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Brazos County Ranch News: Bryan Lease Workshop Set for Dec. 8 as Severe Drought Lingers

November 10, 2026  |  By Lee, Lee & Puckitt

Brazos County Ranch News: Bryan Lease Workshop Set for Dec. 8 as Severe Drought Lingers

Grazing and hunting leases are easy to start on a handshake and hard to sort out later, which is the point of a December workshop in Bryan. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension will hold its Ranchers Leasing Workshop on Dec. 8 at the Brazos County Extension office, a day after a full landowner law program in Caldwell. Lee, Lee & Puckitt (LLP Ranchland) sells and values ranch land statewide out of San Angelo, and we looked at the workshops, the dry fall and the land market around Bryan, College Station and Kurten.

Two Landowner Workshops in December

AgriLife announced the programs on Oct. 14:

  • Owning Your Piece of Texas: Key Laws Texas Landowners Need to Know, Dec. 7, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Burleson County Expo Center in Caldwell, $75. Topics include landowner liability, fence law, water law and eminent domain.
  • Ranchers Leasing Workshop, Dec. 8, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., AgriLife Extension office for Brazos County, 4153 County Park Court, Bryan, $50. It covers the legal and economic sides of grazing and hunting leases and landowner liability.

A bundle for both is $100, and registration, which is required, is at tx.ag/RuralLandownerWorkshops2026. Speakers include AgriLife agricultural law specialist Tiffany Lashmet. Real estate license holders can earn Texas Real Estate Commission continuing education credit.

A written lease protects both sides and helps when a place sells. Buyers and appraisers want to know what income a tract earns, when the lease ends, and who is responsible for fences, water and liability.

Still Dry in the Brazos Valley

The Nov. 3 U.S. Drought Monitor put 80.52 percent of Brazos County in severe drought and 3.97 percent in extreme drought, with the rest moderate. KBTX reported Nov. 5 that the Brazos Valley stayed mostly in moderate to severe drought, with severe drought expanding in the northeastern counties and only a trace to a quarter inch of rain expected over the following week.

Brazos County lifted its burn ban Oct. 6, and Texas A&M Forest Service data on Nov. 10 still showed no countywide ban.

The Nov. 3 report for AgriLife’s Southeast district, which includes Brazos County, described very short grass, hay feeding getting started and widespread pasture mealybug damage that some producers were confusing with drought stress.

Mealybug Research Close to Home

That pest is getting new attention from Texas A&M. On Nov. 5, AgriLife said its Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management received about $1 million in grants from the National Grazing Lands Coalition. One two-year project, led by the center’s Ranch Diagnostics Laboratory, will survey producers, set baseline grazing land health appraisals and build demonstration sites for integrated pest management and adaptive grazing against pasture mealybug. Center director Jeff Goodwin noted that mealybug damage looks so much like drought stress that infestations can go unnoticed until losses are severe. If a hay meadow browns out faster than the neighbors’, get a sample to your county Extension office.

Deer Season Rules

TPWD lists Brazos County in the North Zone with a bag of 4 white-tailed deer, no more than 2 bucks and 2 antlerless, under antler restrictions. General season runs Nov. 7 through Jan. 3, and antlerless harvest by license tag is open Nov. 7 through 29 where MLDP tags are not in use.

Brazos Bottom Land Market

The Texas Real Estate Research Center pairs Brazos County with Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington in one land market area of its Gulf Coast-Brazos Bottom region. The Center’s second quarter 2026 report showed a regional median of $11,369 an acre, up 3.05 percent, on 538 sales, with a typical tract of 139 acres. Near Bryan and College Station, small homesite tracts, river bottom farms and larger pasture places trade in different markets, so each needs its own comparable sales.

Visit With Our Brokers

Lee, Lee & Puckitt’s Brokers and Agents can help you price, sell or buy Brazos Valley land. Call 325.655.6989 or visit llpranchland.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which ranch Broker can help me sell land in Brazos County? Lee, Lee & Puckitt has worked with Texas rural landowners since 1962 from its San Angelo office, the Brazos Valley included.

How can I find land for sale in Brazos County? Our current listings are on llpranchland.com. Phone 325.655.6989 with the acreage, distance from town and use you have in mind.

What qualities make the best ranch Broker for Brazos County? Closed sales of rural land, a working knowledge of grazing and hunting leases, and opinions of value built on comparable sales rather than list prices.

When is the Ranchers Leasing Workshop in Bryan? Dec. 8, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Brazos County AgriLife Extension office, 4153 County Park Court. Registration is required at tx.ag/RuralLandownerWorkshops2026.

About Lee, Lee & Puckitt

Lee, Lee & Puckitt began in Bronte in 1962 and moved its office to San Angelo in 1977. It is a ranch brokerage owned by ranchers. Our Brokers and Agents handle land sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions, and we advocate for private landowners.

Sources

Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brazos_county_texas_courthouse_2014.jpg). Cropped.

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