Skip to main content
Success Story

Laura Hooten-Broyles: Success Comes in the Form of Hard Work

Celebrating Women's History Month
Publish Date
Laura Hooten-Broyles in the field with her zone office team of technical experts.

Laura Hooten-Broyles has always had a strong work ethic that stretched from childhood into adulthood. She currently serves as the Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations in Weatherford, Texas.

Story and ArcGIS Story map by: Dee Ann Littlefield, NRCS Public Affairs Specialist

Laura Broyles: Success Comes in the form of Hard Work (arcgis.com)

Growing up, Laura Hooten-Broyles knew one thing: hard work would put food on the table and a roof over your head. That work ethic has served her well over the years, including in her current position as Zone 5 Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations (ASCFO) in Weatherford, Texas for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“I don’t ever remember not working,” she said, recounting how even as a small child she earned money helping on the ranch she was raised on. As she got older, she worked for a wildlife operations helping bottle feed and pen-raise deer. She worked as a bank teller to gain experience working with the public. She worked her way through college working for Tarleton State University and AgriLife Extension Service. She spent the months between college graduation and the start of her career with NRCS operating a skid steer on the ranch her dad managed so she would have a source of income.

Laura and her sister, Becky, grew up in the small Hill Country community of Lometa, Texas. Their dad managed the ranch where they lived and worked, and their mother cleaned houses to help provide for the family. The girls earned ranch wages from an early age to help with things like clearing brush, building fence, tending to livestock and wildlife and other daily ranch chores.

The ranch was primarily a cow/calf operation, but also heavily involved with Texas Parks and Wildife Department (TPWD) through their Managed Lands Deer Permit Operation. TPWD annually conducted deer a census on the ranch to help determine ideal stocking rate and harvest numbers. Hunt permits where then issued to deer hunters to assist with the annual harvest, which assisted in helping keep the herd and their habitat in ideal health.

Laura Hooten-Broyles showed commercial cross-bred steers in high school at the county and major show level.
Laura showing commercial cross-bred steers in high school at the county and major show level.

Laura’s strong work ethic extended into extra-curricular activities at school. She was a member of the local 4-H club at a young age, participating in their many programs. She was especially drawn to their food contests and livestock competitions where she showed steers, both locally and at major shows including San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth. She also participated in horse shows and gymkhanas in her younger years. In high school she was equally active in FFA and participated in wildlife and land judging contests.  She served as an officer in her local FFA chapter, and also receive a Green Hand and Lonestar Farmer degrees in FFA.

After graduating high school, Laura attended Tarleton State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and landscaping. 

“I went to college thinking I would major in Ag Business,” she says, “but I soon learned I liked plants and soil a lot better than I liked economics. I have a fascination with and love for plants and enjoy the outdoors, so a horticulture degree was a good fit for me.” 

Laura’s degree represented the first generation in her family to go to college. Her father had a sixth-grade education and her mother completed high school, but they both wanted better for their girls than what they had. Laura’s sister, Becky, also got a degree and went on to become an Ag teacher. 

An interesting fact about Laura’s college course is that she actually graduated with enough hours for a minor in chemistry, she just never filed for the certification. After graduating with her horticulture degree, she was still unsure of what she wanted to do so she remained at Tarleton to pursue a master’s degree in soils.  While taking these courses, several of her classmates, including John Sackett, an NRCS Soil Scientist currently on Laura’s staff, talked about their internships with NRCS and how much they enjoyed it. Laura remembered the NRCS from when she was younger, and she competed in the poster and essay contests the local Soil and Water Conservation District held at the NRCS office. Laura like the sound of working outside with soils and plants for a living. She applied and in 2005 she joined the NRCS as an intern in the San Saba Field office. 

A Career Path with NRCS

Laura became a full-time employee of the agency in 2007 with her first duty station being Eden.  She became the district conservationist in Eden in 2009 and was promoted to the Resource Team Leader in Kerrville in 2012.  In 2016 she served in an acting detail to Weatherford as the ASCFO, a position she applied for and was hired in October of that year.  

Now in her 18th year with the agency, Broyles reflects on her career and how she has grown in it.

“When I started with the agency it was a man’s world with a predominantly male workforce,” she recalled. “I felt like I had to work a littler harder to show I was knowledgeable and trustworthy.  I wanted to work hard in the field to gain the response from producers and fellow employees.

“More than half the people we work with are farmers and ranchers that have been working on their land 50 or 60 years, so they really didn’t think some young girl was going to teach them anything,” she adds. “But little by little I would bring some technical expertise to them that did help them learn something new or different and I did gain their respect.

“One thing I have always said, and it still holds true today is ‘I don’t know everything, but what I lack in knowledge I will make up for in effort,’” she says. 

In her current role as ASTCFO for Zone 5, she oversees 52 counties and approximately 130 employees.  It is as big of a responsibility as some of the NRCS state conservationists in other states, but one Laura shoulders well. 

“It is a very fast-paced environment,” Laura says of her leadership position. “But I thrive on that. I don’t handle idleness very well, so I think it’s a good fit for me.”

Laura says one of the most rewarding things for her has been to see how her staff’s efforts and agency programs positively impact and benefit producers.

“When you hear producers say things like, ‘If it wasn’t for NRCS I would have never been able to do this on my operation’ in terms of both technical and financial assistance,” she says. “Those are the kinds of people we are helping that make you feel like you are making a difference. Those are the experiences that help me see the big picture.”

Same Natural Resource Science; New Clients

The 2018 Farm Bill established the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, lead by NRCS.  Laura and her team have led Texas and the nation in implementing the agency’s urban agriculture goals, which include extending regional and local food production and increasing access to healthy, fresh food. 

From community gardens to indoor vertical farms, urban agriculture provides critical access to healthy food for local communities, as well as jobs, increased green spaces, and closer community ties. Laura’s zone was one of the first in the nation selected to implement a USDA grant-funded People’s Garden located at Fair Park in Dallas in August 2022. The success of that garden was the springboard for a second USDA People’s Garden location, also grant funded, at Garth Chapel A.M.E. in east Dallas in March 2023.  People’s Gardens empower communities to participate in local food production and provide diversity and resiliency to the food supply chain. 

In addition to these two USDA grant-funded People’s Garden, there are 10 other community gardens in the Fort Worth/Dallas area that are registered as USDA People’s Gardens.

“I think from an agriculture standpoint, community gardens represent a whole avenue of producers that NRCS has missed the boat on historically,” she says. “But when you walk or drive the street of inner city Dallas, you see homeless people on the street that are hungry and not in good health. To know that we can, and are, helping these people get access to fresh, healthy food, that’s a big milestone for our agency.

“Helping people with small scale urban conservation approaches isn’t something most of us went to college for or have experience with, but we have an opportunity to provide food for these underserved communities and work with a whole different set of landowners that we haven’t reached out to, or had experience with, in the past,” she adds.

Laura has led the charge in establishing the first USDA Urban field offices in Dallas. She secured the office space that will serve as the Urban Office for NRCS, Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency employees offering urban agriculture assistance in the Dallas Metroplex area.
“I have my zone and field office staff to thank for this to be a USDA Urban Office pilot location and for the successful rollout of these urban gardens,” Laura says.

“Our national office recently told me that Texas is a national leader in the urban ag movement,” Laura relates. “This is all to be credited to the staff and field and work they have done prior to me and continuous relations and customer service they provide so well.”

The Juggling Act of a Working Mom

Laura, Walt and their girls showing sheep at San Antonio Livestock show.
Laura, Walt and their girls showing sheep at the San Antonio Livestock show.

In addition to managing a large area and staff, Broyles is also a mother to three girls, ages 11, 16 and 17. They are all very active in showing sheep at county and the major livestock shows, sports and school UIL competitions. All the things a mom wants to be present for. 

But being present for everything presents a bit of a challenge for Laura, geographically speaking. Laura works out of the Weatherford zone office and lives in nearby Lipan. However, her husband, Walt, NRCS District Conservationist in the Brady Field Office, and their three girls live at the family’s home in Mason. The girls attend school in Mason. 

Laura spends the week days in Lipan working in Weatherford and then joins the family on the weekends. While she is physically a few hours away from them, the family of five stays in very close contact throughout the week through text messages, phone calls, video chats, Snapchats, and other avenues of communication.

“It is a challenge to live away from your family part of the week, but I spend a lot of time on the road, so even if I lived full time in Mason, I would still be gone a lot,” she says, adding, “It does help your children develop independence. It’s been a benefit that they have had to do some of these things on the own. Going to college won’t be a big transition for them; they know they can do it.”

The Broyles Family
Laura and her family.

Laura credits her husband for supporting her career and career ambitions. “He is the support system at home that keeps things going on a day-to-day basis. He has always been very supportive of me and I appreciate that.”

Laura says the girls are also appreciative of her career accomplishments and also the effort she makes to be present with them physically and emotionally as much as she can. 

“We have two homes, we have vehicles, we travel together, they have never wanted for anything,” she says. “And they understand that and appreciate mine and Walt’s efforts to provide for them the way we do.” 

To help increase her time with her family when she isn’t working Laura has adopted some life hacks that work well for the entire family. She does most of her gift shopping online, so she doesn’t have to spend time searching stores for the perfect gift. The entire family is linked together in the HEB grocery store app so they can all add items they need all week long. At the end of the week Laura purchases everything in their cart and it’s ready for her to swing by the Weatherford HEB and pick up on her way home, saving countless hours roaming grocery store aisles and standing in checkout lanes.

“It’s a balancing act being a mother,” she acknowledges. “There has to be a happy medium. You have to be able to put down your work and go home and enjoy your family. While what we do is important, your family is number one at the end of the day.”

Speaking from Experience

One of Laura’s greatest professional rewards is seeing her employees be successful either with producers or in the jobs with promotions. “Ultimately, yes, I interact with customers and enjoy that, but the most important thing for me is the success of the employees I oversee,” she says. “I want to do everything I can to help them meet their goals.”

Laura encourages employees to take details of any length to learn new skills. She served in a six month detail as Acting State Conservationist for South Dakota. She also served a 120-day detail as Acting Assistant State Conservationist for Management and Strategy.

“I do have aspirations to do other things in the agency,” Laura shares, “whether it be to someday be a state conservationist or another detail or work for our national headquarters. I do like that the agency offers term details to give employees opportunities to provide fresh ideas, gain experience, learn new ways to implement things, and think outside the box.”

Laura says there will eventually come a time for her to move on to something else, but emphasizes it has to be right for her family and her kids. 

“Some of the best advice I ever received was ‘Not all money is good money,’” she says. “And that is so true. At some point you have to decide between your happiness and making good money. As you move up, that comes with more responsibility. The money sounds good, but job isn’t always a good fit.”

For now, Laura is happy providing leadership to her zone employees, helping shape important program assistance for producers, keeping her Snapchat streaks going all week long with her girls and bringing home groceries to their big smiles on Friday night.