The Weaver family has farmed at Chapman Ranch, Texas, for almost a century. But their latest project is all about the future.

Brothers Blaine and Blake Weaver see on-farm grain storage as a way to keep the row-crop operation strong for their five sons.

Early this year, they installed a 500,000-bushel grain elevator. Texas Farm Credit and Farm Credit Leasing financed it on a 10-year lease.

Working with an ag lender

Texas Farm Credit has been the brothers’ lender since 2009. By then they’d farmed with their dad, David, and their uncle Tommy for over a decade at Weaver Farms.

“Tommy and I wanted to make sure they could handle every bit of the business,” says David, whose grandfather started the operation. “So we took a bunch of property and equipment and said, ‘Here. Go get your own financing.’”

Blaine and Blake formed their own business, Weaver Bros. Ag. Then they called Texas Farm Credit, where they knew Shane Brown, now a regional president.

“It made a big difference using an ag lender — somebody who understands our business,” Blaine says.

Blake agrees.

“I don’t feel like I’m calling a banker,” he says. “I feel like I’m calling a friend and business partner who’s there to help us.”

Expanding through innovation

The Weavers’ lending team in Robstown says they’re some of the area’s most innovative farmers.

For example, they increased yields by planting new grain and cotton varieties. And they boosted productivity by switching to round-bale cotton pickers. Both help them compensate for low commodity prices.

“While the new pickers are expensive, you can’t afford not to have one,” Brown says.

John Mayo, the Weavers’ loan officer, calls them role models for younger farmers.

“They’re always willing to share what does and doesn’t work,” Mayo says.

Looking for solutions

In June 2019, it felt like a lot wasn’t working.

The farm needed 10 trucks a day to haul milo and corn to storage facilities. But trucks and labor were scarce due to the active oil and gas industry.

The Weavers started brainstorming and talking to fellow farmers.

They realized if they had their own grain elevator, they’d lower their trucking, storage and handling expenses. They could also improve their margins by selling grain to ADM, located at the Port of Corpus Christi, and other customers.

Next they talked to Texas Farm Credit about financing.

Leasing preserved their working capital for other needs because it didn’t require a down payment. And they can claim the lease payments as an operating expense.

Growing in new ways

The brothers and their wives have owned the entire family business since the third generation retired a few years ago. The fifth generation is getting more involved, too. Blaine and Cortney’s son Holden helped run the elevator this year. And Blake and Sharee’s son Braedon ran a combine and cotton picker.

The elevator doesn’t hold the entire crop, so the Weavers also use other storage facilities. One is the co-op that gins much of their cotton. But they’re already seeing added benefits.

“We have to keep growing and creating jobs,” Blake says. “The farmers we talked to swore an elevator would be the best thing we ever did for our operation.”

— Staff