WESLACO Despite a prolonged and severe drought, low market prices, escalating expenses and infringing urbanization, agriculture continues to contribute significantly to both the state and Lower Rio Grande Valley economies.
The food and fiber system in Texas contributed as much as $72.8 billion to the state economy from 1997 through 2000 despite its woes, according to a joint study by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension.
Figures compiled by Dr. John Robinson, agricultural economist at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Weslaco, show agriculture contributed almost half a billion dollars, $476 million to the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s economy in 2001.
“The Valley’s modern economy is one driven by the service industry of the retail economy, with a retail value of about $7 billion annually,” Robinson said. “But the importance of the Valley’s agricultural economy is location. While it may not be as large as the huge retail sector to be found in McAllen or the other larger cities, agriculture is especially important to those economies in smaller, rural communities.”
It is those smaller communities throughout the Valley, Robinson said, that are almost completely supported by agriculture, maintaining land values and contributing significantly to the tax bases that fund school and city services.
“Agriculture here also provides almost 18,000 full-time jobs, directly and indirectly, which in turn helps support the overall economy here,” he said.
Crop shares of the Valley’s total production were led by vegetables, which have a regional gross value of $152.8 million, or 33 percent of the local agricultural pie. Citrus follows with a value of $82.3 million, or 17 percent. Nursery and livestock production make up 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively, followed by sugarcane (9 percent or $45 million) and other commodities in the single-digit percentage range, including grain sorghum, cotton, corn, and hay/alfalfa.
“The last five years have been very tough for agriculture here in the Valley,” Robinson said, “because of the low commodity prices growers have been getting for their products. The drought has also had a big impact. Less yields are produced per acre, acreage may not even be planted, or if yields are so low, crops simply aren’t harvested.”
Some crops, Robinson noted, are referred to as farm gate raw commodities, such as grain or cotton, that are shipped to other areas for final processing or milling. Other crops, such as citrus, are shipped from the Valley as wholesale products ready for retail sale.
“Juice plants and packing sheds here in the Valley are the entities that add value to those products locally and keep that money here,” he said. “Those products are then shipped to California, Chicago and even overseas, ready for sale to the consumer.”
In addition to creating jobs and income, Robinson noted, the Valley’s agriculture is the last, albeit shrinking, vestige of open land. Land continues to be gobbled up because of rapidly expanding urbanization.
“Agricultural interests now share a commonality with land preservationists and environmentalists who tout the benefits of undeveloped, open land that provides wildlife habitat and contributes to the clean air here,” he said.
The statewide economic study of agriculture was presented recently to the state Agriculture Policy Board, chaired by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs.
“Even in challenging economic times,” Combs said, “Texas agriculture is an engine of economic growth. This study confirms what we’ve always known — that our state’s robust agricultural sector contributes to the economic well-being of all Texans.”
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