McCoy's Farm & Ranch Family: Albracht Family
By Jacqueline Knox
Congratulations to this month’s Farm and Ranch Family, the Albrachts! Their ranch, Slash A, has been such a success that they have been in business for over 40 years. While their oldest son, Hadley (19), is currently judging livestock at South Plains College in Levelland, Sammy and Tara work at the ranch alongside their other children, Harris (17), Hance (16) and Hollis (13). Hadley is back at the ranch in the summer to help out!
The ranch spreads over a couple thousand acers in Wildorado, Texas (Region 1). Their ranch functions as a both a cow calf and feeder stocker operation. Sammy shared that they have around 500 cattle and 15 horses on the ranch. They also farm wheat and sorghum, which is mainly used to keep the cattle fed. Additionally, they have a small feed yard of about 2,000 head.
Every day, the cattle have to be fed and doctored, as well as processed and managed. While the work may pick up during calving season, they are always getting cattle in and shipping them out.
Working on the ranch is a family affair for the Albrachts. The three boys still at home are vital to the ranch operations. When they aren’t in school, they are usually helping out around the ranch. The boys help out with the feeding, doctoring, processing and really anything that goes into taking care of the livestock. “Basically, everyone pitches in where needed,” Sammy said. “The older kids take a little more initiative to do things like pulling the sick cattle or giving the shots. The younger ones do more things like cleaning water tanks, putting out haybales and other things of that nature.”
He also joked that branding is a national holiday in their family, and one of the boys’ favorite things to help out with. “One of them said once that it was better than Easter,” Sammy said. “And he likes candy a lot.”
Both Tara and Sammy grew up in the ranching lifestyle and wanted to raise their kids in the same environment. “It is where our hearts are,” Sammy said. In addition to ranching, Tara teaches 1st grade at the local school and Sammy sells Mack and Volvo trucks to “help keep the wheels on the bus.”
They hope that ranching has taught their boys hard work and perseverance, as well as the ability to trust in family and in God. “There are a lot of ups and downs because you never know what the future holds in terms of weather,” Sammy said. “It takes a lot of prayers to make it to the end of the year, and the next year and the years to come.”
When they are not on the ranch, their favorite thing to do as a family is head to a rodeo or stock show. Harris and Hance are currently members of THSRA and compete in calf roping and team roping. Hollis is a member of TJHRA and competes in ribbon roping, goat tying and breakaway. The Albrachts love that rodeo surrounds them with “like-minded people that have the same values as us. We call them our rodeo family,” Sammy said. They also love how rodeo is a great avenue for scholarships and encourages kids to go get a higher education.
The family is thankful for the positive effect THSRA has had on their lives. Not only has THSRA provided them great friends, it has also taught their kids that lots of time needs to be dedicated in order to compete successfully.
Unfortunately, the Albrachts do not have a McCoy’s that is close to them, but they really wish there was one. The family is honored to be names this month’s McCoy’s farm and ranch family!
