Jim Hauser

Jim Houser

St. Johns - Apache County

Inducted in 2008

Introduction to the Hall of Fame is only sometimes about longevity. Longevity is a requirement for a pioneer; however, sometimes, it is an inductee’s attitude or philosophy of life that impresses people and initiates the nomination process. One such example is Jim Hauser. He conducted all of his business on “handshakes.” As he so well states, “…a man is no better than his word.” This attitude is Arizona. 

Given previous histories, Jim Hauser is the “new kid” on the block since his dad moved his family to Arizona from Iowa in 1951. However, what he lacked in Arizona heritage was more than accommodated by his willingness to work with anyone, including some of Arizona’s biggest founding families, on just about anything and conclude the business deal with a “handshake.”

It is rare in today’s world to do business without all the legalese of written contracts and binding agreements, but Northern Arizona farmer Jim Hauser has been doing it all of his life. A unique businessman, he has never had a written agreement with anyone in his years of renting, leasing, and dealing with water shares. His words and his handshake are his bond. He has built a reputation in the agricultural community that supersedes the need for lawyers and agreeing to a deal. “Well, I’ll tell you what a fellow told me years ago when we lived in Tolleson,” he said. “I bought some calves from him. We loaded them. He told me where to go to weigh them, and I asked if I was going along.” He says, “No, a man is no better than his word. That kind of stuck by me, I guess.”

Born into a farming family in 1936, Jim could drive a tractor before he was old enough to attend school. By age twelve, he had the Grand Champion steer at the Butler County Fair in Iowa.  I was born in Iowa, and my dad was a farmer,” he said. “He got asthma real bad and had to look for a drier climate. He had a brother who lived here in the Phoenix area, and he came out one Christmas vacation when we were home from school to do the chores. He never had to take any medication, so when he returned, he put his farm and everything up for sale. We moved to Arizona in 1951.

Making their home in Scottsdale, Jim’s Dad bought trucks and hauled citrus and dates. “He bought a citrus grove at 44th Street and Indian School Road in Scottsdale,” he remembers. At the time, the younger Hauser was a freshman at Scottsdale High School. It wasn’t long before civilization began to encroach on Hauser’s operation. He packed up and moved to Tolleson, where he continued farming and headquartered his trucking business. 

Farming is the only life Jim has ever known, and he loves it. After graduating from high school, he worked for Walter Zum Mallen in the Glendale area. 

In 1958, he made a move that changed his life. He went to work for Warren Pyle doing custom farming in the West Valley. “I worked for him and some other farmers in West Phoenix.”  It was an advantageous move on his part. He married the farmer’s daughter, Kay Pyle, in 1960.

In 1962, the couple’s good friend, Tolleson cotton Grower Don Van Horn, sold his farm and purchased a 76,000-acre ranch in a desolate area of western Utah along the Nevada border. Jim and Kay moved with the Van Horns, managed the ranch, and raised alfalfa, seed, cattle, hogs, and sheep. 

After two years, they were ready to come home to Arizona. “I worked down in the Valley several months, and then we leased a place in the St. John’s area, Hunt Valley, and we farmed. We moved here in ’64. In 1966, we moved into St. Johns.” 

Jim said, “I was working for a fellow, and they had a farm and ranch here in the St. Johns area.” The fellow for whom he worked was Rob Roy Patterson, one of the area's pioneering families. He continued to work for them for the next forty years, managing their feedlot, which wintered 1,300 head of cattle. He farmed their land on a custom basis and did custom work for several other Apache County residents with small 10 to 40-acre parcels. It was a busy life as he was farming his land simultaneously. At the peak of his farming and ranching operations in Apache County, he worked approximately 1,500 acres, growing alfalfa, winter wheat, sorghum silage, Milo, and Sudangrass. “Wheat does well in this country, but we haven't had much water for the last 15 years or more. It’s primary alfalfa right now…and Sudangrass. We grow lots of Sudangrass. It doesn’t take as much water as some other crops.”

The area’s water supply comes from Lyman Lake. “In the Hunt area where I had a farm, it’s all pump water. The water was good water and shallow. It’s a good area to farm in.”

Jim & Kaye Hauser

An innovator, Jim bought a round baler to help with haying and changed the look of haying in Apache County. The bales needed a spear loader. Not having a spear, Jim set about building one on a front-end loader. “Boy, that round baler saves lots of leg work in this country. I’ve hauled hay most of my life, which spoils you when you don’t have to handle it. That’s how we now handle all of our hay,” he said.

Between 2003 and 2005, Jim was asked to custom farm some newly cultivated land on a mesa seven miles south of St. Johns. “It was a potato farm,” he said. “They put in four pivots, 120 acres per pivot, and raised potatoes for about three years. They lost so much money that they quit the potatoes, and I leased it from them for about three years. I just raised cattle feed on it…horse feed. Tucson Power Plant bought it for the water. That’s the end of it. We can’t pump any more water.”

During the 27 years Jim and Kay owned the 160 acres in Hunt Valley, he worked with the University of Arizona Extension program testing eight different varieties of sorghum to determine which grew best in Apache County and Northern Arizona. His efforts yielded a record 6593 lbs per acre of NK Savanna I grain sorghum. His crops were taken from the Apache County Fair to the State Fair.

Jim and Kay have two sons and one daughter, who grew up helping on the farm. “When my boys got old enough, I used them when they were available all the time. Now I’m using grandkids. I hire whatever help I need, but not too much anymore,” he said.

The boys earned Agricultural Economics degrees from BYU and returned home to St. Johns to live and work. Mike is the University of Arizona Ag Extension Agent and 4-H director. Dale works for the county Engineer. Their daughter, Dian, and her family live in Mesa. The three have presented Jim and Kay with 16 grandchildren, eight boys and eight girls. The grandsons spend as much time as possible helping on the farm, and now there are three great-grandchildren. Jim and Kay have been members of the Farm Bureau for over 45 years. Each has served in Various positions with the Apache County Farm Bureau.  Jim was president from 1971 to 1975 and has served on the board from 1975 to the present. Kay held the positions of Secretary, Insurance Agent, and Women’s Chair.

Being a farmer has been his only occupation, and Jim has been the only full-time farmer in Apache County for over 44 years. His youngest brother Don continues to farm in the Tolleson/Avondale area, and his brother Dick and son Kevin have farmed in Chino Valley and Camp Verde. 

Retirement and quit have never been in Jim’s vocabulary. He will continue to farm for as long as he is able.

Affiliations

Apache County Farm Bureau - President

Apache County Farm Bureau – board member

Lyman Lake Water Company – board member

St. John’s Irrigation Company – board member

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Board – President/board member, 12 years

Farm Service Agency (formerly ASCS) – President

Tolleson Chapter Maricopa County Farm Bureau- Member