Texas Rancher Wins Regional Hugh Hammond Bennett Excellence in Conservation Award

Story and photos by Josh Colligan, Public Affairs Specialist, Weatherford, Texas

The National Conservation Planning Partnership (NCPP) recently announced Carroll Collier as the 2023 Hugh Hammond Bennett Award for Conservation Excellence, South Central Regional Producer of the Year winner.

Carroll, who operates Collier Farms in Chico, Texas, with his daughter, Jeannette Shaw, is the first Texas producer to receive this award.

“It’s a big honor to me. I didn’t realize that I was working toward that,” he said of the honor. “I was just doing my best and trying to make our land better than we found it.”

The Hugh Hammond Bennett Award for Conservation Excellence recognizes individuals at the local, state and national level for extraordinary achievements and contributions to the soil and water conservation movement in the United States.
 
“I think it was almost a necessity that he gets rewarded for all the conservation he’s done and tried to incorporate into his operation,” said NRCS District Conservationist Ernest Dunson. “When he first started working with us, the agency was actually the Soil Conservation Service. He was a quick adopter when it came to new technologies or practices. He was all for it.”
 

Carroll’s relationship with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which dates to the 1960s, began with building water structures and continues today with an active Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contract. Some of the conservation practices he has implemented over the years include native and introduced grass plantings for forage, critical area plantings for erosion control, grade stabilization structures, water sources and thousands of feet of fencing for rotational grazing. 

One conservation practice — cover crops — has been used for more than a half-century on the farm. His grandfather introduced the practice on the cropland in a strip-cropping system to counter soil erosion. Carroll has adopted the practice for his pastureland fields to build soil health and provide supplemental grazing for the crux of his operation —Red Angus cattle and dorper sheep.
 

 
“I saw the need from following him,” Carroll said. “He was a great example for me; he raised me. He was a real good conservation-minded man on everything.”

In addition to his direct contributions to conservation on his land, Collier Farms has also served as host for several education outreach events. Jeannette has taken the reigns of that part of the operation since retiring from the education system. The farm has hosted the local Rotary Club, schools, community groups and NRCS staff for trainings.

“I retired from being a school counselor and teacher, and I just have the desire to educate people as much as possible about the importance of agriculture and where real food comes from,” she said. “I just feel like the more people we can get on the farm and share the farm experience, the more they will want to learn and have an appreciation for what farmers and ranchers do.”

Even after working on the land for more than 60 years, Carroll continues to seek ways to improve his operation’s resilience. In the short-term, he’s looking to add new cross-fences and improve his existing fencing to sheep standards so more fields can be utilized by all livestock, which will diversify his grazing operation even further.
 

“[Conservation] means a lot to me, and I’ve always wanted to leave this land better than I found it,” he said. “It means everything to me for our next generations. I see some farms around this country that are so pitiful. I don’t want our land to look anything close to that.”