Where Perspective Takes Root: A Lifetime of Learning from the Land

For Charles Baker and Billy Mann, a lifetime in agriculture has taught them that the land never really belongs to just one generation.

It is inherited, cared for, learned from and, eventually, passed along.

As longtime agricultural producers and Directors of the Matagorda County Soil and Water Conservation District, Baker and Mann have watched agriculture in their corner of Texas change dramatically. They have seen farmland give way to industry, endured drought and uncertain markets, adapted practices that generations before them never imagined and witnessed the growing importance of conserving increasingly limited land and water resources.

Through it all, one principle has remained constant: take care of what you have and leave it better for whoever comes next.

“Without conservation, we will decline,” Mann said. “Conservation will, hopefully, help us to leave the land in better shape than what we got it.”

For Baker, that responsibility is just as clear.

“You just have to leave it better than it was,” he said. “The land is shrinking all the time. People are selling their land to put apartments up or selling it to put power generation stations up, and we’re not getting any more.”

Baker’s connection to Matagorda County agriculture stretches back through generations of the McNab family. The family’s history in the area dates to the 1800s, eventually growing into a ranching legacy that Baker knew about from the time he was a child. Even while living in Houston, he would return to Matagorda County on weekends to help family members Carl and Roy with the ranch.

“I’d known about it ever since I was a little child and always wanted to do something with it,” Baker said.

Eventually, his opportunity came.

In 2001, Baker purchased the cattle and began operating McNab Cattle Company, continuing a family story that had started generations before him. Ranching became more than a connection to his ancestry; it became a new chapter of his own. He even learned to ride horseback as he became more involved in managing cattle, an experience he remembers fondly.

“It meant a lot to me to be able to learn how to be a cowboy,” he said.

For Mann, agriculture was not something he entered later in life. It surrounded him from childhood. He grew up where rice, cattle and farming were the family’s livelihood. Corn was grown not as a cash crop, but to feed the chickens and cattle. It was simply part of everyday life.

“That’s where I developed my love for it,” Mann said.

That love has carried him through decades of farming and ranching in Matagorda County.

Rice and cattle historically complemented each other well on Mann’s operation. He could grow rice and then allow the ground to rest before grazing cattle on it. The system fit land that was poorly drained and not particularly suited for traditional row crops.

Water availability, however, has increasingly shaped what is possible.

Mann had hoped to return to rice production using irrigation water from the Lower Colorado River Authority, but low commodity prices kept him from planting this year. Still, he hopes to grow rice again when conditions allow. For Mann, surface water offers an important advantage: it allows him to produce a crop without drawing from groundwater.

“You are taking something that’s replenishable by the next flood and using it to grow a commodity,” he said.

It is one example of a lesson both men have learned repeatedly throughout their lives: agriculture does not stand still.

When Baker and Mann were young, Matagorda County looked different. Agriculture and the oil field were major drivers of the local economy. Farm equipment dealerships lined the road in Bay City. Over the decades, chemical plants, plastics manufacturing, power generation and other industries became increasingly prominent.

“Agriculture’s kind of taken a back step,” Mann said.

Yet neither man has considered stepping away simply because agriculture has become more challenging. Their longevity in agriculture has taught them that preserving a legacy does not mean refusing to change it.

Baker remembers earlier generations being committed to doing things the way they had always been done. Experience taught him something different.

“You have to keep up with what changes are happening,” Baker said. “Think about the changes that you need to make and hope that they are good ones.”

On McNab Cattle Company, that has meant improving pasture conditions, investing in better genetics, adding cross-fencing for rotational grazing and incorporating prescribed burning. Rather than leaving cattle in one pasture until the forage is depleted, Baker rotates them through multiple pastures to give the grass time to recover.

Mann has taken a similarly intentional approach to managing his operation, closely monitoring cattle and adjusting herd numbers to conditions on the ground.

“We never know when we’re going to go into a drought period or a wet period,” Mann said. “If you’re overgrazed, even if you sell your cattle, you still don’t have any grass.”

The land, he said, has taught him to expect change.

“You never know what next year’s going to be like,” Mann said. “Be flexible.”

Their commitment to conservation extends beyond their own operations. Both men serve as directors of the Matagorda County Soil and Water Conservation District, where their decades of firsthand experience give them an opportunity to help other landowners and producers.

For Baker, serving on the SWCD board has made him more aware of the improvements that can be made on agricultural land. Practices as simple as leaving crop residue after harvest can help hold water on the land and reduce runoff.

“There are some things that they can do without changing their land or anything that will help the land to get better,” Baker said.

Mann points to the Water Quality Management Plan as one of the most valuable tools available to producers. His own WQMP documents how he manages water, applies herbicides and pesticides and takes soil samples to ensure his operation uses only what the land needs.

The plan, he explained, demonstrates both to the producer and the public how the property is being responsibly managed.

Their service is also a way of giving something back.

Mann said younger producers often have little time to devote to organizations while trying to build an operation and raise a family. With age comes not only more time to serve, but decades of experience to share.

“You’ve seen some things that worked and didn’t work,” Mann said.

That perspective is difficult to teach in a classroom. It is earned through droughts, floods, good markets, bad markets and years spent watching the same piece of ground respond differently from one season to the next. Both men have been named Matagorda County Cattleman of the Year, an honor neither takes lightly. Both were quick to point toward other cattlemen they felt were equally deserving. To Baker and Mann, the recognition meant the most because it came from their peers, the people who understand the work, uncertainty and commitment required to make a life in agriculture.

But perhaps the legacy they value most will never hang on a wall. It will be what happens to the land after they are gone. Both men are already thinking about the generations that will follow them.

Baker has begun turning more responsibility over to his son Greg, who shares his passion for the cattle business. Mann is also working to involve his two sons, giving them responsibilities within the operation so they are prepared for the future.

The transition matters because both men understand something that becomes clearer with time: a producer’s ownership of the land is temporary, but the decisions made on it can last for generations.

Their faith reinforces that perspective.

“This land is not mine, or anybody else’s. It belongs to God,” Baker said. “It’s our duty to take care of it and make the best use of it that we can, and be sure that it’s here for the next generation.”

Mann shares that outlook, recognizing that everything accumulated during a lifetime will eventually be left in someone else’s hands.

“I would like to leave it better than what I found,” he said.

Baker and Mann know the future of Texas agriculture will not look exactly like its past. Producers will be asked to grow more with less land and less water. Technology and science will continue to change the way crops are grown and livestock are raised. And the next generation will have to make decisions their fathers and grandfathers never faced.

Baker encourages young producers to educate themselves, learn what research and science can offer and choose practices because they are best for the land, not simply because that is how previous generations did it.

Mann offers another piece of wisdom accumulated over a lifetime: work hard, but do not allow agriculture to become the only thing that matters.

“Don’t forget about your family,” he said. “And your faith. Enjoy it, but it’s not the only thing.”

Their advice reflects the lives they have lived, rooted in agriculture, strengthened by faith and family, and shaped by decades of learning from the land.

For Baker and Mann, legacy is not about keeping everything exactly as it was. It is about knowing what is worth carrying forward and having the wisdom to change what needs changing.

It is a ranch handed from one generation to another. A field managed so there is still something left to grow. A conservation practice adopted today whose benefits may not be fully realized until years from now. It is knowledge shared across a table at a Soil and Water Conservation District meeting and the next generation gradually learning to take the reins.

After decades in agriculture, Baker and Mann measure success in much the same way. Take care of the land. Make good use of what you have. And when it is time for someone else to take your place, leave them something better than what was left to you.

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