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Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

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Texas Department of Agriculture

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Texas Wants to See What the Drought Looks Like to You

The Texas Water Development Board’s most recent drought report showed that 97 percent of the state is still experiencing some level of drought. So what does a state that parched look like? The agency, along with Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Department of Agriculture, have come together to show you. Those three agencies have launched an […]

Without River Water, Rice Farmers Look to Alternative Crops

Rice has been growing in Texas since the 1800s, but for the past two years most rice farmers in Southeast Texas along the Lower Colorado River have been cut off from their usual water supplies because of the ongoing Texas drought. It’s possible they will be cut off a third time next year, leading to […]

Why Texas Cattle Ranching Continues to Decline

Ranchers and farmers were undeniably the worst-hit when it came to the Texas drought of 2011. After over $7 billion in losses in the agricultural sector that year (with most of those losses in cattle and cotton), some never recovered. Over a million head of cattle were sold out of the state in 2011, and […]

Quarantine in South Texas as Mexican Fruit Fly Invades, Again

Don’t let its size fool you, the Mexican Fruit Fly is a serious threat to Texas’ agriculture. Authorities spotted larval Mexican Fruit Flies in South Texas and quarantined an 85 square mile area to contain the dangerous pest and its insidious larvae, according to the Texas Register. The quarantine is one of many used over […]

2013 Brings Bad Spring for Some Texas Farmers

Recent rains helped pull more of the state out of drought- but 92 percent of Texas is still experiencing at least a moderate drought and in some of the state drought has worsened. The U.S. Drought Monitor maps released Thursday morning show a slight decrease from last week in the percent of the state facing […]

It’s 9 pm, Do You Know Where Your Goat Is?

Goats and sheep with wanderlust in Texas could find a little more protection from a new bill making its way through the legislature. The bill, HB 1819, by Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-Bryan, would make a property owner liable for killing or brutalizing goats or sheep that trespass onto their property due to an insufficient fence. […]

Who Opposes Native Seed Bills? Native Seed Sellers

A few individuals from around Texas took the opportunity to travel to the Capitol and speak out against two native seed bills at the House Livestock and Agriculture Committee meeting Wednesday. And those who kindly opposed the legislation were native seed distributors themselves. While the distributors were glad the state government is championing the native […]

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