TEXAS RANCHING INDUSTRY PRESSURES

Over 95% of Texas lands are privately held, much of it operated as grazing land for cattle.  Unfortunately, the cattle industry, like many parts of the agricultural field, is economically shaky, and its open lands are at risk for development.

Some experts estimate that only 5 to 10% of ranchers make a profit in a given year, subsidizing their operation by city jobs, waning oil and gas leases and periodic land sales. The pressure on ranchers is due to many reasons, including the concentration among feeders and packers, 3 of whom control more than 80% of the industry, aging populations among ranchers, high death taxes, and financially better careers elsewhere.

Many ranchers are in fact deciding to leave while the getting is good: Texas land's agricultural productivity is currently about $80 per acre, while its market value is averaging $520 per acre, fueling development that consumes 1000 acres of farm and ranchland every business day in Texas. At this point, 60% of rural tracts in Texas are already less than 180 acres, and the average farm and ranch size has declined in 74% of Texas counties since 1992.

For the sake of the habitat protection and cultural legacy represented by these larger ranches, we would hope that the state would develop more aggressive open space protection programs, which unfortunately currently rank 46th in the nation (based on comparisons of agricultural acreage destroyed, quality of agricultural zoning, extent of floodplain development, and prevalence of development rights swaps). Recent creation of some 2 dozen land trusts in the state, increasing use of conservation easements and the opening of agricultural tax exemptions for wildlife hunting and watching operations are certainly positive signs, though.