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You never know what's behind those barn doors.

Shelley E. Huguley, Editor

November 24, 2021

18 Slides

This fall, I contacted producers Lloyd Arthur, Ralls, Texas, and Jeff Pate, Idalou, to ask if I could make a quick trip to Ralls, about 80 miles southeast from where I live, to take some pictures. I needed images to accompany Ron Smith's series on soil moisture probes. Jeff offered to meet me at Lloyd's place as they are only about 15 miles apart. After getting lost and being found, I arrived at the Arthur's farm where I was greeted by Jeff and Lloyd, his wife Angela and their two dogs. They invited me inside the barn to see some of the soil moisture sensors they've used over the years. When I entered, to my surprise, it wasn't a dusty barn full of equipment but a historical museum. I love it when I go for one thing and find so much more! Take a look through this gallery to see a few barn finds, most of which have Arthur family ties. Enjoy the tour! And when near Ralls, give them a call.

Probing for efficiency series:

About the Author(s)

Shelley E. Huguley

Editor, Southwest Farm Press

Shelley Huguley has been involved in agriculture for the last 25 years. She began her career in agricultural communications at the Texas Forest Service West Texas Nursery in Lubbock, where she developed and produced the Windbreak Quarterly, a newspaper about windbreak trees and their benefit to wildlife, production agriculture and livestock operations. While with the Forest Service she also served as an information officer and team leader on fires during the 1998 fire season and later produced the Firebrands newsletter that was distributed quarterly throughout Texas to Volunteer Fire Departments. Her most personal involvement in agriculture also came in 1998, when she married the love of her life and cotton farmer Preston Huguley of Olton, Texas. As a farmwife, she knows first-hand the ups and downs of farming, the endless decisions made each season based on “if” it rains, “if” the drought continues, “if” the market holds. She is the bookkeeper for their family farming operation and cherishes moments on the farm such as taking harvest meals to the field or starting a sprinkler in the summer with the whole family lending a hand. Shelley has also freelanced for agricultural companies such as Olton CO-OP Gin, producing the newsletter Cotton Connections while also designing marketing materials to promote the gin. She has published articles in agricultural publications such as Southwest Farm Press while also volunteering her marketing and writing skills to non-profit organizations such as Refuge Services, an equine-assisted therapy group in Lubbock. She and her husband reside in Olton with their three children Breely, Brennon and HalleeKate.

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