Since 1849 in Comal County, Cody Elbel’s family has been running a farm operation. As a part of the FFA program for nine years, competing in steer showing (SAE), creed speaking (LDE), meat judging (CDE), three tractor restorations (SAE) and varsity shotgun Ag381, Elbel’s life revolves around agriculture. For Elbel’s last high school ag project, he is restoring a tractor to display at the ag show.

“The tractor is the under-appreciated section of agriculture that even allowed our society to advance in the manor it did,” Cody Elbel said. “I appreciate antique tractors, and at this point would like to give my knowledge of ag mechanics to others.”

Elbel spends his free time in the agriculture barn working on his tractor and offering his knowledge and skills to his friends and those around him, enjoying every minute that he gets to allow others to learn something new. Elbel is passionate about what he does, his eyes light up at the mention of his newest project and he smiles ear to ear as he explains why he loves what he does.

“My most influential person in my life is my dad, and my mother goes hand in hand,” Elbel said. “They put forth their best effort, are courteous, ethical and work diligently.”

Not only does he work day in and day out on his agriculture project, Elbel also runs a 180+ head (cow) ranch on 1,240 acres alongside his father who also owns the Elbel Vet Clinic located on their ranch off of HWY 46. This ranch is the center of his family’s life and takes countless hours of hard work as well as an endless amount of money to run.

“Farming is an honorable career choice and is important to our society,” Elbel said.

In Elbel’s spare time he restores his great-grandfather’s house, built in 1899. The house shows wear from weather, but is coming back to life with Elbel’s hard work and dedication. Between re-doing the flooring and restoring the wooden walls, Elbel completed the majority of the restoration on his own. He glows whenever he gets the opportunity to show off the improvements completed, the pride he holds in his work makes him appear like a kid in a candy shop.

“He’s really caring, will do anything for you if you need it, giving, patient, loyal,” Elbel’s best friend junior Aiden Ortman, said.

Even though Ortman attends Bracken Christian School, him and Elbel continue to remain close friends in a variety of adventures and restoration projects.

“We have been friends for eight years,” Elbel said, “and he has always supported me and kept me in check.”

Elbel dreams of following in his parent’s footsteps and becoming a Veterinarian. He works day and night to keep the farm running as well as taking AP courses and working to keep his grades as high as possible as he hopes to attend Oklahoma State University or A&M University.

Eventually, he plans to run his family’s ranch as well as the vet clinic, just as his father has done for as long as he can remember.