David Henderson raises the steaks, beefs up dinner plates

By Shelby ShankField Editor

A passion for the land and livestock is the driving force behind David Henderson’s lifelong career in agriculture.

It’s a career that’s been marked by highs and lows, of good years and bad. But passion and dedication always take the lead, guiding his decisions.

“What makes a good cattle rancher is you have to have it in your heart. As long as you have it in your heart, you can make things work,” Henderson said. “It’s like any business. You put everything in it to make it work.”

And he does.

He’s been raising cattle and growing hay for 30 years. He’s proud of what he’s accomplished during that time—growing his herd, accepting agricultural leadership positions and being a good steward of the land.

He enjoys what he does, too.

“I love all of it. I really do. I enjoy seeing the animals grow and seeing yourself slowly but surely make something,” Henderson said. “I look at when I first started out, I had two cows at my parents’ place. Since then, I’ve grown my herd.”

It didn’t happen without risk or challenges, but it was definitely worth it.

“When it’s good, it’s good. When it’s not, you have to overcome it,” he said. “You have to change, and sometimes you have to take risks. That’s just a part of the business. I like what I do, and I love the cattle industry.”

Beef business beyond the ranchHenderson tackles the day-to-day duties of managing his cow herd and pastures. But he’s also stepped beyond the ranch to learn more about beef production from pasture to plate and how the beef checkoff helps improve ranchers’ bottom lines.

Henderson was appointed to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board in 2022 and works alongside other ranchers who are responsible for overseeing the beef checkoff and funding of checkoff programs.

“Serving on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and being a rancher has helped me understand where our checkoff dollars are going, and they’re going to a place that is really going to help the cattle industry,” Henderson said. “The decisions we make in our committee meetings, we are looking at it from everybody’s perspective, and we’re trying to make solid decisions to improve the beef industry.”

In his role on the Safety and Product Innovation Committee, Henderson and his fellow ranchers look beyond the pasture to focus on beef eating satisfaction, the value of beef carcasses and continuously improving beef safety.

“We’re trying to make good, solid decisions, so we can move the beef industry forward,” he said.

NRCS careerHenderson is passionate about stewarding the land personally and professionally.

After graduating from Prairie View A&M University, Henderson took on a role helping ranchers through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“I was a public servant helping farmers and ranchers,” he said. “We would go to different locations and help with cropland, timber and pastureland.”

After he retired from NRCS, he stayed in East Texas.

“I like it here. It’s good cow country, and things just worked out really well for me. So, I stayed here.”

Drought challengesHenderson has weathered storms and droughts throughout his lifetime in agriculture.

His area of East Texas receives ample rainfall most years, but 2022 was exceptionally dry.

“Rainfall makes a big difference. We can grow a lot of grass very quick in the soil types and with the rain that we have,” he said.

When it didn’t rain last year, Henderson was forced to make tough decisions. He, like many ranchers across the state, culled his herd.

“I downsized last fall as a lot of ranchers did because of the drought. We didn’t have the hay to keep feeding the cattle,” Henderson said. “I’m down compared to what I normally run, but we’re trying to get a feel for this year. We’re not totally confident because input costs are still high, but we’re trying to make everything work.”

Enduring tough times is a part of ranch management, though.

“Last year was a tough year. The drought was something we tried to handle the best we could but, there’s only so much you can do,” Henderson said. “We try to make things work to the best of our ability, and when we did get showers last year, we took advantage of it. Sometimes, we didn’t have a choice but to take a chance on fertilizing, and it wasn’t easy because fertilizer was not cheap last year. We tried to make every penny go as far as it could.”

Drought is once again creeping back into East Texas, leaving Henderson to evaluate his stocking rate and forage availability.

Optimistic outlookBut despite the challenges, Henderson continues to let his passion lead his progress.

He grew up on his family’s row crop farm outside of Houston. Since then, he’s learned a lot and grown his ranch.

He’s setting the bar high for himself and raising the “steaks.”

“I like the cow business. When you’re growing something that somebody is going to be happy to eat, it’s satisfaction,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not always peaches and cream in agriculture, but I love what I do.”

And what he does brings beef to plates across the country.

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