Ag Mag Featured Farmer
Flying C Ranch:
A Profile of Determination and Conservation
W
ith the help of NRCS, rancher and former pilot Carla Payne is taking conservation to new heights.
Carla Payne ranches near the north central Texas town of Slidell. Whether from a bird’s eye view high up in the blue skies of Texas or with feet planted firmly on the ground, Carla Payne is no stranger to taking care of the land she loves and the cattle that rely on that land—and on Payne for that matter. An innovator, groundbreaker, and risk taker, this female cattle producer, award-winning Longhorn rancher, and conservationist has been involved in the agribusiness in one way or another for more than 30 years. “My favorite part about farming and ranching is that it’s not an 8 to 5 job,” says, Payne. “Every day is a new challenge.” Payne is no stranger to challenges. Carla Payne has worked with NRCS for over a decade to improve the natural resources on her ranch. She has implemented practices such as rotational grazing, livestock water development, cross fencing, cover crop plant and more. Before turning to ranching, she was drawn to the sky and spent some time in the cockpit. She began flying at the early age of 16— driven by a passion that led her to become a licensed pilot in the agricultural aviation industry by 25. She and her husband, Air Force veteran and fellow pilot, Carl, owned Payne Flying service at that time, an agricultural aviation operation out of Katy, Texas. Together, they seeded, fertilized, and applied crop protection chemicals to area crops with the strong belief that agricultural aviation played a role in contributing food and fiber to improve people’s quality of life. The Payne’s also performed agricultural flying contract work for forestry efforts nationwide, including aerial firefighting in support of Texas Forest Service wildfire responses. Tragically, Carl died in 2000 in a plane crash while helping battle the Cook Branch wildfire in Fort Stockton, Texas. Shortly after, Payne retired from that lifestyle and turned to her love of the Longhorn and ranching full-time. While it is not unusual for Payne to take life by the horns, it is unusual for someone to decide to start a ranch from the ground up without having inherited it from generations of family. However, that is exactly what she did.
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“Instead of staying in the flying business, I knew enough about cattle and ranching that I decided I’d make a go at it,” she says. She explains that she started showing Longhorns as far back as 1986 after receiving her first two as a wedding present. In April 2002, Payne made the four-hour inland move from Katy to Slidell, Texas, just outside of Decatur. Along with some friends, she purchased the land now known as Flying C Ranch. Her friends, who are airline pilots, fly aerobatic planes over the farmland while she runs cattle on it. Today, she not only runs the one-woman ranch that specializes in Longhorn, Wagyu, and stocker feeding cattle, but manages 122 acres of surrounding farmland on which she primarily grows wheat, using some of the acreage for grazing purposes. With some help from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Payne works hard to make sure her land has a major focus on conservation.
Cultivating a Conservation Partnership Payne loves what she does, and she puts passion and care into every decision she makes. It is no surprise then that she was willing and open to partner with NRCS for guidance and support to advance her goals for Flying C Ranch. “At the beginning, when we were first new to each other it could feel kind of intimidating, but once you figure it out, it feels natural. You understand they’re there to help you to make it the best possible,” Payne recalls when first working with the NRCS. Carla has been working with NRCS District Conservationist Steven Ray for over a decade now. The pair’s joint efforts in conservation planning have earned Carla’s Flying C Ranch several land stewardship awards.
