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Texas Agriculture Archive

November 21, 2003

Outstanding Young Farmer & Rancher Contest
Diversification makes
the difference...

Newlyweds Jay and Laura Davis run a diversified agriculture operation near Grandview.

By Lana Robinson
Field Editor

For Jay Davis, 32, of Grandview, diversification is a key component to his success. The family agribusiness is built on an operation founded by Jay's parents who, prior to locating in Johnson County in the 1980s, farmed 30 years on land leased from the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Today, the Davises' ag enterprises encompass beef cattle, farming, trucking, and feed, seed, and fertilizer sales.

Jay, who has served on Texas Farm Bureau's YF&R committee since 2002 and on the Resolutions Committee this year, currently has about 4,000 cattle on a gain program, 3,000 he is preconditioning, and close to 800 bred heifers. He operates on some 2,500 acres, much of which is leased land.

Farm raised, and with a higher education in the field of agriculture (Jay received a B.S. in Animal Science from Texas A&M University and an M.S. in Ruminant Nutrition from Texas Tech University), Jay joined the family operation four years ago. Prior to that, he lived in the Midwest, where he worked as a cattle buyer for a branded beef company and several natural beef companies.

"Right out of college, I worked for the American Red Angus Association, coordinating their feeder calf certification program," he adds.

Jay describes the intended goal of the stocker and preconditioning operations in this manner:

"What we're essentially trying to do is transform a calf that has grown up on milk all its life, get it to eating forage and also introduce it to eating grain prior to going to feedlots in the Texas Panhandle or Texas Plains."

Davis believes his cattle service offers a distinctive advantage.

"I think we do some things unique, such as using my nutritional skills here, and using these intake modifying technologies in our supplemental feed programs to try and fill in the holes nutritionally with what the cattle need," he says.

The cattle largely come from Central Texas sale barns and South Texas and Coastal Bend ranches, as well as the southeastern United States.

Although beef cattle is the main thrust of the business, Davis attributes his success to diversification.

"Aside from the cattle, we also have a farm service company that does custom applications of dry and liquid fertilizers as well as herbicides and pesticides. We also sell some feed and some seed in this Grandview area. It's a small part of what we do, but it allows us to get dealer discounts on seeds that we use for our own operation," says Jay, noting that he produces wheat, grain sorghum and a lot of the hay used in his cattle operation.

The Davises currently operate eight trucks and six cattle trailers and also have a variety of grain hoppers, dry and liquid tankers, equipment trailers and hay trailers.

Jay's short term goals are to grow the cattle business and increase numbers.

"As you are able to grow with the cattle, or the trucking business, you are able to take advantage of some economies of scale. That's what we're trying to do there. I'm always looking to diversify. Diversification is a big goal of our business," he says. "The ultimate evaluation is profitability of a business, but also what I'm looking for is sustainability. It's our goal to be in business for many years to come. So what we want to do is be profitable in the short run—maximize our profits without sacrificing what our growth can be in the future," he says.

Jay and his wife, Laura, are newlyweds, just married since last May. A "city girl from Fort Worth," Laura is quickly learning the ropes, but readily admits, "I didn't realize how much hard work was involved. What you see in the movies—it's a lot, lot harder job than I thought.

"I'm hoping the longer we're together, the more I will become involved and learn more about the family operations..."

A manufacturing engineer for Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth, Laura coordinates the F16 program with foreign contractors. At the end of the day, she looks forward to returning to the solitude of country life.

Looking ahead, Jay predicts changes and continued consolidation in the ag business.

"I don't think you're going to turn that tide. You're going to have to continue to grow your businesses to stay viable. With the cattle business, I think there's no question that we are moving more towards production systems. And I think the day of the independent cattle feeder may be going away, and what we may have to do is become involved with a production system that is producing beef with a focus on the retail product," he suggests.