This is a story of two nuts: the almond and the pecan.
In the 1960s the pecan industry loomed large over the almond. But, then, something changed. Since then, the almond crop has seen a nearly 33-fold growth, while the pecan crop has seen little to no growth. But things are looking up for the once-proud pecan.
The pecan is the only commercially grown nut in Texas, and now the U.S. Department of Agriculture is agreeing with the pecan industry that it should be allowed to start something called a “federal marketing order” for the official nut of Texas.
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in Cushing about fast tracking the Keystone pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf.
President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline provoked cheers from environmental groups, boos from rival politicians and a little bit of head scratching in the state of Texas.
“Technically, from my vernacular, the northern leg of the Keystone XL was rejected because the southern leg of the Keystone XL has been in operation since January of 2014,” said Julia Trigg in response to the news.
Trigg was one of the most visible faces in the fight against the Keystone XL in Texas. She sued TransCanada when it used eminent domain to run pipeline through her Northeast Texas
farm. But she lost that fight long before Obama’s announcement and TransCanada started running oil from Cushing, Okla., to the Texas Gulf Coast almost two years ago.
Aerial photo of the West explosion site taken several days after blast.
In Texas, some of the most deadly explosions have been caused by a substance that otherwise plays a vital role in how we grow crops: ammonium nitrate fertilizer. It’s what blew-up in the small city of West two years ago, killing 14 people. But the use of the popular chemical has suddenly dropped significantly.
Maybe you garden and know all about fertilizer. But if not, you need to know that fertilizer can be from a multitude of mixes of different chemicals.
But the one fertilizer that has caused catastrophes in the past is a product made of just one chemical:Â ammonium nitrate. It provides plants with nitrogen so they can thrive. But when mixed with something like diesel fuel, it becomes deadly.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
