"Well, Texas is a lot better than Kansas," he offers. "Least ya'll got scenery, isn't just flat as far as y'can see. They got stockyards up in Kansas City, big ones, but that...I didn't ever work in 'em."

A pause, as he has a drink.

"My daddy had a farm jus'outside of New Orleans, between Avondale an' Westwego."

Keyword: had

(It's close enough to the truth that he can lie about it without batting an eyelash. The details are the same - minus adapted crops to fit the local agriculture. The location is different, after all.)

"Sugarcane. Wasn't nearly as big an operation as ya'll got out here, though."