Pioneer in Agriculture
The Gillespie Soil and Water Conservation District #220 is proud to recognize Sidney Ellebracht as their 2024 Pioneer in Agriculture award winner.
The Ellebracht Ranch’s consist of Doss Ranch 472 acres and the Squaw Creek 830 acres of rangeland, pastureland, cropland and wildlife land. Sidney has a deep appreciation for the land and is dedicated to conservation of the natural resources that have been handed down from his family which he has been entrusted to manage.
Sidney and Betty married July 8, 1961 (married 62 years) with 2 daughters
Kristie Ellebracht Pressler (Donald) Miranda Ponzio, Jeremiah Herrera, Zachary Ponzio
Karrie Ellebracht Menz (Shane), Sydney Menz, Shane A. Menz
Sidney’s Grandfather purchased the Ellebracht Ranch in 1926. This was the place that Sidney was born and raised on. He worked on the ranch helping is Dad his entire life until 1988 when his dad passed away and he started managing it full time. He farmed wheat, milo and hay, ran a Hereford/Angus cross cow/calf operation and raised Rambouillet sheep for wool and the lamb crop. He also managed lease deer hunters during the fall/winter hunting season.
During the drought of the 50s, times got pretty tough. Sidney’s oldest brother was already away from home and his dad and middle brother had to go to town to get jobs. Sidney was about 14 years old at the time and since his dad was not at home, Sidney was responsible for taking over all of the farm work. His mother would help him hook up the implements to the tractor and he would go take care of the fields. He would often come home from school and take the pear burner and burn the spines off the cactus so the livestock could eat the leaves of the prickly pear. This was such a difficult time for so many farmers and ranchers, but the grit and determination that it instilled in this young man taught him to be a survivor. Farming would become his lifelong joy.
Sidney and Elisabeth (Betty) inherited her ranch on Squaw Creek in 1971 and started running it in 1972. On this ranch he ran a cow/calf operation with a mixed herd of Hereford, Santa Gertrudis, Red Brangus and Black Brangus. This is where the family goes deer hunting so they could make their annual deer sausage.
After they were married, Sidney started leasing farmland in different parts of the county and raised milo, wheat and hay. One of these properties owned by the Gillespie County Fair Association and the field is where the race track, stands and barns are now located.
You could say Farming and Ranching were his hobbies as he had a fulltime job for 50 years with John Deere.
Many times, he would come home in the evening and share with his daughters how the moon looked, what wildlife he saw while sitting on the tractor (rabbits, snakes, deer, etc.) and the peace he felt while enjoying God’s beautiful creation.
Sidney was heavily involved with Boy Scouts growing up and earned his Eagle rank. His Grandson Shane received his Eagle rank which made him extremely proud. At his Court of Honor, Shane recognized him with a Mentor pin.
He started working for Krauskopf Bros. in 1970 driving truck and hauling equipment. He then moved to service manager over the shop and was learning sales. When the business sold to Fredericksburg Equipment, he became one of the salesmen for the John Deere equipment and relished in helping farmers and ranchers find the equipment they needed, whether that was selling them a new piece of equipment or used equipment from other land owners. He was always very passionate about each and every customer and finding them the right tool for the job they were doing, in the most affordable manner. He stayed with the business through 2 more sales (AgPro and Tellus) and officially retired in 2020. We always joked that he loved the John Deere brand so much that he would bleed green. What he misses the most is visiting with all his customers (friends) when they would come into the shop.
Sidney believed very much in conservation and protecting the land that provided for him and his family for so many years. He always had a plan in his head of what would support the best use of the land and how he wanted to achieve those goals. His biggest push to reach those goals was to leave his daughters a piece of land that would take them through to the next generation. Examples of the practices he performed are Hundreds of acres of brush pushed to open up the grazing land for his cows and sheep, Had cedar cut in areas a crawler could not reach, Reseeding the pushed area with a mixture of native grasses, He deferred several pastures that he subsequently participated in controlled burn, Cross-fencing to have separate pastures to rotate stock, laid out a water line with multiple water troughs and a tank to provide water to all separated pastures (originally only water at the Doss property was the troughs at the house where the well was). He put in several spreader damns to collect run off from the hills and prevent erosion of the pasture and pasture roads, Put in a conservation damn, Planted improved grasses in one of is fields for hay production, Did some chemical spraying on previous pushed areas to prevent outgrowth, maintained terraces in a field that was subject to water run-off, hauled rock to low spots and ditches in the pastures to prevent soil erosion.
When Sidney took over the ranches, he also had lease hunters to help with the conservation of the deer population and generate additional income from the property. He was an original member of the Doss Wildlife Management Association.
Sidney loves to make deer sausage. The family still gathers together today to make the traditional deer sausage, salami and various other products the grandkids have come up with. He has taught all of his grandkids this art so, from the time they could stand on a stool and reach the table, he showed each of them the process from grinding to stuffing to tying and smoking. These are memories they all cherish.
His Community involvement includes, 4H, FFA, Holy Ghost Lutheran Church (Church council, youth leader, BarBQ team, church recordings for KNAF), 30-06 Club (stock show buying club), Doss Wildlife Management Association, Doss, Community Club.
Sidney loves the Texas beaches, especially Galveston. He has lots of fond memories of going to Galveston with his family as a kid and still loves to go and stand in the surf and feel the waves.
Sidney also loves to travel and once his girls were finished with college, he and Betty started taking trips through the various states to see the beautiful lands and visit far away friends and family.
Sidney believed very much in conservation and protecting the land that provided for him and his family for so many years. He always had a plan in his head of what would support the best use of the land and how he wanted to achieve those goals. His biggest push to reach those goals was to leave his daughters a piece of land that would take them through to the next generation.
The Gillespie County Soil and Water Conservation District would like to thank Sidney for what he has done for conservation in Gillespie County and are honored to present you the Pioneer in Conservation Award this year.