Remembering the voice of Texas agriculture Horace McQueen
The voice of agriculture in Texas for more than three decades, Horace McQueen, 86, passed away Wednesday.
For more than 36 years, thousands of East Texans started their day with McQueen greeting them with 'Pleasant good morning to you,' on his popular Farm and Ranch News on KTRE-TV in Lufkin and KLTV-TV in Tyler.
McQueen was born July 3, 1938, in Crockett to Thomas F. and F.L. McQueen.
In 1955, McQueen caught a calf during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's calf scramble. The following year, he returned with that calf and was awarded Grand Champion Brahman Heifer. His heifer sold for $700 and those funds, plus another scholarship he earned, allowed him to enroll at Texas A&M University to study agricultural journalism.
After graduation, McQueen served as an associate editor for the National Future Farmers American magazine in Alexandria, Virginia, from 1960 to 1961.
He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he served as regional editor for Farm & Ranch Magazine.
He was later hired by the Extension Service to be a field editor in West Texas.
In 1964, he and fellow Texas A&M graduate Jack Tompkins started the Farm and Ranch News broadcasting on TV stations in Lubbock, Abilene, Midland/Odessa and Big Spring.
In 1973, he moved back to East Texas and started broadcasting the Farm and Ranch News on KLTV-Channel 7 in Tyler and KTRE-Channel 9 in Lufkin.
In addition to being a popular TV farm broadcaster, he's been an influential voice for agriculture in Washington and abroad. During his career, he met with four U.S. presidents and regularly traveled to Washington to speak with top economists and leaders. He also led several agricultural delegations to Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
After selling his TV show in 2000, McQueen continued to inform East Texans with a morning radio show, and wrote a weekly newspaper column for several East Texas newspapers, including the Palestine Herald-Press.
McQueen has been honored with many awards in his lifetime, including being named the Farm Broadcaster of the Year by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, Man of the Year in Texas Agriculture by the Texas County Ag Agents Association, and being honored by Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with their Outstanding Alumni Award in 2012.
In 2023, McQueen received the Ralph W. Steen East Texan of the Year award. The Steen award honors individuals who play major roles in leadership and service to Deep East Texas. DETCOG President and Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison said Horace McQueen fit the bill perfectly.
I was so sorry to hear of Horace's passing. He was a beloved institution in East Texas, and the most knowledgeable person I know about anything related to agriculture. Horace was a great ambassador for us around the world. And as he often said, 'if you eat, you're involved in agriculture.' After he retired from his television show, it was my pleasure to interact with him on a daily basis for several years on his morning radio show. He will be greatly missed, and I'm praying for Carole and his family.
"In 2022 DETCOG honored Horace with our most prestigious award, the Ralph W. Steen East Texan of the Year Award," said Lonnie Hunt, executive director of DETCOG. "We were thrilled that Horace was able to attend the presentation. He was in a wheelchair, so we took a wireless mic and made the presentation at his table. Once he had that microphone in his hand, the old broadcaster instantly came out. He never missed a beat, regaling the audience with stories about past experiences, including a connection he had with Ralph Steen. It was a great day."
McQueen and his wife Carole have four children. The McQueens, who lived in Grapeland, have raised cattle and timber and been involved in real estate as well as oil and gas production.
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