Ag leader offers motivation, encouragement to Texas producers

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

South Texas Farm and Ranch Show Chairman Victor Eder (left) and Victoria County Extension Agent Joe Janak Jr. (right) present Dr. Chester Fehlis with a paperweight and plaque, acknowledging the fact that he started the Victoria Farm and Ranch Show 22 years ago. -- Staff photo by Taylor

Nov. 11, 2004 - "If you stop learning today, you'll stop leading tomorrow," Dr. Chester Fehlis, associate vice chancellor and director emeritus of the Texas Cooperative Extension in College Station, told a full house at the recent Victoria Farm and Ranch Show.

Twenty-two years ago, Fehlis had the idea to create the yearly show, while working as a county Extension agent in Victoria. This year was the 20th show, and it continues to grow, yearly. (Two of the last 22 years, the show was cancelled due to droughts in the area.)

Fehlis was the featured speaker at the Oct. 27 luncheon, and he urged producers to "surround yourself with people who are better than you are." He said that in the future, in order to survive and make the most of agriculture, producers will need to be willing to "take a risk." He urged the crowd to never quit learning, and tried to explain the importance of lifelong learning in order to be all that one can be ... in any field of work.

He noted that with technology changing every day, producers need to be on the cutting edge of knowledge to be successful and retain production on their land.

Fehlis said the state of Texas is the "most urban and the most rural state" in the United States. Approximately 61 percent of Texans now live in the urban areas of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, or Austin, he explained. In past years, the majority of families lived in the country and many were connected to agriculture.

In 2003, there were $16.7 billion in ag receipts in Texas, second only to California, and that was due to the "specialty" crops raised in that western state, said Fehlis.

Twenty-two years ago, he said, there were about 560,000 farms in the United States. Today, there are 229,000.

Fehlis offered another perspective that applies to agriculture: "The future comes a lot faster, now."

In explanation, he offered the following facts: between 1750-1900, knowledge doubled; in 1900-1950, it doubled, again; and again between 1950-1960. Between 1960 and 1965, knowledge, again, doubled with the current pattern doubling every two years. By the year 2020, Fehlis noted that knowledge is expected to double every two-and-a-half months!

He mentioned that at any given moment, crops ... all over the world ... can be checked with new technology.

"Change is the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity," he explained to the audience. "How we manage change will result in improved opportunities and challenges."

Fehlis noted that consumer groups have called more attention to products, asking for less fats, and more safety in foods. The average family is looking for convenience, fast food, pre-cooked food, or they are eating out more.

With new regulations concerning planting and pesticides, Fehlis said many producers are starting to look for different uses for their lands, in order to stay where they are. Some have turned to tourism, wildlife management and hunting, for examples. He noted that Matagorda County, which used to be a big rice producer, has found success with catfish farming, which has offered a $17 million boost to the economy of Texas.

The greenhouse and nursery industries are second in agriculture income only to cattle, earning $1.34 billion, last year, with cotton close behind at $1.29 billion, according to Fehlis.

In West Texas, most angora sheep producers have changed to raising Boers (meat goats), marketing them to the growing ethnic populations, which has resulted in huge profits for those producers.

Other industries that are growing in Texas included lands used for biking, bird-watching, wine-growers/tasting, hiking and outdoor trail rides, to mention a few. These industries allow producers to stay on their family land while "entertaining and earning revenue."

While Fehlis noted that the number one purpose of producers is "... still for the production of food and fiber to furnish for the people of the world," he said that a "new face" to agriculture is not necessarily a bad face. Changing has allowed many ranching families to survive, he said.

"When times get rough ... don't bail out. Look for other (land) uses," he advised in closing remarks.