About 20 years ago the Lawsons diversified into the poultry business and
today operate six broiler houses on their ranch near Joaquin.
a typical day on the farm.
“It’s just kind of responding to whatever is
happening, some days if cows are having calves
they might need a little help,” she said. “But we
love it, you’ve got to love it.”
Keys to survival
John Paul Lawson says diversification is among
the keys of not only surviving, but thriving, with
the up-and-down cycles of being a small operator
in the farming and ranching business.
John Paul and Dixie Lawson operate the
Lawson Ranch near Joaquin and were named the
Farm Family of the Year for Shelby County at the
100th Anniversary Banquet of the Shelby County
Chamber of Commerce in November.
The couple started out in the 1970s in the
cattle business and over the years branched out
into other areas.
In 1999 the Lawsons got started in the poultry
business and today own and operate a six-house
broiler operation contracted to Pilgrim’s Pride.
Entering the poultry business has helped provide
a revenue stream which is much more predictable
than raising cattle, or growing hay and other
crops.
“The poultry business has been a good move
for us,” he said. “Over the years that has allowed
us to expand and purchase more property.”
In addition to wide market swings for
prices on cattle, corn and hay, Lawson said
the unpredictability of the weather is always a
challenge.
“We went through a drought back in 2011 like
one I don’t think my dad or granddad had ever
seen,” Lawson said. “That makes you appreciate
average or normal.”
That severe drought helped make him
appreciate the wet spells with plenty of rain in
recent months. While raising cattle, hay and
crops are each impacted by the weather, the
poultry business is somewhat insulated, but not
completely, from drastic swings in temperature
and abundant rains or long dry spells.
“In the chicken business, with the cold
weather, you have to burn more propane and
when it’s hot in the summer time you have to run
cool cells,” he said. “You have to be aware that
more bad things can happen with chickens in hot
weather rather than when it’s cold.”
In any kind of farming or ranching, operators
have to be aware of the weather, he said.
“You’re always trying to look ahead to see
what the predictions are so you can prepare for
them,” Lawson said.
“The chicken business and cattle business
kind of go hand-in-hand with each other,”
Lawson said. For instance, the chicken litter
from the poultry operation is used to fertilize the
pastures where the cattle graze.
Yet another important part of the success of
Lawson Ranch has been good neighbors, he
said. Being located in a rural area off the main
highway, that aspect of being able to rely on
neighbors has been vital, he says.
If one has an issue they need help with, they
know they can rely on one another, John Paul
says.
Changing with the times
Since growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in the
farming environment, the couple says they have
seen a lot of changes.
Among those areas of change has been in the
way livestock is fed.
“There’s a lot more nutrition in what we feed
today,” John Paul says. “The genetics in cattle
raising is tremendously better now and that
results in more tender, juicy cuts of meat.”
With his own operations, John Paul said
he has tightened up the calving program and
joins forces with a neighbor to sell cattle by the
truckload.
“You get a better prices when you sell by the
18-wheeler load,” he says. Dixie says on the
poultry side of operations there have also been a
lot of changes.
“Things are so different these days, the broiler
Dixie and John Paul Lawson said despite
challenges with fluctuating markets,
unpredictable weather and other issues,
the ranching and farming life has been a
good one for them and their family.
AT A GLANCE
WHAT:
Lawson Ranch
WHO:
Owned and
Operated by
John Paul and Dixie
Lawson
WHERE:
2926 CR 3373
Joaquin, TX 75954
PHONE:
(936) 269-3404
Business MATTERS | 2020 Spring Edition
31