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Miscalculated steps and rattlesnakes

Every time I baled out of the pickup, my steps were calculated as I scanned the area for rattlesnakes. I guess my "watch list" was too narrow. No matter, nothing could sabotage my view of cotton harvest against the Guadalupe Mountains.

Shelley E. Huguley, Senior Editor

November 13, 2024

3 Min Read
Shelley E. Huguley and Jake Giesbrecht
Jake Giesbrecht and Stuart Davidson had a good laugh when I quickly stood back up covered in grass burrs. I was more concerned about rattlesnakes. I guess my "watch list" shouldn't have been so narrow!Shelley E. Huguley

What a breath of fresh air to attend cotton harvest in Hudspeth County! The county is the state’s third largest by total area, but only has a population of 3,432 people. Sandy soils covered with desert flora stretch for miles. The drive is desolate, quiet, and sometimes out of cell phone range. The mountains are unexpected and breathtaking.  

The best surprise is the cotton production at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains. Could you ever have a bad day with that view? Plus, they irrigate from a rechargeable aquifer. Sounds like heaven on earth to this Ogalla-dependent farm wife. A rechargeable aquifer with a view! Whew!  

I had the opportunity to meet Jake Giesbrecht and his nephews who farm with him. Stuart Davidson, their Helena Chemical rep, introduced us. My farmer and I have known Stuart and his wife since the early 2000s, when they lived in Olton before moving to Seminole. Stuart has worked with Jake for the last 20 years.  

We spent the day visiting the Giesbrecht’s various fields from their Salt Flat farms to their Dell City locations. Countless times, I asked if we could stop and take photos. The stalks were packed with bolls and the cotton’s brightness in contrast with the mountains in the background was irresistible.  

Before my visit, Stuart had warned me about rattlesnakes. So, every time I hit pause on my interview and bailed out of the pickup, I looked around before I stepped. In some of the fields, the cotton plants were so heavy with bolls and leaves that they lay across the rows making it difficult to see what could possibly lie beneath.  

Related:Water woes lead cotton farmers to Texas desert

At one stop, I jumped out, calculating each step. Assured it was clear, I dropped to one knee and quickly got back up again. While I had been so strategic about avoiding a rattler, I had not given any thought to grass burrs. I was covered! They were stuck in my knee through my jeans, my socks and entangled in my shoelaces. They were up my backside and somehow even on my shirt sleeve. How in the world did they get there? 

We all had a good laugh. I learned a few things. My jeans that are 55% cotton, 26% polyester, 17% rayon, and 2% spandex may be good for me – a girl’s got to have some stretch in her jeans – but they are not helpful when trying to pluck out burrs. They clung like jelly on peanut butter! I also learned that a large sharp knife is a helpful tool when scraping them off your jeans.   

Thank you, JBK Farms, for such a wonderful day. I’m continuously amazed at the diversity in my coverage area, from the farmers and their backstories to the commodities and topography from where they produce this nation’s food and fiber. What a blessing to do what I do! As always, thank you for entrusting your story to me and on a few occasions lending me your knife.  

Related:Texas producer finds farming, family and faith in Chihuahuan Desert

About the Author

Shelley E. Huguley

Senior 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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