Michael and Leigh Welch, of Troy, are the Central Texas finalists in the 2010 Texas Farm Bureau Outstanding Young Farmer & Rancher Contest.

Winners are selected from all 13 Texas Farm Bureau state districts, with the top three advancing to the statewide competition.

The winner will be named at the Texas Farm Bureau state convention in Waco from Dec. 4-6.

The Welches are raising their daughters, Lana and Madelyn, while they run their farm.
Matt Felder / Texas Farm Bureau

Michael Welch, 30, farms corn, wheat, cotton and milo in Bell County and manages a beef cattle herd, custom farming operation and liquid feed business.

By age 12, he was driving a combine and helping his father tend to the family’s cattle herd.

He started his own lawn care business, and through careful money management he bought his first few head of cattle and equipment.

By high school, he was growing crops and his farming career was under way.

“I followed my dad ever since I can remember, ever since I could walk,” Michael Welch said. “I’ve been driving tractors and driving pickups and getting greasy and dirty and acting like I was working on things from the time I was 4 or 5 years old up until now. Except now it’s the real thing.”

Today, the corn, wheat, cotton and milo crops he grows are farmed on both owned and leased land in Bell County.

His commercial cow herd has 150 head.

Board member

Welch said he loves everything about agriculture. When he’s not farming his own land, he does custom work for other area farmers and serves on the Bell County Farm Bureau board, all while helping to raise two daughters withwife Leigh.

“I like messing with the cows, but I also like driving the tractor,” Welch said. “It sort of works out that the cows are more work in the winter time and the farming is in the spring and summer.

“So after you get burned out driving a tractor, it’s time to switch to feeding cows.”

Other finalists are Justin and Barbi Dauer, of Panhandle, and Paul and Monica Minzenmayer, of Rowena.

Dauer, 34, runs a cow-calf operation along with some stocker cattle in Carson County, and grows corn, cotton, alfalfa, wheat and milo.

Michael Welch sits in his tractor as he tends his land in Bell County. The Troy native and his wife, Leigh, are finalists for the Texas Farm Bureau’s Outstanding Young Farmer & Rancher Award to be presented next weekend in Waco.
Matt Felder / Texas Farm Bureau

Minzenmayer, 29, raises wheat, cotton and cattle in Runnels County. He also owns a grain storage and marketing facility near Roscoe.

Michael and Leigh Welch are Troy natives. Leigh Welch is a special education teacher in Temple.

The contest winner will receive $5,000 in cash, title to a 2010 Dodge Ram  3/4-ton 4x4 Mega Cab pickup, 150 hours’ use of a Case IH tractor, a $500 cash award from Dodge Trucks, and a plaque and belt buckle.

Runners-up in the contest receive a power tool from Grainger Industrial Supply, a new pair of Justin boots, and a plaque and belt buckle.

The state winner also will represent Texas in the National Young Farmer and Rancher Contest, held in conjunction with the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga., from Jan. 9-12, 2011.

Excellence in Agriculture

Ryan and Santanna Bay, of Gatesville, are finalists in the 2010 Excellence in Agriculture Award contest sponsored by Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau.

Other finalists are Daryl and Sue Real, of Sanger, and Whit Weems, of DeLeon.

The winner also will be named at the Texas Farm Bureau state convention.

The Bays — Ryan, 26, and Santanna, 25 — are owners of Coryell Feed and Supply in Gatesville. The couple also run a few head of cattle and their own pecan orchard.

Daryl Real, 33, is the vice president of the Agriculture and Livestock Department at the State Fair of Texas.

Weems, 32, is the Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent for Comanche County, where he assists producers and 4-H’ers.

The Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau provided information for this story.