Mark Ballard is your new Director for Texas and Louisiana. Congratulations Mark and thank you for your service to our Dexter community!
Get to know Mark by reading his BIO below:
Personal Info: I am 60 years old and retired. My wife Diana and I have been married for 41 years and we have two daughters and two grandchildren. We gifted some land to our daughters and they both built houses and moved their families onto the Ranch. We are really thankful for having three generations living out here (and it’s nice to have the extra hands to help out).
Professional Info: My education and background is in Finance. I worked 16 years in nuclear power generation and 17 years as a Financial Advisor. I retired from Edward Jones in 2018.
Cattle Experience: I came to raising cattle via my wife Diana. Her family had a large farming and ranching operation and a few years after we got married we purchased a ranch of our own. We had a commercial cow/calf operation for several years and then transitioned to raising registered Brahman Cows and registered Hereford Bulls. We produced and sold certified F1 replacement heifers and steers. We sold the ranch in 2006 and moved to South Texas for my work. We bought another ranch in 2013 and started working to improve it and get it ready for when I retired. During this time we built our barn and house, cleared the land of invasive brush, improved pastures with native grasses and got our fences and pens in place. We researched cattle breeds and decided that Dexters would be perfect to meet our goals. The smaller size of the breed, the good temperament, and the benefit that they are efficient on pastures that are not highly improved made it an easy decision. The fact that they are multipurpose and that the beef is a very good quality is definitely a bonus. The focus of our operation is to raise quality beef and replacement heifers. We will begin marketing beef locally within the next year.
Interests: We are involved in our Church. I am also a musician and play the piano, bass and ukulele. I am in a folk music trio play in bluegrass jams and occasionally play instruments at Church when requested.
Contact Information EMAIL: ADCAregion7@gmail.com