It’s times like this that I am so glad to be in agriculture and more specifically, the cattle business. In the last few months, I’ve been able to travel to a large portion of this great state, going to numerous cattle sales. Almost everywhere I’ve seen the conditions really good and, in some areas, really bad. The worst of the areas I have seen were in South Texas, from the Panhandle down into West Texas, and along the Gulf Coast region, mainly from Corpus Christi all the way to Houston. Other than these regions, the country looks fantastic, green as a gourd and all of the cattle are standing in the pastures with waist high lush grass. The other day while driving up to the ranch I wondered if I had ever seen a better spring than what we are experiencing this year. Then, I chuckled to myself because that’s what ranchers always say when we have received lots of rain and have lots of green grass.

In my opinion, ranchers have the worst memories of anyone, and I can prove it. I find it rather amazing when I visit ranchers and, regardless of what the moisture conditions are at the time, they normally don’t remember when their last rainfall was or even how much they received. I remember as a kid growing up my dad would always say, “Well, it’s not as bad as the 1950’s drought!” The same can be said about good years. When they happen, no one ever remembers the good years when we’ve been blessed with wet conditions. Reviewing the NOAA rainfall records for my area in western Llano County, I found that in 2016 we received 131% of our normal rainfall, 2015-107%, 2007-149%, 2004-153%. The other interesting information I discovered was that in only two years out of ten, my rainfall was below the normal average for the year. So yes, we have recently enjoyed several years when the grass was lush, and the flowers were beautiful, and everyone was happy — for at least a little while.

I would also like to point out and brag just a little about our meteorologist Brian Bledsoe at this time.  If you’ll remember, at the 2025 Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, he accurately forecasted that April 2026 would be the beginning of a wet spring and it would continue through the months of May and June and sure enough, here we are. After this past fall and winter, I feel so fortunate to be receiving this welcomed moisture and finally, it looks as though we are going to have a high calf market and green grass at the same time. That doesn’t happen very often. The good news is, Brian also forecasted that we would have a very hot and dry summer followed by a wetter than normal fall.       

    Speaking of Brian, he just confirmed last week that he will once again be a guest speaker at this year’s Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, scheduled for August 3-5. You will find in this week’s newspaper an ad for the event with information on how to attend. It’s not by accident that each year, some of best speakers in the nation are in College Station addressing the most important topics facing today’s cattle business. Dr. Cleere and his staff, along with the entire AgriLife team, do an incredible job of providing the kind of information useful for seasoned veterans all the way to beginners. Trust me, if you are serious about being in the cattle business, this is the best event in the nation, and I highly encourage you to attend.

Thank you, Lord, for the rain we have already received, the opportunity to live in Texas and to raise cattle, and especially the chance to meet so many good people that touch our lives every day!