Land Clearing in Crystal City, TX

Land clearing on Winter Garden farms and ranches

Crystal City grew out of the Cross S Ranch, which new owners bought in 1905 and cut into farms. The city says its name came from the clear artesian water of the area. By the 1930s, it was known as the Spinach Capital of the World. A Popeye statue went up across from City Hall in 1937, and the Spinach Festival still runs each fall.

When the small-farm boom ended in the 1930s, much of the Winter Garden went back to ranch land. Irrigated farming carried on as a large-scale business. In the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Zavala County ranked third in Texas for vegetable sales. Even so, pasture covered about 563,000 of its 741,000 farm acres.

Nearly half the county's farms ran 1,000 acres or more, and only about 3 percent of farm land was irrigated. That mix puts irrigated fields next to brush pasture. The county appraisal district lists typical practices for row crops, and the first is land clear of brush. We clear field edges and pasture back to the line you set, and the mulch stays as ground cover.

Soils and the Nueces River around Crystal City

The Nueces River runs past the east side of town. Upper Nueces Lake sits on the river about six miles north. In the NRCS soil survey, much of the ground along the river east of town is Winterhaven silty clay loam. That deep, well-drained soil is the most common one around town, used mainly as rangeland and irrigated cropland.

Uvalde clay loam and Montell clay come next. Montell clay takes in water fast through its dry cracks. Once the clay is wet and the cracks close, water moves through it very slowly. We set machine work on that clay for a day when the ground can carry the skid steer.

Along creek bottoms like Turkey Creek and Capota Creek, the NRCS maps Cochina clay, which floods occasionally to frequently. Large mesquite dominates that ground, and oak and elm can make up much of the canopy along the banks. Selective clearing there takes out the brush and keeps the trees you mark.

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Crystal City show about 19.5 inches of rain a year. May and September are the wettest months, and August highs average about 99 degrees.

Who handles permits and ag valuations in Crystal City?

Inside city limits, the City of Crystal City's code enforcement office issues building permits and electrical permits. It also takes mobile home permit applications. Before clearing a lot for a new house or a mobile home, ask City Hall what the project needs.

In Census figures, the median home in town was built in 1973. About 1 in 7 homes is a mobile home. Water and sewer taps go through the city's utilities department.

Outside town, the Zavala County Utility Department keeps the county's subdivision rules and on-site sewage forms. The county also posts burn bans on its website. Forestry mulching grinds the brush into mulch that stays on the ground as cover.

The Zavala Central Appraisal District, in Crystal City, handles ag and wildlife valuations for the county. Its policy calls ag valuation a special use appraisal, not an exemption. Land must already carry an ag valuation before it can move to wildlife management use. We do the brush management a wildlife plan calls for, and the appraisal district decides what qualifies.

Ranch fences and Eagle Ford easements in Zavala County

The appraisal district's ag policy spells out the typical Zavala County fence. It is net wire and barbed wire on pipe H braces at the ends and gates. Pipe posts go every 100 feet, with steel T-posts every 20 feet between them. For an exotic animal operation, the district notes a seven to eight foot perimeter fence may be needed.

A new fence like that starts with a clear line and post holes for the pipe posts. We handle fence line clearing and post hole digging at the spacing your fence builder gives. Your fence crew builds the fence itself.

Zavala County is one of the Eagle Ford Shale counties the Railroad Commission of Texas lists. The county requires a permit before new pipeline work on county property or along a county road. The pipeline company applies for it. Smaller operators can bring us in as an extra machine for right of way clearing on easements and around pads.