Permian Basin country — Hereford cattle long before there was oil, and plenty of horses and small-acre owners even now.
Odessa is the largest city in Ector County and one half of the Midland-Odessa metro — together often called simply "the Permian Basin." Population sits around 115,000. The name came from a railroad official in 1881 who thought the flat country looked like the steppes of Russia.
Most people associate Odessa with oil, but outside the city limits and on the edges of town you still find plenty of horse barns, small acreages, and working cattle outfits.
Ector County was marked off in 1887. As early as 1881, promoters of the Texas and Pacific Railway were advertising the area by hauling farm machinery and household goods free for prospective settlers — an aggressive push to populate the country. The region proved most suitable for ranching.
For decades Ector County was known mainly for its fine Hereford cattle, with sheep and cattle ranching forming the mainstay of the economy. Oil was discovered in 1926, which changed the town's trajectory — but the ranches have never left the country, and horse owners are everywhere around the edges of town.
From our fields in Saragosa to Odessa is about an hour and forty-five minutes up I-20. Ray runs that road any time there's enough demand between here and there to justify the trip — and there usually is.
Whether you're keeping horses on a small acreage, running a boarding stable, feeding show stock, or managing a small herd of cattle, we can set you up with premium custom alfalfa from our Saragosa fields. Multiple cuttings, mid-sized square bales, forage testing on request.
Give Ray a call or drop an email. We'll tell you what's on hand, what's coming in the next cutting, and when we can schedule a delivery up to Odessa.