Rancher donates cow and calf, proceeds go towards relief at panhandle fire

CALDWELL, Texas (KBTX) – A special auction took place at the Caldwell Livestock Commission on Saturday afternoon.

John Malazzo, owner and operator of John Malazzo Farms, is a 4th generation rancher. Malazzo decided to donate one of his F1 cow/calf pairs to be auctioned at the Caldwell Livestock auction where all the proceeds go to support a relief fund that is helping ranchers in the fire-damaged panhandle.

Malazzo has friends who have been impacted by the panhandle fire.

“A lot of my rancher friends are from that area, a lot of them have lost their homes, buildings, grass, fences, and a lot of livestock passed away,” said Malazzo.

When Malazzo learned that the damage from the fire had been detrimental to the ranching community, he knew he had to help.

“This is a really dire situation but I am so glad I am in agriculture because agriculture people take care of each other. No matter if you’re 20 miles from here or 20,000 miles from here, we’re going to help each other,” said Malazzo

All the money from the mother cow and her calf goes towards a disaster relief fund organized by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, or TSCRA.

“We’re here today because we have a disaster relief fund to assist our friends in the panhandle on their ranches and with their cattle and their losses,” said Carl Ray Polk Jr., the first Vice President of TSCRA.

Twelve donors donated $1,000 each on top of what the cow/calf pair sold for. The cow and calf were sold for $45,000. So in total, the cow and calf auctioned for around $57,000.

The twelve donors

Carl Ray Polk Jr. says in addition to the $57,000 raised, $800,000 was raised through donations across the U.S. from various donors, online donations, other auctions, and corporations. All of this money will be used to help ranchers affected by the panhandle.

Polk Jr. says that ranchers make up around 2% of the U.S. population and work to feed the other 98%. He added that the fire in the panhandle will impact that 2%.

“The cattle industry in Texas, the history of it, you have a bond. You open your gate, your friends are next door, and they help. You see as an example today in the amount of money that has been raised and put out into our foundation,” said Carl Ray Polk Jr.

“It’s awesome. The reason we do it is because ranchers help ranchers,” said Malazzo.