ager Panel and was joined by 4 young ranch managers from across Texas. Panelists were Lee Burton of the Nail Ranch, Gilly Riojas of the East Cattle Company, TJ Roberts of the Tongue River Ranch and Wesley Welch of Spade Ranches. Each is the general manager of a historic and re-
spected Texas ranch and is younger than 40 years old. The panel was moderated by Seth Denbow of the National Finance Credit Corporation of Texas. Merck Animal Health, a long-term sponsor of YLS events, sponsored the session. The panelists shared their personal stories and of-
fered comments on how they achieved this responsi- bility at such a young age. Each inspires other young producers and young people interested in ranching by being examples of how you can overcome not having years of experience if you are willing to work hard and cultivate the skills needed by a ranch manager early on.
The cattle business is a business “I am the strategic thinker, the business plan-
ner and vision setter, along with the family and the board that I work with,” says Lee Burton, who has been ranch manager of the Nail Ranch in Albany since April 2014. Burton, who has a degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University, wishes he had taken more business classes along with his produc- tion classes. As a result, he developed his business skills by asking questions of the people he worked for, as well as spending a year as a loan offi cer for an agricultural lending offi ce. Wesley Welch, president and chief executive offi cer
(CEO) of Spade Ranches in Lubbock since February 2012, never intended to work in the production side of ranching. In fact, he started as a political science major and wanted to work in agricultural lobbying. Only after a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension course
on grazing and business planning did he begin to change his focus. After changing his major to Ag Economics and
taking Dr. Ed Rister’s rural entrepreneurship course, Welch realized that “ranching wasn’t just about build- ing fence or physical labor. There’s a business side to it.” As he prepared a business plan for the course, he
began to consider ranching in terms of return on in- vestment and return on assets. Ranch management
tscra.org
You come to organizations like TSCRA and meet producers who
are successful, but they also have the heart of a teacher and are willing to let you humbly ask questions. Even if you already know what he’s talking about,
listen to what he’s got to say and learn from it.
began to spark his interest and he thought, “This is the direction I want to take.” Ranching was always what Gilly Riojas of the East
Cattle Company in South Texas wanted to do. “I knew I wanted to work in ranching, but I realized I needed to learn how to make a living and make money at it.” Riojas has been the ranch manager since April 2013. “The TCU Ranch Management Program was the
most benefi cial thing I did for my career. Being teamed with a group of people with the same interests, and being able to apply different management styles and budgeting factors, opened my eyes to how profi table a correctly managed ranch could be.”
Don’t be afraid to ask questions TJ Roberts, manager of the Tongue River Ranch
in Paducah since April 2014, may not have stayed in school as long as the other panelists, but he did not let his lack of a degree keep him from pursuing his lifelong interest in the ranching and cowboy life. “I left home at 17 when I took my fi rst full-time job
on a ranch. High school was about as far as it went with my schooling,” said Roberts. Instead, Roberts used his natural curiosity to learn everything he could about the business. “If I had any questions or if there was something I didn’t know, I asked, and it helped me move forward in my career.” Burton agreed, and encouraged young people to
use TSCRA events as a way to learn from more expe- rienced producers. “You come to organizations like TSCRA and meet producers who are successful, but they also have the heart of a teacher and are willing
June 2015 The Cattleman 61
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