Prime Time Summer 2018

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP BY HANNAH JOHLMAN, FREELANCE WRITER

It’s one thing to be a rancher who is conscientious about being a steward of the land, but it’s a whole different ball game when the land you care for is drying up, and your cattle are hungry and thirsty. F or ranchers in drought-laden Texas, raising Akaushi beef requires more work than caring for and selling cattle. The Griffin, Sterling and Lays- “It’s just always been a focus,” Tom Grif- fin says. “In the last few years, there’s been more assistance, more accessible means of doing more than just trying to save grass and water. The last 10 years we’ve done a lot more as far as managing grub and trees.”

sard families know that it is nobody’s re- sponsibility but their own to care for the land that, in turn, provides for their fami- lies. The Griffin family has been in Bordon County, Texas, since 1926 and, today, the sixth generation of Griffins is being raised on the roughly 30,000-acre ranch by Tom Griffin and his brother, Dan. Ever since they can remember, the brothers have been led by the example of their father and grandfather to take care of the land.

Years ago, Griffin says, his grandfather rarely saw the mesquite trees that now plague the ranch, and it was Griffin’s fa- ther who first began to realize the threat of the invasive plants. Today, the Griffin’s “grub” the trees, using an excavator to re- move them by their roots, and they imple- ment aerial and hand spraying to minimize growth. The brothers have been working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to improve the ranch’s conservation efforts. NRCS awards incentives to young farmers and ranchers who would other- wise need a loan for projects such as creat- ing more water sources for cattle, building fences to prevent over-grazing and devel- oping a water storage system in prepara- tion for drought – something Texans are all too familiar with. 

Will-Acres Farm WE RAISE AKAUSHI/RED ANGUS CROSS CATTLE AND SELL FARM-TO-FAMILY CUSTOM BEEF STEVE & TANYA WILLIAMS 21221 FINCH DRIVE, NEOSHO, MO 64850 (417) 529-8316 • WILL-ACRES@HOTMAIL.COM

The Sterling family works together on the ranch with one common goal: to leave the land better than they found it.

Akaushi Prime Time • Summer 2018

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