McCoy's Farm & Ranch Family: Ohrt Family

Congratulations to this month’s McCoys Farm and Ranch Family, the Ohrts! Clay and Wendy have two children, Kyler (15) and Natalie (13). The entire family works together to make their three businesses—Ohrt Farms, CW Cattle Company and Ohrt Cattle Company—such a success!

Their ranch spreads out over thousands of acres with their home base located in Victoria, Texas (Region 6). Ohrt cattle has been in business for roughly ten years and is comprised of Clay, his brother and mother. CW Cattle is Clay and Wendy’s cattle company that they started together about three years ago. Both cattle companies are cow calf operations. Clay shared that they have around 1,040 cattle and 20 horses on the ranch.

Clay has been farming for over 18 years, but Ohrt Farms was formed just three years ago. For the farming operation, they farm roughly 4,000 acres of corn and cotton. They have also planted some sorghum in the past.

Every day, the cattle and horses have to be fed, watered and checked on. The farming work varies based on the season. Right now, they are starting to plant and then they will care for the crops before they are ready to be harvested. Wendy joked that it is always “early rise, late nights” around the Ohrt ranch.

Working on the ranch is a family affair for the Ohrts, as everyone pitches in where they can. While Wendy works an outside job a generation and transmission company, she helps out around the ranch whenever she can. Clay, Kyler and Natalie all work together on a daily basis, whether that’s feeding or helping with the crops. “This creates a really unique bond between them,” Wendy said.

Kyler and Natalie are mainly in charge of taking care of the animals, which usually includes mixing the feed and feeding the horses and cattle. While talking to Wendy, Kyler was driving the tractor and doing some planting work. “Natalie is a go-getter,” Wendy said. “She makes sure everything gets fed. She keeps her brother and her dad in line with everything that needs to get done.”

Wendy and Clay both grew up in the ranching lifestyle and knew it was something that they wanted their children to experience. When they got married, both Clay and Wendy had outside jobs. However, their ranching grew so much that they could no longer both have an outside job and maintain the ranching operation. So, Clay chose to quit his job and start the cattle and farming business full-time.

Ranching has taught Wendy and Clay that it takes a team to make something successful. They have also learned that when it comes to doing the ranch chores, it is more fun to do something together than alone. They hope that ranching has taught their children that nothing comes easy and that it takes hard work to be successful. “I want them to know that the family is the backbone and is what makes us who we are today, but the most important thing to remember is to always have God in their life,” Wendy said.

When they aren’t on the ranch, the family’s favorite thing to do is go to rodeos. Currently, Kyler is a member of THSRA, and Natalie is a member of TJHRA. While Kyler competes in both tie down and team roping, Natalie competes in poles, barrels, breakaway, goats and ribbon roping. They love the community that surrounds the rodeo world and how rewarding the relationships are that they have made through rodeo. They also love getting to watch their kids compete. “At the end of the day, when you see kids go out there and they are successful and they enjoy what they are doing, it makes it all worthwhile,” Wendy said.

Luckily, the Ohrt family has a McCoys close to them and they shop there often. They can find all sorts of ranching supplies there, like water troughs, lumber and even parts to fix their wells after the recent winter storm. The Ohrts are honored to be named this month’s McCoys Farm and Ranch Family! Additionally, “we are so thankful for a company like McCoys that supports our youth because our youth is our future,” Wendy said.