God bless Texas. There certainly is something in the psyche of people living in the Lone Star State which seeks to do things better than anywhere else. Sometimes these efforts meet with exemplary success.

So it is with the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership (TALL) program. This product of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has come to be regarded as the top tier of agricultural advocacy and learning in the nation. 

Program director Jim Mazurkiewicz describes it as such, “TALL is the most well-positioned agricultural advocacy group in the country. It is based on building relationships across all aspects of agriculture and doing it among young professionals who are fully vested in agriculture.”

Applicants must apply for selection. Twenty-five people are selected to form a cohort. Over the following two years the cohort will spend one week per quarter together, learning about agriculture. The trips will cover each region of Texas, with out-of-state trips to California and Washington, D.C. An international visit – Cohort XVII will travel to Poland – highlights the two years. 

Mazurkiewicz explained that there are over 60 product-specific advocacy groups in Texas, yet, until TALL, there was no single group to advocate for agriculture in all its forms.   

There was also no vehicle with which to offer practical education to local and state decision-makers regarding the wide range of agricultural issues. TALL, now in its 36th year, simultaneously fills the complimentary roles of advocacy and education. 

That dual charter led to 26 agricultural professionals of Cohort XVII to be in a barn of the W6 Ranch – just north of Tx 154 on FM 2869 – last Tuesday. Ranch owner and TALL advisory board member Greg Walker was discussing innovations put in place at the W6 to increase hay yield and quality. 

The discussion ranged from the economics of a hay bale to proper cutting height to army worm deterrence. It was a riveting presentation. 

Incessant rain had made a site visit to Everde Growers impractical, so the group came early to the W6 where they received briefings about Everde Growers, the W6 hay operation, the use of agricultural drones, and a session on horticulture and the East Texas rose industry.

Walkers’s discussion of his 150-acre farm featured both large and small-scale innovation. He commented, “We run a big, experimental ag station.” 

He joked that being a hay producer allows one “four chances to get it right every year.” It was clear that it also afforded four opportunities to tweak the processes in place to maximize yield and quality.

Looking out across the tables during lunch in the barn – provided by Azalea Caterers of Tyler – one could count ten cowboy hats. That hat-count was a good indicator of the diversity of the cohort. In addition to ranch owners/managers, the cohort included representatives from timber, cottonseed, risk analysis, genomics sales, banking, communications and marketing, public relations, product distribution, pecans and fruitcakes, commercial spraying, and habitat management.

As Texas is a state where-in people proudly associate with their region, it is easy to see how comparing ag techniques specific in one region can potentially benefit other regions. That unique person-to-person exposure to new or different growing techniques or business traits is a big part of TALL.

Just as important as the diversity of the cohort is ensuring the program exposes the group to the widely-varying aspects of Texas agriculture. This cohort’s schedule included visits to and/or briefings by 24 agricultural concerns in East Texas – from West Fraser Angelina Lumber Company to Brookshire Brothers to BNSF Railroad to the Collins Street Bakery and the Hawkins ISD Ag Complex.

Program manager Mazurkiewicz highlighted just how much of society is agriculture related, if not dependent. “And it is produced by only 1% of the population,” he added.  

One of the most visible agricultural firms in Wood County is Everde Growers. The nursery has 475 acres under production, bordering Tx 154 just west of the Upshur County line. 

Everde General Manager Eric Hatcher advised that Everde is a wholesale business supplying landscapers and other landscape suppliers. Developers are also a healthy part of Everde’s business.

“We are lucky to be in Texas,” he offered, “there is always a demand.” 

Hatcher explained that Everde at Mill Creek is one of 15 Everde farms nationwide. They are also located in Florida, California and Oregon, with three additional farms in Texas. 

That dispersal of farms allows Everde to flex their production. Should weather trends prevent marketable growth among certain trees, coordination between farms will pass a specific tree source to a farm in a more acceptable climate for that species. Mill Creek experienced just such a case after the 2021 freeze.

The fields lining Tx 154 keep the 87-man workforce busy. They are also a hotbed for innovation. Hatcher explained how the recent addition of conveyors to move plotted trees from the field to the trucks has been quite a savings in time and capital. 

Everde produces some trees up to 10-years of age which are rooted in 670-gallon containers – a challenge to move. Investment in a mechanical pot-grabber has also been a marked time (and back) saver.

From Hatcher’s brief it was clear that a large nursery, such as Everde, is a delicate dance of rooting, nurturing, and rotating-to-market vast quantities of trees and shrubs. He stressed the importance of planning for contingencies, especially weather-related impacts, in ensuring the livelihood of the business. 

TALL’s official name is the Gov. Dolph Briscoe, Jr. Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership program. The program benefits from a large endowment from the former rancher and two-time governor of Texas. 

According to Mazurkiewicz the endowment allowed placement of the program in the Texas A&M Extension, hence removing it from the variances of university funding. 

There are initiatives at the local level to found a youth-oriented version of the program, known as YALL. While those efforts are often driven by TALL graduates, the youth program is not a part of their charter. 

With population trends, the necessity for well-considered decisions in the agricultural industry is absolutely critical. TALL, as featured last week in Wood County, is a  trailblazing organization that should lead the associated deliberations.