ranchers say the public benefits when open lands are conserved. Sources of drinking water are protected. Wildlife habitat is preserved. Vegetation helps balance air quality. Agribusiness provides locally grown food and fiber and less dependence on imports.
The downward trend in ranching has been noticeable the last 10 years, says Richard Conner, professor of agricultural economy at Texas A&M University. Blame it on drought, encroaching brush, fluctuating consumer tastes, government regulations, family divisions and simple economics: You need at least 500 mother cows to make a living, Dr. Conner says, but it is difficult to pay the overhead it takes to carry the volume.
To make ends meet, many ranchers lease their lands for sport hunting, sometimes charging as much as $3,500 a deer. And many have diversified into raising what are called "meat goats" because the market for goat meat has been growing by leaps and bounds along with the Hispanic and Muslim communities.
But the cultural price is steep for such substitutions: Nobody's likely to make a John Wayne Western about raising goats or shooting game from a deer blind.
Julie Shackelford, programs director for the Conservation Fund in Austin, shares Dr. Conner's concern. "We are losing a culture, what has traditionally made Texas like Texas. It will always live on in myth, but in reality, it's going to be a different story."
