Roots Matter in People and Seed - The Evolution of Seed With Steve Beattie

Paul Yeager: Taking a small amount of water into a large field and spreading it out to last is a challenge that's been felt in many, many states. We've seen seed genetics, whether it was in corn, soybeans or today it's in grass seed. That's what we're going to talk about is what are changes that have been happening in those industries, specifically when it comes to grass seed. Our guest today is going to be Steve Beattie from Dumas, Texas. He is a seed dealer for Barenbrug USA. We're going to talk about Barenbrug products and just how they have evolved in that relationship. From what Steve is hearing from his big ranching customers to the company that's doing the research to figure out and say, Hey, we just don't get the water that we used to. That is not a unique situation to Texas. It's also happening in the I states. And one of them, one of those I states is where Steve is actually from. We're going to talk about his time in Iowa and in Texas. Similarities, differences, families and just to also then get into a little government policy. We'll ask him what would happen if the secretary of agriculture would walk into his door. What would he say? What would he say is the biggest thing that those that are involved in his kind of agriculture, the beef production, livestock and the feeding of that livestock? What's the thing they need the most right now? So that's what we're going to talk about today. If you have any ideas for me or stories you'd like me to look into conversations to have, send me an email. Paul.Yeager@IowaPBS.org. New episodes come out each and every Tuesday. So like it, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can hear these in audio form or in video form. We release them both. So now let's get to Steve. Let's get to know him and how he ended up in Texas.

[Yeager] It's a mighty fine picture you have behind there, Steve. But you don't talk like you were born in Iowa. You sound like you've been in Texas a long time, but it's from what's behind you. It looks like Iowa has never left you.

Steve Beattie: Yeah. No, we've got some pretty deep roots. Or you just don't dig up the mole roots from Iowa. You know, I've been down here for 61 years, I guess. But those nine years in Iowa with all my family and still have family up there, still very close to my heart, you know.

[Yeager] My mom has lived on the farm going on more than 60 years and she still doesn't consider her. I don't think some people consider her a local of the town. Are you a Texan or an Iowan, Steve?

[Beattie] Oh, man, do that. You know, I'm a Texan. I am I. But when you say you're Texan, you still got roots, you know, and my roots still in the ground, black ground of southeastern Iowa. They're there. They'll never leave there. So when we went.

[Yeager] Henry County, Iowa, is where you were born and there's still a little bit of family there, You said.

[Beattie] Yes. Most of my family, we were more in Henry County, but Lee counties where most of our family still farms today. Cousins And and then so it's we get back to see them you know and funerals and stuff like that special sessions and we took mom and dad back up there and buried them up there in their old homeplace. And it was very, very close to our hearts. It is, yes.

[Yeager] Why did your dad move?

[Beattie] You know, we were in 60 back in 60, we were actually on the farm in Mount Pleasant, outside of Mount Pleasant and had a horse, just a commercial. We were just feeding our own hogs and everything. And that always fed some of our own stingers out. And we had him up in the barn and we fed them out and commercially sold them as beef. And that was in the sixties. And my uncle that lived in Midland, Texas, was rubbing elbows with a lot of the old folks, which were also old cowgirls who had herds down in the Permian Basin in Midland/Odessa. And one day they were just visiting and they said we would like to feed out our own calves here in Texas. And my uncle said, well, I know just a guy. I got a nephew in Iowa. And so he called us up and only never years. We sold everything we had loaded up, bought a brand new Ford Station wagon and a U-Haul and loaded up about four sisters and myself. And we moved to Midland, Texas, and then started into the cattle feeding business there, built a feeding business there. And we learned all this at the air terminal out there. And that's how we got our feet started in the commercial cleaning business.

[Yeager] It was cattle feeding. So obviously it's in your blood. Is that something you wanted to do for a whole career as your little Steve? Are you thinking that's what I'm going to be when I'm big old Steve.

[Beattie] I was hooked to him tractors, man. I just had to go down the road. And so I really was a lot more prone to be in the farm and side of things. Although when we moved to West Texas out there, then I was actually raised on a ranch. We moved from Midland down to deep Texas down in Texas County, and one of the gentlemen that we were feeding or feeding with us there wanted us to come down. And so I was raised in Nelson West, Texas, and with school in where I met my wife and where we started there. But that's where we were in the commercial. We would keep feeding our own calves out and we also got into our business later and started doing a commercial hog operations. And so we got pretty involved with commercial livestock as a whole and raising and we started taking that over again. And there's a binder down there. We started raising long grasses under irrigation. And so that's where I really kind of started, got my first taste of let's make some feed for these cattle, you know, and try to figure out what we can do in these other conditions to make it acre into water, turn into a pound of cow, you know.

[Yeager] One thing hasn't changed, Steve, from when you arrived to now, that phrase that you just said about turning a little water into a lot of water, it's never been overabundant in Texas as a whole is a very generic state. 

[Beattie] Right. In terms of it was quite an experience for me. And my wife graduated high school and my college, my education belt includes livestock. I mean, we graduated from high school and they had built a new confined hog operation in central Texas where it ranged 36 to 40 inches. And so he shipped us over there to run that for him. Back in the seventies. We got ten years of East Texas, Central Texas rainfall. So that was going to come up for an old West Texas kid. So I have experienced a little bit of a natural rain, you know, And so but when we came back to the Texas panhandle, we came back down to the, you know, what we feel like was normal. What I was kind of used to, you know, as far as having an arid type place to live in and operate.

[Yeager] You get into the seed business and that. Was that intentional? You said you wanted to help livestock. I can get them fed. I heard you say that. How did that connection happen?

[Beattie] Well, when we came to Stratford, then I was farming for my dad and in there, that's where the northern part of the Texas Panhandle on the former family farm, that my great grandpa came down on a train. You know, the old story from Iowa and and bought some land to build the Texas panhandle and and it was always in our family but it was always leased out or whatever. And that after we sold out of the hog business and it said go up there tend to that farm. And so we went up there and of course right there at Bradford and in this area in Dumas, we got over 250,000 head of cattle on feed that go on feed all the time. And so I was kind of thrust into that where we began a relationship with commercial cattle business there in Sherman County, raising feed for the feedlots that were local feedlots and everything. So that was always right across the fence for, you know, and I was always looking at that, trying to figure out how I could get my tractor and make feed for those guys, you know, and raise some corn for them or whatever. And this works out. But it was basically in the row crop and then raising corn for the Commercial Council business in the early years, I spent up until 2008 and in 2000 a really kind of just had a come up. And on the fact that we had 4000 acres of corn and all irrigated and then we just throw your life and everything we had into raising that and all the water that we could muster and just didn't feel like doing myself any good in my family any good. So we had good families in the seed business and and all of a sudden I had a different tool, you know, on how I could help local producers, you know, and and developing some some seed and get the right seed in the right place and just connecting the dots on making, you know, making some some feed and commercializing that every day here in the panhandle.

[Yeager] And that's when the partnership was there and Bird came in.

[Beattie] Yes.

[Yeager] You kind of found that was something that, again, elevated your game.

[Beattie] Yeah. So no doubt I remember we were basically selling wheat in just some villages and Milo and corn seed and stuff like that. But we had one customer that was brought by the cactus feeders there and he wanted the circle of grass. So I got my first circle of grass in 2007 and everybody was kind of staying away from growing that. And I said, Well, we'll take our director name for and we'll plan a 40 or so unit there and planted in 2007 plant that first called seed and it really kind of just trucked us into and put me into a new mode because I saw how he was able to really manipulate the water and didn't have to. He was still raising corn, but he could take enough water off of this mainstream. No crop formed and he was a cattle guy at heart. And so he kind of showed me how he was able to just steal enough water. And so now we don't have a lot of water, still. So he's mainstream in that. And matter of fact, last week we overstated that circle. It was planted in 2007 with one of the new products around the gate of a Bloomberg. And I was real excited about being able to oversee. It was still there, but it had been hard to put up, which, you know, both years and we were able to oversee. It was one of the new innovative products, which is really exciting.

[Yeager] What is the difference in these seeds? I mean, you mentioned the whole drought and doing more with less water. Is there really a big variety difference that that makes, I guess I guess to use the word difference, again.

[Beattie] You know, and that's one of the things that I've found from where you kind of get when you step in there and you kind of visit with those folks, you realize you're stepping into a basically an international understanding of grass. And so those folks are coming in and bringing you recommendations that are coming worldwide. And so those genetics and the and the varieties and all those kind of things they put together in these blends or something that they put together out of, you know, the desert of Saudi Arabia and all these kind of things, you know, And so they've they've put together they bring those to you and so and then when they explain them what the purpose and the point of these things, and then, you know, the whole other side of that thing is it's not just fescue anymore, you know, which had a tough in the fights and some of the things that were negative on it. Then they developed it, you know, to have a positive, to be a good and a flat three or a novel in the fight where it's actually beneficial in the fight. And it's just like I just changed the whole game, you know. So we were able to start moving into that and actually planning some of those fields and, and got real involved. And we're really involved in our seed business with the management at these fields. You know, we tend to step in and we we explain and take the guys around and show them what we're doing in the area and, you know, to their neighbors or to them. And then we realize, you know, that in their back door we've got a bit of grass over there that, you know, just doing some armhole on home, really light water.

[Yeager] Are we talking grass that's getting cut for hay or are we talking a product that's out there for the grazing of an animal?

[Beattie] It's mostly all grazing. What we've learned is because we are coming at these grasses with a tolerance for lighter water and all those kind of things. Then there's a little ebb and flow to the amount of grass that's actually produced. You know, it's higher than anything else. But as far as a mainstream commercial hay operation, we do have times on this just this year we had a spring coming out on a grass. This was just phenomenal, a large, bigger than we had enough cattle for. So we pulled in and some of those fields real quick and and I mean we turned off a speaker in the same name and cut it in the morning and mailed it the next day and had the water back on 30 days and, and the crazy thing and have gone back up. We had cattle back in midweek, you know, and so it's phenomenal what we've understood and we're still learning. I mean, we've actually planted some test plots which are kind of out of the box. And we you know, I was like, I have this plot, you know, right from the word of the girl that I really want you to show me. You know, So we put in nine different varieties of grasses, all kind of cool season grasses on one of the circles that we came to and that's been six or seven years ago. And that information, this really transitioned into a lot of recommendations that we use, you know, with as waterfalls, you know, and we started out these 24 miles and for like 400 gallons we could put an inch and a half to two inches a week on them. You know, and then now they're down to where they're 250 gallons and we're struggling to get an inch on that applied in seven and nine days. You know, So we're we're trying to keep them slow and keep them watered, whether they're doing all of it and being all they could be. You know.

[Yeager] That is an incredible cut that you mentioned there. And everybody's having to deal with that. It's not just in Texas, that's New Mexico, that's Arizona. I mean, they're having the fights over there. That's more of the alfalfa side of the equation of where they're putting all their water is going to raise to, hey, you're trying to feed these cattle. And what is that conversation like? Because I'm guessing some of your cattle fibers might be in multiple states and they need what's in their backyard in Texas to work, is that right?

[Beattie] Yes, We have pretty real deep relationships with some friends that have been in the seed business over at Clovis. That's actually my warehouse for our Bainbridge seed over Curtis and Paris at Clovis. And so they go on we're on over there. So it's wonderful to have that relationship where you can kind of visit about what's going on in their neck of the woods or whatever. And it's, you know, it's a lot more interesting than it is over here. We're just up. Oh, corn farmers are transitioning to a raisin based beef or or taking care of our cows and being able to protect our accelerators where we don't have to sell and manipulate our numbers quite as greatly as we used to. We have in the past, you know, with the with the grasses that we have now.

[Yeager] So do you find that the run up in cattle prices or feeders, live cattle, has changed anything? And in conversations you've had with producers, I mean.

[Beattie] I don't know. I'm really you know, we're most of our guys are consistent. They've always been the same. They always kind of ran the same numbers and everything but that. And so they just kind of go with the flow, just like corn farmer And I will, you know, he's just always raised corn. And it's sometimes good, sometimes to not change the rotation a little bit. They may have a few more cows, may have a few more stoppers, you know, they may keep a few more of their heifers, you know, that kind of thing, the better known. But that price still has made a lot of difference. But also the amount of moisture we've had and the build to move had to have feed in front of them, You know, So it's been really interesting. Yeah. And of course, we're sitting right next to Jamie's slaughterhouse and Peter. And so with all these cattle we have on feed around here, you know, like that, it's amazing how much economic development there has been in this area over the last 20, 30, 40 years. You know, in the stability of that and in our hardest to be able to maintain that, you know, for our grandkids right here. And so we're trying to figure out and I really feel like, honestly, it's part of it's my responsibility. It's our responsibility to the brand, to producers, a product that will be able to maintain that type of economic place, because we want a lot of dairies coming in. And so we've got a lot of pressure to our aquifer here with new wells and milk and feeding and going on here. And it's been amazing. We've gotten in the last probably the last ten years over 200,000 milking cows, you know, going to right in this area too. And so the feed requirements of the forage requirements for that, it just have just sent us into a whole new understanding of feed, you know, So so that's taken away a lot of that. A lot of the guys that we're raising, we, you know, served their stock, cattle and everything. Now harvesting that for forage in this going to the dairy place. So where are those guys going that used to on those stockers on that wheat they need a negative pasture or or an improved pasture that they can take. And that's kind of what we've been doing. Paul, we've been taking some of their lighter water circles. The water has been going down. Mahone And their lesser circles and and putting our grasses and really geo keyhole in the right price for into that circumstance and situation for what they're doing. And another member just brings all that to us. So they just fill our toolbox with what we need to be able to take the right product to the guy and then push the burden on us to figure out which one works for them. You know, and it's just been awesome to educate, to support that.

[Yeager] Well, you bring up the point. I'm sure there's going to be barren Barenbrug. People watching this are going all right. Well, Steve's telling us this is what's happening on the ground. And what's that conversation like with the company to say, hey, I need you to continue to work on product that can grow and thrive with less water, even less than what I'm able to put on it now.

[Beattie] Yeah, I tell you, we're we're we're really blessed. We're going to need our relationship, remember, because we have we really got here. They've been out a lot. They come out and they see what we're doing in there. And that's that's enabled us to be able to say now, now we're starting to lean even more to lighter water days. We're actually leaning into some drilling in situations where, you know, our annual rainfall, 12 to 14 inches here on a normal year in the last five or six years ain't been nowhere close to normal. And so we've had a real struggle trying to figure out in the dry land situation that we've got a lot of old Europe around here that's old. You know, it's over 20 years old . It's got old unimproved grasses on it, you know, And we're trying to there is a way and these guys are going to help us win. And they know and they're working real hard to help us improve these dry and these old fields where we can actually have a product on there that will gain some, you know, gains. Certainly for the sport for a couple herbs and in for our is, you know, outside of the irrigate deal because we're just not in an infinite situation here with the water. You know we are a finite one we've we've got it's going to it's going to just keep on telling off and so we trying to get ahead of this and I'm getting a little older my great dear that be able to to this but I actually and my years of being in agriculture this really is the most exciting time that I've ever been in and Berenberg is a real big part of that because they listen, you know, they may hear and they bring in and they're bringing some stuff that nobody else talks about, you know, as far as fragile selections and different genotypes and different types of things to put it in a barn. And I really appreciate those guys and they really help a lot.

[Yeager] Well, I hear you say it's an incidence problem of a finite resource with the water. Yes. Yes. When you - let's go back to the economy for a minute. What you were talking about with JBS. If you get to that point where the grasses are responding and can hold the animals, those big producers of the animals, they're going to move them somewhere where they can get them fed. And if they're not around you, that impacts you and everyone else. That's your neighbor.

[Beattie] Oh, yeah. It's huge. We think about it a lot. I go to church on Sunday morning. I think, you know, a lot of these folks are here with me because they're being supported and their financial welfare comes from this feeding situation, these big situation that we have a lot of pork councils in the area. You know, it's not very far away from the slaughter plant and the pork business. So we've got a lot of livestock that have to support our jobs and have those numbers here for us. And so we're very thankful because it seems like we're understanding now that that the kind of the blow by the dairy business to those older cows. And so we're able to go into the the slaughter systems around here you know and generating that, trying to keep that local. The other thing is, is our cheese plant, we've got a huge cheese plant outside of town out here. And one the Delhart is I don't know, this is probably close to 15 years old, 20 years old. That that started out with, oh, we're going to do this in like two stages and 5 minutes. They were already in the second stage. I mean, three years they were rocking in the whole New Deal and this large dairy that actually built their home. And there's the minimum going in the well and all that all that prosperity from a cow is coming home to our grandkids, you know. And so it's a wonderful deal. We just got to figure out how to continue to support that and we got to feed them.

[Yeager] So let me go back also to something you said just a moment ago. You're talking about CRP. I, I don't know if it changes from state to state. CRP land can be grazed around you. Okay. But how can it, you know, go ahead and. 

[Beattie] Sorry, those are just old. There were 20 year contracts.

[Yeager] So that's how long they are for years? 20. Okay. So then what can happen in the end of that? It is that where you're saying that you're hoping she can kind of get in there and maybe if they want to go back to CRP, let's improve it before we can't improve. 

[Beattie] Yeah and if you know, you know, the struggles of reform bill and all this kind of stuff and what kind of support we can get out of our government and more. And we all understand in agriculture, the less for weaken the pin on those guys, the better off we all we would just like to tend to our own stuff. And so we're going to have to figure out how to make those acres, you know, as make them as profitable as we can. You know, because we were there's a lot of these firms that were paid for around here by CRB payments, you know, and now those guys and the families have inherited those or are some they don't have another option to go into that and they're looking at each other like, now what do we do? You know, I'm not. I'm not a car guy, My neighbor wants to rent it, but he says the grass is here and not the top grasses that we would really like to graze and everything. So we've actually just recently last week planted our first driving and test plot and we'll see the field and with lots of different combinations of things that we're trying to get a hold on. What would be the best transition almost all fields you know to make a good palatable car you know or stocker and and so that's it's a it's a big deal that as the next big move we're going to have to make and that's part of what you're talking about all of it in that in order to support the industry that we already have, you know, we've got to have these other acres somehow or another to come in and fill in and around the irrigated acres because it's going to be a tough transition without our water one of these days, because it's all going to go to animals or people. There's no doubt about that. And so but a lot of it or a large percentage of it has been used in the last 50 years to go into mainline agriculture production, you know, and that's then a transition when we transition out of that.

[Yeager] I know the water issue is not unique to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada. Let's go back to your home state. I mean, we didn't get the rain in Iowa that we are used to, but still we're able to grow corn crop. But the problem is, if the subsoil is not there, is subsoil an issue with these grasses?

[Yeager] I always see the cross sections of certain types of fields. Now, again, I know I'm talking a little bit apples and oranges here, but how deep are some of these ruts trying to chase some of this oil? It is. It's the water is like oil. It's that expensive and valuable. But I mean, these systems are really trying to go down and take advantage of what's there to.

[Beattie] It really is. And that's one of the things that I've seen. And I think nobody's going to explain this to me, but I think there's novel in the fights and these newer grasses, one of the things that enables them to be able to capture a small amount of moisture and transition that into forage is the root mass from it. You know, now we are going to go back to the old, old deal. I mean, I remember that 4% organic matter that barely had down on that bottom land down there, you know, and and, you know, anything down there that was even back in the year before really start doing a lot of fertilizer and all those kind of things, you know, people started all over with oysters back there. And so anyhow, we're on land that because it's come out of an arid lifetime, it's very low and organic matter. And one of the things that I've noticed in the last ten years of soil sampling and stuff like that with our improved pastures, that root mass is actually way more than we thought it was. And it's actually gone deeper than we ever thought. We actually put in some of that moisture strips a couple of years ago and found some roots down at six foot. So we actually put a soil probe at six foot under the grass, you know, just like you can, but you haven't. That's out of the box. But we found after that that that's where the grass was living from. So when you improve your genetics and you start to capture those things because remember that those grasses are a lot of those guys have found those grasses. And the thought thought up these grasses out of arid Arab countries where they had to go down and capture moisture, deep moisture and different types of soil types and everything, but often actually found that we would soil sampling over the last 6 to 7 years on these irrigated fields, even though our water has dropped off, I've noticed that organic matter has gone from about one half or two. We've got some that are over to have and I'm sure a lot of folks have understood what it takes to improve organic matter. It's a huge move and that has to come from that root structure and in what's come in there. And so we're not only raising feed, but we're raising lots of and also I mean, we do a lot and we do a lot of the management to anticipate, you know, getting off to a good start and utilizing what we do put out there moisture wise and fertilizer.

[Yeager] Well, there's a famous ranch that I think is maybe a client or at least a friend of yours. The four sixes. Legend has it, Steve, that the name of the ranch came from a card game and that is what the guy who won it drew four 6’s. Have you ever asked that question of those that operate that famous ranch?

[Beattie] You know, I do know that. Well. And I have a very deep relationship with them. And those guys are awesome. I mean, they're the folks that I know and my leadership in management there, but I have not actually got to the bottom of that. And honestly, it's not where they're at today. You know, they're not gamblers in today's business and livestock. And that's one of the reasons why they've helped me and have been a just a genuine help with their understanding of protecting their genetics and everything. They've had ranches all over the area and and but they were all just a native pasture type ranches. And so when these droughts came through and bad weather was on fire, we lost a bunch of land on the Dixon Creek from one of the Canadian fires. And so they were able to have irrigated pasture that they could bring the cattle to and maintain their genetics. I spent a lot of time and I really appreciate their putting together these genetics and everything and them being able to protect them. So yeah, I know. Well, I don't know about the working group, but they've got a long, a long history of maintaining a cattle feeding business and run cow herds and, and I really appreciate them being able to step out and do some of these things. It's been amazing.

[Yeager] I can't tell if it's your southeast Iowa upbringing or your Texas upbringing, but the word drought, I put a T on it. You have a t h which one's correct?

[Beattie] Yeah, it's a pain in the heart, but not necessarily anything, but it's a yeah.

[Yeager] No, there's plenty of people from Lee County and Henry County that I know say it droughts. My mom who grew up not too far from there droughts. You know I you know, every time I see it on air, it's drought and I and so it's it's kind of fun to hear it. And, Steve, when you say my comeuppance, that's going to be fun to transcribe. But it clearly sounds like you've indoctrinated yourself Steve. Let's just say that door behind you on the left, Secretary Vilsack, what's it? And I know he's not the one who oversees the farm bill, but he, I'm sure, has conversations. What's the perfect thing that either he, the Department of AG, or this farm bill could do for your customers, your clients and you and your business?

[Beattie] Well, that's a big question. I and this comes from my old Iowa upbringing in my and my family's constant words to us as we grew up. But we do need the support of our government. I will say that right up front, but my worry is they would just let us go and let us be on their own business and take care of ourselves. We would really our and this is me. I just I would really like to tend our own business, you know, and like I said, I understand we got a lot of folks that need support and it seems like we've just got so much going on with the farm bill doesn't have to do with farming and to not just get back to farm and can we not just get back to agriculture and get to the the base mode of what we're doing and and just talk about that. Let's just talk about just supporting agriculture and whatever that takes. And I and I fully understand that there's a thousand voices that are speaking somewhere. I'm speaking to, you know, about their needs and their wants and everything. But that would be my ideal way to just let us do our business. Let us be mostly farmers. Let's be careful.

[Yeager] I appreciate learning about your folks and the farmers like you, Steve, and the nice to meet you and thanks for making time.

[Beattie] Sure. Thank you, Paull.

[Yeager] My thanks to the Iowa PBS production team. Dave Feingold is the audio engineer Sean Ingrassia, Kevin Rivers. Their production supervisor is Chad Aubrey. My boss, the executive producer of Market to Market is David Miller. Production support comes from everyone here at Iowa PBS and specifically the Market to Market TV show. New episodes come out each and every Tuesday.  If you also want to write the show - Markettomarket@IowaPBS.org. Now, this is the part I really hope you stayed for because it's going to be worth it. We have a big birthday coming up. You see it says 40th, right there. We're approaching 50, 50 years of market to market. We're also almost starting the ninth season of this podcast that will be coming up in the next few weeks. We're going to talk about anniversaries. We got some pretty cool stuff, but if you have any classic market to market stories, say you remember Chet Randolph, you remember when the show started, you've watched it for four generations with your family. I'd like to hear those stories, and I'm going to have some more ways that you can connect with me coming in the next few weeks.

So again, if you have anything for me, send me an email at MarkettoMarket@IowaPBS.org. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.