Spreading the Word About West Texas Ag
June 1, 2015 From Cotton Grower Magazine – June 2015
Shelley Heinrich was in her car, picking up food for her 14-year-old twin daughters after their softball practice, when she found out her oldest daughter had nominated her for the America’s Farmers Mom of the Year program for 2015.
The news came via a phone call from St. Louis letting Heinrich know that she was one of five finalists for the national honor (although, to her credit, her daughter was trying to call her at the same time to fess up).
“When I finally got my daughter on the phone, I said ‘What have you gotten me into?’,” laughed Heinrich of Lubbock TX, who was the Southwest Region winner for the contest. And although she wasn’t selected as the National Farm Mom of the Year (that honor went to the Northwest Region winner Shelly Davis of Oregon), Heinrich couldn’t be happier with the opportunity to bring the West Texas ag story to a national platform.
“I would like people outside of agriculture to know that there are growers out there working to produce a food and fiber source that is safe and is high quality,” she said. “They’re doing it not only for themselves, but for all of our families. They are doing what they can as economically and sensibly as possible. They have invested money, time and sweat, and the dollar rewards are not necessarily what they’re chasing. They like the lifestyle, but they have to be able to continue their operations.”
That’s a story that she lives every day. Heinrich’s husband, Burt, and his brother, Eric, have managed Heinrich Brothers Farms, just south of Lubbock, for nearly 30 years. They’re fourth generation cotton farmers, working approximately 3,500 irrigated and dryland acres. Shelley and Burt have been married for 26 years and have raised their son and three daughters to appreciate the responsibilities and advantages of growing up on a family farm.
Those benefits are not lost on Heinrich. She spent 22 years as a financial analyst for Wells Fargo. And when she stepped away from the corporate life in 2011, she simply went to the fields and spent the summer hoeing cotton with her kids. It’s just part of the “all hands on deck” philosophy on the Heinrich farm, where all of the kids – plus their cousins – spent last Thanksgiving stripping cotton after their turkey dinner.
Today, Heinrich works as Development Director for National Sorghum Producers, headquartered in Lubbock. She doesn’t see it as a conflict to her cotton life, but rather as a complementary role, promoting a cotton/sorghum rotation as a way to help rejuvenate some of the West Texas soils that have not been rotated in years.
“There are yield and profitability benefits with this rotation, and I work to make producers more aware of the opportunities,” she stated.
And what about that nomination that her daughter sneaked past her?
“I got to read her nomination letter,” said Heinrich. “It was so humbling. I was so honored to be her Mom and honored to think she thought that much of what I did. And when I met the other four regional winners, I thought what an honor it is to be part of this group.
“I thought I was well educated and well versed in the corporate world,” she recalled. “But I don’t know that I appreciated the ag industry like I do now. In some ways, I thought life might simplify and slow down, but I think I’m busier now than I ever was with Wells Fargo. And my kids will tell you that I’m a whole lot happier now.”
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