Family Farming Traditions in the Concho Valley

As spring approaches, farmers will begin to start planting their crops for the season. Many ranches and farms have been passed down from generation to generation, making farming a family tradition.

Overall, the Concho Valley produces $336.3 million worth of products and commodities annually from agriculture. Counties within the Concho Valley are Sterling, Coke, Reagan, Irion, Tom Green, Concho, McCulloch, Crockett, Schleicher, Menard, Mason, Sutton and Kimble County.

The agriculture industry in the Concho Valley provides nearly 15,000 employment opportunities for its residents, and it is considered the wool and Angora goat capital of the U.S., the nation’s sheep marketing center, and the largest cattle market in Texas. All of this came about from residents who have passed on farming traditions through many generations.

In fact, just in Tom Green County in 2015, 189,111 acres were used for farming and produced the following:

• Wheat-grain: 62,936 acres
• Wheat-forage(Baled): 416 acres
• Wheat-grazed out: 2,141 acres
• Oats: 495 acres
• Cotton: 92,254 acres
• Corn: 2,959 acres
• Sorghum Forage/ Hay Grazer: 5,257 acres
• Grain Sorghum: 20,720 acres
• Sunflowers: 96 acres
• Barley: 130 acres
• Rye (grazing): 186 acres
• Sesame: 1,521 acres

State Representative Drew Darby said, “The agricultural industry has been the fundamental link from our past, through the present, and into the collective future of this great State of Texas. Certainly, Agribusiness in the Concho Valley continues to power the economic engines that keep our communities strong, vibrant and relevant in today’s society.”

Corey Owens, senior Instructor/Research Associate at Angelo State University works at his family’s ranch in Crockett County when he is away from his job here. Right now his dad and grandfather run 18,600 acres of land. Owens Ranch is located 1.5 hours away from Tom Green County, and the family created it in 1886. The Owens family traditions have been passed down for 130 years.

Owens said, “With family traditions, there are all sorts of experiences that get passed down. Knowledge from the previous generation is passed down, and, of course, when working with family there are things that they do because it has been taught to us for so many years.”

Owens said the family ranch raises 300 head of Angus cattle and 800 head of Spanish goats. These animals are raised for commercial use, which means they are raised and sold for meat production. This is known as a cow-calf operations. A cow-calf operation is the method of raising beef cattle where calves are produced and sold later.

“The breeds of livestock have been passed from generation to generation," Owens said. "Spanish goat raising was passed from my grandad to my dad.”

The knowledge for the time of year to breed the animals, as well as when to ship the animals, has been perfected and passed on through generations. Every year, Owens Ranch will sell 250-275 calves. Half of these calves will be steers that will go directly to harvest and weigh 600 pounds.  

Chase Weishuhn, an Angelo State Alumni began farming six years ago. Weishuhn leases 600 acres that are broken up into three counties: Tom Green, Irion and Concho County. Weishuhn mostly produces cotton for commercial use on his leased acreage. His grandpa began farming in the late 1940s, and over the years, the land has been passed down through the family, as well as the family’s work ethic.

“My grandpa always said that if you keep working, the harder you work, the more it will pay off,” said Weishuhn.

Erik Holik also has his own family farming operation, which he started right out of high school in 1998. He is self employed and uses the knowledge and skills that his father and grandfather passed down to him.

Holik said, “My father and grandfather were both farmers. I watched them when I was growing up. Anytime I had a question, they did a good job of answering it and helping me figure things out.”

Holik and his wife farm on their own land as well as land that they lease. The total land that they farm on comes out to 1,200 acres. They plant half of that with cotton; the other half is rotated between wheat and grain sorghum. These products are also for commercial agriculture, just like the Owens Ranch.

Out of the 1,200 acres, Holik said that 60 percent is within Tom Green County, and 40 percent, in Concho County.

These three men have one thing in common: they were taught farming techniques by family. Work ethic and the types of animals raised or crops grown have been perfected by generations of farmers who have passed down their knowledge to keep traditions alive and thriving.