FORT WORTH — Worn down by drought and dwindling water supplies, Trey Nickels was disheartened about his future as a farmer growing black-eyed peas in Muleshoe.
Tending crops spread across three West Texas counties, Nickels often ended up sleeping in the fields and was running himself ragged trying to keep complex irrigation and agricultural equipment running.
Rising land costs, stiff competition, falling prices and declining consumption of black-eyed peas added to his worries. Throw the stress of a divorce into the equation and Nickels was itching for a change.
