Calendar
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Through Sept. 13 |
Planet Agriculture, West Texas Fair & Rodeo, Abilene |
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Sept. 22-24 |
TFB Board Meeting, Waco |
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Sept. 24-25 |
TFB Legislative Seminar, Austin |
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Sept. 24-25 |
TFB Field Staff Conference,Austin |
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Sept. 24-25 |
Agricultural Challenges Conference, Austin |
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Sept. 26-Oct. 29 |
Planet Agriculture, Texas State Fair, Dallas |
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Sept. 30-Oct. 2 |
AFBF Board Meeting, Washington, D.C. |
Texas attitudes on agriculture surveyed
A high octane study to measure Texans’ attitudes about the issues important to agriculture and rural Texas was recently conducted by the state’s largest farm organization.
And while this ground-breaking study found that the high cost of energy is top of mind for everyone as a general issue, its real intent was to gauge how Texans feel about eminent domain, animal rights, government support for farmers and ranchers and other concerns heading the agenda of agriculture and rural Texas.
"Sometimes you have to take a look back to chart a path of where you want to go," said Kenneth Dierschke, president of the Texas Farm Bureau. "This was not a ‘feel-good’ survey designed to shine a positive light on agriculture. It was a hard-nosed look at how Texans feel about agricultural issues."
The study, approved by the Texas Farm Bureau board of directors and conducted by Lewis Public Relations in Dallas, measured attitudes about issues important to agriculture and rural Texas.
The first part of the study was a quantitative telephone survey with a margin of error of +/- 5 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. A qualitative follow-up was conducted in the form of three focus groups in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in late April. Gene Hall, TFB Public Relations director said its purpose was to determine the thoughts, feelings and emotions behind the responses in the quantitative survey.
"This study confirmed that Farm Bureau has been on the right track in the past as we guard the interests of rural Texas," Hall said. "It shows, however, that we have a lot more work to do. And it gives us a road map to follow as we pursue our policy positions in the future on issues important to all Texans."
As a result of the study, Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke has appointed a committee to develop and prioritize messages for the upcoming Congress and Texas Legislative session.
The committee will be headed by District 1 State Director Billy Bob Brown.
Other board members on the committee are TFB Vice President Bobby Nedbalek, Charles Ray Huddleston (District 4) and Richard Cortese (District 8). TFB staff members include Hall, Si Cook, Warren Mayberry and Mike Barnett.
Hall said there were some surprises in the quantitative survey results.
"It was no surprise that the high cost of energy topped the general concerns of most everyone," Hall said. "The big awareness of renewable fuels, however, was surprising. This leaves a lot of opportunity for agriculture as it strives to perfect the technology for cellulosic ethanol feedstocks."
While 81 percent of Texans were concerned about water availability for residential use, it was a pleasant surprise that 76 percent realized rural Texas needs water, too.
Nearly three out of four Texans opposed the use of eminent domain for private development.
"That’s good news, but other survey results show Farm Bureau needs to correct misconceptions about the degrees of private property protections afforded under the law," Hall said. "Farm Bureau will continue to emphasize the private property rights message over the economic message of eminent domain."
Texans overwhelmingly agree with agricultural producers that food animals need to receive decent and humane treatment.
Opinion was mixed when it came to government support for agriculture. More than half the group opposed government subsidies for agriculture. Yet, 86 percent of those surveyed said that government support is okay to ensure a domestic food supply.
"This shows we need to do a better job of telling the story of farm programs," Hall said. "We need to emphasize that farm programs provide a safety net for farmers in times of trouble and guarantee a safe, domestic food supply for all Americans."
Over three-quarters of those surveyed said the government should regulate food production to ensure food safety. And Texans—by the same margin—said it is important to have clean air and water, even if personal sacrifice is required.
See the Sept. 5 Texas Agriculture for a complete report.
Dimmit County Farm Bureau President Bill Martin, U.S. Congressman Ciro Rodriguez and State Director Raymond Meyer discuss Southwest Texas agriculture issues at a recent meeting in Uvalde. About 30 Farm Bureau members attended.
AFBF: Eliminate freight rail antitrust exemptions
The American Farm Bureau Federation sent letters to members of the House and Senate, urging them to sign on as co-sponsors of legislation that would eliminate antitrust exemptions for the freight rail industry.
S. 772 and H.R. 1650 are companion bills that would make obsolete antitrust exemptions that protect freight railroads from competition and therefore keep rail rates artificially and unfairly high.
"American agriculture depends on the railroad system, especially given the high costs of shipping commodities via truck. Like those in several other industries, agricultural producers are frequently captive rail customers and experience both unreliable service and exorbitantly high rates from the railroads," stressed AFBF President Bob Stallman in separate letters to House members and senators who have not already signed on as co-sponsors.
Stallman said passage of the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act is vital before the 110th Congress completes its business this year.
"Farmers all across America rely on reasonably priced rail service to deliver their crops to market. Freight railroads must be opened to fair and open competition so that prices for shipping agriculture commodities via rail can be fair and reasonable," Stallman said.
Antitrust exemptions granted to the freight rail industry allow rail companies to charge farmers and ranchers and other captive shippers exorbitantly high rates to ship agricultural products.
Removing these exemptions is expected to force railroads to compete for business and to reduce the rates charged to captive shippers.
Pesticide collection sites named
Producers wanting to dispose of unwanted pesticides or used motor oil can visit several free collection events scattered around the state in September and October.
These collection events are available to all Texas residents who apply pesticides or other agricultural chemicals for the production of agricultural products in Texas, and those who currently have banned or unwanted agricultural chemicals.
• Sept. 23—Dawson County Fair Barn, Lamesa
• Sept. 24—Taylor County Expo Center, Abilene
• Sept. 25—Comanche Community Center, Comanche
• Sept. 30—Kaufman County Fairgrounds, Kaufman
• Oct. 1—Fannin County Barn Precinct 4, Bonham
• Oct. 2—Red River County Fairgrounds, Clarksville
• Oct. 21—Ross Gin Co. LTD, Mercedes
• Oct. 22—Live Oak County Fairgrounds, Three Rivers
• Oct. 23—Victoria Community Center, Victoria
• Oct. 28—Matagorda County Fairgrounds, Bay City
• Oct. 29—Fayette County Fairgrounds, La Grange
• Oct. 30—Milano Livestock Exchange, Milano
For more information, contact the TCEQ at 512-239-3143.
GOP mandate bad news for ethanol
Supporters of renewable fuels got some bad new from the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn. Republicans changed their philosophy on renewable fuels saying the markets, not the government, should determine how much ethanol is blended into gasoline.
"We were very surprised to see that the Republican Party had changed their platform to include a sentence saying that they do not support any mandates for ethanol, and obviously—as a general ag organization—we have been very supportive of renewable fuels. And we are very disappointed to see that the Republican Party has gone to the extent to change their platform on their support for it," said American Farm Bureau Federation Energy Specialist Anne Steckel.
Steckel said the ethanol mandate forces the gasoline companies to blend renewable fuels into the gasoline supply system. Without it, she said the oil companies will nix renewable fuels and use their own products.
"We are trying to lessen our dependence on foreign oil," she said. "We need to really look toward the future and diversify and it would be a shame to take a step backward."
Steckel said mandates could be interpreted as many things including the ethanol tax credit and tariffs. But the one that comes most directly to mind, she said, was the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
She said she was puzzled by the change of attitude because President Bush, Congress and the American public have been very supportive of renewable fuels.
"So that is why it is very confusing as to why the Republicans would make the big statement to change their platform to say they don’t support any mandates for renewable fuels," Steckel said.
