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Through good years and bad, Ben Wible stays the course in the profession he loves so well...
By Lana Robinson
Field Editor
As a young man, Ben Wible of Sherman aspired to become a civil engineer, but after graduating from Midwestern University in 1973, he put his diploma in a safety deposit box and "went to farming." He's been at it ever since, and says he has no regrets.
"Last year, we had hail on a thousand acres," notes Wible. "It was the worst year I ever had, but still, I don't regret the decision to farm. I have more time to myself. I can determine what I really need to do with my time. Farming has been very good to me. Basically, everything I have came from dirt. It may sound crude, but it's true."
Wible produces wheat, corn, milo, and hay on 2,900 acres of farmland and maintains a 350-400 head cow-calf operation in Grayson County. The Old Preston Trail, historic Texas cattle trail (now Highway 289) splits the farm in two. Wible's great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Wible, registered his WI brand in Grayson County in 1868. It has been in continuous use ever since.
"I mainly have Hereford cattle, which I cross with Limousin and Hereford bulls. In some pastures, I have straight Herefords," says Wible, who has followed his family's strong Hereford tradition.
With the exception of one or two females, and the Heritage Pen heifers he purchased in 2001 and 2002, all cows are descendants of five head Wible's father kept when he was forced to reduce his herd in 1954 due to a drought.
"We were hauling water from a hand dug well," Wible recalls. "Dad had a thousand gallon tank on an old cotton trailer which we filled with a gasoline pump. We hauled the water two miles and poured it out onto the ground for those cows until we had to well. We had another water shortage in 1980. We cleaned, rebuilt and deepened all of the stock tanks."
Wible holds most of his heifers back to replace older cows. But because his breeding program has produced deep-bodied females that enjoy a long, productive life, he keeps cows in production longer than many of his fellow breeders.
"The hardest part is the heifer has to have that first calf. After the first one, it's easy, until they get crippled or get too old. Most people sell them at 10 to 12 years of age. That's when they're just coming into their prime. I may keep them too long, and I lose some now and then, but they are pretty much problem free, which is important when your farming and ranching together. As long as a cow has good body shape and will produce a calf, I will keep her."
In Wible's estimation, the 2001 and 2002 Heritage Pen heifers, while not registered, are as good as any registered cattle.
"Those were the first two pens of cattle I've ever bought. Before those purchases, I had bought one cow. I only have one registered cow," he adds.
Overall, Wible said he is pleased with his cattle and gets many compliments from other producers.
"There are always some that don't work well. I get rid of those. I keep the very best, about 25 heifers each year out of my own herd. Out of 25, a couple won't calve out, one may die, and a couple won't breed. I may end up keeping only 15 of them. That's usually how it works," he says.
Wible has a contrarian strategy for selling his cattle to fetch better prices. He sells his cows in October, when everyone else is looking for calves to put on wheat pasture, and another round of cattle in March, just ahead of those who typically sell cattle coming off wheat in April and May.
"It usually works out. I sell at livestock auctions. I also sell some sales scattered through the year, odd sized cattle," he says.
Wible binds bull calves, gives them shots, and grows them out to 500-600 lbs. before running them through the local auction barn.
Cows have some winter wheat grazing on fields adjacent to grass pastures. Wible sprays most of the pasture and every three years, puts out fertilizer. Wible was preparing to plant wheat the first week of October, almost all of it planted for harvest.
"We're in better shape this year than in a long time. If the wheat comes on, every piece of land I farm has a pasture next to the farmland. I typically turn cattle in for at least a month of wheat pasture. In January, I supplement with the wheat pasture rather than put out high protein feed," he says. "I never go below 300 and never above 400 head."
With only one part-time employee, and his son away at college, Wible says rotation is too labor intensive, so his cattle are left continuously on grass.
"I've put up 900 large round bales for hay. The hay is a combination of johnsongrass, half is commercial haygrazer, some maize stalks, bermudagrass, and native prairie grasses," he says.
Wible reports excellent 2004 corn and milo crops.
"It was very good. It made 106 to 107 bushels to the acre, and that's on marginal land that really should be planted in milo. With the right type of corn, you can get 100 bushel corn. My goal is 90 bushels, and I accomplished my goal," he says. "This is the first year in three we planted milo. The weather was perfect and we averaged about 5,000 pounds per acre. We normally get about a 3,500 pound yield. The land is blackland to sandy loam. I farm about a six-mile radius from home. Six miles south is blackland. Here at home, it is sandy loam to blackland."
Wible combines all his own grain.
In late June, Gov. Rick Perry announced the appointment of Wible to the Midwestern State University Board of Regents. The term of Wible and two others appointed to the board will expire Feb. 25, 2010. The appointments are subject to Senate confirmation when the Texas Legislature convenes in 2005.
Wible, whose father was a member of Farm Bureau, became active himself in the mid-1980s when he became a director of the Grayson County Farm Bureau.
"Agriculture is my life, my business. Farm Bureau is the best thing I have to represent my goals, and it gives me an opportunity to make a difference," he says.
He currently serves as the Grayson CFB president—his third time to preside over the local organization.
"We only serve two years and then you have to go off and let someone else serve. This way, a lot of members have the experience of serving as president. It has really paid off. When I got on the board, I was the youngest person on it, and I was in my early 30s. The next youngest person was 62 and the age went up to 96. These were a lot of my dad's friends. Today, half of the board is 55 and under. We are a diverse group. Farming is how they are making their living, so they make good leaders who are in touch with the issues," he suggests.
