LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Implementing Texas House Bill 43 means making sure the priorities of agriculture producers are taken care of.
That’s why tiers one and two of the bill focus on immediate assistance. “AgLink” was introduced in tier one as a low interest loan and grant program to help producers and businesses who have dealt with hardship the past few years.
Tier two, “AGPro”, focuses on getting producers, especially young ones, back on their feet and and hopefully build on their operations.
Kody Bessent of Plains Cotton Growers says we’re now in tier three, which focuses on the Agricultural Defense Program.
“The goal is to provide a funding mechanism, potentially the Texas Animal Health Commission, as well as Texas AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension, to help mitigate some of the pest thresholds we have.”
The Cotton Jassid, which has become a problem for Texas cotton, is a recent example of the harm a pest can have on crops. Another key reason for implementing this program is because of Texas’ location, which creates some unique circumstances for producers.
“We’re a border state,” Bessent said, “a southern border but also surrounding states, and so we have a lot of different products that are moving in and out of different regions.”
The Texas Animal Health Commission, Texas A&M AgriLife extension Service and A&M AgriLife research can now submit letters of intent to the Texas Department of Agriculture. Once approved, they will be granted financial assistance to see just how much damage these outside forces are doing to crops.
Bessent adds this step of Texas House Bill 43 is a crucial one, because it affords those working in the fields the opportunity to focus on the task at hand, and not something that could mess with their way of life.
“Animal Health Commission, Texas AgriLife, they get to focus on the core research,” Bessent said, “whereas it allows the producer then to still be able to operate in a comfortable manner knowing that there’s someone behind-the-scenes trying to address this issue and further issues. They’re not having to continually focus on, well what am I going to do this year to combat this pest threshold?”
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