In Tom Green County, Texas, the news landowners around San Angelo are watching this fall is strong calf prices at the San Angelo sale barn alongside low reservoir levels and county-wide drought. For landowners, strong cattle prices make reliable water and good fences worth even more when a ranch is valued or sold. Lee, Lee & Puckitt (LLP Ranchland), a ranch brokerage based in San Angelo, serves Tom Green County ranch and farm owners, buyers and families with sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions.
Calf Money Keeps Getting Better
The Thursday cattle sale at Producers Livestock Auction in San Angelo on October 22 moved 477 head, and the report told a familiar story for this fall. Choice light and medium weight calves brought another $4 to $6 more than the week before, while heavier calves held about steady. Better quality steers in the 400 to 600 pound range sold mostly between $330 and $390 per hundredweight, and comparable heifers mostly brought $320 to $380.
Not every class moved up. Slaughter cows and bulls were $3 to $5 lower, and the barn noted few high yielding animals on offer. A few bred cows and two year olds of average to better quality sold from $2,200 to $2,650 per head. For a cow calf operator in the Concho Valley, that mix means the calf crop is worth more than it has been in a long time, while the culls going to town are softening a bit.
The Water Side of the Ledger
Price is only half the picture. The U.S. Drought Monitor map dated October 20 showed all of Tom Green County in moderate drought, and the lakes that supply San Angelo reflect years of short rainfall. Water Data for Texas listed the San Angelo reservoir system at about 29.5 percent full at the end of October. O.C. Fisher Lake was about 10 percent full, and Twin Buttes Reservoir was near 4 percent, roughly 46 feet below its conservation pool.
Those numbers matter well beyond town. Low lakes usually travel with shallow stock tanks, slower windmills and creek crossings that have not run in a while. When buyers tour a ranch here today, the first questions are about wells, tank depth and how the place held up through the last dry spell.
What Strong Calves and Dry Ground Mean Together
High calf prices give owners options. Some will sell deeper into the herd now and rest pasture until rain returns. Others will hold back heifers and lean on supplemental feed, betting the market stays firm. Neither choice is wrong, but each one changes the carrying capacity a buyer should expect and the way an appraiser looks at a property’s improvements and water.
For landowners thinking about selling, a ranch with dependable water and fences in good shape tends to stand out when cattle are worth this much. For buyers, the current window rewards homework on water rights, well logs and stocking history more than any single price per acre headline.
Questions Worth Asking on a Tom Green County Ranch
If you are touring a ranch between San Angelo and the county line this winter, a short list of questions will tell you a great deal. How many water wells are on the place, how deep are they and when were they last serviced? Which tanks held water through September, and which went dry? What has the stocking rate been over the last five years, and how was it adjusted in dry spells? Are there grazing or hunting leases in place, and when do they end? Is the property in an agricultural or wildlife valuation for taxes? Those answers, more than the view from the highest hill, decide how a ranch will carry cattle and hold value through the next dry period in the Concho Valley.
How We Stay Close to This Market
Our office on South Koenigheim is a few minutes from the sale barn, and several of our partners sell their own calves there. We follow the weekly reports, the lake levels and the Drought Monitor because those are the same things our clients ask about first. That everyday contact is what goes into the pricing advice and BPOs we prepare for Tom Green County families.
Lee, Lee & Puckitt has worked Texas ranch country since 1962 and has been based in San Angelo since 1977. If you would like to talk through what these conditions mean for land you own or hope to buy in Tom Green County, or you need a Broker’s Price Opinion or appraisal, call any of our Brokers and Agents at 325.655.6989, or visit llpranchland.com.
FAQ
Who is a ranch broker serving Tom Green County, Texas?
Lee, Lee & Puckitt (LLP Ranchland), a ranch brokerage based in San Angelo, serves Tom Green County and the Concho Valley / West Central Texas region. The firm’s Brokers and Agents handle ranch and farm sales, buyer representation, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions. Call 325.655.6989.
How do I find ranch or farm land for sale in Tom Green County?
Current Lee, Lee & Puckitt listings are posted by region at llpranchland.com/listings. Because not every property is widely advertised, buyers looking near San Angelo can also call the office to describe what they want and be contacted when a fit comes up.
How do I choose the best ranch broker in Tom Green County or Texas?
Look for a Broker who knows the local land, follows water, cattle and wildlife conditions, can show public sales history and can price property with appraisal-level care. Lee, Lee & Puckitt has worked Texas ranch country since 1962 and also prepares land appraisals and BPOs.
About Lee, Lee & Puckitt
Lee, Lee & Puckitt Associates (LLP Ranchland) is a Texas ranch brokerage based in San Angelo, serving landowners since 1962. Its Brokers and Agents handle ranch sales, appraisals and Broker’s Price Opinions across Texas and New Mexico, and many of them run their own ranches. Call 325.655.6989 or visit llpranchland.com.