LUBBOCK, Texas -- For this week’s Future of Ag, EverythingLubbock.com is shining the spotlight on a young man already making waves in the farming world at an impressively young age. Brier Mellbert, a senior at Whitharral High School, is embracing his family’s agricultural legacy and bailing cotton—something he says is rare for someone his age.
“I’m really the first I know,” Brier shares. “I mean, there are other people my age who’ve done it, but not recently, as far as I know. I had a lot of fun starting on my own. It was something special to me.”
At just 18 years old, Brier had already taken significant steps in carrying on his family’s farming tradition. Picking up skills and knowledge passed down through generations, he’s now bailing his own cotton—a passion he’s cultivated for years.
“It’s all I’ve ever known, really,” he explains. “I enjoy doing this every day. It’s always something different, and that keeps it exciting.”
Brier’s journey into farming began early—around the age of ten—and with nearly a decade of experience under his belt, he’s proving himself as a skilled and dedicated young farmer.
“It's been about nine or ten years now, since I was around 10 or 11 years old,” he says. “It goes back several generations—my grandpa, his dad, and his dad before him. It’s probably five or six generations now.”
This year, however, has been anything but easy for his first solo farming season.
“One of the main struggles was the hail we got early on,” Brier recalls. “And then August came around with no rainfall. It was brutal on us. It was hard.”
Despite the challenges, Brier’s determination and connection to his roots highlight the resilience needed in agriculture—a promising sign for the next generation of farmers.