Green wheat changes what a calf is worth, and the Nov. 5 Dalhart sale showed it. USDA’s market report said demand favored long-weaned calves under 600 pounds that were ready to go to wheat, while most other steers and heifers sold $20 to $50 lower. Dallam County also shed most of its drought in October. From our San Angelo headquarters, the ranch Brokers and Agents of Lee, Lee & Puckitt (LLP Ranchland) work with owners statewide, and this is the news we would want in hand around Dalhart and Texline.
What the Dalhart Sale Said
The Dalhart Livestock Auction moved 2,375 head on Nov. 5, USDA reported, and a weaker board took the shine off the week before. Steers weighing 500 to 600 pounds brought $350 to $441 per hundredweight, averaging about $417. Slaughter cows went the other way, with average and high yielding cows $9.50 to $11 higher. A calf weaned well ahead of the sale, with some reputation behind it, simply had more buyers.
Rain Turned the Map Around
The U.S. Drought Monitor had all of Dallam County in severe drought at the end of September. By Nov. 3, 48.57 percent had no drought, most of the rest was rated abnormally dry, and only 4.83 percent stayed in moderate drought. Forest Service data showed no burn ban on Nov. 9.
AgriLife’s Nov. 3 Panhandle report described rains of half an inch to more than 2 inches, a big improvement in soil moisture, and an excellent start for wheat on irrigated and dryland acres. Range grass grew, though hay stayed high priced and short.
New Grain Capacity at Dalhart
Grain Journal reported Nov. 2 on the ribbon cutting for a new shuttle train receiving facility in Dalhart built by 5V LLC, a partnership of Five Rivers Cattle Feeding and Viserion Grain. Tied into the Union Pacific network, it lets whole trainloads of grain come in to supply Panhandle cattle feeding operations.
Hunting Dates
TPWD lists a North Zone white-tailed bag of 3 deer, no more than 1 buck, with general season Nov. 7, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. Panhandle mule deer archery runs through Nov. 20 and general season is Nov. 21 through Dec. 6, one buck total. Pheasant opens Dec. 5 and runs through Jan. 3 with a daily bag of 3 cocks.
Land Market Snapshot
The Texas Real Estate Research Center places Dallam County in its Panhandle-South Plains region. In the second quarter 2026 report, the latest out, the regional median slipped 7.53 percent from a year earlier to $1,719 an acre, and sales fell 10.32 percent to 313. The Center cited buyer resistance at today’s prices. Irrigation, wells and grazing capacity move value on any single farm or ranch, so a regional median is only a starting point.
A Little History: The XIT Years
The Handbook of Texas says that on Jan. 10, 1882, the Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company received about two-thirds of what is now Dallam County as part of the XIT Ranch. The Legislature had set aside 3 million acres in 1879 to pay for a new Capitol, and the syndicate that took the contract ranched the land until it could sell it. Buffalo Springs was the first XIT headquarters. From 1882 to 1887 the county was home to little more than XIT cowboys and a few settlers. The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway reached Texline on May 14, 1888, and Perico grew up as an XIT shipping point. Dalhart grew up with the Rock Island railroad in 1901 and became county seat in 1903. Farmers followed: 4 farms in 1900, 210 by 1910, and by then the big ranches had been broken up. The XIT Reunion and Rodeo is still held in Dalhart each August.
Visit With Our Brokers
Ready to talk about a sale, a purchase or a value opinion? Call the Brokers and Agents at Lee, Lee & Puckitt at 325.655.6989 or go to llpranchland.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is a ranch Broker for Dallam County? Lee, Lee & Puckitt, a ranch Broker headquartered in San Angelo, has represented Texas landowners since 1962, Panhandle owners included.
Where do I look for land for sale in Dallam County? See current listings at llpranchland.com and call 325.655.6989 to share your acreage, water and irrigation goals.
What should I look for in the best ranch Broker for Dallam County? A long record of closed rural sales, a working understanding of irrigated farmland, grass and water, and appraisals or Broker’s Price Opinions grounded in real comparable sales.
Is Dallam County in drought? Mostly not. On the Nov. 3, 2026, Drought Monitor map only 4.83 percent of the county was in moderate drought, after all of it was in severe drought in late September.
About Lee, Lee & Puckitt
Lee, Lee & Puckitt has worked Texas ranch country since 1962, starting in Bronte and moving to San Angelo in 1977. Our partners are ranchers, and the firm’s Brokers and Agents handle ranch sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions while advocating for private landowners.
Sources
- USDA Dalhart Livestock Auction report, Nov. 5, 2026, via HerdStreet SaleDay: https://www.herdstreet.com/saleday/dalhart-livestock-auction
- Grain Journal, “5V Celebrates Ribbon Cutting at New Dalhart Facility,” Nov. 2, 2026: https://www.grainjournal.com/article/1161515/5v-celebrates-ribbon-cutting-at-new-dalhart-facility
- U.S. Drought Monitor, county statistics for Dallam County, maps of Sept. 29 through Nov. 3, 2026: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/DataTables.aspx
- Burn Ban Texas, Dallam County (Texas A&M Forest Service data), checked Nov. 9, 2026: https://burnbantexas.com/county/dallam
- Texas A&M AgriLife Today, Texas Crop and Weather Report, Nov. 3, 2026: https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2026/11/03/plenty-of-turkeys-this-thanksgiving-as-wholesale-prices-hold-steady/
- TPWD Outdoor Annual, Dallam County 2026-27: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/regs/counties/dallam
- Texas Real Estate Research Center, Texas Rural Land Markets, Second Quarter 2026: https://trerc.tamu.edu/reports/texas-rural-land-markets-second-quarter-2026/
- Handbook of Texas Online, Donald R. Abbe and Hugh Allen Anderson, “Dallam County”: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/dallam-county
- Handbook of Texas Online, Hugh Allen Anderson, “XIT Ranch”: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/xit-ranch
- Related: West Texas and Hill Country listings, Land appraisals, Wheeler County Ranch News: Stage One Burn Ban Renewed to January as Panhandle Wheat Greens Up
Photo: Aualliso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dallam_County_courthouse_May_2020.jpg). Cropped.
