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Monday, November 29, 1999
Texas Farm Bureau holds 66th annual convention
By Deborah Martinez
Caller-Times
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| David Adame/Caller-Times |
| Aubrey Chudleigh, president of the Harris County Farm Bureau, tries his hand at roping on a calf-roping simulator Sunday at the 66th Annual Texas Farm Bureau Convention at the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center. The convention continues through Wednesday. |
Trade sanctions, federal regulation and access to underground water are continuing issues in Texas' agricultural industry, said Texas Farm Bureau president Bob Stallman on Sunday at the organization's 66th annual convention at Bayfront Plaza Convention Center.
"Our convention this year comes near the end of a very difficult year for Texas agriculture and for the farm and ranch families of this state," Stallman said at the conference.
If it weren't for more than $8 billion Congress set aside for disaster relief aid in 1999, farms and ranches across Texas wouldn't be prepared to produce the first crops of the new millennium, he said. The drought problem that has plagued the state since 1996, as well as low market prices for commodities such as livestock, feed, grains and fiber, are other predicaments for Texas agriculture.
Nearly 1,600 Texas farmers and ranchers, 600 of whom are voting delegates for the Texas Farm Bureau, are gathered in Corpus Christi to set their policy for 2000.
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| David Adame/Caller-Times |
| Some of the vendors who exhibited their wares at the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center as seen from above on Sunday. The 66th annual Texas Farm Bureau Convention is being held at the center. |
Many of their policies will be compiled into a directory for state representatives to follow during the next legislative session, said Troy Nedbalek, a bureau delegate.
For the Coastal Bend area, Hurricane Bret contributed to a less than healthy cotton industry, said Nedbalek, a San Patricio County farmer. Though Nueces County itself escaped serious effects of the storm, areas as far south as Kingsville weren't so lucky.
Bureau delegates will look at how trade sanctions can be updated, how the "maze of federal regulations" can be deciphered and how landowner rights can be protected under state water law.
The trade embargo against countries such as Cuba is harmful to both the Cuban and American economies, Stallman said.
"It would be a great benefit to Texas agriculture if we could open (the Cuban) market up," he said. "All our efforts will be focused on actions that will result in a consistent and fair national farm policy. It is, we believe, time that America has such a policy."
Staff writer Deborah Martinez can be reached at 886-3622 or by e-mail at martinezd@caller.com
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