Carrollton Farmer Sees Region Transformed by Oil and Gas Royalties

Larry Jenkins, co-owner of Jenkins Farms LLC, has lived in Carrollton his entire life. Farming has run in his family for generations: his grandfather bought the farm in 1954, passing it on to Larry’s’ father, who took over the farm until he retired in 2011. Now, Larry and his brother are 50/50 partners and take care of the farm together.

Over the years Larry said things were tough on the farm. Ultimately, it led to Larry and his brother leaving the farm for a while.

“I worked for different companies in the area and did sales and stuff like that, but my whole time and life I’ve always wanted to be back on the farm,” said Larry.

In 2010, Larry’s father was planning to sell the farm, but in the end the Jenkins family made an agreement with Rex Energy allowing Larry and his brother to take over.

“The future on our farm was Dad was going to sell it, and that was going to be his retirement, and the gas and oil has allowed him to retire with enough money that he feels that he needs and was able to hand everything over to my brother and I — it changed his life and our lives,” said Larry.

Larry says that oil and gas companies have brought jobs to area and have also allowed people to make money off selling or leasing their land and royalties. Most importantly, Larry says he admires how these companies, such as his friends at Gateway Royalty, give back to the community.

Gateway Royalty first met Larry at the 2012 Carrollton Fair. Chris Oldham and Doug Green were bidding on animals brought to the fair by kids in the local 4-H program.

“I was bidding against them, they were bidding against me and we had a lot of fun doing it and that’s where our friendship was struck right there,” said Jenkins.

Jenkins says he was impressed with Gateway Royalty when they bought one of the first animals of the auction.

“They paid a tremendous amount of money for it, considering that it used to be you could buy the grand champion for six or seven dollars a pound. They were paying like ten or eleven dollars, so they were almost doubling it.”

Beyond the county fair, Jenkins says Gateway Royalty has been a blessing to Carrollton. The once predominantly agricultural community has found new ways to grow its economy, and Gateway Royalty has been instrumental in this transformation.

“I’ve seen Gateway pay off mortgages, I’ve seen them set up college funds for kids,” said Jenkins. “A lot of people that I’ve seen struggling are back on their feet thanks to Gateway.”