Busy Week for the Texas Department of Agriculture

Last week was another busy week at TDA. We started off the week in Houston to roll out a new statewide fuel quality program to protect consumers from buying bad fuel. From there, I spoke to Brazos Valley leaders at their 2010 Economic Outlook Conference and met with leaders of the Texas Wildlife Association to discuss the upcoming legislative session.

I also spoke to local leaders with the Heart of Texas Council of Governments and welcomed Texas and out-of-state guests to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention in San Antonio.

Throughout my travels, I was reminded that Washington continues to push policies like Cap and Trade legislation that threaten our domestic food production. There also is an initiative aimed at extending the regulatory authority of the Clean Water Act to include the stock tanks on your farm or ranch.

We don’t need either of these proposals, and after traveling to meet with my colleagues across the state, I feel more strongly than ever that we must send a unified and powerful message to federal decision makers to discourage these federal encroachments.

No Texan deserves to be hungry

Last week I spoke to more than 250 representatives at Texas at the Table: Baylor University Hunger Summit. The forum was created to share solutions to end food insecurity in Texas by 2015. Unfortunately, right now we lead the nation in children who are food insecure.

USDA recently released a study showing that food insecurity hit a record high in 2008. The number of food-insecure U.S. households was up 31 percent in 2008. With so many food-insecure homes in the U.S. and Texas, I am concerned that the Obama administration and some in Congress are contemplating policies that will make food more expensive. For example Washington’s recent ideas to implement a cap-and-trade system and to require additional EPA permits for pesticide applicators and feedlots will undoubtedly drive food costs higher, widening the gap between those who can afford food and those who can’t.

To truly end hunger in Texas, we must work together and create programs where people who don’t make enough to support their families can earn the skills they need to be able to get better paying jobs. Americans enjoy the safest, most affordable food supply in the world. Texas is a prosperous state with tremendous resources. We must match those resources with those who are truly in need.

No Texan should ever go hungry. We can and must do better. You can make a difference by volunteering at your local food bank, offering to help with a home-delivered meals agency or by getting your mayor to accept the Texas Department of Agriculture Mayors Challenge. Click here to find out more.

Climate Change Summit

This morning I joined Gov. Perry and commissioners from the Texas Public Utility Commission, Railroad Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a climate change summit.

Right now it is critical for us to take a stand. The current administration and some in Congress are pushing an environmental agenda that threatens the very livelihood of Texas farmers and ranchers. We must navigate this debate with a balanced approach enlightened by the reality that a clean environment and a strong economy can co-exist, and likely can benefit from one another. You can hear a small portion of my speech by clicking here or read the full text below.

Thank you, Gov. Perry for your leadership on this issue. I want to also say thank you to commissioners from the Texas Public Utility Commission, Railroad Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Texas Commission for Environmental Quality for holding this climate change summit today.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (HR 2454) has been rightly called the Cap & Trade bill because if passed it will most assuredly cap economic activity, cap productivity and trade American jobs overseas.

In fact, it could have many names: it could be the
Pay More to Heat Your Home bill,
Pay More for the Food You Eat bill, or
Pay More for the Clothes You Wear bill.

At a time when Washington debates solutions for those without access to affordable healthcare in America, it contemplates this legislation, which will - if passed - add to the rolls of the uninsured.

How so? HR 2454 will add a new layer of uncertainty into the market place. It will, by the proponents’ own admission, increase the cost of energy and will be punitive not just to Texans, but to all Americans.

Uncertainty, volatility and lack of predictability freeze investment. In short, it costs jobs.

Cost of implementation of this legislation is all over the map. The most conservative estimates are from the bill sponsors, who say it will cost American families less than a postage stamp per day.

When did our country become so consumed with change that we have allowed our debate on policy to move from if it will cost, to who is right on how much it will cost?

Does anyone but me find it ironic they chose a postage stamp for a cost analogy? A stamp whose price tag has increased 144% since I graduated from high school in 1981. And, more importantly, the very future of our postal system is in doubt today.

American agriculture produces the safest, most affordable, most reliable food supply in the world.

HR 2454 threatens the ability for continued domestic food production.

The proponents’ own analysis says that total farm expenses could increase by $700 million each year. This is a far cry from the American Farm Bureau economists’ predictions that the bill will cost U.S. farmers approximately $5 billion in farm income each year by 2020, increasing to $13 billion annually by 2030.

They are not alone. The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says the economics don’t add up for agriculture. They say this is akin to playing Russian roulette on energy issues. They say we are forfeiting America’s competitiveness.

I am proud of the fact that in Texas, agriculture contributes almost 9.5 percent of our GSP. Texas leads the nation in the production of cattle, cotton, sheep and goats, and is among the leading states in the production of citrus, vegetables, poultry products, sorghum, wheat and rice.

USDA claims agriculture can see net benefits in the long-term. Do you want me to tell you how they define long term? 2048! What will the price of a postage stamp be then?

Consumers might ask: How many farmers will even survive to the middle of this century?

The recently completed U.S. Census of Agriculture says the average age of the U.S. farmer has risen to age 57. Alarmingly, the number of farmers under age 25 has decreased by 30 percent since 2002.

The biggest factors blocking access to young people entering production agriculture are volatility and increased costs. Volatility and increased costs are the only two certain elements with this proposed climate change legislation.

Americans do not like being dependent on foreign oil. We cannot, and we must not, become dependent on foreign food.

From the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Web site, the bill sponsors and advocates:

“Because of its balanced approach, the American Clean Energy and Security Act has received broad support from industry and environmentalists. Passage of the bill in the House was supported by electric utilities, oil companies, car companies, chemical companies, major manufacturers, environmental organizations, efficiency advocates, agricultural interests, labor organizations, and representatives of the faith community, among many others.”

I am a person of faith, and I’ll tell you what I believe: These guys just don’t get it.


An article from an American Farm Bureau publication points out, “Climate change supporters claim there will be droughts, floods, fire, loss of species, damage to agriculture, worsening air pollution and more, if the Senate does not pass the Climate Change bill.”


To draw from a recent Walter Williams article, “Are these the same people that in 1968 predicted there would be a major food shortage in the U.S., and in the 1970s, hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death.

“Or, in 1972, warned the world would run out of gold by 1981, mercury and silver by 1985, tin by 1987 and petroleum, copper, lead and natural gas by 1992.”

Either they are wrong or Texans are wrong. And we know Texans aren’t wrong. Here is how we know; it is supported by the facts. Let me tell you about the Texas experience.

In the last two years, if Texas were its own country, Texas had the highest GDP per person compared to the world’s largest economies. In a direct comparison of Texas with the U.S., U.K., Canada and France, Texas tops the charts at No. 1 in productivity per person.

Let me be perfectly clear: We must practice environmental stewardship. Agriculturalists are the original environmental stewards. Farmers know better than anyone you must take care of the land for it to take care of you.

In the words of our 34th President Dwight Eisenhower, “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”
Maybe Congress should continue this debate in the cornfields of America.

Texas Farm Bureau's Summer Commodity Conference

I spoke to several hundred members of the Texas Farm Bureau today in San Marcos as they gathered for the Summer Commodity Conference. The lack of meaningful eminent domain reform was very much on their minds, as was the “cap and trade” legislation that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a 219-212 vote.

The Texas Farm Bureau’s members worked extremely hard during this last legislative interim to build a grassroots and legislative consensus on meaningful eminent domain reform. At issue is the need to compensate landowners for loss of access and ensure negotiations are held in good faith. While they are disappointed and want to continue to push for these critically needed items, Farm Bureau members are pleased about the passage of House Joint Resolution 14, which will amend our state’s constitution to prohibit the condemnation of land for private use.

HJR 14 is on the ballot for Texas voters this November, and until then, I will work diligently for its passage. I appreciate Rep. Frank Corte and Sen. Bob Duncan for their work on this constitutional amendment.

Cap & Trade: Bad for America

I had the opportunity to address the Texas Ag Forum today here in Austin. The group covers a wide variety of agricultural leaders from all over Texas who are working together to discuss the major topics of our day.

Today's agenda covered climate change and the ongoing debate in Washington on the proposed Cap & Trade legislation. Depending on who is right, the cost for the proposed Cap & Trade bill is anywhere from a postage stamp per day for all Americans to nearly $5,000 a year for American families and increasing the cost of gasoline and diesel by 58% by the year 2035. In my opinion, the proposed legislation is bad for America, bad for consumers and bad for Texas farmers and ranchers.

But, you don't have to just take my word for it. Even a bi-partisan group of legislators is taking issue with the legislation. One thing I know, Americans don't like being dependent on foreign oil; I know they won’t like being dependent on foreign sources of food, which I believe this legislation will lead to if implemented.