Making a living from ranching in this day and age, particularly with the recurring droughts, is not the way his daddy used to do it. He said it led to a sustainable lifestyle. And it makes people happy. Some 97 percent of Texas land is privately owned. Any land management strategy must respect the private landowner.
Ranchers make a fair amount of their money by selling deer and quail hunting leases.
The concentrated hoof action broke up the surface of the land ensuring greater moisture penetration to the grass root system. Overgrazing and fire suppression from 1850 to just a decade or so ago changed the habitat immensely. Lots of topsoil has been lost, the prairies have all but disappeared, and invasive brush species have become predominant. In Maddox father's day, there were only 6 pastures, and it took a crew of 8 hands to move the cattle from one pasture to another twice a year. The aeration caused by the hoof action actually improves the grass habitat, but then the grass can have almost a year of rest.