November 11, 2025 • 40 mins
What does it take to keep a ranch thriving when prices swing, rain stalls, and the next generation needs a runway? We sit with Jim and Jay Hill outside Las Cruces to map a path from mules and tobacco fields to GPS tractors, custom feeding, alfalfa, cotton, seed crops, and even commercial real estate. Their story is equal parts resilience and reinvention, proving that diversification is not a buzzword—it’s a survival plan that protects both cattle and family.
Jim shares how smart buying, timely selling, and steady expansion turned a small New Mexico farm into a multi-faceted operation, while Jay recounts scaling production to 21,000 acres and two feedyards before stepping back to reassess bandwidth and balance. Together they break down how to think like a ranch CFO: hedge drought with insurance, buy feed when it’s cheap, prioritize airflow and shade to combat heat stress and parasites, and build rotational grazing that holds up when the monsoon doesn’t. They also push back on the idea that agriculture is closed to newcomers—start small, grow smart, and let partners amplify your effort.
Beyond economics, they tackle the human side of the beef industry: mental health in a comparison culture, making peace with your pace, and the hard conversations of succession planning. Their take on marketing is clear and actionable: put your name on your beef, use local processing and directories, consider co-ops carefully, and keep your face in front of your product so trust outlasts any single buyer. Through it all, the Hills return to what matters—healthy animals, honest stewardship, and a community of people you’d happily break bread with.
If you care about ranch resilience, drought strategy, animal comfort, and building a brand that lasts, this conversation delivers practical steps and real encouragement. Subscribe, share with a ranching friend, and leave a review with your favorite takeaway so more producers can find it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carollann Romo (00:04):
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the
Burger.
Uh we're here just outside ofLas Cruces, New Mexico, and I am
here with Jim and Jay Hill.
Uh guys, will you kind ofintroduce yourselves?
Maybe Jim, will you start?
Jim Hill (00:15):
Yeah, I'm Jim Hill.
Uh live here in Las Cruces, NewMexico.
Been in the egg business all mylife.
Uh was on the Beef Council foruh a few years and enjoyed each
and every day that we had, andit's fun to see what we're doing
today.
This is a this is the step inthe right direction.
Carollann Romo (00:34):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much.
And that's yeah, that's kind ofhow the connection happened,
right?
Is is uh Jim is a former formerboard member with the Beef
Council, and so we love to keepin touch because once you have
volunteers, once you have goodvolunteers, you gotta keep a
hold of them a little.
Um and Jay is your son.
Jay Hill (00:49):
Yes.
Get to uh get to grow up in theshadow of the great Jim Hill.
And uh it's been probably themost exciting uh ride that any
kid for could ask for.
Uh just being able to see howdad came from such very humble
beginnings um and this built andlost and built and rebuilt and
uh been so uh diversified insuch a short period of time.
(01:12):
So it's just been a really funopportunity just to hang out
with pops and uh get to live outthe agricultural world day in
and day out.
I've um have farmed since uhfirst crop was at 14 years old
and uh been in the ag business.
We've we've both uh farmed andranched for the last, well, now
this is my 29th crop, somethinglike that, 28th crop.
(01:35):
Um and so as as these thingsall have come together just to
be able to do that alongside thefamily, it's been amazing.
Carollann Romo (01:42):
Oh, absolutely.
I I think that's a the reallyspecial thing.
This, you know, family businessum or family uh generational
thing, watching uh, you know,farm and and ranch.
Um tell us about kind of Jim,start with uh your background
and and kind of how you got intoit or how how uh you started
and then and then the operationsthat you have had and that you
(02:02):
currently have.
Yeah.
Jim Hill (02:04):
Well, I grew up in uh eastern Tennessee and I grew up
on a farm, but mainly we grewtobacco, okay.
So we had all those good thingsthat we started out with.
And and I came here and went toschool, a little school called
Texas Western, okay, andgraduated from a school called
UTEP, which is the same school,and uh was fortunate enough to
(02:24):
know a banker and and bought alittle farm in Bato, New Mexico.
And uh we turned that in, soldit in a few years and bought a
bigger one and continued to growand and uh just diversified.
We had a chance to buy a ranchand we we bought the ranch and
kept it for many years.
A guy from California came inand wanted to know if we would
(02:44):
sell a ranch, and the statementback to him was no, it's all
paid for, the cattle are ours,we're not paying.
And just a few days before theend of the year, he said, Will
you sell your ranch?
And so that's a whole differentball game.
And so we did.
We got out of the we sold aranch, but we stayed in the
feeding business.
We feed for custom uh the we uhproduce beef for a bunch of
(03:10):
friends and neighbors and stuffthat buys uh finished beef from
us.
So we've been in it, but westill uh are are in the farming,
we're in the we're in thealfalfa uh grain.
Uh we've grown a lot of cotton,so we uh we've been blessed to
uh stay in the egg business.
Carollann Romo (03:27):
Oh yeah, and it well if you're feeding cattle,
you uh you need a lot of youneed a lot of farming or farming
friends.
Jim Hill (03:33):
We do.
Carollann Romo (03:34):
Yeah, um well that's great.
And and uh uh Jay, tell usabout kind of what you your
connection to the industry too,because you you know aren't
always on the farm necessarily,but you're helping others and
and uh helping others buildtheir their farms, right?
Is what kind of what Iunderstand?
Jay Hill (03:50):
Uh it's a it's an evolution of agriculture,
really.
I I went to work um it when Iwas 15, I went to work for a
produce company.
Um, and my job was to loadonion trucks at night.
So my shift started at at 5 45in the evening and I'd get home
at about nine o'clock in themorning.
In those days, dad was stillderiving income from from
(04:10):
outside sources of agriculture,and uh, and so anytime I could
pick up a gig cutting hay orbaling hay or doing whatever I
could do, I just was really youknow cultivated pun intended um
by agriculture.
Um and in so doing so we'd we'dformed different partnerships
and and it sent me to differentparts of the state um to do you
(04:32):
know to to learn kind of thehard way of how to large scale
farm.
And in doing so, uh it opened alot of opportunities.
Um so we got our start, or atleast I got my start in produce,
um, onions, chili, lettuce,cabbage, um, and then at the
same time we were still runninguh we had a ranch and then we
were feeding cows too.
(04:53):
And uh and so it was just itwas a lot of fun to do that.
And then as college um drug ona couple different times I
attended an institution.
Um and I met a lot of greatpeople in that.
I'm I'm glad I I was there whenI was there because I some of
my best friends were met incollege a lot in the beef
industry.
Um, and uh it's it's been a lotof fun to see all of our
(05:15):
evolutions go.
Uh had an opportunity at onepoint we we started growing a
lot of uh seed crops, so carrotsand uh seedless watermelon has
to have seed.
Um so understanding how to growseedless watermelon seed.
Um, and uh and that kind ofmorphed itself into uh curing
seeds and things like that.
And then we got an opportunity.
(05:36):
I got an opportunity uh topartner up with a person and we
took over an operation in WestTexas uh for a municipality um
and started off with about 3,500acres uh and in five and a half
years turned it into a littleover 21,000 acres of production,
uh alfalfa, corn, cotton, um,silage, and then we had two
feedlots um at the max feeding,you know, 400 head in one, and
(06:00):
the other one uh we rotatedanywhere between 15 and 2,000
head end.
And um, and so that kind ofbrought me back into the beef
side of things.
I had been mostly in the farmside.
Um, and in 22, uh, we had theoption to pull the ripcord, and
uh so we pulled and uh didn'tknow I've got a I've got a wife
and two sweet kiddos, and wedidn't know really what
(06:20):
direction we wanted to go, andwe ended up uh coming back into
Las Cruces.
Uh we're close to mom and dad.
Dad said, Why don't you comeback, you know, and and be
close.
Um so we did that, and I gotinto commercial real estate and
uh connections, just knowingpeople, and uh the next thing
you know, it becomes a career.
It was supposed to be somethingthat was passive income.
Um, and it's been it's been alot of fun now understanding.
(06:42):
I I wish I would have knownnow, you know, I would have
started this a lot earlier.
Understanding diversificationin agriculture, you know, beef
market's high right now.
Um so you know, what are yougonna do?
Are you gonna buy another ranchor are you gonna diversify that
into passive income where it'sgonna come out of you know,
commercial space?
Are you gonna buy a farm?
Are you gonna, you know, whatis those?
(07:03):
Um, and this is things that II've I've been really blessed to
be able to be along for thisride to understand these
different transitions.
Uh our family transitions toI've got a brother that works
for us in Dell City, he stillruns a large farm that we have
over there.
And uh, and just understandinghow we transition this together
um has been a lot of fun.
Carollann Romo (07:24):
Oh, absolutely.
That sounds that sounds reallyinteresting.
And I think the uh the changesand the you know evolution of of
agriculture of where you're youknow trying to diversify.
And I think what did they usedto say in the Midwest when they
had smaller operations, you'dhave uh you'd grow corn and then
you'd walk the corn off the offthe farm, right?
You'd have cattle just to walkthe corn off.
(07:44):
Well, now they don't have to dothat because they have all
these, you know, co-ops and andlocal mills and all that.
And then, but then now the thechange back, right, is as as
life cycles is that maybe it isokay to diversify again and
still grow.
It it is a good way to grow,especially because the cattle
market surely won't be highforever.
Jay Hill (08:03):
No, and I think I think that's something that I
mean, we got to enjoy a cottonmarket at, you know, for upland
cotton at over a dollartwenty-five, you know, and
everybody's like, man, this iswe finally have we finally have
arrived to a price point whereit makes sense to grow cotton.
And I sold cotton this year at64 cents, you know, that's two
years later.
Um, and so understanding thatthere's these ebb and flows um
(08:24):
in agriculture um and thendiversification of what your
portfolio looks like, even ifyou're in a long, you know, if
you're a sixth generation familyfarmer or rancher, the
opportunities for you to sit anddo the same thing day in, day
out, you can do that, but whatis that gonna do when you have
these big swings?
And so that's we've we'velearned the the good way and the
(08:45):
bad way in that.
Jim Hill (08:46):
Yeah.
You know, one of the bigthings, uh, we'd run a lot of
business with the bank, thebankers bank uh out of Oklahoma,
and and when that gentlemancomes down, we'll really become
good friends.
And uh he's always asking thesame question over and over, you
know, hey Jim, when are yougonna write a book?
Jim, how are you coming on yourbook?
And I tell him, you know,Frank, I'm not in the writing
(09:08):
contest, okay?
And he says, Jim, you startedfarming with mules and horses.
Yeah, I know J and Hall.
I know all those kind ofthings.
And he says, now I'll watch youget in and out of the GPS
tractors and stuff like this,that I can't hardly see you when
you're up there.
Uh, you have a story to tell.
I just think uh I've beenblessed and I'm so excited, and
(09:30):
and my whole family is thatwe're gonna be able to continue
this as we leave.
Uh we have a son, two sonsthat's really involved in it,
and our whole family uh isreally, really involved in what
we do and how we do it.
Carollann Romo (09:45):
I I that's absolutely the the ultimate
goal, I think, for a lot of usis if you can find something
that your kids can do and youhave this generational uh
practice.
And it's really the main reasonfor starting the podcast,
right?
Is we we think that if you'rebuying your beef at the grocery
store, you don't get to hearthis story.
And we think that the story isimportant and it's also really
(10:05):
neat because the I mean,obviously the human side of of
life is is the most interestingpart of life, but the the human
side of where our food comesfrom is is so neat.
There's not a lot of industrieswhere businesses can last
generations and last generationsand through the technology and
changes of of uh, you know, asyou say, from from mules to now
(10:27):
GPS tractors that that mightturn around for you.
Jay Hill (10:30):
It's it's wild too to understand technology is not
always a solution, right?
Everybody thinks that that asthings are progressing, I I mean
I stood uh toe-to-toe with alot of large companies, uh,
spoke on behalf and against someum, you know, on genetically
modified crops.
Um and we we could we could goa myriad of different ways and
(10:53):
talk about you know theevolution of those all those
kind of things.
Um, but understanding uh whatis what are we leaving for the
generation behind us?
Um, you know, we're out at theCorli Disranch right now, we're
getting to do an opportunitythat we're helping um the
fosters as they'rerehabilitating some of their
farm ground and they're reallyworking on a regenerative
practice.
And I think a lot of us inagriculture look at that and we
(11:14):
roll our eyes in the back of ourhead and we're like, oh, it's
just a sling term for somebodyto be able to coin in on green
dollars.
Um, but when you are a part ofsomething and you see the change
in uh a hurt and and how youcan go back to some of the
basics that where he was workingwith a team of mules, G and
(11:34):
Haw, there's like fundamentalbuilding blocks to us being good
stewards of what we do everysingle day that we have to
revert back to.
And um, I think in a in atechnologically advanced world
where we've got social mediatelling us what we're doing
wrong every single day, andwe're we're trying to evaluate
ourselves against somebody elsethat's just showing you the best
side of what they do.
(11:55):
Um, it's nice to be able tohave the chain to go back to
talk to dad, to go back to talkto the fosters and say, well,
this they do it this this way.
And what if we meet in themiddle and try it this way?
Um, and it's not necessarilyjust having to be the biggest,
fastest, and best.
It's what the kids at the endof the day are going to be able
to inherit and go on with.
Carollann Romo (12:14):
Oh yeah.
What a, what an incredible, uh,what an incredible thing.
And I just I I always am in inawe of the ability to pass
generations and to learn and totry and and then and then we
love to tell people too, is thatit's that it's uh, you know,
what's good for the land is goodfor the livestock, and what's
good for the livestock is oftengood for the land.
And so obviously there'sthere's regenerative, there's
(12:35):
sustainable, there's all these,you know, the buzzwords, right?
But it's it's all about uh aeconomic sustainability to pass
a business generations.
Jay Hill (12:44):
Yeah, and and and honestly, too, it's uh cash flow
is something that alwayspeople, you know, let's talk
about the cash flow and the youknow, you know, you want to get
into ranching, you want to buy aplace someday, you want to, you
know, you want to pass this toyour children, all of those kind
of things that so many peoplesay, well, the economics of
agriculture are notapproachable.
Like unless you inherit intoit, you can't get into it.
And I think that's a huge liethat people that people don't
(13:05):
understand.
Starting small and buildingsomething, like when I started
farming in the beginning, it was10 acres.
And then when the ribcord gotpulled, it was 21,000 acres.
And to say that, you know, andthat's not just me, the good
Lord's mile on us the entireway, and there was a lot of
pain, a lot of bad partnerships,a lot of the stumbling over not
understanding.
You know, we made some hugemistakes, others made huge
(13:25):
mistakes.
But to encourage people to saythat they can be a part of this
entire ecosystem of agricultureby starting with just saying, I
have a dream.
Like I want to, I want up myown spot.
I want a spot for my kids to beferal and run around and you
know, understand that Legos arenot the same as goat eds.
Um, they both hurt when youstep on them.
But yeah, yeah, true.
(13:46):
So it's it's one of thosethings that uh ag is
approachable still, even evenwith this market.
That's even on the commercialreal estate side of things.
Like I look at it and peopleare like, Whoa, you know, I
can't believe you you just can'tyou can't make a ranch work for
this number.
Like, how bad do you want it?
Um and there are there are verycreative ways to get people in
in into into a dream.
Carollann Romo (14:05):
Oh, I I think that's the most encouraging
thing and such a such aninspirational message.
And um there's sacrificeinvolved, there's learning
involved, there's probably a lotof humility involved, but but
uh to encourage people to befirst generation ranchers or
farmers, absolutely.
And you're not saying it's notgoing to be without its
sacrifice and without its hills,uh hills and valleys.
(14:27):
Um, but that's I I love that.
What a what a great thing.
Um well, one of the things weuh we like to talk about too is
New Mexico's unique landscapes.
How has that kind of impactedhow your you know businesses
have changed and how maybespecifically with cattle, what
that what that was like or whatyou've learned from that?
Jim Hill (14:45):
Well, you know, I think the big thing that happens
is that uh so much of it is notin our control.
We just have to be able tomanage what we have at the time
we have it.
We're we're thankful when weget the moisture, we get the
rains and stuff, uh while we'reon top of the world.
But then we have to be able tomanage it when we don't.
Okay, how do we cut how do wecontrol what we keep and what we
(15:07):
don't keep?
Uh I want to add just one otherlittle thing to it.
Uh as Jay was talking, it hasbeen a uh a bumpy ride.
But I think anything that youdo has uh bumps in it.
And uh and the reason I saythat is because you begin to get
the bumps out, and now by thetime where we are today, uh the
(15:30):
bumps are very small, you know,and uh and and the the fun part
of it, uh being able to see, asyou mentioned, being able to see
it pass on and go on and andknow that it's in good hands.
And and and my advice is youknow, if you have a dream or if
you have something you reallywant to do, do it.
It's not all about money.
(15:51):
Okay?
I mean it it's really not.
Uh if you work hard enough andyou pay attention to what you
do, you can do anything you wantto do.
You know, I mean, it it it's uhit's a neat deal when you have
your family involved and you'redoing something you really truly
enjoy doing.
It's it's I'm 85 year old anduh still enjoy each and every
(16:15):
day.
Carollann Romo (16:16):
That's that's uh I again just uh I I get
goosebumps thinking about it andI think it's it's inspirational
and then and then what's thesaying that I'm sure my grandpa
or uncle or or dad has told meis anything worth doing is is
hard, right?
Jay Hill (16:28):
Or um if it was easy everybody would do it.
Carollann Romo (16:30):
Yeah, yeah, all the things.
Yeah.
Jay Hill (16:34):
I your question about you know um uh climatic changes,
you know, we're in southern NewMexico, um and I have never not
been since I started in AG,I've never not had a drought
here.
Um I mean we've had a greatfall, this our start to fall um
and things look good.
Uh but diversification of whatyou're doing, and that's you
(16:58):
know the the fosters out here atCorlitas Ranch, they're
bringing, you know, they do havethe asset of water.
And so, you know, our projectwith them is to get them to a
spot that they're droughtresistant.
Um so finding, you know, wecould go in and commercially
farm this, we could grow chiliand cotton and corn and do all
those kind of things if wewanted to do that and and and
(17:18):
diversify, but their heart andtheir mission is in their cows
and being able to sustain thisranch.
And so coming on board to helpthem, our mission is to make
sure that we set the farm sideof their ranch up so that that
way when it stops raining again,because it'll stop raining
again, um, that they've got arotational grazing program that
they can put their flagship herdon uh and have something that
(17:40):
where everybody else has beenselling off, these guys kind of
can hedge that.
So that's been a lot of fun uhunderstanding those kind of
practices.
And then to the economics ofit, how much money are you
willing to spend to droughthedge yourself?
Um, insurance has obviouslybeen a huge part of the whole
you know, hedging uh thesedroughts, and it's been it's
(18:00):
been very it's been a greatthing, and it's saved a lot of
us in this industry.
At the same time, you know,cheap is relatively inexpensive
at the moment.
Uh, we sell a lot of feed, wesell you know oats and hay and
uh Sudan sorghum and all thesedifferent crops.
Uh and you can tell theranchers that are thinking ahead
of it because they're the onesthat are gonna have the barn and
they're gonna buy the feed whenit's inexpensive instead of
(18:22):
going and buying a new pickupbecause you still get the same
tax write-off.
Um, and so you you see some ofthose practices implemented.
Um, and for us, it's the samething.
It's when we have a really goodyear, just brace yourself
because you know following upfor those good years, we're
gonna have some bumps.
Carollann Romo (19:09):
No doubt, no doubt.
And uh yeah, that resilience ofa of a rancher or farmer is a
really admirable trait.
And even um my favorite thingto say is uh as a
agriculturalist, you have to beso many things.
You have to know weatherpatterns, so you've got to have
a little bit of meteorology inyou.
You've got to know theeconomics, and sometimes you're
you're an economist or a marketanalyst, and then and then also
(19:31):
a businessman, and then also yougotta know dirt, you gotta be a
soil scientist, and you gottabe so it just keeps going all of
the things that it requires.
Jay Hill (19:40):
Then you gotta you gotta be able to be your own
shrink.
Carollann Romo (19:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jay Hill (19:43):
And that's you don't have time to go to town for
that.
Um, and and now we live in acomparison world again with like
the whole social media scene.
And you know, I was all over Iwas influencing and talking all
over the world literally aboutagriculture.
Um, and it catches up to apoint where you look into the
(20:05):
mirror and you're like, I'mtelling everybody how they can
live their lives to be better,but inside you're not okay.
And it's the comparison, right?
You know, if it rained on myside today, what's the neighbor
thinking?
Or if it rained on theneighbor's side, what are they
thinking?
Um, instead of just meeting andhaving a cup of coffee and
talking about, man, we wereblessed last night, we got two
inches of rain.
And uh, and so trying to live,trying to build a business in
(20:28):
agriculture or sustain abusiness or a family, a
multi-generation operation isgreat, but at the same time, um
doing so in a way that is rightfor you and your family and not
comparative, I think is youknow, learn from somebody,
obviously, like the best thingyou can do, but at the same time
comparing yourself to thatperson.
That's why a lot of people Idon't think step off of the I
(20:49):
want to own the ranch and workfor the ranch, or they just have
the dream and never do itbecause they sit there and they
say, Well, this guy's got well,he just bought new skids here
and he can feed in the snow, orhe can, you know, whatever it
is, and it's like stop worryingabout that, just figure out how
you make your payments and buildyour own.
You'll have your own problems.
Carollann Romo (21:05):
So Absolutely, absolutely.
That's uh I I uh for somereason I'm am uh I don't want to
say training a horse, but Ihave a young horse.
He went to a trainer and nowI'm I'm you know going through
the next step, um, but very muchnot a horse trainer.
But I have a young horse and II send my cousin videos for
advice because she's a veryexcellent horsewoman.
(21:25):
Um, and and I said, you know, Ifeel bad.
My horse isn't as far along aseverybody else's, and she's no,
no, no.
And then so it's a life lessonin anything we're doing, if we
can just think about what we'redoing.
And yes, it would be great ifwe had their resources or if we
had their time or if we hadtheir rain or whatever it is.
But yeah, the not to not to gettoo much into life lessons, but
(21:46):
I think uh yeah, it's a it's agreat thing if we can just try
and remember that it's our pathand our our plan.
Jay Hill (21:52):
And it's yeah, it's fundamental to building
anything.
Yes, a relationship, a farm, aranch, whatever it's gonna be,
it's just being able to sit inand what you can do.
Carollann Romo (22:00):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I love that.
Um I think uh so we kind oftalked about the land, but maybe
talk about um and maybe do youguys have cattle right now?
Jim Hill (22:10):
We do.
We have some that we'refeeding.
Carollann Romo (22:12):
Okay, that's what I thought you said.
Okay.
Um just talk about cattle careand the and the um efforts to
keep cattle comfortable.
Jay Hill (22:21):
Okay.
Yeah, I I it's uh this is thebest place to have that
conversation.
I mean, uh, and you should askthe fosters the same thing, um,
because they they understand thefeedlot business well too and
the ranch side.
Um, but one thing I keepingcattle comfortable in southern
(22:41):
New Mexico through these droughtcycles is something that uh has
been a definite task for us.
And um and one thing that we'veseen is uh recycling of
products from feed yards thatare no longer here or dairy
yards, um, and some certaindegree to give just random
shade.
Um and I think the biggestthing that we worry about here
(23:02):
is heat stroke and ticks, andand that people don't think
about like the fact that whenyou're putting cattle into a
confined space even in thedesert, we still have tick
issues.
Um, and so those are the kindof things like parasites, ticks,
and heat, those are things thatwe have to pay attention.
You know, we feed our cows out.
Um, you know, we've got a smallpen at my house that's just
kind of the family Christmasbeef.
(23:24):
Um, and you'd think that it'dbe great because I live in the
middle of a pecan orchard andtheir pins are right up against
these pecan trees.
Um, and so you think, well,shoot, that'd be a perfect spot
for something to want to hangout at.
But unfortunately, there's noair movement and it's stagnant.
Um, and so in the summertime,like being able to get shade and
be able to get some kind ofairflow into those animals, uh,
and we learned it the hard way.
Like we just weren't able toput the muscle and the fat on,
(23:46):
you know, earlier lots throughthat small pin.
But this is something I'm like,you think about that on the
ranch side, uh, that's the samething.
Like if they're not gettingample shade, ample airflow, uh,
and you're talking to ranchersthat are used to, you know, we
use mesquites to be able to bedcows down um at the same time.
Uh anything that you can do togive them an easier life, um, if
(24:07):
they're not having to go quiteas far for water, um, if you're
able to keep their teeth up, youknow, you can keep a younger
herd, especially into thesedroughts, it's gonna, it's gonna
definitely pay dividends.
Carollann Romo (24:17):
Absolutely.
And did you want to add tothat?
Jim Hill (24:19):
No, it's been real neat that I've turned most of
this over towards Jay makes alot of the decisions.
I still have uh a few commentsthat I'll make yet him know, but
that's true.
He still carries a wompingstick.
Carollann Romo (24:31):
Uh we love it.
Uh so um what do you think whatdo you what would you tell
people if um you know tosomeone's we're we're ordering a
cheeseburger, we're ordering as a steak, or we're you know, at
the grocery store, you don'tknow anything about where their
beef comes from.
What's something that you wantthem to know?
What do you hope they know?
Jim Hill (24:52):
You know, I think the big thing is the ranchers, when
we talk about uh the all thepeople that that really grow the
beef.
Everybody has a practice ofmaking sure they grow the best
that they can grow.
Uh keep the chemicals, keep thevac keep it out of 'em, okay?
If you take care of 'em andfeed 'em and control them right,
(25:14):
they need very little.
We we have no vaccine programbecause we we don't have sick
cattle.
Thank the good lord on that.
Uh I I don't think is anycountry in the whole any place
we've been has the beef that wehave here, the quality of beef
that we have.
And uh and it's safe.
Carollann Romo (25:36):
And that's the American beef you're saying.
Yeah, it's American beef.
Yeah, American beef.
We have we have the safest foodsupply in the world and and uh
good quality beef.
Jay Hill (25:45):
Yes, we do.
I I think it's hard now though,because we live in such a
throwaway society.
And so people are needingthey're needing more and they're
needing it at a discount, andthey're not really they're
really not worried about whatwent into it.
Um seven years ago, totallydifferent conversation.
(26:06):
Everybody's wanting to knowlike, is it stamped, is it free
range, is it grass-fed, is itcorn fed, did it come out of a
GMO feedlot, did it, you know,all of these things.
And now beef prices get highand people are like, I just need
I just need a hamburger.
Um and so this is the timewhere producers have the
opportunity to put their name infront of their marketing um
(26:27):
because people are scrounging tobe able to get, you know, where
is their, you know, where istheir meat coming from, or where
can we get the biggest discountto it?
And if we if we don't do a goodjob of staying in front of
people like that, um, theneventually, you know, we'll get
run out by you know anotherforeign set of packers, or we'll
have we'll have foreigninvestment come in, or we'll see
(26:47):
beef come across the borderagain at such a rapid rate that
we lose as producers theopportunity to kind of showcase
that we are the best at what wedo.
You know, people that are outon the ranch, people that are
out on the farm or in thefeedlot, like those people,
their stories need to be told,which is why you know, proud of
the beef council and and andmissions that you ladies always,
(27:08):
you know, seem to flagship foreverybody.
Uh at the same time, um beingin the real estate world, there
is so many generations thataren't coming home.
Um, and so as I'm putting moreand more ranches and I'm selling
more and more ranches, I'm notselling them to the neighbor.
I'm not selling them to thecousin, I'm not selling them to
a, you know, it's either goinginto probate or it's going in
(27:30):
and somebody that's got you knowa completely different
lifestyle is coming in andbuying that, especially in New
Mexico, they're using it forhunting.
Um, which is, you know, I mean,it's it's their you know,
prerogative, but at the sametime, um, this is an opportunity
for these people to marketthemselves.
Um, and if you wanted to be inthe beef business, this is the
best time for you to partner upwith somebody to say, hey, I
(27:51):
want to run these cows on thisproperty you're buying because
you want to hunt elk or dowhatever you want to do.
Um, but build your brand ofbeef based off of who you are.
If you go to a big packer andthat's where you're, you know,
if you're going to a feedlot andyou know, outside of seminar or
wherever you're going with yourcows, great.
But at the same time, followthat chain and make sure that
your story is told.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe you, but make sure that
(28:13):
somebody knows that that thatpackage of beef is coming from
your ranch.
Um and that long term, um, andI think we'll I think we'll see
that, but long term, I thinkit's important that people make
sure that their face is in frontof what their product is.
Jim Hill (28:26):
You know, I think one of the good things that's
happened to us, New Mexico Statehas really had the package
where they can kill and processall of it.
And so people can now go buythe beef they want and know
exactly who processed it, how itwas processed and all that.
That's a real plus.
Carollann Romo (28:43):
Oh yeah, that's a that's a great facility, and
we're really excited about that.
I think uh uh, you know, theNew Mexico Beef Council too, we
have the local beef directory onour website where you can find
someone in your county and umand then even if it's a county
over, they might deliver to yourto your uh community.
And uh yeah, if you if youchoose that, I I always you know
like to clarify or you know saythat if you're buying beef, the
(29:06):
best way to support a rancheris buy beef.
Order beef where you are, buybeef where you are.
And if you want that story,there is there is a uh pleth of
ranches and hopefully more, likeyou're saying, that will sell
it to you direct from theirfamily business.
And what a great we alleverybody loves to support a
small business.
Jay Hill (29:24):
And there's a lot of there's a lot of private equity
money that's already looking atpartnering with family ranches
to go, you know, though there'llbe 10 or 15 family ranches that
get put together in a quoteunquote co-op.
Yep.
That you'll see that meet,especially at different
restaurants or or grocery storechains.
Um, and those are things that,you know, the the devil's always
in the fine print.
But at the same time, I reallythink it's important for people
(29:46):
to start looking at thatdiversification too.
The same guy that's buyingcattle that's bought cattle off
of your ranch for the last 40years, at some point he's gonna
retire.
And then when you're gonna haveto go find a new buyer, uh, you
know, where does that trustcome in at?
And so I think it's one ofthose things that if you can you
can have your pinky in thatsituation all the way through,
you're gonna be better off downthe road.
Carollann Romo (30:06):
Oh, absolutely.
We love that.
I think that's that's a greatthing.
And and there's, like you said,there's private equity, but
then there's also so the beefcouncil, we try and help uh
family businesses and and sharethem on Facebook and and that
kind of thing.
And and then we have our localbeef directory, and then the New
Mexico Department ofAgriculture has their um taste
of tradition and grown withtradition programs where they'll
help you with advertising forNew Mexico products and help you
(30:28):
with labeling and and thatthat's all agriculture products.
So um there's there's resourcesout there if you decide to go
directly.
Use them.
Absolutely.
Jay Hill (30:36):
I mean if if they're gonna have that available, use
it.
Carollann Romo (30:57):
What's your favorite part of the beef
industry?
Maybe we can, you know,generalize all ag agriculture,
but but even specifically thebeef industry.
Jim Hill (31:05):
Uh I guess the most enjoyable is just driving up and
seeing healthy animals.
You know, they're not runningaway, they're excited we're
coming up to see what uh it'sjust relaxing.
Uh I like the cows.
I like the steers that we'refeeding.
It's just uh it's relaxing.
(31:25):
I get to see that over and overand over.
Jay Hill (31:28):
I like the people.
unknown (31:29):
Yeah.
Jay Hill (31:30):
I'm I'm a people person anyways, but at the same
time, like like pulling up toyou know a college roommate's
ranch or coming out here to theCorleitas or you know, anywhere
we go, it's very rarely do I runinto somebody in the beef
industry that I'm like, man, I Iwould not want to break bread
with that person.
Like I wanna I want to bearound more of those kind of
(31:51):
people.
And as they're few and farbetween, um it's things that
that I I enjoy more and more theolder I get, just those
connections are huge.
The people of the beef industryare amazing.
Carollann Romo (32:04):
Absolutely.
I think uh yeah, I'm I'm luckyto be a part of the New Mexico
beef industry because of thepeople and the friends like you
guys and and uh you know thepeople I meet that suddenly I'm
like, no, we're friends nowbecause you we gotta this is
cool.
You guys are great people.
Let's let's uh let's uhcontinue this because I just uh
yeah, I think that's beingaround good people is is the
(32:25):
best.
I've got a great team that weget to work with at the beef
council and and just those thosesalt of the earth uh wonderful
people that that you just wantto be around, right?
I just keep making people hangout with me.
It's good.
Um keep doing what uh so why doyou guys continue?
So you've you've you know,whether it's you know through
the generations and through theyou know trials and and droughts
(32:48):
and and mud, luckily right now,uh what makes you keep doing
what you do?
Jim Hill (32:54):
Well, I think it's a couple things that really uh has
an effect and and that we docontinue.
One thing is I want to just sayto the Corleaders, to Ross and
M, uh this is one reason that wedo it.
We get a chance to come andhelp and see a uh a company
that's doing better, improvinghow do they raise more and
(33:14):
better beef.
Um we get a we we get a chargeout of that to see people take
and uh and and have interest inand changing for the best.
And uh and we do too.
I mean, even at the age that uhwe are now, uh we're still
looking to grow.
We're still looking to do anddo it right, just do the right
(33:35):
things.
Jay Hill (33:37):
Yeah, I think I think age has a lot to do with
ambition too.
Um the older I get, uh ambitionstill sits, but at the same
time it's like how do we trulyeat the elephant now?
Like how do we eat the steak?
Um, and it's one bite at atime.
If you're if you're trying toexplode and grow and do all of
these kinds of things, then youhave to have the bandwidth to do
(33:58):
so.
So something has to give on theother end of that and
understanding that everythinghas uh you know, it's a scale.
Um, and so how you balance thatscale out is gonna be extremely
important.
Um, for for me, it's just beenum opportunities to grow with
people that I want to be around.
I want to associate myself withpeople that uh that hopefully
someday, you know, a hundredyears from now, they're having a
(34:20):
beer on this bar and uh andthey're sitting back and saying,
and those guys are outlaws, butthey did a good job and they
left this place in such a waythat, you know, or my kids can
look back and say, Man, we werepart of something that actually
changed the future of New Mexicobeef and New Mexico
agriculture.
And that's that's all we canhope for.
Carollann Romo (34:38):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Uh was there before I ask my mylast and what's maybe my
favorite question, um uh isthere anything else you guys
would like to add, maybe as weas we warned you we we might
make you do a podcast that youthought I want to make sure and
say that, or anything else?
Jim Hill (34:54):
Well, I think the big thing I want to say is that the
help and uh all that has beengiven to us.
I think the uh my wife gets thecredit.
She has really been a trooperto stay with us and the kids and
uh and go through the changesthat we've made.
Grammy's tough.
Grammy is a special lady.
Carollann Romo (35:14):
Oh man, it takes good family.
Good family for for uh thatthat uh family business, right?
Jay Hill (35:20):
Yeah, it uh and also I'll say this much too.
I mean, there's very there'svery practical ways to set your
family business up for if peopleare gonna stay in the business.
Um and those conversations, ifI could give I'm not gonna say
I'm an advice giver, but if Ican say anything, this is this
is what you need to listen to.
Set yourself up for theinevitable.
(35:44):
You know, people are going topass.
The people that you are nearand dear to are gonna they're
gonna run something out of town,they're gonna go broke, they're
gonna win the lottery and moveto Florida, uh, they're gonna
pass away, those things.
But families need to sit arounda table more and they need to
have a true plan of what theirbusiness needs to look like.
You know, they need tounderstand what their
(36:05):
generational rotation looks likefor us too.
And um, it's something that wedidn't do right off the bat.
We and I'm I've been blessedthat dad's decided to stay on
this planet and the good lord'skept them on this planet this
long.
Um, but at the same time, it'sone of those things where
there's practical steps tomaking sure that agriculture
stays agriculture.
Um, and you know, I'm in theprocess of selling different
(36:26):
pieces of ground that aretransitioning away from
agriculture, and there's somethat are transitioning back into
agriculture.
And um, and watching thefamilies that have their stuff
set up for those kind of pivotalchanges is extremely important.
So have the hard conversation,look at your family members in
the eyes and ask them what theywant.
Um, not everybody's gonna win.
And at the same time, it's okayto not always win.
(36:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
Sorry to be a Debbie Tower ifthat's not a few.
Carollann Romo (36:52):
No, no, no.
I think I think it's reallyimportant.
I think there's there's thingsthat sometimes uh uh especially
maybe in ranching oragriculture, is maybe we're too
tough or too uh cowboy or toowhatever to talk about.
And and uh things likesuccession planning and things
like mental health and all ofthose things are really
important conversations that weshould have and we should be
okay with talking about it ifit's changing.
Jay Hill (37:14):
Yes, and I'm getting and I I'm not saying that as a
hipster wearing you know AirJordan's on the ranch today,
like I'm saying that as a personthat I'm not wearing Air
Jordan's boots.
Let's go check his boots.
But at the at the same time, Iam saying that there is uh there
is people that are willing totalk more about kind of what's
going on because our society haschanged and we have to be able
to change with society.
It doesn't mean you have tochange your values and your
(37:35):
standards.
Carollann Romo (37:36):
So, unless you guys had something else you want
to talk about, I just want toask you what is your favorite
way to eat beef?
Jim Hill (37:44):
A ribeye, medium rare, and maybe chart just a dab.
Carollann Romo (37:52):
We like that.
Any any specific sides yougotta have?
Jim Hill (37:55):
Uh no, whatever the butcher cuts.
Yeah, and he uh we go toold-fashioned, uh plug it a
little thing, we go toold-fashioned meat, and uh he
does an unbelievable job.
Carollann Romo (38:07):
Okay, very cool.
Jay Hill (38:10):
Yeah, uh uh I mean just a great ribeye.
I'm sure you hear that everysingle day.
Yeah, I'm I'm gonna put a redenchilada on it, and I'm gonna
put an egg and some sour creamand an onion.
And I'm not gonna let the sourcream touch the meat though.
I'm gonna be really specificabout that.
Carollann Romo (38:24):
Absolutely.
We're not, yeah.
Jay Hill (38:25):
Yeah, so I'm gonna go more to the rare side though.
Carollann Romo (38:28):
So there you go.
We love we love a good steak.
Yeah, it has been a common,common answer to say that we uh
we love steak, but there's beensome interesting ones in there.
So we had a taco eater.
Yeah, taco and uh and a greenchili stew.
So it's it's uh and I think I Iuh sometimes uh ask the
(38:48):
question to a favorite recipe,and then we can put the recipe
on the website too.
So uh we do have a you knowsteak grilled w recipe on there.
Jay Hill (38:55):
Uh there the there's a person that we're at his ranch
right now doing this podcast,and he turned me on to some
pepper the other day thatabsolutely blew my mind.
So you'll have to ask RossFoster about what pepper to put
on your steak because I'm a saltand pepper and be done with it.
You know, maybe a stick ofbutter.
Carollann Romo (39:12):
But you know, support the dairy industry.
It's only natural, it's onlythe kind thing to do in New
Mexico.
Jay Hill (39:18):
It's a natural moisturizer, you know.
That's how we that's how webeat wrinkles, is what I tell my
wife.
She said, No, that's how yourheart stops at some point, but
you know, whatever.
But yeah, so black pepper, Idon't remember what it's called,
but it's fantastic.
Carollann Romo (39:29):
Very fun.
Well, thank you guys so muchfor uh being a part of the
agriculture industry, the beefindustry.
Thank you for your years ofservice on the beef council, and
uh thank you guys for sayingyes to a podcast.
Jim Hill (39:42):
Thank you, and thanks for coming to the ranch.
Thanks getting out ofAlbuquerque.
Carollann Romo (39:47):
Oh man, I'd I'd uh I'd be on a ranch every day
if if there weren't for you knowother other uh parts of the
job.
But I I I need to be at moreand uh if you're a rancher
listening and and uh you'rewilling, I'm I'm uh I've got
tires and I'll wear them outbecause we uh the more I'm on a
ranch, the more I understand howto do my job better.
Jim Hill (40:06):
Thanks.
Thank you.
Carollann Romo (40:09):
Behind the burger is a podcast produced by
the New Mexico Beef Council withthe goal of telling the stories
of the cattlemen and cattlewomen of the New Mexico beef
industry.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode.
If you would like moreinformation, please visit
nmbeef.com.
Whether it be a burger, asteak, or another beef dish, we
hope you are enjoying beef atyour next meal.
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the
Burger.
Uh we're here just outside ofLas Cruces, New Mexico, and I am
here with Jim and Jay Hill.
Uh guys, will you kind ofintroduce yourselves?
Maybe Jim, will you start?
Jim Hill (00:15):
Yeah, I'm Jim Hill.
Uh live here in Las Cruces, NewMexico.
Been in the egg business all mylife.
Uh was on the Beef Council foruh a few years and enjoyed each
and every day that we had, andit's fun to see what we're doing
today.
This is a this is the step inthe right direction.
Carollann Romo (00:34):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much.
And that's yeah, that's kind ofhow the connection happened,
right?
Is is uh Jim is a former formerboard member with the Beef
Council, and so we love to keepin touch because once you have
volunteers, once you have goodvolunteers, you gotta keep a
hold of them a little.
Um and Jay is your son.
Jay Hill (00:49):
Yes.
Get to uh get to grow up in theshadow of the great Jim Hill.
And uh it's been probably themost exciting uh ride that any
kid for could ask for.
Uh just being able to see howdad came from such very humble
beginnings um and this built andlost and built and rebuilt and
uh been so uh diversified insuch a short period of time.
(01:12):
So it's just been a really funopportunity just to hang out
with pops and uh get to live outthe agricultural world day in
and day out.
I've um have farmed since uhfirst crop was at 14 years old
and uh been in the ag business.
We've we've both uh farmed andranched for the last, well, now
this is my 29th crop, somethinglike that, 28th crop.
(01:35):
Um and so as as these thingsall have come together just to
be able to do that alongside thefamily, it's been amazing.
Carollann Romo (01:42):
Oh, absolutely.
I I think that's a the reallyspecial thing.
This, you know, family businessum or family uh generational
thing, watching uh, you know,farm and and ranch.
Um tell us about kind of Jim,start with uh your background
and and kind of how you got intoit or how how uh you started
and then and then the operationsthat you have had and that you
(02:02):
currently have.
Yeah.
Jim Hill (02:04):
Well, I grew up in uh eastern Tennessee and I grew up
on a farm, but mainly we grewtobacco, okay.
So we had all those good thingsthat we started out with.
And and I came here and went toschool, a little school called
Texas Western, okay, andgraduated from a school called
UTEP, which is the same school,and uh was fortunate enough to
(02:24):
know a banker and and bought alittle farm in Bato, New Mexico.
And uh we turned that in, soldit in a few years and bought a
bigger one and continued to growand and uh just diversified.
We had a chance to buy a ranchand we we bought the ranch and
kept it for many years.
A guy from California came inand wanted to know if we would
(02:44):
sell a ranch, and the statementback to him was no, it's all
paid for, the cattle are ours,we're not paying.
And just a few days before theend of the year, he said, Will
you sell your ranch?
And so that's a whole differentball game.
And so we did.
We got out of the we sold aranch, but we stayed in the
feeding business.
We feed for custom uh the we uhproduce beef for a bunch of
(03:10):
friends and neighbors and stuffthat buys uh finished beef from
us.
So we've been in it, but westill uh are are in the farming,
we're in the we're in thealfalfa uh grain.
Uh we've grown a lot of cotton,so we uh we've been blessed to
uh stay in the egg business.
Carollann Romo (03:27):
Oh yeah, and it well if you're feeding cattle,
you uh you need a lot of youneed a lot of farming or farming
friends.
Jim Hill (03:33):
We do.
Carollann Romo (03:34):
Yeah, um well that's great.
And and uh uh Jay, tell usabout kind of what you your
connection to the industry too,because you you know aren't
always on the farm necessarily,but you're helping others and
and uh helping others buildtheir their farms, right?
Is what kind of what Iunderstand?
Jay Hill (03:50):
Uh it's a it's an evolution of agriculture,
really.
I I went to work um it when Iwas 15, I went to work for a
produce company.
Um, and my job was to loadonion trucks at night.
So my shift started at at 5 45in the evening and I'd get home
at about nine o'clock in themorning.
In those days, dad was stillderiving income from from
(04:10):
outside sources of agriculture,and uh, and so anytime I could
pick up a gig cutting hay orbaling hay or doing whatever I
could do, I just was really youknow cultivated pun intended um
by agriculture.
Um and in so doing so we'd we'dformed different partnerships
and and it sent me to differentparts of the state um to do you
(04:32):
know to to learn kind of thehard way of how to large scale
farm.
And in doing so, uh it opened alot of opportunities.
Um so we got our start, or atleast I got my start in produce,
um, onions, chili, lettuce,cabbage, um, and then at the
same time we were still runninguh we had a ranch and then we
were feeding cows too.
(04:53):
And uh and so it was just itwas a lot of fun to do that.
And then as college um drug ona couple different times I
attended an institution.
Um and I met a lot of greatpeople in that.
I'm I'm glad I I was there whenI was there because I some of
my best friends were met incollege a lot in the beef
industry.
Um, and uh it's it's been a lotof fun to see all of our
(05:15):
evolutions go.
Uh had an opportunity at onepoint we we started growing a
lot of uh seed crops, so carrotsand uh seedless watermelon has
to have seed.
Um so understanding how to growseedless watermelon seed.
Um, and uh and that kind ofmorphed itself into uh curing
seeds and things like that.
And then we got an opportunity.
(05:36):
I got an opportunity uh topartner up with a person and we
took over an operation in WestTexas uh for a municipality um
and started off with about 3,500acres uh and in five and a half
years turned it into a littleover 21,000 acres of production,
uh alfalfa, corn, cotton, um,silage, and then we had two
feedlots um at the max feeding,you know, 400 head in one, and
(06:00):
the other one uh we rotatedanywhere between 15 and 2,000
head end.
And um, and so that kind ofbrought me back into the beef
side of things.
I had been mostly in the farmside.
Um, and in 22, uh, we had theoption to pull the ripcord, and
uh so we pulled and uh didn'tknow I've got a I've got a wife
and two sweet kiddos, and wedidn't know really what
(06:20):
direction we wanted to go, andwe ended up uh coming back into
Las Cruces.
Uh we're close to mom and dad.
Dad said, Why don't you comeback, you know, and and be
close.
Um so we did that, and I gotinto commercial real estate and
uh connections, just knowingpeople, and uh the next thing
you know, it becomes a career.
It was supposed to be somethingthat was passive income.
Um, and it's been it's been alot of fun now understanding.
(06:42):
I I wish I would have knownnow, you know, I would have
started this a lot earlier.
Understanding diversificationin agriculture, you know, beef
market's high right now.
Um so you know, what are yougonna do?
Are you gonna buy another ranchor are you gonna diversify that
into passive income where it'sgonna come out of you know,
commercial space?
Are you gonna buy a farm?
Are you gonna, you know, whatis those?
(07:03):
Um, and this is things that II've I've been really blessed to
be able to be along for thisride to understand these
different transitions.
Uh our family transitions toI've got a brother that works
for us in Dell City, he stillruns a large farm that we have
over there.
And uh, and just understandinghow we transition this together
um has been a lot of fun.
Carollann Romo (07:24):
Oh, absolutely.
That sounds that sounds reallyinteresting.
And I think the uh the changesand the you know evolution of of
agriculture of where you're youknow trying to diversify.
And I think what did they usedto say in the Midwest when they
had smaller operations, you'dhave uh you'd grow corn and then
you'd walk the corn off the offthe farm, right?
You'd have cattle just to walkthe corn off.
(07:44):
Well, now they don't have to dothat because they have all
these, you know, co-ops and andlocal mills and all that.
And then, but then now the thechange back, right, is as as
life cycles is that maybe it isokay to diversify again and
still grow.
It it is a good way to grow,especially because the cattle
market surely won't be highforever.
Jay Hill (08:03):
No, and I think I think that's something that I
mean, we got to enjoy a cottonmarket at, you know, for upland
cotton at over a dollartwenty-five, you know, and
everybody's like, man, this iswe finally have we finally have
arrived to a price point whereit makes sense to grow cotton.
And I sold cotton this year at64 cents, you know, that's two
years later.
Um, and so understanding thatthere's these ebb and flows um
(08:24):
in agriculture um and thendiversification of what your
portfolio looks like, even ifyou're in a long, you know, if
you're a sixth generation familyfarmer or rancher, the
opportunities for you to sit anddo the same thing day in, day
out, you can do that, but whatis that gonna do when you have
these big swings?
And so that's we've we'velearned the the good way and the
(08:45):
bad way in that.
Jim Hill (08:46):
Yeah.
You know, one of the bigthings, uh, we'd run a lot of
business with the bank, thebankers bank uh out of Oklahoma,
and and when that gentlemancomes down, we'll really become
good friends.
And uh he's always asking thesame question over and over, you
know, hey Jim, when are yougonna write a book?
Jim, how are you coming on yourbook?
And I tell him, you know,Frank, I'm not in the writing
(09:08):
contest, okay?
And he says, Jim, you startedfarming with mules and horses.
Yeah, I know J and Hall.
I know all those kind ofthings.
And he says, now I'll watch youget in and out of the GPS
tractors and stuff like this,that I can't hardly see you when
you're up there.
Uh, you have a story to tell.
I just think uh I've beenblessed and I'm so excited, and
(09:30):
and my whole family is thatwe're gonna be able to continue
this as we leave.
Uh we have a son, two sonsthat's really involved in it,
and our whole family uh isreally, really involved in what
we do and how we do it.
Carollann Romo (09:45):
I I that's absolutely the the ultimate
goal, I think, for a lot of usis if you can find something
that your kids can do and youhave this generational uh
practice.
And it's really the main reasonfor starting the podcast,
right?
Is we we think that if you'rebuying your beef at the grocery
store, you don't get to hearthis story.
And we think that the story isimportant and it's also really
(10:05):
neat because the I mean,obviously the human side of of
life is is the most interestingpart of life, but the the human
side of where our food comesfrom is is so neat.
There's not a lot of industrieswhere businesses can last
generations and last generationsand through the technology and
changes of of uh, you know, asyou say, from from mules to now
(10:27):
GPS tractors that that mightturn around for you.
Jay Hill (10:30):
It's it's wild too to understand technology is not
always a solution, right?
Everybody thinks that that asthings are progressing, I I mean
I stood uh toe-to-toe with alot of large companies, uh,
spoke on behalf and against someum, you know, on genetically
modified crops.
Um and we we could we could goa myriad of different ways and
(10:53):
talk about you know theevolution of those all those
kind of things.
Um, but understanding uh whatis what are we leaving for the
generation behind us?
Um, you know, we're out at theCorli Disranch right now, we're
getting to do an opportunitythat we're helping um the
fosters as they'rerehabilitating some of their
farm ground and they're reallyworking on a regenerative
practice.
And I think a lot of us inagriculture look at that and we
(11:14):
roll our eyes in the back of ourhead and we're like, oh, it's
just a sling term for somebodyto be able to coin in on green
dollars.
Um, but when you are a part ofsomething and you see the change
in uh a hurt and and how youcan go back to some of the
basics that where he was workingwith a team of mules, G and
(11:34):
Haw, there's like fundamentalbuilding blocks to us being good
stewards of what we do everysingle day that we have to
revert back to.
And um, I think in a in atechnologically advanced world
where we've got social mediatelling us what we're doing
wrong every single day, andwe're we're trying to evaluate
ourselves against somebody elsethat's just showing you the best
side of what they do.
(11:55):
Um, it's nice to be able tohave the chain to go back to
talk to dad, to go back to talkto the fosters and say, well,
this they do it this this way.
And what if we meet in themiddle and try it this way?
Um, and it's not necessarilyjust having to be the biggest,
fastest, and best.
It's what the kids at the endof the day are going to be able
to inherit and go on with.
Carollann Romo (12:14):
Oh yeah.
What a, what an incredible, uh,what an incredible thing.
And I just I I always am in inawe of the ability to pass
generations and to learn and totry and and then and then we
love to tell people too, is thatit's that it's uh, you know,
what's good for the land is goodfor the livestock, and what's
good for the livestock is oftengood for the land.
And so obviously there'sthere's regenerative, there's
(12:35):
sustainable, there's all these,you know, the buzzwords, right?
But it's it's all about uh aeconomic sustainability to pass
a business generations.
Jay Hill (12:44):
Yeah, and and and honestly, too, it's uh cash flow
is something that alwayspeople, you know, let's talk
about the cash flow and the youknow, you know, you want to get
into ranching, you want to buy aplace someday, you want to, you
know, you want to pass this toyour children, all of those kind
of things that so many peoplesay, well, the economics of
agriculture are notapproachable.
Like unless you inherit intoit, you can't get into it.
And I think that's a huge liethat people that people don't
(13:05):
understand.
Starting small and buildingsomething, like when I started
farming in the beginning, it was10 acres.
And then when the ribcord gotpulled, it was 21,000 acres.
And to say that, you know, andthat's not just me, the good
Lord's mile on us the entireway, and there was a lot of
pain, a lot of bad partnerships,a lot of the stumbling over not
understanding.
You know, we made some hugemistakes, others made huge
(13:25):
mistakes.
But to encourage people to saythat they can be a part of this
entire ecosystem of agricultureby starting with just saying, I
have a dream.
Like I want to, I want up myown spot.
I want a spot for my kids to beferal and run around and you
know, understand that Legos arenot the same as goat eds.
Um, they both hurt when youstep on them.
But yeah, yeah, true.
(13:46):
So it's it's one of thosethings that uh ag is
approachable still, even evenwith this market.
That's even on the commercialreal estate side of things.
Like I look at it and peopleare like, Whoa, you know, I
can't believe you you just can'tyou can't make a ranch work for
this number.
Like, how bad do you want it?
Um and there are there are verycreative ways to get people in
in into into a dream.
Carollann Romo (14:05):
Oh, I I think that's the most encouraging
thing and such a such aninspirational message.
And um there's sacrificeinvolved, there's learning
involved, there's probably a lotof humility involved, but but
uh to encourage people to befirst generation ranchers or
farmers, absolutely.
And you're not saying it's notgoing to be without its
sacrifice and without its hills,uh hills and valleys.
(14:27):
Um, but that's I I love that.
What a what a great thing.
Um well, one of the things weuh we like to talk about too is
New Mexico's unique landscapes.
How has that kind of impactedhow your you know businesses
have changed and how maybespecifically with cattle, what
that what that was like or whatyou've learned from that?
Jim Hill (14:45):
Well, you know, I think the big thing that happens
is that uh so much of it is notin our control.
We just have to be able tomanage what we have at the time
we have it.
We're we're thankful when weget the moisture, we get the
rains and stuff, uh while we'reon top of the world.
But then we have to be able tomanage it when we don't.
Okay, how do we cut how do wecontrol what we keep and what we
(15:07):
don't keep?
Uh I want to add just one otherlittle thing to it.
Uh as Jay was talking, it hasbeen a uh a bumpy ride.
But I think anything that youdo has uh bumps in it.
And uh and the reason I saythat is because you begin to get
the bumps out, and now by thetime where we are today, uh the
(15:30):
bumps are very small, you know,and uh and and the the fun part
of it, uh being able to see, asyou mentioned, being able to see
it pass on and go on and andknow that it's in good hands.
And and and my advice is youknow, if you have a dream or if
you have something you reallywant to do, do it.
It's not all about money.
(15:51):
Okay?
I mean it it's really not.
Uh if you work hard enough andyou pay attention to what you
do, you can do anything you wantto do.
You know, I mean, it it it's uhit's a neat deal when you have
your family involved and you'redoing something you really truly
enjoy doing.
It's it's I'm 85 year old anduh still enjoy each and every
(16:15):
day.
Carollann Romo (16:16):
That's that's uh I again just uh I I get
goosebumps thinking about it andI think it's it's inspirational
and then and then what's thesaying that I'm sure my grandpa
or uncle or or dad has told meis anything worth doing is is
hard, right?
Jay Hill (16:28):
Or um if it was easy everybody would do it.
Carollann Romo (16:30):
Yeah, yeah, all the things.
Yeah.
Jay Hill (16:34):
I your question about you know um uh climatic changes,
you know, we're in southern NewMexico, um and I have never not
been since I started in AG,I've never not had a drought
here.
Um I mean we've had a greatfall, this our start to fall um
and things look good.
Uh but diversification of whatyou're doing, and that's you
(16:58):
know the the fosters out here atCorlitas Ranch, they're
bringing, you know, they do havethe asset of water.
And so, you know, our projectwith them is to get them to a
spot that they're droughtresistant.
Um so finding, you know, wecould go in and commercially
farm this, we could grow chiliand cotton and corn and do all
those kind of things if wewanted to do that and and and
(17:18):
diversify, but their heart andtheir mission is in their cows
and being able to sustain thisranch.
And so coming on board to helpthem, our mission is to make
sure that we set the farm sideof their ranch up so that that
way when it stops raining again,because it'll stop raining
again, um, that they've got arotational grazing program that
they can put their flagship herdon uh and have something that
(17:40):
where everybody else has beenselling off, these guys kind of
can hedge that.
So that's been a lot of fun uhunderstanding those kind of
practices.
And then to the economics ofit, how much money are you
willing to spend to droughthedge yourself?
Um, insurance has obviouslybeen a huge part of the whole
you know, hedging uh thesedroughts, and it's been it's
(18:00):
been very it's been a greatthing, and it's saved a lot of
us in this industry.
At the same time, you know,cheap is relatively inexpensive
at the moment.
Uh, we sell a lot of feed, wesell you know oats and hay and
uh Sudan sorghum and all thesedifferent crops.
Uh and you can tell theranchers that are thinking ahead
of it because they're the onesthat are gonna have the barn and
they're gonna buy the feed whenit's inexpensive instead of
(18:22):
going and buying a new pickupbecause you still get the same
tax write-off.
Um, and so you you see some ofthose practices implemented.
Um, and for us, it's the samething.
It's when we have a really goodyear, just brace yourself
because you know following upfor those good years, we're
gonna have some bumps.
Carollann Romo (19:09):
No doubt, no doubt.
And uh yeah, that resilience ofa of a rancher or farmer is a
really admirable trait.
And even um my favorite thingto say is uh as a
agriculturalist, you have to beso many things.
You have to know weatherpatterns, so you've got to have
a little bit of meteorology inyou.
You've got to know theeconomics, and sometimes you're
you're an economist or a marketanalyst, and then and then also
(19:31):
a businessman, and then also yougotta know dirt, you gotta be a
soil scientist, and you gottabe so it just keeps going all of
the things that it requires.
Jay Hill (19:40):
Then you gotta you gotta be able to be your own
shrink.
Carollann Romo (19:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jay Hill (19:43):
And that's you don't have time to go to town for
that.
Um, and and now we live in acomparison world again with like
the whole social media scene.
And you know, I was all over Iwas influencing and talking all
over the world literally aboutagriculture.
Um, and it catches up to apoint where you look into the
(20:05):
mirror and you're like, I'mtelling everybody how they can
live their lives to be better,but inside you're not okay.
And it's the comparison, right?
You know, if it rained on myside today, what's the neighbor
thinking?
Or if it rained on theneighbor's side, what are they
thinking?
Um, instead of just meeting andhaving a cup of coffee and
talking about, man, we wereblessed last night, we got two
inches of rain.
And uh, and so trying to live,trying to build a business in
(20:28):
agriculture or sustain abusiness or a family, a
multi-generation operation isgreat, but at the same time, um
doing so in a way that is rightfor you and your family and not
comparative, I think is youknow, learn from somebody,
obviously, like the best thingyou can do, but at the same time
comparing yourself to thatperson.
That's why a lot of people Idon't think step off of the I
(20:49):
want to own the ranch and workfor the ranch, or they just have
the dream and never do itbecause they sit there and they
say, Well, this guy's got well,he just bought new skids here
and he can feed in the snow, orhe can, you know, whatever it
is, and it's like stop worryingabout that, just figure out how
you make your payments and buildyour own.
You'll have your own problems.
Carollann Romo (21:05):
So Absolutely, absolutely.
That's uh I I uh for somereason I'm am uh I don't want to
say training a horse, but Ihave a young horse.
He went to a trainer and nowI'm I'm you know going through
the next step, um, but very muchnot a horse trainer.
But I have a young horse and II send my cousin videos for
advice because she's a veryexcellent horsewoman.
(21:25):
Um, and and I said, you know, Ifeel bad.
My horse isn't as far along aseverybody else's, and she's no,
no, no.
And then so it's a life lessonin anything we're doing, if we
can just think about what we'redoing.
And yes, it would be great ifwe had their resources or if we
had their time or if we hadtheir rain or whatever it is.
But yeah, the not to not to gettoo much into life lessons, but
(21:46):
I think uh yeah, it's a it's agreat thing if we can just try
and remember that it's our pathand our our plan.
Jay Hill (21:52):
And it's yeah, it's fundamental to building
anything.
Yes, a relationship, a farm, aranch, whatever it's gonna be,
it's just being able to sit inand what you can do.
Carollann Romo (22:00):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I love that.
Um I think uh so we kind oftalked about the land, but maybe
talk about um and maybe do youguys have cattle right now?
Jim Hill (22:10):
We do.
We have some that we'refeeding.
Carollann Romo (22:12):
Okay, that's what I thought you said.
Okay.
Um just talk about cattle careand the and the um efforts to
keep cattle comfortable.
Jay Hill (22:21):
Okay.
Yeah, I I it's uh this is thebest place to have that
conversation.
I mean, uh, and you should askthe fosters the same thing, um,
because they they understand thefeedlot business well too and
the ranch side.
Um, but one thing I keepingcattle comfortable in southern
(22:41):
New Mexico through these droughtcycles is something that uh has
been a definite task for us.
And um and one thing that we'veseen is uh recycling of
products from feed yards thatare no longer here or dairy
yards, um, and some certaindegree to give just random
shade.
Um and I think the biggestthing that we worry about here
(23:02):
is heat stroke and ticks, andand that people don't think
about like the fact that whenyou're putting cattle into a
confined space even in thedesert, we still have tick
issues.
Um, and so those are the kindof things like parasites, ticks,
and heat, those are things thatwe have to pay attention.
You know, we feed our cows out.
Um, you know, we've got a smallpen at my house that's just
kind of the family Christmasbeef.
(23:24):
Um, and you'd think that it'dbe great because I live in the
middle of a pecan orchard andtheir pins are right up against
these pecan trees.
Um, and so you think, well,shoot, that'd be a perfect spot
for something to want to hangout at.
But unfortunately, there's noair movement and it's stagnant.
Um, and so in the summertime,like being able to get shade and
be able to get some kind ofairflow into those animals, uh,
and we learned it the hard way.
Like we just weren't able toput the muscle and the fat on,
(23:46):
you know, earlier lots throughthat small pin.
But this is something I'm like,you think about that on the
ranch side, uh, that's the samething.
Like if they're not gettingample shade, ample airflow, uh,
and you're talking to ranchersthat are used to, you know, we
use mesquites to be able to bedcows down um at the same time.
Uh anything that you can do togive them an easier life, um, if
(24:07):
they're not having to go quiteas far for water, um, if you're
able to keep their teeth up, youknow, you can keep a younger
herd, especially into thesedroughts, it's gonna, it's gonna
definitely pay dividends.
Carollann Romo (24:17):
Absolutely.
And did you want to add tothat?
Jim Hill (24:19):
No, it's been real neat that I've turned most of
this over towards Jay makes alot of the decisions.
I still have uh a few commentsthat I'll make yet him know, but
that's true.
He still carries a wompingstick.
Carollann Romo (24:31):
Uh we love it.
Uh so um what do you think whatdo you what would you tell
people if um you know tosomeone's we're we're ordering a
cheeseburger, we're ordering as a steak, or we're you know, at
the grocery store, you don'tknow anything about where their
beef comes from.
What's something that you wantthem to know?
What do you hope they know?
Jim Hill (24:52):
You know, I think the big thing is the ranchers, when
we talk about uh the all thepeople that that really grow the
beef.
Everybody has a practice ofmaking sure they grow the best
that they can grow.
Uh keep the chemicals, keep thevac keep it out of 'em, okay?
If you take care of 'em andfeed 'em and control them right,
(25:14):
they need very little.
We we have no vaccine programbecause we we don't have sick
cattle.
Thank the good lord on that.
Uh I I don't think is anycountry in the whole any place
we've been has the beef that wehave here, the quality of beef
that we have.
And uh and it's safe.
Carollann Romo (25:36):
And that's the American beef you're saying.
Yeah, it's American beef.
Yeah, American beef.
We have we have the safest foodsupply in the world and and uh
good quality beef.
Jay Hill (25:45):
Yes, we do.
I I think it's hard now though,because we live in such a
throwaway society.
And so people are needingthey're needing more and they're
needing it at a discount, andthey're not really they're
really not worried about whatwent into it.
Um seven years ago, totallydifferent conversation.
(26:06):
Everybody's wanting to knowlike, is it stamped, is it free
range, is it grass-fed, is itcorn fed, did it come out of a
GMO feedlot, did it, you know,all of these things.
And now beef prices get highand people are like, I just need
I just need a hamburger.
Um and so this is the timewhere producers have the
opportunity to put their name infront of their marketing um
(26:27):
because people are scrounging tobe able to get, you know, where
is their, you know, where istheir meat coming from, or where
can we get the biggest discountto it?
And if we if we don't do a goodjob of staying in front of
people like that, um, theneventually, you know, we'll get
run out by you know anotherforeign set of packers, or we'll
have we'll have foreigninvestment come in, or we'll see
(26:47):
beef come across the borderagain at such a rapid rate that
we lose as producers theopportunity to kind of showcase
that we are the best at what wedo.
You know, people that are outon the ranch, people that are
out on the farm or in thefeedlot, like those people,
their stories need to be told,which is why you know, proud of
the beef council and and andmissions that you ladies always,
(27:08):
you know, seem to flagship foreverybody.
Uh at the same time, um beingin the real estate world, there
is so many generations thataren't coming home.
Um, and so as I'm putting moreand more ranches and I'm selling
more and more ranches, I'm notselling them to the neighbor.
I'm not selling them to thecousin, I'm not selling them to
a, you know, it's either goinginto probate or it's going in
(27:30):
and somebody that's got you knowa completely different
lifestyle is coming in andbuying that, especially in New
Mexico, they're using it forhunting.
Um, which is, you know, I mean,it's it's their you know,
prerogative, but at the sametime, um, this is an opportunity
for these people to marketthemselves.
Um, and if you wanted to be inthe beef business, this is the
best time for you to partner upwith somebody to say, hey, I
(27:51):
want to run these cows on thisproperty you're buying because
you want to hunt elk or dowhatever you want to do.
Um, but build your brand ofbeef based off of who you are.
If you go to a big packer andthat's where you're, you know,
if you're going to a feedlot andyou know, outside of seminar or
wherever you're going with yourcows, great.
But at the same time, followthat chain and make sure that
your story is told.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe you, but make sure that
(28:13):
somebody knows that that thatpackage of beef is coming from
your ranch.
Um and that long term, um, andI think we'll I think we'll see
that, but long term, I thinkit's important that people make
sure that their face is in frontof what their product is.
Jim Hill (28:26):
You know, I think one of the good things that's
happened to us, New Mexico Statehas really had the package
where they can kill and processall of it.
And so people can now go buythe beef they want and know
exactly who processed it, how itwas processed and all that.
That's a real plus.
Carollann Romo (28:43):
Oh yeah, that's a that's a great facility, and
we're really excited about that.
I think uh uh, you know, theNew Mexico Beef Council too, we
have the local beef directory onour website where you can find
someone in your county and umand then even if it's a county
over, they might deliver to yourto your uh community.
And uh yeah, if you if youchoose that, I I always you know
like to clarify or you know saythat if you're buying beef, the
(29:06):
best way to support a rancheris buy beef.
Order beef where you are, buybeef where you are.
And if you want that story,there is there is a uh pleth of
ranches and hopefully more, likeyou're saying, that will sell
it to you direct from theirfamily business.
And what a great we alleverybody loves to support a
small business.
Jay Hill (29:24):
And there's a lot of there's a lot of private equity
money that's already looking atpartnering with family ranches
to go, you know, though there'llbe 10 or 15 family ranches that
get put together in a quoteunquote co-op.
Yep.
That you'll see that meet,especially at different
restaurants or or grocery storechains.
Um, and those are things that,you know, the the devil's always
in the fine print.
But at the same time, I reallythink it's important for people
(29:46):
to start looking at thatdiversification too.
The same guy that's buyingcattle that's bought cattle off
of your ranch for the last 40years, at some point he's gonna
retire.
And then when you're gonna haveto go find a new buyer, uh, you
know, where does that trustcome in at?
And so I think it's one ofthose things that if you can you
can have your pinky in thatsituation all the way through,
you're gonna be better off downthe road.
Carollann Romo (30:06):
Oh, absolutely.
We love that.
I think that's that's a greatthing.
And and there's, like you said,there's private equity, but
then there's also so the beefcouncil, we try and help uh
family businesses and and sharethem on Facebook and and that
kind of thing.
And and then we have our localbeef directory, and then the New
Mexico Department ofAgriculture has their um taste
of tradition and grown withtradition programs where they'll
help you with advertising forNew Mexico products and help you
(30:28):
with labeling and and thatthat's all agriculture products.
So um there's there's resourcesout there if you decide to go
directly.
Use them.
Absolutely.
Jay Hill (30:36):
I mean if if they're gonna have that available, use
it.
Carollann Romo (30:57):
What's your favorite part of the beef
industry?
Maybe we can, you know,generalize all ag agriculture,
but but even specifically thebeef industry.
Jim Hill (31:05):
Uh I guess the most enjoyable is just driving up and
seeing healthy animals.
You know, they're not runningaway, they're excited we're
coming up to see what uh it'sjust relaxing.
Uh I like the cows.
I like the steers that we'refeeding.
It's just uh it's relaxing.
(31:25):
I get to see that over and overand over.
Jay Hill (31:28):
I like the people.
unknown (31:29):
Yeah.
Jay Hill (31:30):
I'm I'm a people person anyways, but at the same
time, like like pulling up toyou know a college roommate's
ranch or coming out here to theCorleitas or you know, anywhere
we go, it's very rarely do I runinto somebody in the beef
industry that I'm like, man, I Iwould not want to break bread
with that person.
Like I wanna I want to bearound more of those kind of
(31:51):
people.
And as they're few and farbetween, um it's things that
that I I enjoy more and more theolder I get, just those
connections are huge.
The people of the beef industryare amazing.
Carollann Romo (32:04):
Absolutely.
I think uh yeah, I'm I'm luckyto be a part of the New Mexico
beef industry because of thepeople and the friends like you
guys and and uh you know thepeople I meet that suddenly I'm
like, no, we're friends nowbecause you we gotta this is
cool.
You guys are great people.
Let's let's uh let's uhcontinue this because I just uh
yeah, I think that's beingaround good people is is the
(32:25):
best.
I've got a great team that weget to work with at the beef
council and and just those thosesalt of the earth uh wonderful
people that that you just wantto be around, right?
I just keep making people hangout with me.
It's good.
Um keep doing what uh so why doyou guys continue?
So you've you've you know,whether it's you know through
the generations and through theyou know trials and and droughts
(32:48):
and and mud, luckily right now,uh what makes you keep doing
what you do?
Jim Hill (32:54):
Well, I think it's a couple things that really uh has
an effect and and that we docontinue.
One thing is I want to just sayto the Corleaders, to Ross and
M, uh this is one reason that wedo it.
We get a chance to come andhelp and see a uh a company
that's doing better, improvinghow do they raise more and
(33:14):
better beef.
Um we get a we we get a chargeout of that to see people take
and uh and and have interest inand changing for the best.
And uh and we do too.
I mean, even at the age that uhwe are now, uh we're still
looking to grow.
We're still looking to do anddo it right, just do the right
(33:35):
things.
Jay Hill (33:37):
Yeah, I think I think age has a lot to do with
ambition too.
Um the older I get, uh ambitionstill sits, but at the same
time it's like how do we trulyeat the elephant now?
Like how do we eat the steak?
Um, and it's one bite at atime.
If you're if you're trying toexplode and grow and do all of
these kinds of things, then youhave to have the bandwidth to do
(33:58):
so.
So something has to give on theother end of that and
understanding that everythinghas uh you know, it's a scale.
Um, and so how you balance thatscale out is gonna be extremely
important.
Um, for for me, it's just beenum opportunities to grow with
people that I want to be around.
I want to associate myself withpeople that uh that hopefully
someday, you know, a hundredyears from now, they're having a
(34:20):
beer on this bar and uh andthey're sitting back and saying,
and those guys are outlaws, butthey did a good job and they
left this place in such a waythat, you know, or my kids can
look back and say, Man, we werepart of something that actually
changed the future of New Mexicobeef and New Mexico
agriculture.
And that's that's all we canhope for.
Carollann Romo (34:38):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Uh was there before I ask my mylast and what's maybe my
favorite question, um uh isthere anything else you guys
would like to add, maybe as weas we warned you we we might
make you do a podcast that youthought I want to make sure and
say that, or anything else?
Jim Hill (34:54):
Well, I think the big thing I want to say is that the
help and uh all that has beengiven to us.
I think the uh my wife gets thecredit.
She has really been a trooperto stay with us and the kids and
uh and go through the changesthat we've made.
Grammy's tough.
Grammy is a special lady.
Carollann Romo (35:14):
Oh man, it takes good family.
Good family for for uh thatthat uh family business, right?
Jay Hill (35:20):
Yeah, it uh and also I'll say this much too.
I mean, there's very there'svery practical ways to set your
family business up for if peopleare gonna stay in the business.
Um and those conversations, ifI could give I'm not gonna say
I'm an advice giver, but if Ican say anything, this is this
is what you need to listen to.
Set yourself up for theinevitable.
(35:44):
You know, people are going topass.
The people that you are nearand dear to are gonna they're
gonna run something out of town,they're gonna go broke, they're
gonna win the lottery and moveto Florida, uh, they're gonna
pass away, those things.
But families need to sit arounda table more and they need to
have a true plan of what theirbusiness needs to look like.
You know, they need tounderstand what their
(36:05):
generational rotation looks likefor us too.
And um, it's something that wedidn't do right off the bat.
We and I'm I've been blessedthat dad's decided to stay on
this planet and the good lord'skept them on this planet this
long.
Um, but at the same time, it'sone of those things where
there's practical steps tomaking sure that agriculture
stays agriculture.
Um, and you know, I'm in theprocess of selling different
(36:26):
pieces of ground that aretransitioning away from
agriculture, and there's somethat are transitioning back into
agriculture.
And um, and watching thefamilies that have their stuff
set up for those kind of pivotalchanges is extremely important.
So have the hard conversation,look at your family members in
the eyes and ask them what theywant.
Um, not everybody's gonna win.
And at the same time, it's okayto not always win.
(36:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
Sorry to be a Debbie Tower ifthat's not a few.
Carollann Romo (36:52):
No, no, no.
I think I think it's reallyimportant.
I think there's there's thingsthat sometimes uh uh especially
maybe in ranching oragriculture, is maybe we're too
tough or too uh cowboy or toowhatever to talk about.
And and uh things likesuccession planning and things
like mental health and all ofthose things are really
important conversations that weshould have and we should be
okay with talking about it ifit's changing.
Jay Hill (37:14):
Yes, and I'm getting and I I'm not saying that as a
hipster wearing you know AirJordan's on the ranch today,
like I'm saying that as a personthat I'm not wearing Air
Jordan's boots.
Let's go check his boots.
But at the at the same time, Iam saying that there is uh there
is people that are willing totalk more about kind of what's
going on because our society haschanged and we have to be able
to change with society.
It doesn't mean you have tochange your values and your
(37:35):
standards.
Carollann Romo (37:36):
So, unless you guys had something else you want
to talk about, I just want toask you what is your favorite
way to eat beef?
Jim Hill (37:44):
A ribeye, medium rare, and maybe chart just a dab.
Carollann Romo (37:52):
We like that.
Any any specific sides yougotta have?
Jim Hill (37:55):
Uh no, whatever the butcher cuts.
Yeah, and he uh we go toold-fashioned, uh plug it a
little thing, we go toold-fashioned meat, and uh he
does an unbelievable job.
Carollann Romo (38:07):
Okay, very cool.
Jay Hill (38:10):
Yeah, uh uh I mean just a great ribeye.
I'm sure you hear that everysingle day.
Yeah, I'm I'm gonna put a redenchilada on it, and I'm gonna
put an egg and some sour creamand an onion.
And I'm not gonna let the sourcream touch the meat though.
I'm gonna be really specificabout that.
Carollann Romo (38:24):
Absolutely.
We're not, yeah.
Jay Hill (38:25):
Yeah, so I'm gonna go more to the rare side though.
Carollann Romo (38:28):
So there you go.
We love we love a good steak.
Yeah, it has been a common,common answer to say that we uh
we love steak, but there's beensome interesting ones in there.
So we had a taco eater.
Yeah, taco and uh and a greenchili stew.
So it's it's uh and I think I Iuh sometimes uh ask the
(38:48):
question to a favorite recipe,and then we can put the recipe
on the website too.
So uh we do have a you knowsteak grilled w recipe on there.
Jay Hill (38:55):
Uh there the there's a person that we're at his ranch
right now doing this podcast,and he turned me on to some
pepper the other day thatabsolutely blew my mind.
So you'll have to ask RossFoster about what pepper to put
on your steak because I'm a saltand pepper and be done with it.
You know, maybe a stick ofbutter.
Carollann Romo (39:12):
But you know, support the dairy industry.
It's only natural, it's onlythe kind thing to do in New
Mexico.
Jay Hill (39:18):
It's a natural moisturizer, you know.
That's how we that's how webeat wrinkles, is what I tell my
wife.
She said, No, that's how yourheart stops at some point, but
you know, whatever.
But yeah, so black pepper, Idon't remember what it's called,
but it's fantastic.
Carollann Romo (39:29):
Very fun.
Well, thank you guys so muchfor uh being a part of the
agriculture industry, the beefindustry.
Thank you for your years ofservice on the beef council, and
uh thank you guys for sayingyes to a podcast.
Jim Hill (39:42):
Thank you, and thanks for coming to the ranch.
Thanks getting out ofAlbuquerque.
Carollann Romo (39:47):
Oh man, I'd I'd uh I'd be on a ranch every day
if if there weren't for you knowother other uh parts of the
job.
But I I I need to be at moreand uh if you're a rancher
listening and and uh you'rewilling, I'm I'm uh I've got
tires and I'll wear them outbecause we uh the more I'm on a
ranch, the more I understand howto do my job better.
Jim Hill (40:06):
Thanks.
Thank you.
Carollann Romo (40:09):
Behind the burger is a podcast produced by
the New Mexico Beef Council withthe goal of telling the stories
of the cattlemen and cattlewomen of the New Mexico beef
industry.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode.
If you would like moreinformation, please visit
nmbeef.com.
Whether it be a burger, asteak, or another beef dish, we
hope you are enjoying beef atyour next meal.
Host
Carollann Romo
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