Honestly, I was surprised.
I received the annual listing of Texas farms and ranches to be recognized during the Texas Department of Agriculture's Family Land Heritage ceremony, and I only found four remotely connected to the region.
They were the Riddell Farm and Self Farm in Briscoe County, Dona's Place in Hall County, and the Barton Place in Motley County.
The program honors families who have kept their farm or ranch in continuous agricultural production for more than 100 years. Some now are being recognized for continuous production for more than 150 years.
I remember some years having as many as 13 farms and ranches from the region recognized during this special ceremony.
Trips to visit these families have given me a glimpse of the past, including intact dugouts, grocery receipts from before the turn of the century and plenty of old foundations, buildings and equipment.
It's hard to believe there are no farms or ranches in the Texas Panhandle proper that would have qualified for this honor.
In the past, families from Moore, Armstrong, Hemphill, Motley, Sherman, Hansford, Lipscomb, Hutchinson, Potter, Wheeler, Deaf Smith, Carson, Floyd, Briscoe, Collingsworth, Childress, Cottle, Gray, Swisher, Donley and Hall counties have submitted the paperwork.
On the other hand, it's not hard to believe we're slowing down on numbers.
Some of the earliest established ranches have already gone through the process and been recognized.
Also, much of the western Panhandle was involved in the XIT Ranch until the late 1920s and after, so no individual family could have owned land there for the required 100 years.
But the biggest reason there's not more may be the roller coaster economics the agriculture industry has been through. There have been some highs, but there have been many more lows.
Weathering the difficult times was tough. Many operations, even today, can't stand too many of the record low prices with record high expenses before they have to call it quits.
Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs says, "The families honored at the Family Land Heritage Ceremony have made an enormous contribution to the heritage of rural Texas and the history of Texas agriculture."
And she was right when she said, "The dedication of these families - especially those who have kept their properties in continuous production for more than 150 years - should be an inspiration to all Texans."
To those families being recognized on March 19 in Austin - Alton Leo Riddell, Zenobia Sue Self, Tommie Jo (Browning) Cruse, Dona Browning and Ronald and Waydetta Clay - congratulations on a job well done.
To all those others who have worked from dawn to dusk to hang on to their land and haven't yet been recognized, do so this next year. Put in the paperwork, because you deserve the credit.