Marlene took a breath.
"I expect some parts of the system to perform better than conventional pasture during prolonged dry weather."
She paused.
"But I won't know exactly how much better until we live through one."
The audience remained quiet.
Then a third person asked why she'd continued after so many people told her to sell.
Marlene looked toward the photograph of her father displayed on the screen.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Finally, she said, "Because my father spent twenty years trying to understand why our land kept failing."
Her voice trembled.
"And I thought the least I could do was finish asking the questions."
The room began applauding.
Marlene looked down.
For a moment, she felt as though Curtis were sitting somewhere in the audience, wearing his old brown hat and smiling at the daughter he'd taught to pay attention.
The conference changed the business.
Not overnight.
And not because investors suddenly appeared offering millions of dollars.
Instead, Marlene began receiving inquiries from people interested in the practical work she'd done. Some wanted to learn about propagation. Others asked whether she would sell planting material once her nursery could support it. Several regional buyers contacted her about small, dependable supply contracts.
She also developed a relationship with a livestock nutritionist named Dr. Samuel Bennett.
He had worked with producers through drought conditions and was interested in how properly prepared cactus might contribute to emergency feeding strategies where other forage was limited.
Marlene invited him to the ranch.
They walked the fields.
He examined the mature plants and asked about harvest quantities, handling, and storage.
Then they discussed what the operation could realistically provide in an emergency.
Samuel was careful.
He warned against assuming that abundant green material automatically meant complete feed.
He explained the importance of suitable processing, gradual dietary changes, complementary forage, and veterinary oversight.
Marlene listened.
Then asked whether he believed the ranch could maintain a reserve for drought.
He considered the question.
"With planning, possibly."
She nodded.
"What would you need to know?"
Samuel smiled.
"Quite a lot."
Marlene laughed.
"Then we'd better get started."
For the next year, she worked with qualified advisers to develop realistic estimates of usable forage, harvesting capacity, and the limits of what the ranch could supply. The planning included transport needs, safe preparation, and the recognition that emergency cactus feed would be only one part of keeping animals healthy.
She didn't announce the project to the three ranchers who had mocked her.
She wasn't trying to impress them.
She was trying to prepare for a year that she hoped would never come.