Where Are They Now?

John Tate spent 32 years traveling around Texas and New Mexico working as a soil conservationist and agronomist. Now, he’s more than 12 years into his “retirement,” but stays as busy as ever managing ranches and inspecting cattle.

Tate spent the early years of his life watching his father, William “Bill” Carroll Tate, work for the USDA Soil Conservation Service, until he passed away in 1961. “After he passed away, the benefits that he got from the federal government took care of us kids for a long time,” Tate remembers. “That helped my mother out because she had five five young kids at the time.”

Seeing the benefits of his father’s job, combined with Tate’s love of the outdoors, led Tate to pursue a career in soil conservation. After graduating from Dublin High School in 1972, Tate went on to study agronomy at Tarleton. He finished his degree in 1976, but it was a little over a year before he could find a job in the field (he spent that year working at the Dublin Fire Department).

“After 13 months at the fire department, I finally got on with USDA Soil Conservation Service, and they shipped me to Canyon,” he said. He was in Canyon for about a year and a half before he was transferred to Lubbock, then to Albany, Texas.

As a soil conservationist, Tate’s job was to meet with farmers and ranchers and help design conservation plans for their land. “Most of the time you get a request from the farmer or rancher or they have a question, like ‘What do I need to do to grow more grass?’ or ‘What do I need to do to keep this field from washing away?’” he said. “I’d advise them on what the best thing was that they could do to improve their farm or ranch.”

A plan might include building terraces or water features for better water management, and adjusting practices depending on the kind of soil available. In Albany, Tate was mostly working with rangeland, so he would write contracts for ranchers hoping to build cross fences and build pipelines or stock tanks.

While in Albany, Tate met Dee Ann Lackey (they were introduced by a local hairdresser), and the two started dating and then got married.

In 1984, Tate was transferred again, this time to Morton, Texas, as the district conservationist for Cochran County.

His next assignment was as an agronomist in Tucumcari, New Mexico, where he stayed until 1989. “That was probably my favorite job,” he said. “I was the area agronomist, and I had 10 counties in northeast New Mexico. In the end the only reason I transferred out of that job and came back to Texas was that I was traveling about four or five days a week and I had two little kids at home and I didn’t need to be away from home that much.”

Back in Texas, he worked first in Anson as the Jones County district conservationist, and then back in Albany as a resource team leader in 1995, managing three counties. He stayed in that position for 13 years.

In 2008, after a total of 32 years with the USDA, Tate finally retired. “Since then, I have been managing ranches for an oil guy out of Midland and a doctor out of Dallas,” he said. “They’re absentee landowners, and work with the wildlife, doing food plots, keeping corn and protein feeders full, and doing managed land permits with Parks & Wildlife.”

He also helps out the First National Bank in town by doing cattle inspections, and then works independently as a crop insurance adjuster.

Working as a ranch manager/cattle inspector/ insurance adjuster is a full-time job, but when he gets some free time, Tate enjoys working on a plot of land his wife owns outside Albany. The Tates have around 35 cattle there, and enjoy hunting on the land with their grandchildren.

He also enjoys spending time with his daughter, Leandra, and his four grandchildren, who range in age from 7 to 21. His son, Kevin, passed away in a car accident in 2016. His mother, Aline Michell, passed away in 2019, and his father, William “Bill” Carroll Tate, passed away when Tate was in first grade.

Throughout his life, Tate has drawn inspiration from his faith. “Jesus Christ is where all my strength comes from,” he said. “That is the only source of inspiration.” He currently attends Friendship Baptist Church in Albany.

Tate’s advice to Dublin graduates is to commit themselves fully to their careers if possible. “Work hard at what you do, be faithful to your boss, and most importantly, be faithful to your craft,” he said. “You can’t can’t go wrong doing that.”

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other graduates, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.