TSCRA holds annual event

By JULIET BRISKIN | Central Texas Edition

Anne Armstrong discusses her life on the ranch, raising children and her service as Ambassador to Great Britain. -Staff photo by Briskin

March 21, 2002 -- The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) hosted its 125th annual convention in Fort Worth March 16-20. Members from across Texas gathered to celebrate 125 years of working for the common interest of stock raisers as outlined in a resolution passed by the founding members in 1877.

One feature of the event was "The Wisdom of Experience" program which featured talks with veteran cattlemen and women. Anne Armstrong, former Ambassador to Great Britain and former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe, Jr. were the first guests to share their Texas ranching experience with the convention.

Armstrong and her husband, Tobin, live on a 50,000-acre ranch in Armstrong, Texas where they raised Santa Gertrudis cattle. "After having five children in five years I wasn't able to help Tobin too much around the ranch," said Armstrong. "But after a while I started going to all the round-ups and kept the books for the ranch. I was also the ranch secretary for a number of years."

According to Armstrong raising her children on the ranch was a wonderful experience. "I can't think of a better way to raise kids," she said. "I think that is one of the joys of ranching life; you can be with your children, you can be with your husband and I believe it is the finest, healthiest and good-for-character environments for raising a family."

Briscoe served as governor of Texas for two terms, served in the Texas Legislature for eight years and is a past president of the TSCRA. According to Briscoe he grew up in the ranching business in the 1920's and "it seemed like it rained a lot more then than it does now."

Originally from Uvalde, Gov. Briscoe explained that he never thought about doing anything else but ranching. "I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps as best I could," he said. "It was a great way to grow up and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

Gov. Briscoe went on to discuss what ranching and living in Texas was like during the Great Depression. "The Depression changed everything completely," he explained. "I guess in some way it made things more interesting."

In 1933, Gov. Briscoe attended the first meeting of the TSCRA with his father. "The meeting was held in Fort Worth," he said. "It was the first time I had ever been away from home and we heard on the radio that President Roosevelt had closed the banks. I didn't know how we were ever going to get home. I went and found my father and he told me not to worry because we didn't have any money in the bank and the longer they were closed the better it was for us!"

During his time as governor, Briscoe helped tackle the screw worm issue in Texas. "One of the things that I remember so strongly about that time was the fact that the producers of all livestock really united with the help of the Extension Service," said Briscoe. "They organized a committee in every county in the state to raise private funds because the USDA's position was that the screw worm eradication program that had worked in Florida would not work in Texas. It took private funds to get the eradication program underway."

Eventually the program succeeded through cooperation and research. "With out the backing and support of the TSCRA, the cooperation of livestock producers and the research conducted by Texas A&M the program would never have succeeded," stated Briscoe. "The importance of research and the practical application of that research is vital to an industry such as ours."

The second set of speakers included Sonny Nance of Post, Rosemary Roach of Amarillo and Fred Drummond of Oklahoma.

Roach says she remembers being a young wife and mother on her husband's ranch. "I was a city girl," she explained. "I had never been to the ranch. There was a little shack with two bedrooms and we lived out there with my mother- and father-in-law."

She explained how she learned how to cook and clean out on the ranch. "I had a wonderful time," she said. "I baked and cooked and raised my children out on the ranch and enjoyed every bit of it."

According to Fred Drummond he could write a book about what not to do on the ranch. "I probably could have paid for a few dozen pHd's at Harvard for all the mistakes I've made," he said.

When asked about the innovations that have made a difference in the cattle industry, Drummond had quite a list. "Number one would be the 50-pound feed sack and trucks that don't use 50-pound feed sacks!," he said. "Second is definitely the horse trailer and gooseneck, and number three would be getting rid of those screw worms. Finally, I think commercial feed lots are an important innovation of the present day."

Drummond went on to mention how valuable the beef check-off program has been to cattle ranchers. "This program is trying to correct a ton of misconceptions that the media has inflicted upon the consumer," he explained. "We know we have a good, healthy product but a lot of fad diets out there have given beef a bad name."

The final speaker of the session was Sonny Nance who recalled his memories of the drought of the '50's. "This was a time we wish we didn't have to remember," he said. "It was dry everywhere." According to Nance the drought that occurred in the '30's was worse than that of the '50's.

"During the '30's everyone hurt for water on the ranches," said Nance. "After that people started building bigger and better tanks and water systems." According to him Texas ranchers seemed better prepared for the droughts that occurred after the 1930's because of the improvements in water management.