Latest / Conservation Stories / Growing Forward: Innovation, Grit, and Good Food on the Texas Plains with Layton Schur

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Growing Forward: Innovation, Grit, and Good Food on the Texas Plains with Layton Schur · Conservation Stories

• 0:14
  Speaker A: Hello, friends. It's Tillery Timmins Sims back with another edition of Conservation Stories. I wanted to check in with our friend Leighton at Frontier Market. Leighton, do you know you're becoming world famous?
• 0:26
  Speaker B: Maybe so. I don't know. I should not feel like it.
• 0:31
  Speaker A: No. I was at a global water for food conference and you came up from one of the speakers, talked about you, about people that are pioneering diversified ideas to stay on the farm and, and be able to really utilize water in a more effective way. And so I was, I wanted to just like stand up. I know him. I know him well.
• 0:57
  Speaker B: You know, we do have such like a valuable resource that is pretty precious, especially for generations even, you know, behind me. And, and you know, most of our food has to have water. I hate to say that, but it does. You know, it really does. And, and you know, especially in my area, that the diversity aspect of having, having a really good agriculture product that comes off the farm that's not, you know, maybe fiber or, or grain crop. You know, there's, there's getting to be a big demand and a lot of demand for it, man. We have our, our little market has just, has just really has grown the past, I'd say the past solid year. Yeah, man, we're just growing, you know, 30 and 40% at a time.
• 1:46
  Speaker A: That's amazing.
• 1:47
  Speaker B: It's been a very tough challenge too. You know, I'm not. It's great, but man, it's been tough too, so.
• 1:53
  Speaker A: Yeah, well, I'm, I'm excited. I'm actually signing up for a subscription box.
• 1:58
  Speaker B: Oh, very good. You love it.
• 1:59
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm excited about that and saw picking where, where to pick that up. You can pick it up at Costco or you pick it up at Bread and Jam. So that's really exciting. And then I heard your, your sweetheart, your wife speak at the Terry County Women in Ag Conference. She knocked it out of the park.
• 2:18
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. She did a phenomenal job. And. But no, the local food scene has probably been the most encouraging thing I've probably been a part of, you know, in my agriculture lifetime. It just seems like there's been a huge necessity. Demand that, that I was not expecting. I know Covid kind of, kind of jump started some of this. I don't think I was ready for the, the catapult. The past, I'd say two years there's been, we have, we have people that, you know. I'm not saying the farmers market is the end all. End all at all. There's way more ways to market than a farmer's market. But even just the farmers market alone has the ones that we're going to. It's just, they're just growing so fast and, and that, that just allows more farmers to be able to do this. We've had, we've had quite a few farm tours and I welcome anybody that wants to maybe see a different side of agriculture that doesn't require maybe the complete financial.
• 3:17
  Speaker A: Right up front. Yes.
• 3:19
  Speaker B: To come see it. You know, you can do this down to a quarter acre and be ultra successful.
• 3:25
  Speaker A: That's, that's just amazing. Well, I, I wanted to, I wanted to catch up with you because I know that you got a lot of things going on and for people who might not remember, we, you were I think like number three podcast or something like that. Like you right up there at the beginning. We're, we're coming up to number 50, so I know it's been. And so I encourage people to go back and watch that one because you were also on video on that one too, and, and listen to that about where you, you know, why you started and, and everything. And so I want to hear all the deals that people can sign up for and I want to know what you're planting and, and all that kind of stuff.
• 4:04
  Speaker B: Yeah. So we, this is pretty, this is really cool on our part of ag. You know, we start planting, it's literally all but two weeks of the year and we harvest all but two weeks of the year. And so we're really already on our second crop of harvest. And so, you know, you go through the winter months of your, your greens, your root crops, kind of the things that majority people eat, you know, your spinaches, your lettuces, your carrots, that kind of stuff. And now we're rolling into all the, the good summer vegetables that everybody loves. You know, your okra, your squash and cuc. And this has probably been the best start I think we have had up to date. I, I lost the tunnel during that 80 mile modern wind.
• 4:49
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 4:49
  Speaker B: So it set us back. I think we had 40, 000 transplants we lost. But, but you know, it, the, the beauty about this is you can get it back on and bounce right back and right back in, back in action. So we've been rolling out a lot of new things. I know West Texas has a tough time with this concept of subscriptions. I, I understand that but, but the vegetable subscriptions have been the people that do them, they do it every year. And what you get is, is 5 or 7 to 10 vegetables delivered to the certain locations every single week. Those subscribers get the first of anything off the farm. So you're the first of, say, the strawberries or first of the tomatoes. First of anything. That's the first of the subscribers get first. That's kind of like the exclusive club, if you will. And what's really cool is on the beef side, we've been able to really expand the beef side, Even though our margins have definitely shrunk just on sheer cattle price. You know, that's a good thing. You know, there's a lot of producers that need that maybe on a direct basis. It's probably not as good that you're living on the other side of the fence. Yeah, but I'm not. I'm not going to complain. I mean, there's. There's a lot of good people that need to. Need those prices again. So they're actually getting paid what they're worth now, if you will. And I love to share this too, that we've started down a really unique road on our genetics. Neogen has kind of released the identity portion of their geneticists. And what we're able to do now is find predictability factors of where those cattle are going to finish at, at what grade and at what weight and how many days on feed. It's all predictability on their genetics. It's been a huge tool. It's been a huge tool for us. We found that some cattle, you know, really are like the Honda Prius, man. They're efficient and they're fast, you know, and some cattle, man, they're just like a. Just old dump truck. They just take forever to get there. And so we've been able to sort those cattle accordingly and shave off some major days on feed and maintain a great quality of beef or vice versa. You're able to maybe shuck those calves a little earlier that are not going to hit the. How do you.
• 7:00
  Speaker A: How are you tracking all that?
• 7:02
  Speaker B: Well, Neogen does a great job. So what they do is, is they give you a TSU sample and they just. They knock it out of the ear.
• 7:08
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 7:08
  Speaker B: Send it off, and within seven days, you know exactly what's going on.
• 7:13
  Speaker A: Wow. Okay.
• 7:14
  Speaker B: And man, it's been a great tool. Especially. We've been able to outgrow our own herd. So now we're purchasing those calves back from those bull buyers, and we're able to select the bulls that are really, really good and then be able to find those calves out of those bulls and. And test them too. So it has been. It's like A you know you're able to triple test before you get to feed the cat.
• 7:47
  Speaker A: Out here on the Texas plains, water is everything. And there's a resource that's as vital as it is for fragile our Playa lakes. These lakes are nature's reservoir, catching rainwater to recharge our aquifer and provide lifelines for wildlife. But now they need our help. In collaboration with the Texas Playa Lakes Conservation Initiative and the Cargill Global Water Challenge, SARAH has started the Our Legacy is Tomorrow's Water initiative to inspire and work with landowners to restore and protect our Playa lakes. Each playa we save helps secure a sustainable water future for the generations that will be coming after us. Whether it's improving soil health, restoring habitats, or recharging groundwater, we are committed to making a difference. Together, we can build a legacy that we can all be proud of. To learn how you can join in, visit the Playa Lakes Restoration Initiative page on the SARAH website. Let's keep Texas water flowing strong for the future. Visit sarah-conservation.com I just, I'm laughing about thinking about how, how funny would it would that people that still think about farmers is like, you know, not, not with the times, you know what I mean? I'm like, man, this, this, the technology. I saw a, a group that's put together a, A, an implant, you know, that, that monitors the intake and the weight and all of these different health things. $20 a piece a cow and that's the price. I'm like, you're kidding? And they're like, no, we want it to be affordable so that people can really put it on all their cows.
• 9:32
  Speaker B: Man, the technology, even the virtual fencing, we're kind of looking at that too. Just to be able to move those cattle so much better than what we have been in the past. It's just, it's such a labor suck, you know, of having to move that poly wire. But there's a lot of really cool technology things that's coming out and I think it's going to get cheap enough with AI we're going to be able to use them.
• 9:50
  Speaker A: So I saw your strawberries. If people aren't following you on social.
• 9:53
  Speaker B: Media, that's a trip now.
• 9:55
  Speaker A: Okay. And like just from last year to this year, they look, they look different.
• 10:01
  Speaker B: They, the strawberries, I think is probably the biggest opportunity that we have in our area.
• 10:09
  Speaker A: So are you growing them in the, in the, in a hoop house?
• 10:11
  Speaker B: No, they're outside, they're open field.
• 10:13
  Speaker A: Really?
• 10:14
  Speaker B: We're growing them a lot like Florida is Our best example, okay, California uses a different type of system and we're kind of falling in the plug category of things. And next year I'll probably have to implement that. But man, it has been. We're getting better. It's just. There's such a steep learning curve and it is brutal. I mean, it is. There's not a lot of resources, especially for our area, but I really think they fit here very well. If we can kind of, you know, twist the knob, if you will.
• 10:44
  Speaker A: That's amazing.
• 10:45
  Speaker B: Yeah, they are. Another one that you probably wouldn't recognize is on the strawberries is how much fertilizer they take. It's. It's. If he says you want organic strawberries, I. I'm out. Yeah, they, they take so much fertilizer. It's. It really kind of equates like a 300 bushel corn crop. That's how much fertilizer. And, and man, they are, they're demanding, but you know, the demand is ultra high and if you can produce them, you have them sold. It's, it's a, it's a really, it's a, it's a great opportunity for West Texas to try them.
• 11:20
  Speaker A: That's a, that's amazing. One thing I love about you is that like, you like, tell people like, you know what I mean? Like, I love when, when just the economics of. I remember that one of the times that Lacy and I heard you speak and she came back and said, oh my goodness, like you laid the numbers out for people of, of, you know, like, not every, not everybody's always willing to do that. I think that's really great that you.
• 11:43
  Speaker B: Well, I just, I just know there's room for a lot of people in this. I, I guess I'm just not, I'm not worried about having competition because there's place for everybody and once you establish a brand, it's okay to have, to have more people part of it. And I've taken some iterations, especially the past few years to really dial in like what to plant, how much to plant and when to do it. That's probably been. I'm still, I'm still on the, I don't know, train. I'm still paying ignorance taxes, if you will, on some stuff.
• 12:13
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 12:14
  Speaker B: What I've had to dial back to is like, what do people. What do. What do. What does everybody eat? And I got maybe last year, year before last, I was really trying to twist on some things that, you know, maybe the east more of or certain cultures kind of like Pak Choy and bok choy and, and the Asian greens, they're really easy to grow here and, and they just don't sell. West Texas don't buy them. So I grow. Yeah, we've just had to. It's just taking a while to whittle down from 40 cultivars to an honest 15. That would be really good at.
• 12:45
  Speaker A: Right, right. The things that people are familiar with because they just don't, don't know how to use the other things.
• 12:50
  Speaker B: Right.
• 12:50
  Speaker A: Yeah. That's really interesting. So your hoop house that, that blew up in the 80 mile an hour wind. How is there. And that's one of the things I mean I've observed myself is how quickly those are damaged here, especially in West Texas, a better system. Have you thought, have you been thinking through that? I mean, I'm sure you have.
• 13:12
  Speaker B: I mean, I mean of course a poly house would be the great, the best, but it's just, just financially just not applicable. What I have found out is though is is NRCS really pushes these 6mil plastics and they are horrible. I, I just wish there was a different, you know, we could, we could apply for the 11 mil. What I found is I can do two 11 mil woven plastics and, and I just have to redo some things to get that on. But that, that is going to strengthen these things up exponentially. It's just a simple tarp. You know, it's not like it's a big, a big plan change. So we'll see if that maybe they'll take that on or not.
• 13:51
  Speaker A: Yeah, well, that's a good thing to, to know and you know, you probably are aware that those are things that you can submit ideas or things that you need. And especially if like you're on a state working group or we know who's on that state working group to know that that needs to be submitted to the, that, that, that has to change for our area. She's not functional.
• 14:12
  Speaker B: Another, another big one for us is. And this is not my idea, this is Deanne Yates idea. But we put, you know, we, we fought this thing called sand. And, and what happens is that sand gets inside your lettuce or your celery or whatever product it is and it has a crunch to it. You know, no one really likes that. So, so having, just having those 10 walls, man, it helps a bunch. And that's another thing that I really wish nrcs would kind of help us on that be like, yeah, that's okay.
• 14:40
  Speaker A: You know, so, yeah, that's good to know.
• 14:43
  Speaker B: Yeah, we kind of got A West Texas this thing a little bit.
• 14:45
  Speaker A: Yes, we do. We sure do. My gosh, that's so exciting. So you got strawberries. Do you have any left? Are they all gone?
• 14:53
  Speaker B: No, we'll pick all the way to through June. So we're just now kind of getting going on them, and I like to share, like, you know, a target yield is a pound per plant, and so that's. It's just a game of how many plants you have survive, if you will.
• 15:10
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:11
  Speaker B: And, and so that, like I said, we're going to grow that next year. And I hope, I hope eventually maybe we get to a U pick. I don't know. I've really toyed with that. I think the agritourism has some validity. I don't know. I want to do it, but someone can do well.
• 15:25
  Speaker A: Yeah, right. That's an interesting ide. Today's episode is brought to you by Evan Stone with Clear Rock Farm and Ranch, part of the Clear Rock Realty Group in Lubbock, Texas. Evan understands West Texas land, agriculture, and what it takes to buy and sell farms and ranches in our unique region. If you're ready to make your next move, trust someone who knows the lay of the land. Visit Evan at clearrockrealty.com serving Lubbock and the surrounding communities, Clear Rock Farms and Ranch, your partner on the plains. So, and people that get the subscription.
• 16:17
  Speaker B: Yep.
• 16:18
  Speaker A: Those, they'll be the first ones to get those. The berries, they're guaranteed, like. Right.
• 16:23
  Speaker B: The subscription starts in June, I think the 17th. So you'll be the first to get, like, squash zucchini first. You get okra first to get, you know, of course, the tomatoes coming off. We'll have. I think we'll have. We'll have homegrown tomatoes by middle end of June for sure.
• 16:41
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 16:42
  Speaker B: We're pushing on them pretty hard.
• 16:43
  Speaker A: Yeah. And you. Do you. I think you told me earlier you're planting tomatoes now.
• 16:47
  Speaker B: Yeah, we're, we're. We planted 7,000 day before last.
• 16:51
  Speaker A: Seven. 7,000 people put that in your. Put that in your head. Like, okay, so when you're planting 7,000, are you like. I know when we plant grapes, we have a, like a little way to do that. Yeah. So that's not so hard. A little pull behind.
• 17:07
  Speaker B: We purchased a Chetchy transplanter and actually it was from a old cannabis farm, actually.
• 17:14
  Speaker A: I wondered about that. Actually gonna tell you. I bet there's a whole lot of stuff left over from that kind. Hoop houses, everything.
• 17:23
  Speaker B: Yes, there's. The cannabis people has made the way for vegetables. Right?
• 17:27
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 17:31
  Speaker B: But yeah, the, the, the. The machine really has helped and I had to get my head. Employees like, man, I know what a good investment is now. And it's like, yeah, that's, that's awesome. You know, and like I said, you can do it down to quarter acre and do really well, but man, machinery helps and having a way to be really, really ultra efficient because just like big ag, you still got to be efficient here and, and you can't, you can't do it all by hand. I just hate to say no.
• 18:01
  Speaker A: Well, and harvesting, Harvesting a lot. I mean, corn, it takes a long time to harvest corn.
• 18:08
  Speaker B: Yeah, sweet corn. That's, that's the next one too. Is, is we ended up purchasing an oxbow sweet corn transplanter. And, and that one machine should eliminate about 10, 10 hours of work of eight people. It's, that's just, it's just a little bit of machine life that helps so much. And it's another one of those, you know, like I said, you got, you got to really figure out first what the market is allowing you to sell and then figuring out that and then just exploiting it to the, to the very end, if you will. So, yeah, everybody loves good sweet corn. That's the big one. Everybody loves tomato. The key to the special deal is if they eat it, they're probably going to buy it.
• 18:51
  Speaker A: Yeah. Well, and it's interesting. I know. I'm trying to remember who it was I was hearing talking about including recipes in that subscription so that people know how to, how to cook it, what to do with it.
• 19:04
  Speaker B: Yeah, that, that was, that was a big one for a long time, especially when we were in kind of the, I'd say the ultra wild stuff, you.
• 19:11
  Speaker A: Know, trying to get, trying to see what sells.
• 19:14
  Speaker B: Yes. But now it's just like, man, it's just easier if they know how to cook.
• 19:18
  Speaker A: Yes. So one of the things that Jessica said that the lettuce that you get, you guys have can last like weeks in the refrigerator.
• 19:29
  Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That has been, that's probably what built this farm, to be honest, is lettuce. I know that I kind of joke around with that, but it's probably the honest truth. We grow a variety from Johnny's called Salanova. And Salanova has a flexibility factor that it can grow into some heat tolerances and it can stay cool and not have that bitter, really ultra cheddar flavor.
• 19:50
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 19:51
  Speaker B: So that's been a, that's been a, A good one to figure out and, and Another thing too, we went all to a drip irrigation. We have everything underground drip. And that, that has been just major, major game changer. But back to that, back to the lettuce we learned is we can't over water it because it heats it up. And so if you have it, if you have it all sub irrigated, you get it harvested early morning, get into a cooler. We've had some batches last four weeks in a fridge and some we push to five. But that's, that's, that's.
• 20:27
  Speaker A: I'm excited for my subscription because I think I've realized like listening to Jessica talk, like, I think I've. I've just forgotten how. How good. Like home. Yeah. What the. I think that the flavors limited so much.
• 20:42
  Speaker B: I believe that a thousand percent. It's like for, for some odd reason that first three days after harvest, you know, is when you get all that good flavor as we continue to grow and you know, we will overproduce some and under produce some for sure. I mean that's just, it's just part of the business.
• 20:58
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 20:59
  Speaker B: You know, being able to maintain that quality on both sides of the pendulum.
• 21:03
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 21:03
  Speaker B: It's probably our biggest, gonna be our biggest challenge because we, we have, we've gotten a great reputation for, for really high quality, high quality food. So.
• 21:11
  Speaker A: Yeah. And so tell me a little bit about your storefront.
• 21:15
  Speaker B: Yeah, storefront's been awesome. You know, we really started implementing a little bit more retail side. A big one for us was is the milled green milled grains. We teamed up with Revival Mill. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, they do a fantastic job. I mean a great job. And we sold them some of our wheat and we'll probably get some of it back in our store, which was so cool.
• 21:39
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 21:39
  Speaker B: Another big one has been for us is the beef tallow. That has been a big, big part of our deal. If, if anybody knows anything, the, the tallow cream, the tallow bombs, the non seed oil stuff has been just all the market lately. And we're currently every beef we kill, we try to harvest all kidney, pelvic, heart fat. It goes to a lady that has really done a great job. Rock House Tallow is her, her brand.
• 22:09
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 22:10
  Speaker B: And she, she, she renders all of our fat balm, a conditioner, a soap, all kind of things. And it's, it's so good. It's such a great product. But it has honestly on the backside of it. It's almost paid for all of our kill fees besides just the beef itself.
• 22:29
  Speaker A: Oh, wow.
• 22:31
  Speaker B: So that, that's just been a, a huge breakthrough, you know, where it's a closed loop. You know, it goes to her and it comes back and then she sells, you know, part of her stuff too, through it. But I mean it's a, it's pretty cool when you keep it all within locally.
• 22:44
  Speaker A: Yes, yes. Yeah. And then no waste.
• 22:47
  Speaker B: No waste.
• 22:47
  Speaker A: Yeah. They call that circular economy.
• 22:51
  Speaker B: There you go. In 10 years ago, you know that or even, even six years ago, we had thrown all that fat away. It would never even been harvested. Yeah.
• 22:59
  Speaker A: Yeah. That's exciting.
• 23:01
  Speaker B: That's been a big one. We've implemented some wines for a long time. We had a wine event and then they could come through the summertime and get their vegetables and beef. But yeah, the retail store has been. Been good. I, I don't know if I suggest to the next guy to do all this at the same time we did, but I guess baptism by fire, you know.
• 23:21
  Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Well, I will say like every time I see that you guys are going to be having the cheese rolls, I'm like, man, blame you. It's just 50 miles.
• 23:32
  Speaker B: The, the next step for us. And this is. I'm pretty happy. Announce this too. I'll announce it on here. Our next step for us is, is we just almost got a commercial kitchen done and we're hoping to be able to take this product all the way to casserole, all the way to pico de gallo, all the way to. To pickles, all the way to green beans. We're so close to that. We have to a few more steps to kind of get it all.
• 23:55
  Speaker A: Oh, that's so exciting. You know, there's a, I've met a, A company, they're in a, I think an Italian company and they make like small size like processors like for canning and things like that for small growers. And man, that, that would be really fun to see.
• 24:14
  Speaker B: Yes. So that's like, I do know like those big weeks that you have just a monstrous amount of cucumbers or yes. Squash. We haven't, we haven't a guaranteed outlet.
• 24:24
  Speaker A: Right.
• 24:25
  Speaker B: That's the, that's exciting. And this is going to create another set of challenges, another set of great things. And that's kind of where we're trying to expand our storefront into and too. So yeah, we're just going to have as many outlets as we can on, on some of the stuff. So.
• 24:41
  Speaker A: Well, and people don't know this but like you're kind of right there in the pickle capital of Texas.
• 24:45
  Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Best Made is in our backyard.
• 24:47
  Speaker A: They are, they are. So if you buy best made pickle, the, the cucumbers are probably coming from the Plainview area.
• 24:53
  Speaker B: They are, yeah. Health centers, you know. Yeah. And I do that. A ton of pickles here.
• 24:59
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 25:00
  Speaker B: Great company too.
• 25:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much for the update and I'm super excited. I'm start getting my subscription, which I think it said June. I thought it said the 6th, but maybe it said the 16th.
• 25:14
  Speaker B: Oh, I'll give.
• 25:15
  Speaker A: I'll give you 10 days. I'll give you the 10 days.
• 25:18
  Speaker B: We'll see. We'll see. Yeah, I may, I may need them. I may need them. Yes. Yeah, I said I encourage any. You know, we've had a lot of tours from big producers, you know, 25,000 acre plus producers that's came to, to tour here. And we've had, you know, a lot of small producers too. I encourage both of them, you know, to really come and, and maybe see a really unique, different side of agriculture that probably wouldn't be expressed as much.
• 25:45
  Speaker A: Well, I, I appreciate it. You know, you are, you're doing a great service. The people, you know, that are listening and watching like you are the one that's putting in the work and doing the risk so they can have what they, they say they want locally grown, locally grown food. And, and here it is. It's in their backyard.
• 26:03
  Speaker B: Another thing I too encourage, probably the last one is, is you don't have to be organic. Like, it's okay to not be organic. It's probably better not to be, if you will. It's just less regulation and, and I don't think you'll get paid for it, if you will.
• 26:17
  Speaker A: Yeah, so, yeah, a lot less risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 26:21
  Speaker B: And. And so, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things that maybe the stereotypes tell you you need to be and you don't have to be.
• 26:28
  Speaker A: Yeah, that's really exciting. Leighton. Thank you for giving us your time, taking time out of planting tomatoes and we'll let you get back to work and best of luck and we'll check in with you again maybe mid summer.
• 26:40
  Speaker B: All right.
• 26:41
  Speaker A: Okay, thanks. Bye.