The Wenmohs Ranch on Old Spicewood Road recently received a certification from the Family Land Heritage Program by the Texas Department of Agriculture. The Family Land Heritage Program is a recognition program that honors families who have owned and operated a continuous agricultural operation for 100 years or more. I visited the ranch last week with Dena and Roy Wenmohs, a mother and son who manage operations for the ranch as partners.

The history of the Wenmohs Ranch can be traced back over 200 years. A collection of that history is recorded in the book “Memoirs of a Texas Pioneer Grandmother” by Ottilie Fuchs Goeth, who is the great-grandmother of Roy Wenmoh’s grandfather. Roy works the ranch operations today, and submitted the application to the Family Land Heritage program.

The original ranch tract spanned the north side of Cypress Mill all the way south to the top bank of the Pedernales, which now forms part of the Pedernales State Park. Since the ranch is divided with each generation, only about 400 acres remain intact of the original tract.

“The first cows on the Ranch would have been the wild longhorns that they rounded up, branded and used to begin the herd. Sales of those cows in cattle drives kickstarted the economy in this area,” Roy said.

Today, Roy allows the Brangus herd to roam freely, and each member is registered and branded.

The wineglass brand has been registered with the county since 1882, and is one of the oldest.

“I think the name Wenmohs meant winemaker, but I am not sure,” Roy said.

Roy is a social worker in Austin, Texas, but he is determined to keep the cattle thriving on the ranch worked by generations of family before him.

No pesticides, herbicides or antibiotics are used in raising the cattle. He doesn’t use the whip or cattle dogs to gather the herd, so as to keep a low-stress environment for the cows. It is part of a new movement in the beef industry that Wenmohs Ranch is looking forward to participating in.

In a way, the ranch is coming around a full circle with how cattle were raised in the early 1800’s, before injections, hormones and antibiotics were even invented. 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef is what Roy wants to provide customers through the Wenmohs Ranch.

“In the commercial beef industry, steroids shots beef up cows, and antibiotics are also used by a lot of people to make cattle grow faster,” Roy said. “I have cows on the ranch now that look more like the cows my great-grandfather had, because they were raised with no shots.”

“I see only benefits from a low-stress approach to raising cattle. It makes the whole process more fun and easier when you aren’t cracking the whip on them,” Roy said.

The cattle are trained to come when he honks the horn of his Tacoma truck, and they do arrive in groups from all corners of the ranch, as Roy notes their attendance on a clipboard.

“All the cows have a name,” Roy says as he presents Mezcal, the matriarch of the herd.

“We regard the cattle as sentient beings worthy of dignity and respect. The cattle are the most important members of the team.”

They munch on some hay Roy spreads out for them, and no one gets in the way of Mezcal as she selects a salad all for herself.

“I have a lot of friends who help me out, and some of them have actually helped raise a steer that they get to consume. But my number-one ranchhand is my mom,” Roy says.

Dena Wenmohs is “tickled to death” by seeing her son take over the ranch operations.

“I think his goals are great in trying to have organic beef, so families can find a safe source of beef,” Dena said. Her husband was a part-time rancher and CPA.

“We have some cousins who are looking to apply for the Family Land Heritage certification as well, but it is quite a process,” Roy said.

The ranch has survived some hardships, among some of the hardest droughts to hit Central Texas. Some of the neighboring cattle ranches shut down in the most recent drought that occurred earlier this decade.

But Roy is optimistic for the next year. The ranch is looking forward to about twenty calves in the spring, and a lot of green grass should the winter keep a steady rainfall average.

“If you are a customer, you are a part of the family. And when I get to sell to my friends, I get to hear about how they had an amazing steak or brisket from the steer they harvested, and you don’t get that feedback from the auction house. That’s fun,” Roy said.

“Sometimes, when I tell people I will sell them a half of a steer, they think they are going to get this bloody half of a cow hanging from the ceiling, but that is not the case at all, and I want to educate people that the process to get farm-sourced beef is much easier. We use the Harvest House in Johnson City to process the beef, which is USDA certified. They dry age for 21 days, and butcher the beef into cuts that are ready to cook, depending on what the customer is looking for. The packages are vacuumed-sealed with a USDA stamp. Sometimes it takes me a while to get that through to people,” Roy said.

Only about a fifth of the beef produced by a single head of cattle is commonly used by restaurants: the brisket, chuck steaks, ribs, and such. But the beef produced by a single head of cattle can also be processed into ground beef, fajitas, soup bones and even beef hot dogs. A Wenmohs brangus steer can provide months of no-hormone and no-antibiotic organic beef for a family.

If a family wants to be a part of the process, they can help Roy castrate the steer, and even name it and see it grow up. Otherwise, Roy has a waiting list of steer that will be ready in the spring, when more grass in the fields helps to fatten up the herd and ready the steer for harvesting.

But the ranch is facing new obstacles caused by a changing industry.

“There are less and less truck drivers and skilled ranchhands to hire to help on the ranch,” Roy said. But the ranch has overcome many obstacles up until now.

“I know that my grandfather’s grandfather thought no one would carry on ranching here after him, and he was wrong. I think no one might carry it on after me,” Roy said.

“I think you will be wrong,” Dena responded with a smile.

The Wenmohs Ranch is also host each April to an art show managed by Dena, who used to teach art classes on the ranch before retiring several years ago. The Cypress Creek runs along the ranch with large cypress trees that are a favorite subject for painters. Only in 2015 did the drought cause the creek to stop flowing since the land has been in the Wenmohs family.

The house where Dena lives today was built in 1921, and is brightly painted her favorite colors.

You can also find Indian artifacts like arrowheads from the campgrounds that the Indians used along the creek.

A group of outdoor enthusiasts also gather on the ranch each year and hold a “rendezvous,” where they camp out in gear similar to the Lewis and Clark era of exploration, with bows and arrows, tomahawk-throwing competitions, outdoor cooking and more.

The Wenmohs Ranch entrance is located at 573 Old Spicewood Road, in Cypress Mill, TX. Reach out to Roy by email at [email protected], and stay up to date by visiting wenmohsranch.com.