Texas’ Fight Against the Screwworm Will Be Nasty and Brutish
And with any luck, it’ll also be short.
agriculture
Documents Show Financial Entanglements Between Trump’s USDA Pick and Agribusiness
Mindy Brashears, a Texas Tech animal scientist nominated by Trump to lead the food safety arm of the USDA, is deeply embedded in the agribusiness industry.
Texas Farmers are Fed Up With Trump’s Trade War, but Most Stop Short of Blaming Him
The state’s dominant ag products, valued at $18 billion, are in the crosshairs of retaliatory tariffs. Still, most farmers here are hesitant to criticize Trump.
Texas Congressmen Plow Billions into Agribusiness While Proposing to Cut Food Stamps
Mike Conaway and Jodey Arrington are pushing for stricter work requirements for food stamp recipients while helping big commodity farmers rake in billions in government cheese.
Trump’s Trade Disputes with NAFTA Partners Imperil Texas Ag Exports
The president has levied tariffs on aluminum and steel from Canada and Mexico, and they’ve responded in kind. Texas farmers and ranchers worry the dust-up could endanger ag exports to the NAFTA partners.
Drinking the Kool-Aid at the Garden of Eden
Searching for community at a North Texas “ecovillage.”
New Estimate Puts Harvey Agriculture Losses at $200 Million, One-Tenth of Irma
The figure is only one-fifth of Hurricane Ike’s $1 billion agriculture losses and one-tenth of Irma’s.
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Immigrant Workers in Texas Could Fill Farm Vacancies, but They’re Trapped in the Valley
Immigration checkpoints are keeping undocumented immigrants in South Texas while farmers in other parts of the state are desperate for labor.
Reports of Livestock Deaths, Other Ag Losses Trickle in After Harvey
The Texas Animal Health Commission and USDA, however, are mum on an estimated death toll.
Introducing the Texas Observer’s Rural Reporting Project
Texas has the biggest rural population in the nation, yet many journalists treat much of the state as flyover country.