issue 39 of Ag Mag by THEAGMAG

Michelle Martin

Owner/Editor michelle@theagmag.org (956) 330-8870

James 1:19 “ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”

A Letter from the Editor Do you remember that story in the Bible about the tower of Babylon, where everyone suddenly was speaking different languages, there was chaos everywhere and they couldn’t finish a project because they could not communicate with one another? I kind of feel like that is where we are in today’s world. Communication is key. Ever heard that saying? How many times have you communicated things to your kids, family, co-workers, and friends only to find that your communication wasn’t clear because what you communicated obviously got lost in translation? I can’t tell you how many times I have asked my son and husband to do something that either doesn’t get done or wasn’t done right. So, the problem lies in one of two areas -- either I don’t communicate properly or they have trouble listening. Most the time it’s the way I communicate. Look at the state of today’s world. It is not in the most ideal state. It is depressing how divided we are. I have tried to wrap my mind around how our nation arrived here. For one, we have lost faith in Jesus, and we have forgotten how to communicate. I know this is a hot topic and I never discuss politics, but I feel God is just letting my fingers move across the keyboard right now, so here it goes. I believe we have become so divided because somewhere along the timeline we have forgotten how to communicate efficiently and respectfully. The joys of being you is you make choices, and have the freedom to think the way we so choose. However, as our technological advances keep advancing, our communication is digressing. We feel we can say whatever we want behind a keyboard and it’s acceptable. Many of the younger generation do not know how to spell because spell check does it for them (I’m guilty of this as well), or do simple math because we have the calculator right there. (Also guilty.) All the information you could want is right there on the internet (and it has to be true because it’s on the internet right?) Now, with COVID-19, we are doing everything behind a computer or phone, which is limiting our social interactions with one another. This affects all of us from grandparents, to children (where social interaction is crucial for development.) We all communicate differently and that is what makes everyone unique, but I think that “good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.” Unfortunately, we are off the bridge and drowning. The leadership on both sides have not been clear with us. We have no clue what is the truth, what is a lie. Therefore how can we communicate clearly and efficiently? No clue, but one thing is, we can do it respectfully. During this past year and start of 2021 instead of searching for answers, have you stopped and prayed, asking God to show us how to communicate, to help us have some sort of clarity? While we may be all so confused, angry and tired of this, we must know God always knows how to show us and give us answers. We just need to listen. Sometimes the biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand, we listen to reply. Take a step back, breathe and know GOD will prevail through all of this. Just listen.

Owner/Creator of AG MAG

In This Issue:

Al Benavides

Graphic Designer (956) 492-6407

6. Hemp Farming 8. To Treat, Or Not To Treat 12. Looking Forward - Focusing On 2021 16. Early Challenges And Big Picture Questions Loom For A New President 20. Veterans Day 22. 2020 RGV Veggie Show 26. Speculators Traded Plenty Of Bullish News As 2020 Closes 28. IOWA: Building Resilience Through Conservation Partnerships 32. Using Drones To Detect Cotton Root Rot Disease 33. Higher And More Stable Returns From Whole Cottonseed 38. FEATURED FARMER: La Muñeca Legacy 40. Beaver Vineyards 44. Showin’ On The Rio 50. The key To Success For A Beginning Farmer/Rancher 56. First Ten U.S. Mills Sign Up To The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol 58. Agriculture and Social Media “The Perfect Pair” 62. “BULL-FIT” 68. The Path In Front Of You Year 7, Issue 39 January/February 2021. No part of this publication can be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ag Mag reserves the right to edit, rewrite or refuse editorial materials and assumes no responsibility for accuracy, errors, omissions or consequence arising from it. All correspondence to the publication become the property of Ag Mag. Ag Mag is published bi-monthly ©2021. To advertise in Ag Mag, call (956) 330-8870 or email michelle@theagmag.org

HEMP FARMING TAKE IT FROM ME BY ALEXANDRA CLARKE (@THEHEMPFARMERSWIFE)

A Retrospective Look from the Hemp Farmer’s Wife

s Texas enters the second sea son to legally grow industrial hemp under the Texas Depart ment of Agriculture’s hemp program, it’s timely for me to share my family farm’s experiences. Please let our mistakes, triumphs, and everything in between help inform your hemp ambitions. Our farm, Colorado Hemp Solutions, has seen it all since 2016. It has been everything but easy, but the fact that I am still here to share our experience must mean something. Before a seed is ever propagated or planted, consider this: 1) You will create a strain on your existing businesses and crops. In order to build a model that works for the long term, good and reliable teammates will be your greatest assets. Choose them wisely. You’ll need ready hands, committed partners, willing bankers, and realistic forecasts and expectations. 2) Start small and intentionally learn lessons on a small scale. Only gamble what you’re willing to lose. 3) Hemp farming is a lot more work than you might imagine. The time and effort required is more similar to gardening and nursery work than row crop 6

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farming. One acre of hemp grown for extraction is not equal to one acre of wheat, cotton, corn, etc. when considering labor and other inputs. In animal terms, my husband often tells people that hemp farming is a lot like running a dairy, whereas other crops might be more akin to running a feedlot. 4) The rules will constantly change; you need to be ready to pivot. The FDA, DEA, USDA, and state agencies continue to change their guidelines as we all learn more about the plant and its molecular behavior. We should anticipate the FDA will present strict guidelines as they learn more about side effects, maximum daily dosage, and THC levels. All of that affects how hemp is farmed for its derivatives. When considering hemp grown for fiber, the market still has a long way to go before we can consider it stable. Forecasting is difficult; be ready for each grow season to look very different than the last. 5) Even though the hemp industry is still considered new in states like Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Florida, it’s much more mature in states like Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon. Industry-wide, the only growth in acreage accounted for in 2020 came from states with new hemp programs. This illustrates

that the hemp industry is no longer a shiny new ball; it is beginning to define itself. 6) You are likely to encounter bad actors who exist to take advantage of the ignorance and eagerness of farmers. Talk is only talk. Anytime you hear promises of making $50,000-$100,000 per acre, a screeching alarm should go off in your head. Don’t get caught up in the money in the sky; it is not real. 7) Hemp is very difficult to sell, and impossible to sell if you do not understand what you are selling. Study the plant beyond the farming of it. Gain a good understanding of extraction and processing science and techniques so you are better prepared to serve your customers. Study industry leaders and support trade organizations; you do not have to exist on an island. 8) You must have faith in the plant and the molecules it produces that help people and animals. Other motivators like money, fame, and fortune will fail you. You know farming is not easy, and I am here to tell you that “hempin’ ain’t easy” either. Faith in the good that you are doing will be necessary to carry you through the hard times. I am not here to scare anyone away from the hemp industry. In fact, we need more like-minded and hardworking farmers to join us. Good people want to do business with good people, and there are none finer than y’all. J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

To treat, or not to treat

BY DEREK FLETCHER, Sulphuric Rock, Arkansas

s 2020 comes to an end, we have owned now three different chicken farms. The one we own and operate presently is a six mega-house broiler farm operation, growing approximately a hundred and fifty thousand chickens per flock, four times annually. And even though the mortgage is my own, the company I grow for dictates when and how I grow chickens. The chickens belong to the company. The company is fully integrated, which means it operates a breeder division, a hatchery, supplying the baby chicks, the transportation and logistics, feeding the birds, instruction during the course of the grow out… and at the end of the flock, usually around 60 days, the company is responsible for catching and transporting those chickens to their own processing plant in town. My family makes a good living out here. It would be impossible for us to do so any other way. We did not inherit the land. We have a guaranteed price for our product. And we have a long-term contract. This is paramount to securing the $3 million loan it took to build this place. I don’t know how we would have done that for row crop land,

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or for cattle, and still make it cash flow. So we are grateful for this opportunity to live the rural lifestyle, and still have most of the amenities we desire. On the downside, there is always the politics of the day, which helps to form public opinion, and the companies who want to make money from the public also conform to the politics of the day. For example, the antibiotics issue. And yes it is still an issue. As you are probably aware from walking the freezer aisle at the grocery store, “antibioticfree” and “organic” chicken has taken centerstage. Even fast food restaurants advertise their antibiotic-free and organic chicken and beef. As an educated human, I understand the dilemma. There is no doubt, that companies were relying on antibiotics as a preventative for many diseases. Chickens are, after all, grown in flocks in confined spaces. When a chicken gets sick it is a matter of hours before the entire flock can be affected. Throughout the 1990s in the early 2000s, there began what seemed to be a public outcry for control of the adminis-

tration of antibiotics. Truthfully, there were a small group of vegetarians and animal rights activists who started the movement. And with the help of the media, and Hollywood, the antibiotic-free craze grew. Food and restaurant companies actually started to convince the public that antibiotic-free was the way to go. After all, it had become a “public health crisis”. People, supposedly, were becoming resistant to antibiotic treatment when they were sick. And this was caused mainly, according to the experts, by too many antibiotics in our food. Now let’s consider the flipside shall we? So we took antibiotics out of the chickens’ diet. We took antibiotics out of the treatment possibilities. And now, when one chicken falls victim to a disease, it is only a matter of a day or two that the entire flock is infected. It is against the rules now to treat them. All we can do as farmers, as growers, as caretakers… Is to watch them die and pick them up and put them in the compost shed to be used as fertilizer later. In fact, I now have the most expensive fertilizer I’ve ever had in my life. Last flock, my employees and I carried out 12% of the total flocks produced. Twelve Percent. Dead birds. That was my profit and more. The other eighty-eight percent that made it to slaughter… well, the majority of them were sick, too. And there was nothing I could do to treat them. And it is now the new normal. Two years ago our average mortality rate was 3%. Now it is more than 10%. I wonder, where are the animal rights activists now? They got what they wanted. Nay, what they really wanted was for the chicken companies to go out of business. They want everyone to eat plants. And the chicken companies? Why don’t they fight against this movement? Money. Go to your grocery store aisle and look at the chicken. You will find that antibiotic-free chicken is usually twice the cost of chicken that is not antibiotic free. Some brands are charging three times more, especially if they label it as “organic”. All the while, those same companies are saving millions of dollars annually NOT buying antibiotics. Do you think Tyson, the largest chicken producer in the world in terms of number of head slaughtered, cares about your health? That’s an honest question. They care about profit. As always, follow the money and you will find the answers.

So chicken growers all over the country, are now operating with higher costs; land costs, labor costs, computer and equipment costs, electricity costs, tractor costs…and less profit than ever before. We are literally carrying our profits out the door to the compost shed. Supposedly, it is the consumer that drives this demand for antibiotic-free and organic meat. Did you know that chicken was once the most economical and affordable protein product in the world. These days its fifth, behind whole milk, canned tuna, lentils, and chickpeas. And now, you can pay $10 for a chicken sandwich. One day soon you might very well pay closer to $20. But the farmer won’t be making any more money than she is now. She’ll just have more paperwork to fill out. The answer, of course, is somewhere in the middle. As always the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. We went from companies over-doing the antibiotics and using them as preventative, to not using them at all. Even when the humanitarian thing to do is to treat the animals. But we don’t. There is no common sense to this. Only profit. And the animal rights activists… They’ll never be happy until meat is off the menu. The answer is to treat chickens like we do people. When they are sick we need to diagnose it, and treat it. Responsibly. After all, if you can treat the chickens and keep the 3% mortality from turning into 12%, then the world will have less waste (and less expensive fertilizer). And, humans will be consuming fewer sick chickens. We, the farmers, are the stewards of the animals. Animal care is paramount to what we do. We need to find a healthy balance between too much and none at all when it comes to administering antibiotics. After all, I don’t want to eat a sick chicken. Do you?

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

BY PAUL SCHATTENBERG

Texas A&M AgriLife researchers make breakthrough in fighting agricultural plant diseases New screening method to expedite solutions for citrus greening, other ‘fastidious’ diseases Texas A&M AgriLife researchers have made a discovery that will help combat fastidious pathogens, which cost U.S. agriculture alone billions of dollars annually. For the past few years, Kranthi Mandadi, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist and associate professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, along with his colleagues, has been working on developing new biological technologies to fight fastidious or “unculturable” pathogens. Mandadi and members of his team are based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco. The results of their work, “Plant hairy roots enable high throughput identification of new antimicrobials against Candidatus Liberibacter spp.” were recently published in Nature Communications.

Fastidious plant diseases and their costs Fastidious plant pathogens infect citrus, tomatoes, potatoes, grapes, peppers and other crops grown throughout Texas. Often transmitted by insect vectors, these disease agents cause billions of dollars of damage each year. The U.S. citrus industry alone would save $3 billion per year through control of just one of these diseases — citrus greening. Additionally, the fastidious pathogen that causes Pierce’s Disease in grapes is the No.1 threat to the $1 billion wine industry in Texas. “Currently, invasive fastidious pathogens are causing several major outbreaks in row crops, specialty crops and citrus, with immense costs to Texas and the U.S.,” said Juan Landivar, Ph.D., director of the AgriLife center at Weslaco, which has been involved in efforts to combat fastidious plant pathogens for many years. Landivar said an expanded effort against fastidious plant diseases would protect the health of crops, environments, economies and people across the country.

Kranthi Mandadi, Ph.D., inspects a grapefruit for citrus greening. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

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A way to grow “unculturable” bacteria Some plant pathogens can be grown as pure cultures in the laboratory in the presence of artificial nutrient solutions. Being able to culture disease agents in the lab facilitates their study by providing researchers with a reliable supply of experimental material. However, an estimated 99% of bacteria in the world are fastidious, or unable to grow outside their native environment. “The greatest obstacle to understanding and controlling fastidious pathogens was the inability to cultivate them in a laboratory setting and to screen for lots of potential therapies,” said Leland “Sandy” Pierson, Ph.D., professor and head of Texas A&M’s Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. “But Dr. Mandadi and his team have developed a breakthrough method as an alternative means to propagate fastidious bacteria. These bacteria are believed to be responsible for Huanglongbing, also known as citrus greening disease, and other insect-vectored diseases such as potato zebra chip and tomato vein greening disease.”

Interior of oranges impacted by citrus greening. (Texas A&M photo)

The breakthrough came in the form of the “hairy root” system. This technology utilizes the pathogen-infected host tissues to produce so-called hairy roots that can serve as biological vessels for the propagation of these pathogens in the laboratory. “Classical microbiological techniques developed early in the 19th century cultured animal and mammalian viruses in host cells, tissues and embryonated eggs,” Mandadi said. “In a similar manner, we hypothesized that plant hairy roots could be suitable for propagating fastidious pathogens. And indeed, hairy roots supported the accumulation and growth of fastidious plant bacteria.” Microbial hairy roots appear similar to normal root tissues that develop from the plant and mimic a bacterium’s natural environment, he said. This allows the growth of the fastidious pathogens in controlled laboratory conditions.

Expedited screening for antimicrobial treatments While microbial hairy root cultures are not traditional “pure” test tube cultures, they allow on-demand access to the fastidious bacterium in the laboratory. This enables the expedited screening of diverse antimicrobials like chemical inhibitors, immune modulators as well as gene/CRISPR-based therapies. Other advantages are that hairy root cultures are easy to produce in the laboratory and can be maintained for several months to a year in laboratory growth chambers. Depending on the pathogen and the efficacy of screening, it is also at least four times faster than conventional screening methods, according to Sonia Irigoyen, Ph.D., and Manikandan Ramasamy, Ph.D., both AgriLife Research scientists and co-authors of the study. In addition, the hairy root bioassays are scalable, so they can be used to pre-screen from a few to several hundred potential therapies simultaneously in a high-throughput manner. The microbial hairy root system can also be used to obtain mechanistic insights into antimicrobial function.

Southern Gardens Citrus, a subsidiary of U.S. Sugar in Florida, has partnered with Texas A&M to commercialize the hairy root system as well as new therapies for application in the field. Landivar also said funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension program, NIFA ECDRE, and support from the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research and AgriLife Research’s Insect-Vectored Disease Grant are making it possible to facilitate development of innovative technologies and discovery of therapies to combat diseases caused by fastidious bacteria. To expand on his research, Mandadi recently partnered on a new project with Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Bayer, Southern Gardens Citrus, University of Florida and University of California-Davis. That project is funded by the NIFA ECDRE program. The overall goal is to bring together academics, growers and agrochemical industry to discover, develop and commercialize therapies for citrus greening disease.

“Use of this technique has already led to the discovery of six new antimicrobial peptides with proven efficacy in plant materials,” Mandadi said. “These antimicrobials, either singly or in combination, could be used as near- and long-term therapies to control citrus greening, potato zebra chip and tomato vein greening diseases.”

Sonia Irigoyen, Ph.D., and Manikandan Ramasamy, Ph.D., working in the lab. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

Mandadi said use of the hairy root system has already been instrumental in finding several potential new treatments for citrus greening and potato zebra chip, as described in the Nature Communications article.

CLas-citrus ‘hairy root’ assay plate. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

“We hope this technology can be further expanded to find even more therapies against current and emerging fastidious pathogens and, ultimately, with the support of industry, deploy them as fieldready products,” he said.

Collaborators in the fight “Typically, the type of breakthrough Dr. Mandadi and his team came up with is unusual for a university system off-campus center, as such centers usually have limited personnel and resources,” Landivar said. “Fortunately, the support we have received from the Texas A&M University System and other funding agencies and collaborators has helped make it possible for the Weslaco center to perform this world-class-level research.” Besides a team of researchers at the Weslaco center, Mandadi collaborates with scientists at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University Kingsville-Citrus Center, University of Florida, University of California System, and industry stakeholders including Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation, Bayer and other entities. J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

Looking Forward

Focusing on 2021

M BY JEAN LONIE

any of us started the new year honoring long-stand ing traditions to bring luck and prosperity in the months to come. For me, it was a mix of Texas traditions (black-eyed peas) and Pennsylvania/PA Dutch customs (pork and sauerkraut). Not only was it fun to get recipe advice from friends, but I also enjoyed the sense of taking some small actions to set a good tone for 2021! With the arrival of a new year, we get blank calendar pages to manage and fill. No, it isn’t a magic reset from the prior year to the new one; we don’t get to flip a switch and start all over. But there is definitely a chance to reframe and refocus, personally and professionally. Looking ahead professionally, there are three guiding principles that keep surfacing in terms of the focus for international marketing efforts to support Texas agriculture:

• Texas agriculture never stops.

Both literally and figuratively, Texas agriculture – including our food and beverage sectors – is a year-round operation. It is a reminder that producing food, fiber, and fuel spans the full year, and that our farm and ranch families don’t live by the same calendar and clock as

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the rest of society. Whether it is picking, processing, and shipping grapefruit throughout the holiday season, milking cows on Christmas, or checking on newborn lambs as we start a new year, the pauses and cycles that govern much of our population are not the same when you make a living from the land.

• GO TEXAN products are

always in season. The GO TEXAN

program gives all of us a great way to connect with Texas-made goods and services, and the neighbors who produce them. I continue to be amazed at the scope of GO TEXAN products, spanning farm and ranch products, foods and beverages, home décor, textiles, beauty, and even items to support your health. It is also always fun to see the GO TEXAN mark on a shop door or window and go support the partners that make the program go and grow. I’ll admit the GO TEXAN program came in handy for me at Christmas, but whether I am shopping for groceries or looking for unique gifts, there is never a bad time to support GO TEXAN partners!

• Even if we aren’t able to travel the world, we can still promote the Texas agriculture brand.

For someone who has spent a good portion of their career on the road, being home this much has been both great and strange … and I have a hunch I’m not alone in that feeling! There has been a really important lesson and daily reminder in this more localized life, though: promoting Texas agriculture across the globe goes well beyond getting on a plane. This past year we hosted virtual agriculture showcases; partnered with producer groups and private companies to highlight their products; used video footage to bring Texas to our external partners and consumers; and learned

a lot of new web-based platforms to connect with consumers and supporters beyond our state’s borders. No matter what 2021 holds, we continue to have a lot of opportunity to spread the word about Texas agriculture and our products. As communities continue to stay local, global consumers want something different and unique – which Texas can deliver on. And once global travel restrictions start to ease, a number of our international partners have expressed a desire to visit the Lone Star State. Texas agriculture is an amazing blend of tradition and innovation, all of which was tested in the year we just wrapped up. But with a new year coming into focus, the future still seems quite bright for Texas agriculture!

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

AGRICULTURAL TRADE POLICY:

Early Challenges and Big Picture Questions Loom for a New President BY PATRICK WADE | Policy Director, Texas Grain Sorghum Producers

be domestic policy, saying, “I’m not going to enter any new trade agreement with anybody until we have made major investments at home and in our workers…” However, there are a few immediate trade policy issues that the 46th President of the United States will not be able to ignore, and many other big picture agricultural trade policy concerns that industries and interest groups must vigilantly press the administration to address.

In 2016, President-elect Trump was on the record of promising to withdraw from the soon-to-be-ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership and frequently hinted at his eventual renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. President-elect Biden has been considerably more cryptic. In the throes of a pandemic and economic recession, he broadly asserted that his first priorities would

First and foremost, regardless of Biden’s interest in negotiating new free trade agreements, he will almost certainly need to shepherd ongoing negotiations with the United Kingdom across the finish line. The U.K., our seventh largest trading partner and a major diplomatic ally, has finally come to an agreement on its terms for leaving the European Union, and now must sign off on its own free trade agreements with trading partners around the world. Negotia-

lthough trade policy was one of the most divisive issues during the four years of the Trump presidency, it played a surprisingly limited role in the buildup to the general election. With Joe Biden set to assume the office of the President in January 2021, we have little to go on in terms of charting his administration’s possible course of actions to expand and improve the free flow of American goods around the world.

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tions for this process began earlier this year and have progressed smoothly, although philosophical differences about agricultural sanitary and phytosanitary protocols persist. While there is unlikely to be many bulk commodity sales to the U.K. under this new agreement regardless of philosophical compromise, these negotiations represent an opportunity to tip the global regulatory scales more towards science-based agricultural policymaking. Regardless of whether or not a Biden administration tackles those philosophical differences head on, Brexit will likely force our hand to finalize and approve a new free trade agreement with the U.K. Similarly, negotiations over a free-trade agreement with Kenya have been ongoing for most of 2020. While there is less urgency than compared to a post-Brexit U.K., Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta is intent on penning an agreement with the U.S. before the 2022 Kenyan elections. This would be the United States’ first free trade agreement with a sub-Saharan African nation, a region that is set to double in population - to over two billion - by 2050. A Biden administration will need to decide whether or not to continue the momentum started by these groundbreaking negotiations. On behalf of the Texas sorghum industry, we are strongly encouraging the new administration to continue these negotiations and use the agreement as a framework to expand free trade with many high-growth regions of Africa, as they have a deep historical familiar with growing and using grain sorghum. Lastly, although the Office of the United States Trade Representative has not formally opened negotiations with India, delegates from our two countries have discussed a limited-scope trade agreement to serve as a foundation for expanded trade. With respect to agricultural imports, India is one of the most protectionist nations in the world, applying tariffs of 50% to commodities like sorghum. Although this agreement would not have removed every barrier to trade with the rapidly-growing nation, it would have helped to thaw the ice. All indications were, though, that these negotiations were driven in large part by President Trump and his personal friendship with Indian President Narendra Modi. That, in conjunction with its informal negotiation status, suggests discussions with India are not expected to resume as seamlessly as formal negotiations with the U.K. or Kenya. Removing barriers to free trade is not a process confined to negotiating bilateral or multilateral agreements, though. The Biden administration’s approach to combatting emerging technical and non-tariff barriers to trade, such as maximum residue levels and sanitary and phytosanitary protocols in agricultural trade, in expected to include a renewed focus on global standards. For decades, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been the primary forum for redressing its members’ trade distorting practices. However, as a result of frustrations over the WTO’s inability to impose meaningful punishments on countries like China, whose economies are an opaque patchwork of free-market and state-owned forces, the Trump administration has severely restricted the body’s ability to govern at all by blocking appointments to its appellate body. Biden has indicated that his approach to countering China’s growing economic hegemony will incorporate more global partnerships than Trump’s unilateral, tariff-based tactics. Whether that extends to reforming the WTO to empower the body to hand down more meaningful punishments, though, remains to be seen.

hensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP), which was intended in part as a geopolitical counterweight to China’s deepening influence in the region. Many industries, including Texas sorghum, are keenly interested in the U.S.’s return to the CPTPP. Signatories like Vietnam are growing rapidly and are already sophisticated grain importers with a significant feed deficit each year. The southeast Asian nations within CPTPP represent significant opportunities to diversify U.S. commodity markets. The clock is already ticking on many of these issues. Last month, fifteen countries – including China, Japan, Australia, and Vietnam – signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement expanding trade across Asian-Pacific countries. Each year that passes without U.S. action only entrenches other nations as the de facto trading partners in this rapidly-growing region. Furthermore, the European Union continues to pursue free trade agreements around the world - with the South American regional bloc Mercosur in 2019, for example - that codify its precautionary principle, which disregards science-based thresholds for chemicals and biotechnology in favor of blanket bans. Procedurally, the clock is also ticking. Historically, the negotiation of trade agreements is a power assigned to Congress. However, for over thirty years, Congress has delegated that authority to the Executive Office in the form of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). That authority is scheduled to expire in July 2021. According to it, the final text of any new trade agreements – including ongoing efforts with the U.K. and Kenya – must be submitted to Congress by April 2021. Whether or not Congress will renew TPA remains to be seen. Within the Democratic Party exist significant political fault lines with respect to trade policy, and Republican opposition to the executive powers of a Democratic presidency are also well-noted. Biden’s appointment of Katherine Tai, chief lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, to the top trade position of Office of the United States Trade Representative may go a long way in building bridges with Congress over TPA. This overview doesn’t even touch on the ongoing enforcement of the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), which saw its first notice of enforcement action this month when the U.S. challenged Canada’s allocation of tariff-rate quotas for dairy production. Mexico continues to threaten to shut down imports of agricultural products that use glyphosate and has failed to approve any new biotechnology products in over two years, all policies that are likely in conflict with USCMA’s new biotechnology chapter. The Biden administration will likely feel strong pressure from industry to take actions with respect to all of these concerns, and more. Although trade policy was not a hot button issue on the campaign trail, President-elect Biden will have little choice but to step up to the plate on many imminent challenges. Texas Grain Sorghum Producers and the rest of the agricultural industry look forward to continuing to advocate for expanded and fairer markets for all American agricultural products.

Along similar lines, although he was not seen as a leader on this particular issue, Biden did serve as Vice-President during the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (now known as the CompreJ A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

N RCS Announces 2021 Deadline for Conservation Assistance Funding The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas has established a second funding application deadline of Feb. 12, 2021, for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). “We are encouraging producers to call their NRCS office to discuss conservation planning and financial assistance options,” said Kristy Oates, NRCS state conservationist for Texas. “Applications received by the February 12 deadline will be ranked for funding by early June.” Applications are taken year-round for NRCS programs, but deadlines are announced to rank and fund eligible conservation projects. Producers interested in signing up for EQIP should submit applications to their local USDA service center. If already a USDA client, a producer can submit applications online via Farmers.gov. EQIP is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers. Technical assistance is provided without a fee from NRCS specialists to help landowners and land managers plan and implement conservation practices to help them meet their land management goals, address natural resource concerns and improve soil, water, plant, animal, air, and related resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland. For additional information visit the NRCS Texas website at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov. Applications for EQIP are accepted on a continuous basis. Producers interested in EQIP can contact their local USDA service center or visit the NRCS EQIP web page.

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Veterans Day BY NORA GARZA

North Alamo Water Supply Corp., headquartered in Edinburg, honored its military veterans and active servicemen on Veterans Day. They received a gift basket from their supervisors, and Robert Rodriguez, assistant general manager, expressed the corporationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gratitude and pride for their past and current service to their country. Pictured are, front row, left to right: Esteban Flores, production superintendent; B.J. Vela, Texas Army National Guard; Dwain Spears, Navy Reserve; Mario Zavala, Air Force; Gilbert Davila, distribution superintendent; Front row, left to right: Robert Rodriguez; David Ramos, Air Force; Serafin Padron, Army; Ray Thigpen, Navy. Not pictured are Adelaida Flores, Army Reserve; Emmanuel IbaĂąez, Army National Guard; Jeremiah Yanez, Army National Guard; Francisco Aguirre, Army Reserve; and board members, Manuel Garcia, Marines; Dennis Goldsberry, Navy; and Ray Yeary, Navy. 20

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North Alamo Water Supply Corp. extended its Veterans Day celebration for employees to honor Patrick Roberts, Wounded Warrior Fellow and caseworker for the office of U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. “We wanted to show our appreciation. As well as being a veteran himself, Mr. Roberts works tirelessly on behalf of military veterans in the Rio Grande Valley,” said general manager Steven Sanchez. Pictured are, left to right: Steven Sanchez, Patrick Roberts, and Robert Rodriguez, assistant general manager. Headquartered in Edinburg, the water and wastewater utility serves rural areas in Hidalgo, Willacy and Cameron counties.

Agustin Gomez, wastewater manager with North Alamo Water Supply Corp., and Gene Cantu interrupted their daily routine to recognize Veterans Day on Wednesday. Cantu served in both the Army and the Marines before working with the wastewater department. Gomez presented him with a gift basket on behalf of the corporation’s appreciation for his military service. J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

2020 Veggie Show RIO GRANDE VALLEY

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Speculators Traded Plenty Of Bullish News As 2020 Closes BY JOHN MILLER

he commodity markets continually consume an extremely wide range of situations from around the globe which creates various degrees of risk and uncertainty for each day that traders in this environ ment attempt to profit. It is the desire of most speculators to find that window of bullishness that continues to build upon multiple situations that add to the idea that a given commodity, or commodities, must be rationed and the way this happens is through price increases. Since late summer we have seen just this type of situation develop as indicated by the corn price chart (left) and soybean price chart (right) below. Since just early October, the March corn contract has rallied over 85 cents per bushel to approximately $4.90 per bushel which represents a level not seen since 2014. As impressive as that looks, they January soybean contract has rallied an almost $3.75 per bushel to just under $13.50 per bushel over that same time. Let’s discuss some of the key factors that have been driving this bullish environment and encouraging speculators to take such heavy measures of ownership in corn and soybeans.

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Up until mid-summer, the USDA reporting system felt that the US could still make a robust corn and soybean crop with some still hanging on to the idea of record production. By early August it was understood that the US grain crops had seen too much adverse weather, including the now famous “Derecho Storm’ that took out about 7 million acres in Iowa. With the demand for animal feed, ethanol, and exports starting to pick back up, speculators began taking an interest in planning for the possibility of tight supplies which to many still seemed an absurd idea. About the time we began settling in to the idea of an excess corn supply of less than 2 billion bushels and an excess soybean supply of less than 500 million bushels reports began to surface out of South American that the early planted crops their were suffering from low rainfall. By Labor Day, speculators started to understand that the reduced US crop size coupled with the uptick in demand (especially China) could not endure a short South American corn and soybean crop without higher prices to a level that might even start rationing demand. On the demand side, exports became the main focus as US domestic uses of corn and soybeans for ethanol and animal feeding was still in a rebound from Covid19 impacts. By fall, the Chinese hog herd had increased by 40 percent over the first of the year, and the Chinese were buying upwards of 70 percent of all exported US soybeans. The export inspections charts below (corn on right, beans on left) show how since September 1st has exceeded last year, and even far exceeded the 5-year average. The most recent decline is due to the Christmas holiday season and will recover shortly. As price kept climbing, China and other users kept buying. So now the game was afoot to see how high prices would have to go to find rationing among users, particu larly the Chinese feeding indus try. With a surge in demand firmly established by October, we began to see a constant reference to weather maps like the one below that illus trates the rainfall deficit across major corn and soybean growing areas of South America. If South American, primarily Brazil and Argentina, were to become unable to

adequately supply China’s growing need for feed stocks, the speculators could find themselves in the driver’s seat. Despite being shown in milliliters, this weather map clearly shows how the major farming areas of both Brazil and Argentina are some of the worst drought targeted areas. And this is a situation that continues today, and will feed speculation for weeks or months to come until we know more about the ability of the US to grow a strong crop in 2021 to help supplies rebound.

As we know from so many past experiences, high prices, and high stimulus payments for that matter, do not last forever. We need to keep an eye on so many issues that might change once we start turning some corners. A working Covid19 vaccine will be a help to agriculture and should immediately help improve demand prospects. This will be felt most quickly in the energy sector including ethanal. The drop in the demand for gasoline has led to most ethanol plants struggling to remain profitable, and many or not at this time. The point here is that the longer a vaccine takes to ‘work’, the harder it will be to maintain high prices since crops will eventually recover. Weather can also change and improve cropping prospects, or not. And political action by countries worldwide as they try to maintain economic stability alongside Covid19 and then ultimately find growth. If you travel the Valley, you certainly understand weather. Unfortunately, the transition of the Pacific Ocean water temperature cycle switching to La Nina this past summer that is hurting rainfall chances across South America is apparently impacting the Valley as well. With prices improving to levels not seen in a half-dozen years, lets hope that regular rain returns to the valley in time for farmers here to take advantage. It is not that often that the stars line up with supply and demand conditions discussed above work in a way to keep prices at strongly profitable levels for very long. Of course, many other factors have come into play. The multi-month port worker strike that was only recently resolved in Argentina. You can add the drought injured Russian winter wheat crop that has led to that country restricting exports. And closer to home, the value of the US Dollar. The dollar has continued to make fresh lows after breaking and closing under that 90 level recently. As much as the corn and soybean markets are about higher demand form China, one should not take lightly the change in amount of stimulus (thus cash) that has been pumped into the US economy and general marketplace by our FED, and the effect this has had throughout all markets. The cheaper dollar makes our commodities more affordable by foreign users and can be a very important factor when looking at export potential. The Corn vs US Dollar chart shows how this relationship plays out visually and illustrates a powerful image that is not lost of speculators. At some point, a cheaper dollar relative to the currencies of our export competitors helps US commodities find windows of opportunity that are explored literally around the clock by international brokers. Farmers are a part of the stimulus money as well. The Total Direct Payment table found on multiple USDA websites. This shows the magnitude of government support to agriculture and reflects the importance that our public places on a healthy agriculture and constant food supply. As with other ‘Covid19’ assistance program payments into the economy, this stimulus adds to a growing deficit that will hopefully be monetized by a stronger economy down the road. The other aspect of farm stimulus is that this action delays farmer commodity selling and for a time can lead to price increases in an attempt to create selling. J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

Iowa: Building Resilience Through Conservation Partnerships

Photos: Jack & Marion Boyer, Cedar Rapids Flood, IWA Wetland, NC Group

BY KATE M. GIANNINI

t is a sunny, breezy October day. The 2020 harvest is in full swing, with dust in the air and farm equipment slowing traffic on the country roads in east-central Iowa. It has been an unprece dented year for farmers in Iowa, after record setting droughts and an August derecho bringing hurricane speed winds dam aged 850,000 acres of crops – an area so large, it can be seen from space! On this day, a small group of people joined the Middle Cedar Watershed Management Authority (WMA) virtual board meeting. Among the 40 callers is board member Jack Boyer, a fourth-generation farmer from Reinbeck, Iowa.

Jack and his wife Marion live on a century farm (est. 1912), where they raise corn and soybeans, and use a variety of conservation practices in their operation, including no-till and cover crops.

Jack wears many hats, but today he is representing the Tama County Soil and Water Conservation District on the Middle Cedar WMA board. On the meeting agenda is not only funding sustainability for their watershed, but also stakeholder engagement. “As we experience a changing climate with more intense rainfalls and longer periods of drought, farmers are adapting and modifying their operations,” comments Jack.

North Carolina and Texas Delegation at Iowa farm Photo by: Iowa Flood Center

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Jack’s commitment to conservation does not go unnoticed by his peers. Most notably, Jack was named the Field to Market 2020 Farmer of the Year. He shares his on-farm research and expertise broadly through his work as a member of several agriculture– and conservation–focused boards. “This is part of my way to give back and continue my family’s legacy,” he says. Jack’s expertise and leadership make a significant contribution to the Middle Cedar WMA board, which is focused on partner collaborations and stakeholder engagement to reduce flooding and improve water quality in the Cedar River basin. In 2010, Iowa lawmakers passed legislation authorizing the creation of watershed management authorities. A WMA brings together cities, counties, soil and water conservation districts, and stakeholders to cooperatively engage in watershed planning and management. The Middle Cedar Watershed covers about 1.5 million acres in east central Iowa and spans 10 counties. Nearly 75% of the watershed consists of agricultural lands, with many small towns and three large metro areas. Downstream is Cedar Rapids, which suffered devastating floods in 2008 and again in 2016.

The Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa provided the vision for the IWA. This five-year program will sunset in December 2021. The IWA is active in nine watersheds across the state and has six specific goals:

• • • •

Reduce flood risk; Improve water quality; Increase community flood resilience; Engage stakeholders through collaboration, outreach, and education; • Improve quality of life and health for Iowans, especially for vulnerable populations; and • Develop a program that is scalable and replicable throughout the Midwest and United States. The program represents a vision for Iowa’s future that voluntarily engages stakeholders throughout the watershed to achieve common goals that lead to increased resiliency to natural disasters and to the overall improvement of public health in Iowa. The Iowa Flood Center (IFC) provides Iowans with the latest technology and resources to better monitor and prepare for flood events. When the Iowa Legislature created the center in 2009, Iowa became a national leader in flood prediction and mitigation. The IFC’s tools and resources are an essential component of the IWA. The IFC’s development of the watershed model GHOST (Generic Hydrologic Overland-Subsurface Toolkit) is used to evaluate the flood reduction benefits expected from the implementation of nature-based mitigation strategies and includes climate change scenarios.

2008 Cedar Rapids Flood

The Middle Cedar WMA formed after Iowa received a $97 million grant from U.S. Housing and Urban Development for the Iowa Watershed Approach. The Iowa Watershed Approach (IWA) is a collaboration of many statewide organizations and agencies. The IWA supports construction of flood mitigation projects with $30 million in funding. The Middle Cedar Watershed was allocated nearly $12 million, and to date has already constructed nearly 70 wetlands, ponds, and other conservation practices, with another 30 coming by the end of 2021.

IWA Wetland - photo by: Iowa Flood Center

In 2019 and 2020, delegations from North Carolina and Texas traveled to Iowa to learn about the state’s efforts to become more flood-resilient. Faced with their own challenges from Hurricane Harvey, Florence, and many more, these groups represent state and federal personnel, farmers, academic representatives, and conservation professionals all looking to Iowa for expertise in flood risk tools, resources, and partner collaborations. Among the Texas group was Jerry Cotter, the chief of water resources for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel – we want to learn from what Iowa has accomplished and bring some of that technology to Texas,” said Cotter.

a w Io Iowans can feel proud of what they have accomplished when it comes to flood risk management, but we still have a long ways to go. Farmers like Jack Boyer set an example for how to create more resilient watersheds.

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reprint from AgriLife

Using Drones to Detect Cotton Root Rot Disease

he future of drone technology and its potential uses in Central Texas Black lands farming operations were featured at the Stiles Farm Field Day held in Thrall, Texas.

The field day, conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M AgriLife Research, showcased the latest in technological advancements in field crop production. Dr. Alex Thomasson, AgriLife Research engineer in College Station, led a demonstration in a cotton field showing how the technology can be used to manage cotton root rot, a fungal disease leading to crop loss if left untreated. Dr. Dale Cope, associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University, was joined by undergraduate students in leading the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, demonstration.

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The group demonstrated how to launch the autonomous aircraft, fly several circle patterns over the cotton field to take digital images and make a proper landing.

“If you take the pictures from the UAV, you can find exactly where the cotton root rot problem is in the field,” Thomasson said. “Treatment cost is about $50 an acre, so instead of having to treat a whole field, you can pinpoint the exact location you need to treat the field for some economic savings.” For more information, please see the original article. The Cotton Root Rot Research is supported by Cotton Incorporated.

reprint from AgriLife

Higher and More Stable Returns from Whole Cottonseed

An Examination of Utilization and Price Risk Management in Texas

ottonseed is an important product of upland cotton production, where roughly 700 pounds of seed on aver age are produced from each 480 pound bale of cotton (Cotton Inc.) Whole cottonseed is a significant ingredient in livestock rations, putting it in competition with other feedstuffs, such as corn, soybeans and its crush components, and other oilseeds. Cotton Incorporated describes one fourth of U.S. whole cottonseed as being sold directly from gins as livestock feed, and another quarter is distributed as livestock feed products after being processed by an oil mill. A majority of cottonseed marketing takes place from September to December after the typical harvest period in Texas, and the value of whole cottonseed is traditionally applied to offset ginning costs.Â Conventional risk management practices for similar commodities consist of longer term storage, forward contracting, and using futures markets as a means to combat unfavorable price movements. However, special considerations must be made for storing such products and no futures market currently exists for cottonseed, limiting users and

growers in their marketing planning and price risk management strategies. This study examines commodities with established futures markets to determine an appropriate cross hedging vehicle that is sufficiently associated with the West Texas whole cottonseed price, which can then be used to hedge against price movement in a negative direction depending on the users need to buy or sell physical cottonseed. These strategies will conceivably allow growers, gins, oil mills, and livestock feeders to reduce price risk and aid in financial decisions. Although this study is primarily focused on markets within the state of Texas, the same methods can be used nationwide with presumably similar results.

For more information, please contact Dr. John Robinson, jrcr@tamu.edu, or visit: http://agrilife.org/cottonmarketing.

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Ag Mag Featured Farmer

a c e ñ u M La

Legacy

hen the widowed Antonia Guerra arrived in the United States from Mexico and started planting family roots in 1873 in the small community west of Falfurrias called Charco Redondo, she – and nobody else -- could have any idea how deep, wide and strong those roots would branch out.

“They would sell clothing, fuel, groceries, hardware, seed and everything needed by the farming and ranching families in the two communities that they owned land in.”

“Antonia was a hard-working pioneer woman that loved agriculture,” said Carlos Guerra, one of her great - grandchildren. “We named our new ranch San Antonia in her honor.”

“I have always had a desire to grow our family’s Agriculture and Ag Leadership Legacy,” Carlos said. “I want to leave our ranches and cattle better than when we started so that our next generations can do the same for the next.”

Antonia brought her three children, Crisanta, Dario and Arcadio with her to begin their venture in the United States. Arcadio, Carlos’ grandfather, was 14 at the time and began working at his cousin’s store. Fast forward approximately 20 years later and Arcadio started to invest in ranch country in NE Starr County with his family that he named La Reforma. “He was the first in that area to build a cotton gin which was one of their biggest businesses for over 50 years as they later built one at Old Linn and then later at Linn,” Carlos said. “They also built a grain elevator at Linn in the early 50’s and built the first one in McCook soon after.” The Guerra history is well documented throughout the decades and their work with, in and for agriculture has had a major impact in South Texas and has extended to several states, countries and six continents. “Everything my family did had to do with agriculture and general merchandise stores,” Carlos said.

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Obviously, Carlos was born into agriculture and is quick to admit his ongoing passion for it today and in the future is as strong as ever.

Carlos was born in Edinburg and attended Our Lady of Sorrows in McAllen for elementary school and then Edinburg High School. He graduated from then-UTPA with a degree in Business Management, growing up working on the family farms and ranches in the La Reforma and Linn areas. His wife, named Sister, is also from the Linn-San Manuel community. Carlos is proud to have worked side by side with Sister for 45+ years with Guerra Bros. and now La Muñeca. “We have known each other all of our lives and have gone to the same church since babies,” Carlos said. “Our mothers were best of friends and called each other ‘Hermanas.’” Carlos, his wife, four children and five grandchildren own and operate La Muñeca Cattle Co. which they started in 1989. They raise Registered Polled Brahman and Simbrah cattle whose genetics they sell to six continents, several countries and Ameri-

can states. “The business and ranch is named after the brand that my great grandmother Antonia designed and registered,” Carlos said. “We are blessed to live in this great community and work hard to improve the quality of life for all in our community though our work with the Linn San Manuel Improvement Corporation.” Carlos and his wife have four grown children “that have never given us a lick of trouble, all graduated from Texas A&M and help La Muñeca in different ways,” Carlos said. Laura is an attorney and has two daughters, Gabriela and Mia. Carlos Jr. is the ranch manager and has two children, Carlos X. III “Pops” and Cecila. Victor is an attorney who spends much of his time ranching and is our Marketing Social Media Guru. Cristina “Tina” has a jewelry business but invests lots of time with her son Boone at the ranch. Her husband Justin LaGrange is a farmer who helps with the LMC hunting and eco-tourism enterprises.

Carlos said the key is to have such a long-lasting and continuing legacy in the agricultural world, or in anything, is to foster a burning desire for what one is doing and realize that nobody has to do it alone. “Make sure that you have a passion for it, know who your Uncle Blister is as your days will be long, be patient, know the people, set realistic goals, have a plan and a solid understanding of how to work that plan,” Carlos said. “Never be afraid to ask for advice. Ag folks are always willing to lend a helping hand.” Carlos said they plan to continue to improve their cattle and deer genetics, grow the markets, improve the productivity of the ranch land and grow their eco-tourism business.

“I thank the Lord every morning for our many blessings, one of which are our five grand kiddos who love the ranch and showing their cattle,” Carlos said. “We try hard to teach them how to think outside the box so that they can dream big, use the work ethic they are developing here at La Muñeca and become anything they want to become.” While the Guerra’s are big into their family business they talk often about working within and for their community (the local community and the overall agricultural community). More importantly put that talk into a lot of action. “We are big on education and leadership. We have annual field days for our 4-H and FFA Youth from all over the state,” Carlos said. “We are very involved and have helped to create several local, state and national junior shows and scholarship programs, which we first started when our little brother Victor passed away in 1979. My wife and I invest a lot time every year with scholarship programs and are always looking for ways to create opportunities for our youth.” The Guerra’s are proud to be the Co-founders of the LSMCIC, TJSSA Scholarship Fund, American Junior Simbrah Round Up, STAR, STAR GALA, LMC & Friends ANIMO Award and The Brahman Foundation. Carlos is also very proud to have served on the Texas 4-H and the Texas FFA Foundations of which Laura and Victor serve on now.

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b e av e r

Vineyards BY TARA CORONADO

hen the voice of agriculture called out to Tara Coronado, she responded. In fact, she may have been waiting for that voice. Now, as owner of Beaver Vineyards in Northern California, she realizes the voice that reached out to her helped her realize how much she wanted to farm, and that’s where her desires at. From planting to harvesting to the Ag lifestyle, Coronado is now a happy part of the agriculture family. The 29-year-old Californian grew up on a farm in Northern California. Her father comes from a family of farmers but, according to her “considers himself a first-generation farmer because he did not inherit a farm and he built what he has from the ground up,” Coronado said. “Neither of my dad’s parents were farmers.” Strange as it may seem, she never considered being a farmer – that voice had been silenced. A studio arts major in college, she considered being a teacher because she enjoyed photography and working with kids. Upon a return home during the corn harvest, everything changed. “I realized how badly I wanted to farm. I went back to my job and put in my notice,” Coronado said. “I officially started full time on the farm in February of 2015.”

“People do not choose to be farmers and ranchers for the money. We chose this lifestyle because we love and can’t picture our lives any other way. We are stewards of the land, we want to take care of the planet, and we want to provide the best product we can to our customers. I want people to see that I’m a human trying my best to live my life, and have a successful career. But if all I cared about was money, I wouldn’t be working in Ag” Coronado chose to go into farming grapes, encouraged by her parents to find her own path in farming. “My dad didn’t want me to only grow corn and alfalfa,” she said. She took a course called California Farm Academy that opened her eyes to the extremely wide spectrum of agriculture. She completed the course with a business plan called Beaver Vineyards (her full name is Tara Beaver Coronado). Living in the middle of three well known wine regions – Napa, Lodi and Clarksburg – it only felt natural to dive into the vineyard business. “I was able to find a few really great mentors that have helped me so much along the way,” Coronado said. “I had my first harvest this past September and it went better than I could have ever imagined.”

The final hook that brought her back to her family roots was the agriculture lifestyle, she said.

Coronado began her vineyard with 50 acres, more than just a handful to take care of. She admits that she may have started out a bit big, but because of her location, starting small, however, wasn’t really an option.

“I think one of the things I love the most about agriculture is the lifestyle. It isn’t just a job, it really is a lifestyle,” Coronado said. “It isn’t the easiest, but there is something that pulls me to it. It’s how I grew up, and it’s how I would like to raise my family.”

“It wasn’t like I could plant just 2-3 acres and make a living off of it. There are areas you can do that, especially if you make your own wine. But it wasn’t realistic for me,” she said. “I may have bit off more than I can chew by planting 50 acres. But I’ve

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been lucky to have an amazing team around me helping me to become successful. “If you can start small, start there. Hopefully you’ll be less stressed this way, and can grow as you can afford it.” Her website, tarabeavercoronado.com, has a intriguingly interesting and wide array of topics, from, of course farming, to mental health rresources and to a deeper look into her life. Two of her blog posts are personal journeys, one describing how and why she forgave the man who murdered her grandfather and another that unleashes a secret into the discovery of her being stricken with a rare heart condition “called WPW that was causing me to pass out. This is my journey of discovering the problem and going through heart surgery.” “I try to be a positive, but real, voice of Ag There are so many different aspects of Ag and I’m trying to share my story,” she said when asked how she uses social media to spread the word of Ag. “I want to inspire people to start their own farms. I want to inspire women to get into agriculture. I try to be honest about when things get tough, but I also want to share my wins so people see they can do this too. I love building community, and I’ve been able to do that with social media.” And, just like the voice inside of her put Conrado on the farming path, she knows there area lot of women who can use their voices for similar goals. “There are so many women in Ag, we just need to raise those voices up and make sure they’re heard.”

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$3.9M project on self-deleting genes takes aim at mosquitoborne diseases BY OLGA KUCHMENT

Texas A&M AgriLife researchers’ work to aid mosquito control efforts To control mosquito populations and prevent them from transmitting diseases such as malaria, many researchers are pursuing strategies in mosquito genetic engineering. A new Texas A&M AgriLife Research project aims to enable temporary “test runs” of proposed genetic changes in mosquitoes, after which the changes remove themselves from the mosquitoes’ genetic code. The project’s first results were published on Dec. 28 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, titled “Making gene drive biodegradable.” Zach Adelman, Ph.D, and Kevin Myles, Ph.D., both professors in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Entomology are the principal investigators. Over five years, the team will receive $3.9 million in funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to test and fine-tune the self-deleting gene technology. “People are wary of transgenes spreading in the environment in an uncontrolled manner. We feel that ours is a strategy to potentially prevent that from happening,” Adelman said. “The idea is, can we program a transgene to remove itself? Then, the gene won’t persist in the environment. “What it really comes down to is, how do you test a gene drive in a real-world scenario?” he added. “What if a problem emerges? We think ours is one possible way to be able to do risk assessment and field testing.”

A crucial target for mosquito control Many genetic engineering proposals revolve around inserting into mosquitoes a select set of new genes along with a “gene drive.” A gene drive is a genetic component that forces the new genes to spread in the population. “A number of high-profile publications have talked about using a gene drive to control mosquitoes, either to change them so they can’t transmit malaria parasites anymore, or to kill off all the females so the population dies out,” Adelman said. An often-voiced worry is that such genetic changes could carry unintended or harmful consequences.

One plan makes the cut In the project’s first publication, the colleagues describe three ways for an introduced genetic change to remove itself after a designated period of time. The time period could, for instance, be 20 generations of mosquitoes, or about a year. The team modeled how the genes would spread among mosquitoes based on generation times and parameters of an average mosquito’s life. Of the three methods, the team has chosen one to pursue further. This method takes advantage of a process all animals use to repair damaged DNA, Adelman said. Inside cell nuclei, repair enzymes search for repeated genetic sequences around broken DNA strands. The repair enzymes then delete what’s between the repeats, he said. So, Adelman and Myles’ team plans to test in fruit flies and mosquitoes a gene drive, a DNA-cutting enzyme and a small repeat of the insect’s own DNA. Once the introduced enzyme cuts the DNA, the insect’s own repair tools should jump into action. The repair tools will cut out the genes for the gene drive and the other added sequences. At least, that’s what should happen in theory.

Failure is not just an option, it’s part of the plan The team has already started lab work to test different gene drives and determine how long they last in flies and mosquitoes. The goal is to see a gene drive spread rapidly through a lab insect population. After a few generations, the added genes should disappear and the population should again consist of wild-type individuals. “We assigned various rates of failure for how often the mechanism does not work as expected,” Adelman said. “The models predict that even with a very high rate of failure, if it succeeds just 5% of the time, that’s still enough to get rid of the transgene.” J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

SHOWINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ON THE RIO

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ne of the most exciting times for children involved in agriculture, FFA or 4-H is being able to raise animals and show them. The COVID-19 pandemic,however, stifled much of that since March, including last year’ Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show in Mercedes. This is where some Valley children took it upon themselves to put together “Showin on the Rio,” which was held in a three part series on Oct 31 & November 1, November 14 & 15th, and January 2nd & 3rd. Still, one thing about many of those who wake up early, take care of their cows, pigs, goats, lambs and so on is the sense of responsibility they learn at an early age. It’s definitely something where those involved have to have not only a calling for, but a desired to fill that calling. Some, such as Kylie Sellman and Logan and Lauren Thomas, took it to a different level recently, organizing and running the “Showing on the Rio,” where 80 buckles were given away for the steers/heifers competitors as well as 34 to the goats and lambs; which made a total of 114 buckles awarded. “I’ve always been in love with showing my cattle, but it has been difficult to find shows down here that offer more than one right” said Sellman, 18, of Weslaco High School. “I always hauled four hours north to show and I noticed not a whole lot of people could do that so I thought it would be really fun to bring that opportunity down here to the kids of the Rio Grande Valley and allow them that opportunity to show in a series without having to make that drive.” Logan and Lauren Thomas said that not only did it give opportunities to show competitors’ animals, but it was also like having a preseason like many sports. “Most of the shows are 4H or FFA and not happening to we worked together and found three dates to work and put the show on,” Logan said. “This would give kids extra opportunities before major shows come up in the fall.” Lauren said Ag has been a part of their lives with their parents owning a cattle operation so they have been part of events for years. This, however, was a different venture. “At the beginning we didn’t know if we would have things like booths, food and drink, we had to make waivers so the first show was difficult,” Lauren said. “We had to get on the mic and make sure that everyone put their masks on too and followed guidelines or we would have to shut down. But it worked.” “It was either wear the masks or get kicked out,” said John Wayne Kibler, 16. “A lot of us travel and some don’t get to travel. It was pretty difficult to put together but this was a chance to give buckles back to kids who don’t get to travel or can only can go to Mercedes to show.” Showin on the Rio Cattle Show came together from four agricultural driven families that have a passionfor livestock shows, cattle and giving back to the youth of the RGV. My name is Ryan Mack Simpson and together with the Kibler, Sellman and Thomas families, we put together an opportunity for cattle kids to show. With most of the Valley prospect shows cancelling because of COVID and many families do not or cannot travel to shows like we do, we felt it was important to give the showman a chance to show. The most important part to me was seeing many of my friends doing what they love and that is showing cattle. A big thank you goes out to Kendal Sellman, Kylie Sellman, Wayne Kibler, Lauran and Logan Thomas, and Mackie Simpson. J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

BY EMILY STREMSTER

ooking back, I can remember the very moment I wanted to be involved in agricul ture. I grew up in a small town of 1,200 people but did not have any connection to agriculture or the farm life. I mean, I looked out my back door and saw the corn field a block away but that was as close as I got to that way of life. It was not until I was a sophomore in high school that I knew agriculture was something that I wanted to be involved in. In my Sophomore year of High School, I enrolled in an Animal Science class and I was introduced to an organization called FFA. Joining it opened a whole new world of opportunities for me. In my three years in the FFA, I was able to see all the different jobs and paths that I could take in life through agriculture. I knew that I wanted to be in a career that would always be essential but be versatile enough to not limit myself to just one job. I decided on agriculture as I transitioned to college and studied to be an agriculture educator. I wanted to help teach others how important agriculture was and how vital it is to our lives. Oh, I almost forgot, I met and married my farmer right after graduating from college. He took a job with Cargill after college and we moved 6 hours away from anyone we knew to start our own adventure. I took a couple Ag related jobs over the first couple years learning all along the way. I am so thankful for those first opportunities I had. Two years later we made another move that allowed me to put my degree to work. After teaching high school agriculture in northern Illinois for a few years, my husband and I moved (our 3rd time moving across state lines) to small acreage in southeast Iowa.

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Fast forward a few years, and I now have two kids getting ready to be in 4-H. I started a Clover Kids group to focus on bridging the gap between producer and consumer. I knew that I wanted to expose my own children to a way of life that I did not experience and wanted to find a way to give that to other children as well. After being in education for a few years, I knew that the younger we start teaching kids, the more willing they would be to learn about it. These days, I find myself talking about agriculture in all facets of my life. I serve as the youth director at our church and use every opportunity to express the importance of agriculture to my middle and high school youth group kids as well as the opportunities that they will have if they go into that field. When I substitute at the elementary schools, there is never a time when I have not shown them pictures of the new baby goats that were just born at our house, cattle that were moved to a new section of pasture, or the health protocols we follow when we have a litter of puppies. I love how I can use my passion for agriculture and join it with my love for children and education. To quote Thomas Jefferson, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.â&#x20AC;? Living a life directly related to agriculture, is not for the faint of hearts. It is even harder to raise a family in this life. Yet, just as Jefferson says, it is our wisest pursuit. We are raising our children with good morals and values and teaching them what true happiness is. In times that seems to void of that sense of happiness, I am thankful I can give them the opportunity to see life in a way that most can not.

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Beekeeper and Beeyards Cider Pressing Juice Manufacturing Corn/Hay Mazes Farmers Markets Feed, Grain, Hay Dealers Fertilizer Sales Firewood Sales Kennels Livestock Auctions Mowing and Hay Production along Roadways Pet Grooming Pet Training Snow Removal Storage of Boats, Cars, Campers

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REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE:

The Key to Success for a Beginning Farmer/Rancher

BY PHILIP FRANK

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y now regenerative agriculture is a term that most everyone in the ag world has heard. In fact, I would say it has become a buzz word throughout the world, both in the minds of consumers and producers. A few years ago, many people took it as a “trend that would pass like everything else”. Some made stabs at it, some totally ignored it, and some jumped in with both feet. Here in the Grand Valley of Colorado, it is far from being just a buzz word to us. In fact, I would call it the most important investment I or any of the farmers I work with have made. When I say investment, I’m not talking about a monetary investment. I’m talking about an investment in our own education, and a commitment to study the laws of nature and bring them into our own farming and ranching systems as much as possible. Basically, the concept behind regenerative agriculture boils down to five basic concepts; the soil health principles:

• • • • •

Provide an armor for your soil Minimize soil disturbance Introduce diversity Keep a living root in the soil at all times Integrate livestock

These five principles are what encourage life to restart in your soil, and in the long run, decrease costs for the producer. So why is this a key particularly for a young or beginning rancher/farmer? Easy. It boils down to equipment, time, and input costs. For most beginners, there are two major holdups: capital and time. One of them is always missing, and to be honest its usually some combination of both. In my operation as well as a few other farmers I work with, we don’t own tillage equipment. We don’t have an investment in massive tillage tractors, plows, deep rippers, roller harrows, or disk harrows. Now for an existing farmer it takes time to make that leap, but as a beginner I am highly motivated to eliminate that expense and make it work. To go along with that, not only do I now not need the investment in that extra equipment, I also don’t need the extra manpower to run it. When we finish harvesting a crop, we follow immediately behind with a no-till drill and our diverse cover crop (or next cash crop) and we’re done. (We are mostly under flood irrigation here so there is an additional step with our special creaser to clean out creases and prepare to irrigate.) Now I enjoy running equipment as much as the next guy, but to be honest I wouldn’t want to go back to having tillage season and the headaches that go along with it, or the massive investment. Instead, we use our diverse cover crops to feed soil microbes, break soil compaction, cycle nutrients, and provide cover for our soil. Additionally, we use cattle to harvest those cover crops along with remaining stubble from the last crop. This breaks down organic matter quicker, allows biology to interact between animals and soil, and makes an additional income source off of those same acres.

Another concept that was introduced to me through regenerative agriculture is the idea of Profit/Acre, not yield per acre, or yield per cow. Rather than focusing on growing my acreage constantly to support more quantity or pumping more inputs into each acre to grow our yields, I focus on maximizing each acre. We are already out ahead by eliminating the $100 or more per acre of tillage. What else can we do with that acre? How many crops can we get off of it in a year by following our harvesting equipment with a drill? Can we graze our cover crop? Can we interseed a pollinator into our corn and get income from somebody with honeybees? Can we reduce chemical costs by using cover crops to beat weeds or pests? These are all things that we either practice or believe we will practice in the future. On the cattle side, we have stopped focusing on having the biggest calves, and started instead focus on having the most efficient cattle so that we put less into each calf. In addition, we practice intensive grazing in order to use our resources better and more sustainably. Now I’m not one of those radical guys who thinks conventional farmers are ruining the world. Agriculture has been my number one passion all my life, since long before I know about regenerative agriculture and I believe in all forms of agriculture from my heart. I believe that most farmers are farming the way that has worked for a long time, and I don’t blame them for not wanting to experiment when they have paid for farms and cared for their families under the current methods they use. That is something I have not experienced, and something to be proud of! I fully understand that a beginner may have a much easier road adjusting to new strategies in their system, and I will never tell a farmer or rancher who has 30 years more experience than I do that they’ve done it all wrong. But isn’t it exciting and astounding what we are learning about our own profession? Truth is, 30 years ago many soil scientists didn’t even have an understanding of the soil that we have now, so we were doing things the best way we knew how! I firmly believe that there is no single right way to farm, and even among regenerative farmers there is no universal method that works. But I do believe in this system, as someone who has experienced the differences in stress (time and financial) and the pure enjoyment of farming with life to create more life, and making better income while doing it.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions or would like to hear more about regenerative ag. philipfrnk@gmail.com Philip Frank Contego Ag Instagram: philipcotterf

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

Commisioner Miller asks Governor Abbott to utilize unspent cares funding BY DEPT OF AG

oday, Texas Agriculture Commiss ioner Sid Miller respectfully request ed Governor Abbott utilize unex pended State CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) funding to support Food Banks and Rural Hospitals statewide. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the State of Texas, Food Banks and Rural Hospitals continue to provide resources to assist the citizens of Texas. Unexpended CARES funding provided to the Governor’s Office will not be allowed to be expended after the December 31, 2020 expiration of the funding provided by the CARES Act.

Food insecurity has doubled among Texas families during this pandemic and the need to provide resources is ongoing. TDA requests that a $2 million grant be distributed to food banks to help them feed the needs of Texans. Additionally, a grant of $1.3 million for the TDA Home Delivered Meals program would help programs like Meals on Wheels reach out to those Texans who need meal assistance but are unable to leave home.

Rural Hospitals in Texas continue to deal with dwindling revenues and the ever-increasing cost of care. COVID-19 has further strained the resources available to the remaining 163 rural hospitals. A $1.2 million grant to the rural hospitals would help facilities serve their communities in a more effective manner and would alleviate some of the financial strain that these hospitals have experienced.

“TDA has always been on the forefront of fighting hunger,” Commissioner Miller said. “Keeping Texans healthy and strong starts with access to proper nutrition. There has been an overwhelming increase in requests for food assistance during this pandemic. Food banks have done a fantastic job aiding those struggling to put food on the table but there is still a sincere need to continue feeding folks throughout our communities.”

“We can all agree 2020 has been a tough year for everyone,” Commissioner Miller said. “And let’s face it, rural hospitals in Texas have had their share of challenges long before the pandemic. When these hospitals are forced to close their

These funds would offset the cuts TDA was required to make to meet the General Revenue reduction target Governor Abbott requested earlier this year.

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doors, folks are denied access to healthcare and it’s in times like these that they need it most. We’ve got to keep rural hospitals on their feet and with the Governor’s help we can do just that.”

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FIRST TEN U.S. Mills sign up to the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol BY COTTON NELSON

Buhler Quality Yarns, Cap Yarns, CCW, Contempora Fabrics, Cotswold Industries Inc., Frontier Yarns, Hamrick Mills, Inman Mills, Parkdale Inc., Swisstex Direct join Trust Protocol to help enable a fully transparent supply chain 56

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oday the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol welcomes its first ten U.S. cotton textile manufacturers – Buhler Quality Yarns, Cap Yarns, CCW, Contempora Fabrics, Cotswold Industries Inc., Frontier Yarns, Hamrick Mills, Inman Mills, Parkdale Inc., Swisstex Direct as members. U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol membership enables these mills and manufacturers to prove that they are an approved supply chain partner for brands and retailers who are sourcing more sustainably grown cotton. “One of our goals with the Trust Protocol is to give brands and retailers greater confidence when including U.S. cotton in their sourcing mix. Our emphasis on measurement and independent verification can provide confidence and trust that a brand is using quality, responsibly grown cotton and producing a product that consumers can believe in,” said Dr. Gary Adams, president of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. “We are delighted that these U.S. mills have joined the Trust Protocol as that supports the much sought-after supply chain transparency and by using U.S. manufactured cotton products, brands and retailers are choosing a reliable and transparent partner right here in the USA.” Mills and manufacturers who become members of the Trust Protocol have access to the Trust Protocol credit system to validate consumption of cotton and associated credits. The combination of a unique credit accounting system and the Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) system enables brands to have transparency throughout the supply chain to finished product. The Trust Protocol has been invited to join Cotton 2040 and its CottonUp guide and also is on the Textile Exchange’s list of 36 preferred fibers and materials that more than 170 participating brands and retailers can select from as part of Textile Exchange’s Material Change Index program. In December the Trust Protocol also announced Gap Inc. joined as part of its integrated sustainability strategy and to help achieve its commitment to use only 100% sustainably-sourced cotton by 2025.

About the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol In a period of ever-greater supply chain scrutiny and a growing demand for transparency, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol sets a new standard for more sustainably grown cotton. It brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to responsibly-grown cotton production and drives continuous improvement in key sustainability metrics. The Trust Protocol underpins and verifies U.S. cotton’s progress through sophisticated data collection and independent third-party verification. Choosing Trust Protocol cotton will give brands and retailers the critical assurances they need that the cotton fiber element of their supply chain is more sustainably grown with lower environmental and social risk. Brands and retailers will gain access to U.S. cotton with sustainability credentials proven via Field to Market, measured via the Fieldprint Calculator and verified with Control Union Certifications. The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is overseen by a multistakeholder Board of Directors comprised of representatives from brands and retailers, civil society and independent sustainability experts as well as the cotton-growing industry, including growers, ginners, merchants, wholesalers and cooperatives, mills and cottonseed handlers. Media Contact: Avra Lorrimer, Avra.Lorrimer@hkstrategies. com; +1 347-685-5745

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J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

Agriculture and Social Media:

“the Perfect Pair” BY EVELYN

Ag Mag THEAGMAG.ORG

ocial media has taken the world by storm. It is not unusual for people to rely on social media as their only form of communication with their co workers or friends, their daily news outlet, and various other types of infor mation. It is slowly beginning to consume many of our lives.

Even in the world of agriculture we have seen how it has slowly crept into our lives in both a negative and positive way. If you haven’t noticed, consumers are now using social media as a way to learn about agriculture. As scary as this sounds, as farmers and people of Ag, we can use this to our advantage. Unfortunately, when social media began gaining traction, the Ag industry didn’t hop on the train and we quickly fell behind. Disturbing videos of animal agriculture put up by animal rights organizations like PETA, littered the Internet. Those videos that, may I add, did a terrible job at portraying our industry, spread like wildfire. Overall, there was more negative information about agriculture on social media than there was good. Around that same time period, is when my Sister and I decided to start a platform that shared our life on our family’s farm in Upstate NY, called @nyfarmgirls. The goal behind our Instagram page was to simply share what we do on a daily basis on the farm. We quickly realized how much social media was lacking farmers, and instead was infested with those who claimed they knew everything there was to know about agriculture, yet never stepped foot on a farm. We knew something had to change. In efforts to combat the negativity, we decided to debunk all of the myths on our platform. We took the topics head on, using our first hand experience in the industry. From GMOs to separating the dairy calf from its’ Mother to artificial insemination. We didn’t leave a single topic out. The more we shared about the reality of dairy and crop farming, the more people wanted to learn, and in the best way possible. There have been several instances when we have someone come to us and say, “I am so happy I found your page, because I was on the fence about consuming dairy. I just didn’t know what to believe anymore.” These moments make everything worth it.

years! But, the truth is, the people want to hear from the farmers themselves. They want to know how calves are cared for, corn is grown, pigs are butchered, and cows are treated from the ones who experience it everyday. We need more people sharing their story, so someone else doesn’t do it for you.

So how do you start making a difference?

Make an account and start posting. It is as simple as that! The followers will come. You can gain traction faster by using hashtags, posting quality images at a consistent rate (everyday), and getting involved with other influencers. We started our page knowing close to nothing about social media, but thankfully it’s quite user friendly. Once your page begins to grow you will find that you created a little community. A place where you can talk Ag and just life in general. Social media is a powerful tool and has changed our life forever. If Instagram isn’t your thing, you can try Facebook. Or TikTok, one of the newer platforms, with over 850 million users. If you are looking to make some money while agvocating, try YouTube. If you are already sharing your story and agvocating, thank you. You are changing the future of ag in the best way possible by helping consumers stay more connected to farms. We often hear the handful of excuses from people saying they are too busy, don’t know how to, etc. There are no excuses. We need to keep consumers in touch with the truth of Ag, especially when it comes to animal agriculture. I found that when my schedule is hectic as ever, I still make time to share my life in AG on social media, because I am passionate enough about agriculture and its future. I hope that as social media continues to become an even bigger part of our lives, more people will choose to use it as a way to connect consumers to the truth of modern day agricultural practices. We need you.

You can check us out on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok @nyfarmgirls.

I am not going to sugar coat what we call, “Agvocating.” There are some hard days. Those days are usually when the vegans and animal activists find our page and choose to spew hate behind the keyboard. In the past, those comments would really get to us. We have learned over the years of agvocating that although these hateful people have a loud voice, they are not the majority. We typically choose to delete and ignore the negativity if they are not truly there to learn something about Ag. I know that what we do is making a difference in those who are genuinely curious about how agriculture works. I am sharing our journey of Agvocating in hopes that we will encourage more people involved in agriculture to do the same thing. We need more people having the back of agriculture and everything it encompasses. It is easy to say, well, someone else will speak up for me. We did the same thing for many

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1

“BULL-FIT” BY EDDIE GARCIA

Don’t Underfund your herd with a cheap bull and expect high prices! Get your Bull-Fit together and purchase a premium bull that is compat ible with your herd. Great sires appreciate in my opinion with the value they add to the herd over their prime, along with the value of their carcass. It’s the clearest road to the top, and the one often less traveled. Everybody looks at them different, and that’s the beauty of it, but you have to make them fit. Color patterns matter, and painted up commercial cattle are a tough sale, they fall off peoples orders. Ive heard the argument, once you strip their hides off you can’t tell the difference. Well that may be true, but they can tell the difference in the ring, and the market doesn’t favor them. It could range from a longhorn cross to an old school Beefmaster breed. White pigmentation is desired mainly on the face of a solid colored calf, and not so much through his hide. I’m not a vet but I like writing “Herd Bull” prescriptions for the kind of sire I think you should vaccinate your cows with. It’s the best medicine for any herd, everybody could use a dose, it doesn’t hurt. Protecting your calves from plain cattle is my goal! Wrote a scrip for a patient for one red Beefmaster bull to go on some Snow White Charloias cows. Then I mainlined a Charloias bull that he had on his white cows to his Beefmaster herd. In essence making all the calves yellow instead of too red or too white. Creating a desirable color pattern, enhancing heterosis, and enlarging profits. These are the kinds of benefits you can expect from this product, call me for a consultation. Where do all these cows keep coming from? That’s what amazes me the most, cow plants are a week long on numbers, 100+ hd cow runs at the barn every week, triple that when its dry. I think it speaks to the size of the overall cow herd, the expansion we experienced coming off epic drought, is playing into prices now. Packer cows are making bubbles trying to get back to sea level which is around a buck on the rail. They pushed rail prices higher towards the end of the week to fill the holiday gap. Stocker cows have to be the right kind this time of year to sell good, limited forage going forward presents a problem. Look for the beginning of February for packers to seasonally regain momentum.

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Order/Owner buyers are just professional cattle sorters, whether it be in the ring with a buyers card, or a sorting stick back at the pens, they are classifying industry demands. More producers should come by after the sale and walk the cat walk to see how the cattle are penned. It gives you great prospective, come by, I’m always available to talk cattle... Sustainability does not only pertain to the production side of the industry, but also to the true price discovery of the finished product (fat cattle). That price point sets the goal posts for the entire game. Current events have pushed proposals, questioned the status quo, and examined the causes of certain councils. We must find a viable way to value our product, if we are here to stay. GCLA is inspired by the stamina and fortitude of today’s producer. The time and effort you put into each calf is worth a lifetime. The resiliency you show in such a tough industry motivates GCLA to meet you every step of the way. See you at the Gate... Happy New Year! GCLA E.G. 361-701-5857

Jon Cohrs Broker/Owner

956-464-7355 956-330-1878 www.cohrs.com

Jim Williams 956-975-1985 Sylvia Rogel 956-638-6561

Farmers, ranchers focus on policy concerns at annual meeting In a year of uncertainty, Texas farmers and ranchers established policy to help guide the agricultural advocacy efforts of Texas Farm Bureau (TFB), the state’s largest general farm and ranch organization. “This year has been challenging, but farmers and ranchers have continued to do what we do best—farm and ranch—even in the face of uncertainty,” Russell Boening, TFB president, said. “Our annual meeting is a time when our membership comes together to help chart the course of Farm Bureau’s political advocacy efforts for farmers, ranchers and rural communities.” During the 87th annual meeting’s business session, which was held Dec. 5 in Waco, voting delegates passed policy that supports legislation to incentivize the development of livestock and poultry processing facilities. “The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shutdowns drastically impacted Texas ranchers,” Boening said. “As we move forward, Farm Bureau members welcome any solutions that can help remedy the supply chain issues we experienced this year, and that could mean helping more smaller and mid-sized processing facilities become federally inspected.” Delegates also issued support for a solution for robust price discovery in the cattle market, and they approved a policy supporting the continuation of USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service import labeling requirements staying with all products to the end consumer. Policy supporting programs that provide funding for the processing of wildlife to be donated to food banks and other entities was passed by the delegates. They also discussed and passed policy requiring performance bonds to ensure surface remediation in eminent domain condemnations. “Many landowners who have property seized by entities with the power of eminent domain report surface damage issues following installation or maintenance of a project,” Boening said. “The entity fails to restore the easement area and the property around it to the original condition. When landowners try to receive remediation for inadequate repair or clean up through litigation, it can be costly. Requiring a performance bond would help remedy this issue for private property owners in Texas.” Voting delegates also supported policy that established items to be included in appraisals to property owners from appraisal districts. Those items included disclosure of property deed and ownership of land from high speed rail entities. In other action, Walt Hagood of Lynn-Garza County, John Paul Dineen III of Ellis County, Mickey Edwards of Lampasas County and Pete Pawelek of Atascosa County were re-elected to two-year terms on the state board of directors.

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Texas Farm Bureau voting delegates considered state and national policy resolutions at the organization’s 87th Annual Meeting while observing COVID-19 protocols and safety measures at the Waco Convention Center.

Mark Daniel of Baylor County was elected vice president, and Hagood was elected secretary-treasurer. Two new directors were also elected. Warren Cude of Fort Stockton is the new District 6 state director. He has a commercial cow-calf operation and raises registered and commercial sheep. He also operates a helicopter service for livestock gathering and predation management. Cude previously served as president and vice president of Pecos-Reeves County Farm Bureau. He has participated in TFB’s leadership program, FarmLead, and served on TFB’s Sheep and Goat, Animal Health and Predator advisory committees, as well as the state Resolutions Committee. He and his wife Darla have one son and two grandchildren. The new District 12 state director is Brian Adamek of Victoria. He grows corn and cotton in Victoria County. He has served several years in numerous roles, including president, on the Victoria County Farm Bureau board of directors. He participated in AgLead, a TFB leadership program, and served as TFB’s Young Farmer & Rancher Advisory Committee chair. He and his wife Jaclyn have two sons. Click here to view membership recognition, Outstanding Young Farmer & Rancher contest winner, Excellence in Agriculture contest winner, Discussion Meet winner and more announcements from the virtual opening session. For more information about Texas Farm Bureau, visit https://texasfarmbureau.org.

the path in front of you

B BY KYLE WILSON

y the time you have your sec ond child you develop an affin ity for bread heels and burnt marshmallows. You don’t even really feel like you’re settling for them. By the time number three comes around those things genuinely taste better, and you prefer them. Then the little ones feel like Michelin star chefs as they pull the flaming confection out of the camp fire. There’s a little grace built into our brains, I suppose. Which is important. Grace. Without it, much of what we do amounts to a zero sum situation where we come up short. In that old book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee wrote about courage. She wrote about Atticus knowing he was licked before he started but seeing it through no matter what. See the most important part of that is that he knew he was licked. The last year has licked a lot of people in rural America. There’s no sense in denying it. Pretending it didn’t suck doesn’t make us any stronger. Bottling it up doesn’t make us any better. My first plea with you reading this is to talk about it. With your family. Neighbors. Friends. A stranger on the internet will do. If you’re having a hard time, a lot of us are here for you. A funny thing happens when you talk about how hard things can get. They don’t become less hard, but you become a little stronger. Perseverance is a big part of the human condition, but it’s particularly obvious in rural America. Things can always get worse, and unfortunately they probably will.

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There’s something about us, about you, however, that prefers tilting at windmills. That’s why we don’t work office jobs where someone else tells you what to do and you get a check every two weeks. We like riding comet tails. Coleridge called it poetic faith. That willing suspension of disbelief. In “Lord of the Rings” Gimli the dwarf contemplates the perils of the mission he’s about to undertake when he says, “Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?” It’s the theme of every great story. Including yours. The capacity for having faith that we’ll be equal and able to survive a difficulty might be the most graceful anomaly we’ll ever experience. It might be the feeling for which I’m most grateful. Continuing to progress as human beings, not in spite of but because of our challenges, is my definition of excellence. You’ll find excellence in a lot of places if you look for it. In an Iowa high school janitor’s broom. A bus driver in Austin, Texas. An old timer walking between rows of carrots in Bakersfield. In you. I promise it’s there in you waiting to sharpen your senses and quicken your mind. The thing about the path in front of you is that if you can see exactly where’s it’s going, it’s probably not yours. I don’t know exactly where the future of agriculture is. I do know that this is an adventure I’ll pick over and over again, along with so many of you. Through good times and bad, the life we choose is a hell of a party.

There but for a whim of fate go you and you and I. Any man who chases lightning or thinks that he can fly. Are we stupid? Are we crazy? Are we rebels without cause? No, the reason is much simpler. We bet the pot because The drummer who keeps time for us stays just beyond the ledge And one only hears his cadence when one’s living on the edge. BAXTER BLACK

KEEP YOUR CHINS UP AND YOUR GAZE FIXED ON THE HORIZON, FRIENDS. I’LL SEE YOU AROUND.

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