February 2016 $6.00
Volume CIl, No. 9
RANGE and
PASTURE ISSUE
Rainfall Records and Your Calendar –
Simple Drought Management Tools
Texas Forest Service – Many Roles,
Many Tools to Manage Fire
The Cattleman February 2016
What the Veterinary Feed
Directive Rules Are Not
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
CONVENTION
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“As a conservationist, Dwayne Hoppe had a
profound influence on my professional career,” said C.A. Cowsert, district conservationist with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in Johnson City.
“When I came here in the late ‘90s, Dwayne
would periodically take me out to the ranch
and tell me about his rangeland management
philosophy. In that role I was more of a student than anything else.”
Creekside
Conservation
Helps Family Keep Ranch
LCRA’s Creekside Conservation Program helps landowners preserve
land by reducing erosion and protecting water resources.
By Mike Anderson, Lower Colorado River Authority
W
CAMILLE SWIFT’S PARENTS DIED IN 2011, AT
the height of a historic drought, some of her
friends urged her to sell the land and cattle
she inherited and quit the ranching business.
“A lot of people told me, ‘You need to just sell, get
out. It’s going to be too hard — you’re going to work
yourself to death,’” she said.
But Swift was not about to turn her back on more
than a century of work her family put into their ranch
near Johnson City. With help from some conservationminded state and federal programs, she has been able to
keep the ranch in the family and carry on her father’s
legacy of caring for the land.
Her family is among the generations of Texans who
battled drought, disease, insects and all manner of
difficulty in their hardscrabble lives to build up their
land to pass on to their children and future generations.
There is an increased dedication at many ranches today, not only to growing the family business, but also
to protecting the land and water that flows through it.
The Hoppe-Odiorne Ranch, named after Swift’s
parents, Dwayne Hoppe and Janette Odiorne, is a commercial cow-calf operation, running a herd of mostly
Angus and Brangus cows. Like many Texas Hill Country ranches, they also stock a herd of Dorper sheep.
“Growing up in a ranching family taught me the
intrinsic value of hard work, animal husbandry and
HEN
tscra.org
land stewardship,” Swift said. “I learned from my parents that as ranchers, we are vested in soil and water
conservation. Our cattle depend on us to provide them
with adequate supplies of forage, protein and water,
and we depend on them to provide us with a healthy
and marketable commodity.”
Back in 2011, the task might have seemed insurmountable to some, but not to Swift.
“You know, I love it,” said Swift, who also serves
as Blanco County treasurer. “My father loved it, and I
want to try and preserve it as long as I can. So many
bigger places are selling out to subdivisions because it’s
easier and the money is awesome, but I guess I would
rather work hard and hold on to what has been in the
family for well over a hundred years.”
The family’s interest in soil and water conservation
has its roots in Texas history. Dwayne Hoppe never
forgot the withering drought of 1947 to 1957 and its
devastating impact on Texas ranchers. He learned
fi rsthand the importance of conservation, and that
lesson shaped his approach to ranching for the rest
of his life, says C.A. Cowsert, district conservationist
with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service
(NRCS) in Johnson City.
“As a conservationist, Dwayne Hoppe had a profound
influence on my professional career,” said Cowsert,
who worked with the family to create a conservation
February 2016 The Cattleman 77
To Amber Fry, a member of the Hoppe-Odiorne ranching family, water conservation is as important today as it was in her
grandparents’ day. Her grandfather, Dwayne Hoppe, never
forgot the withering drought of 1947 to 1957 and its devastating impact on Texas ranchers, and Fry remembers the much
more recent effects of the 2011 drought.
plan. “When I came here in the late ‘90s, Dwayne
would periodically take me out to the ranch and tell
me about his rangeland management philosophy. In
that role I was more of a student than anything else.”
These days, conservation efforts at the Hoppe-Odiorne Ranch continue with Swift at the helm — primarily through the ranch’s participation in the Lower
Colorado River Authority’s (LCRA) Creekside Conservation Program.
LCRA oversees the program in partnership with
NRCS and local soil and water conservation districts.
The program administers cost-share grants to enable
private landowners in the lower Colorado River basin
to implement soil and water conservation projects that
stabilize the soil and restore native plant communities. Creekside Conservation is partially funded by a
78 The Cattleman February 2016
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Act
grant through the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
LCRA began the program in 1990. Since then, the
program has helped 280 landowners plan, implement
and fund conservation projects spanning 167,000 acres
across the lower Colorado River basin, said Bobby Humphrey, supervisor for LCRA’s Natural Resources Conservation Program.
Through the Creekside Conservation Program, Swift
and her family have cleared pastures of juniper trees,
prickly pear cactus and other woody vegetation that
soaked up much of the precious rainfall needed to help
the land — and the family business — thrive. This promoted the spread of native grasses that allow more water
to filter down through the soil to the aquifer.
On a recent ranch tour, Swift proudly showed a group
of visitors the ranch homestead, built in 1898. The house
stands today as a reminder of the unending importance
of water conservation. A pipe still runs from the building’s metal roof to a rock cistern where rainwater was
captured for drinking, bathing, gardening and washing
clothes. Swift’s daughter, Amber Fry, lives there now
with her husband and children.
Down a hill from the house is a round stone building
containing an old hand-dug well.
“See how clear the water is and how high the level
is? It got much lower than this during the drought, but
it never went dry. I think that’s because of the way my
father cared for the land,” Swift said.
Her daughter Fry added, “Water conservation is just
as important today as it was when they dug that well.”
Fry serves on the Pedernales Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors, a position her
grandfather held for 3 decades.
“My grandparents valued public service in the interest of conservation, and I am honored to follow in their
footsteps,” she said. “Like them, we are proud members
of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
(TSCRA) because it honors cattle producers for their role
as stewards of our natural resources, whether they are
first-time ranchers or multigenerational ranch families.”
I guess I would rather work
hard and hold on to what has
been in the family for well over
a hundred years.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
Our cattle depend on us to provide them with adequate supplies
of forage, protein and water, and we depend on them to provide
us with a healthy and marketable commodity.
Across the ranch, Rough Hollow Creek provides
abundant water for livestock and serves as a favorite
family swimming spot. Swift said the creek is flowing
better than it has in 20 years, thanks to brush management and a prescribed grazing plan.
“When ranchers improve the condition and hydrologic function of their rangeland, the result is cleaner, more
abundant water flowing into the river and eventually
into the public water supply,” said LCRA’s Humphrey.
“That doesn’t just benefit the landowner, it benefits all
of us. Cattle producers who treat the land within its
capabilities should be commended.”
The family has added fencing to divide rangelands
so they can move their herds from one section to another. This helps reduce overgrazing, which can lead
to soil erosion.
“What we are trying to do is get it back to the way
Mother Nature planned it. We used to have huge herds
of bison roaming the plains. They would run through
here and basically ravage the soil. All that hoof action
just churned it up. They would eat every blade of grass
and then leave. But they also fertilized the land, aerated
the soil and created the conditions for plant communities to reestablish in a healthy way,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey added that modern-day conservation
methods use techniques to mimic the beneficial effects
caused by those long-gone bison.
During the winter, Swift can be found in her blue
pickup, pulling a cattle feeder along the 15 miles separating the ranch’s 2 tracts — just as her father did.
Sometimes her grandchildren accompany her as she
makes her rounds. Like her parents, Swift works to
instill in younger generations an appreciation for the
hard work and stewardship responsibility that goes
along with land ownership. Her daughters Amber,
Brooke and Brittni, and their husbands and children,
now share in the family’s ranching heritage.
“My parents taught me that in ranching, conservation isn’t a choice, it’s a matter of survival.” Swift said.
“I am blessed to have inherited not only the land from
my parents, but their land stewardship ethic. Now it’s
my responsibility to pass this ethic on to my children
and grandchildren and ensure the Hoppe-Odiorne
Ranch legacy continues.”
The Hoppe-Odiorne Ranch, named after owner Camille Swift’s parents, Dwayne Hoppe and Janette Odiorne, is a commercial
cow-calf operation, running a herd of mostly Angus and Brangus cows. Like many Texas Hill Country ranches, they also stock a
herd of Dorper sheep.
tscra.org
February 2016 The Cattleman 79