Art town, ghost-light town, and — long before either — one of the most famous cattle counties in Texas.
Marfa is the Presidio County seat, population around 1,700. These days it's known for the Chinati Foundation, the mysterious Marfa lights, and a constant stream of visitors from Austin, Houston, and beyond — but under the contemporary polish is a serious cattle town that has been at it since the 1880s.
The country around Marfa is big, open, high, and surrounded by mountains. Brewster and Presidio counties between them run some of the largest cattle operations in the state.
Marfa was founded in 1883 as a water stop along the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway. By 1885 it was the Presidio County seat. A year later, a rancher named Jim Hiler brought the first Hereford to Presidio County — a breed that quickly replaced the tougher longhorn and became nationally famous as the Marfa Highland Hereford.
Ranching scaled up fast. By Christmas 1886, there were 60,000 head of cattle on Presidio County ranges. Lucas Brite's Brite Ranch grew to 125,000 acres and, beginning in 1926, sold 1,000 purebred bulls a year for 14 consecutive years — a record that helped define the American Hereford business. Cattle are still the backbone of the county today.
From our fields in Saragosa to Marfa is about two and a half hours south. It's a long haul, but the Marfa and Presidio County ranches know quality hay when they see it, and we're always happy to put together a load worth the drive.
Whether you're running cattle out in the wide-open grass country, keeping horses on a ranch or in town, or managing performance stock, we can set you up with premium custom alfalfa from our Saragosa fields. Multiple cuttings, mid-sized square bales, forage testing on request — and with a little scheduling, the trip works out just fine.
Give Ray a call or drop a note. For a trip this length it helps to plan ahead — tell us what you need and we'll tell you when it makes sense to run the load south.