welcome to We Live It the Live A podcast
your source for livestock market
insights management strategies and real
conversations with those who don't just
work in the cattle industry they live it
here are your hosts Ty D Cordova and
Casey
[Music]
Mabry you ready welcome once again we
are live on the Texas South Cattle
Raisers Conventions floor at the trade
show here i'm very very fortunate here
to have uh Carl Ray Pope which is the
president Steven Devil's uh first vice
president and Dan Gatis second vice
president to join us today on the We
Live It podcast uh thanks everybody out
there and all the social media platforms
for joining us like we've said before
with me and Casey Casey couldn't be here
today he and his youngest daughter are
out showing hogs so well like I said we
we named it we live it cuz we truly do
live the live the industry and what we
do in the industry so we want this to be
very informative uh got these guys here
today just to talk about what they doing
for the industry what they do for the
livestock industry the agriculture
industry and this is such a great
organization throughout the state of
Texas and these men have dedicated their
life to this organization and I just
going to kind of want to talk a little
bit about that first of all it all goes
back to relationships known car Poke for
a while from the sail barn and from over
in East Texas steven Debles's him and my
my daughter his family his kids and my
daughters show cattle together uh my
daughter show cattle together with them
dan I met him at Texas Beef Council ago
and just kind of know him through that
so it's all a relationship business um
it goes back to all of us being in the
industry so guys if you kind of want to
start Carl I know y'all say Dan kind of
tries to talk a lot so let's start with
you and let's end with Dan thanks a lot
Todd thanks thanks just throw it right
out of there right in the beginning just
start throwing spears right there kind
of tell about yourself Carl and kind of
what you do here and what what your goal
is and mission is for the for the cattle
raers well Todd thanks for having us and
live a uh taking off like this it's fun
to watch uh Carl Ray Pulk I am from
Lufkin over in your neck of the woods
East Texas serving as president um this
association Tai and and Dan and I joke
back and forth all the time and his time
in the legislature but we're an advocacy
driven group for this industry uh we're
humbled and I think in that humility we
don't share our story enough um we're
challenged every day
uh in both the Texas House and Senate as
well as in Washington and if you if you
drew one thing to me about what this
organization adds from a value
standpoint is we're advocating every day
for what's right and rule America rule
Texas but equally so to to the industry
that we love and serve you know if we
first and foremost if we'll keep God
first in everything we do and then and
then that transfers into to our values
and and how we how we live our life but
if you keep God first and and live your
values that your life that way with the
values this is what we're doing here in
this industry so Stephen kind of tell a
little bit about yourself how you kind
of got involved and where you're from
and all that sure sure my name is Steven
Deble we're um family our family ranches
in Victoria down on the Gulf Coast have
for uh many generations now so I've been
honored to be a part of this association
for quite some time now it's a this is a
very relationshipdriven industry um we
all know that we all appreciate that and
um I think it's uh it's it's just an
honor we appreciate y'all y'all being a
part of our trade show i think it's been
a been a great weekend so um thank
you Dan you got any words of wisdom no t
you know I think what I'd add is one of
the things that impresses me most about
this whole organization is is its
diversity across the across the board
not only from a geographical inst you
know instance car being from from East
Texas and you got Stephen down in South
Texas me more in the central Texas area
but but also kind of how we came to to
be part of this organization um how we
got involved in this organization what
our different operations look like you
know you look at Car Ray and they run a
really really good operation and you
know um and larger you know larger than
most you know operations you know that
would be typical of the overall
membership steven is is a day in day out
cowman i mean all day every every day um
I'm probably more what you would call
the the hobby rancher side of the deal
we don't have a large operation we we're
there in central Texas and we're getting
I've lost all my lease places just
because of growth and so we're squeezed
down to you know just to a home place of
a little under 500 acres and so
operationally that doesn't allow us to
be what would most people think of as
large ranchers or what most people would
think of as members of Texas Southwest
Cattle Racers and I think that's what I
want to stress is that you know most of
our members are 50 cows or less i kind
of represent that kind of portion of the
of the of
our constituency with within the
organization and I also didn't come to
this organization and rise in leadership
through you know through a legacy type
of scenario either you know I'm we just
if you want to be part of this
organization you want to you want to
matter show up show up and work yeah you
you said something earlier about the 50
head guys and when when I was part of
the cell bar and my brother now owns and
operates itself myself i think our our
average head for a customer was like
four or seven i mean it's and that's the
kind of people that we want to y'all
want to hear from that's the membership
base you want to Yes you want the bigger
guys but we need those other guys that
that want to conserve that that western
way of life if you so say that let's
keep that culture let's let's raise our
kids that way let's have a farm to go to
to take our kids and our grandkids and
we got to keep some we got to advocate
to keep some of that around or we're
going to lose it all
what I love is the fact that the larger
operations that are part of our
organization understand that and you
know their investment in into this
organization is not only to protect
themselves but also to give voice to the
smaller operator that would not have
that voice otherwise and and and we all
operate together we're all a part of
that same system and I I love this
organization and um you know obviously
we we all dedicate so much time to it
for that very reason one I I have to add
this i I I'm never shy away from a
microphone dan brings something up 68%
of our
membership have less than 50 head of
cattle we have 28,000 members so do the
math on that and you bet we've got the
pitchfork we've got the king we've got
the sixes we've got the Armstrong but
68% of the folks in this organization
that drive this organization have less
than 50 head of cattle that's pretty
pretty amazing to know that they have a
voice that we get to give them that
voice so with an organization like this
they get to have that voice and and and
they rely on you guys to voice it for
them and and to make the right decisions
and do the right things and that's
what's so awesome about this group of
guys that we know we can trust y'all to
make those decisions
two go one thing I'd like to add is I
think we all bring different skill sets
to the table and I think that's what you
know makes number one our leadership
team that our organization that much
more effective is we you know we we all
have skill sets and um I think that's
something that that we bring our skill
set to the table to make um to make the
organization better and the industry
better tie that back and and y'all more
and more y'all guys know me y'all know
I'm pretty vocal about trusting God to
what we do god's given us all the
ability and he's given us a platform to
do it on and we have to step out on the
faith of him to do that and that's what
you guys are doing i mean you're using
your God-given talents and the platform
TSC he's given you to go do it and
that's awesome to see i mean I get
excited about it you know our secretary
Brooke Rollins this morning you know
came here and she hit it right on the
head i feel chills i got chills when she
started talking about and that's exactly
what she she pointed out you know we we
are here for a reason and God's placed
us in this moment for a reason and we're
supposed to do those type of things you
know going back to talking about our
small members you know our small members
are the ones most likely to be impacted
by the things we're down fighting for in
Austin you know you talk about imminent
domain you talk about you know uh
orphaned wells you talk about all of
those types of things that that that are
impact rural Texas those those are our
smaller land owners that's the larger
places are going to have the resources
to protect themselves what we do in
Austin and in Washington DC goes more to
protect those small land owners than it
does to the large ones it does it
equally but it this organization gives
them that voice and I think and I'm
stepping into dance now but you know
Texas on a daily basis loses 900 to
a,000 acres mattie Parker was here mayor
of Fort Worth yesterday tarant County
alone loses 50 acres a day to
development this guy on the end down
here one of the fastest growing counties
in Texas i went and picked him up the
other day at his house and it's just one
subdivision after another subdivision
and then you get to Dan's place my point
in that is Dan nailed it we're
advocating for that small rural land
owner because they may or may not have
the wherewithal to do that on their own
and I think it's so important to
understand you know yes that that rural
fragmentation is is becoming so very uh
apparent and what the rural lifestyle
and and the in the landscapes and the
resources that we manage from a rural
perspective it's beneficial to everyone
and I think without that number one we
lose food security and um I I just think
it's important to understand the value
of that rural component that we that we
manage and that we advocate for and she
said it best this morning we if we lose
lose food security we lose national
security and she's spot on if we can't
provide for ourselves I mean we're And
that what about an awesome awesome
speech she gave um fantastic and just to
see her interact with the kids after the
fact get right in there with the FFA
president vice president then their 4
council and stuff and just to see that
interaction with her she's We're very
very blessed to have someone like that
that's so approachable that's so that
that's so engaged and and she truly
understands this this lifestyle and the
value that it brings so we're very very
fortunate to have her here she's an
Aggie it sure does okay next question
moving right along how's the weather
we took a picture by the way i seen it i
got it i
didn't It'll be fine
pass carl Ray likes maroon he wears
maroon ties a lot too i love that tie
pretty
anything else y'all want to touch on
guys i mean this is kind of an open
forum i want y'all to touch on what
y'all want to what y'all want to tell
everybody out there that's watching
about what we do ty Ty Ty let me I'm
going to interrupt to say one thing tyer
interrupting ty one of the things you
you you've talked about you talk about
God you talk about all the things and
the things that we fight down in Austin
we we have to understand a lot of times
that that what is the intent by behind
some of the things that we're having to
fight and fake meat bill is a great
example of that we were down Carl Ray
and I spent all day in Austin down
testifying and to to be honest to a
pretty hostile um House committee that
was really against against what we're
we're for and what I you know what we
tried to explain to them and call Ray
did a great job at it you know as
well when you look at the the fake meat
companies that are out there they're
they're not trying to sell better
nutrition because they can't prove that
they're not selling things that are
better for the environment because they
can't prove that even though they'll say
it that's been disproven they can't say
that it's you know safer product it's
not there well why what's the purpose
behind it well you start looking at the
money that's behind it and the investors
behind it pure and simple it's everybody
that wants to eliminate animal
agriculture it's all your animal rights
it's all of those types that that are
behind that whole
movement we have to fight that day in
and day out we're never not going to be
able to you know have be able to show up
and fight it because they're going to
consistently come after us but that's
what this association and these
organizations do right and and and I'm
just going to add this you're from
Buffalo Texas you you you know this road
back close well on the outskirts of
Buffalo right
the the one of the proudest things that
we carry out into our membership is the
advocacy portion that we represent all
of us represent but whether you're in
Anderson County Houston County or
Williamson County victim we have a voice
for
agriculture if we have a fault tie it's
that we don't talk about it enough
exactly sure and whether you're talking
about your Christian values or this
industry we do not promote it enough
amen and I would say to anyone
that tunes in to live
a foundation's there to continue to
promote this industry but you got to set
your humility aside not in a boastful
not in an arrogant way but we have to
educate those that are not in this space
i want to use that as a segue for both
of these gentlemen because last night
you know we've talked about advocacy but
something you've mentioned and
everybody's mentioned here is talking
about the next generation last night we
had a a you know I don't know if we'll
we'll be able to get through this one
but last night we had a dinner to honor
of one of the greatest men that's ever
been part of our organization that's
Gilly Rios who we lost unexpectedly and
obviously untimely and Gilly was a great
friend to each of us up here a dear
friend to each of us up here and Gilly's
passion was the next generation and that
leadership development foundation that
he championed every day we you know
we've dedicated our internship program
under his name but I'd like for these
two gentlemen to talk a little bit about
what we're doing you know with TSC to
bring the next generation on and talk
about a little bit what I would call the
non-traditional function you know look
right right we didn't we we weren't all
born into this you know we didn't all
win the lottery to be able to run an
operation there's different avenues if
you want to be part of this this
industry you can be you don't have to be
born into it marry into it win the
lottery there's ways you can be involved
gilly was an example of that but I'd
like for them to kind of run with that
well I think I think TSC we we've we've
given a really high priority to
developing the next generation of of
leaders you know we do that through a
multitude of ways we have internship
programs we've got a working grant
program and um I think that's something
that we've really really focused on i
think um last year if I'm not mistaken a
thousand individuals coming through this
trade show a thousand out of about 4,000
were under 40 years of age so I think um
you know the opportunities are are there
and we want to be a platform and and a
conduit to get to help them understand
um understand number one about the
industry and how to be plugged in but
also give them opportunities that they
wouldn't have had uh um um otherwise so
youth youth development and and
leadership um is is really important to
all of us so can I tail end on that you
can so Dan hit the nail on the head um
we we know that this is a growing
industry and and my kids were fortunate
enough just like yours to come up
through 4 and FFA i was a 4 kid i had
that opportunity gilly Rios walked out
of Texas A&M University and had never
stepped foot on a cattle operation in
his
life and goes to TCU Ranch Management
works for the East works for the King
works for Labavia and he recognized the
critical component of that opportunity
for a first generation rancher a first
generation farmer and and I'm I'm going
to have to stop there by saying we have
the
toolbox for anybody interested in this
industry we've got it through our
working G grant program through
leadership development through mentoring
internship all you got to do is show up
go back to what Dan All you got to do is
show up show up and work push push dan
Dan shows up oh well Dan shows up hey
where's that bail at stephen you got I'm
telling yeah I think I'm going to
initiate that because sometimes I need
the bell between these two for sure
that's been said quite a bit
guys anything else y'all want to touch
on before we kind of wrap it up here i I
can't thank y'all enough for for giving
Live A and We Live It
a y'all and and to just to be a small
part of what y'all are doing it just
gives me chills just to think of all the
success that y'all had this week and and
going forward and like you said with the
intern programs and the Gilly Roha stuff
and and it listening to Mr rollins speak
this morning and man it just this has
been awesome we're very passionate about
what we do we appreciate all the vendors
here especially live a the opportunity
to come share our message and share
share our story um so we appreciate
y'all ty thank you for what you're doing
here because you know what what Carl Ray
so eloquent talked about is that we
don't spread our message enough that's
what you're doing just spreading our
message and we thank you appreciate what
you're doing for us i hate it when he
steals my thunder um don't stop this all
right whether it's through your your
live a podcast whether it's through your
auction services we have to talk about
what we're doing and sometimes we don't
do that often enough but thank you for
what y'all do well gentlemen can't thank
y'all
enough uh podcast world I guess is what
you call it thank y'all thank y'all for
the support thank y'all for the
subscribes we we we can't thank y'all
enough for tuning in cuz that's what
keeps us going and and allows us to
continue this platform of We Live It so
thank y'all very much god bless
welcome to We Live It the Live A podcast
your source for livestock market
insights management strategies and real
conversations with those who don't just
work in the cattle industry they live it
here are your hosts Ty Cordova and Casey
Mabry
[Music]