Published: November 04, 2009 08:56 pm      

Staples notes challenges ahead for Texas

PALESTINE — Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples told Palestine Rotary Club members the importance of agriculture in the state and rural communities at Wednesday’s meeting.

The meeting was the club’s annual Rural Urban meeting and had several guests representing agriculture service businesses and operations throughout Anderson County. The Rotary Club also presented Staples with the Paul Harris Fellowship Award.

On a statewide basis, Staples said agriculture is still big business making up 9.5 percent of the Texas’ gross state product.

The agriculture numbers for Anderson County are equally impressive Staples said, noting the county rakes in annually about $84 million in receipts from farming, ranching and timber operations.

“That’s a big part of the local economy,” Staples added.

The future for agriculture in Texas looks bright, Staples said, but he did note there are challenges on the horizon as the population of the state continues to grow and the amount of land being devoted to agriculture continues to diminish.

Texas loses 270 acres of land for every 1,000 new residents added to the state. Texas, Staples noted, currently leads the nation in population growth. In 2000 Texas had a population of roughly 20 million people. By 2050 the state is expected to be home to about 40 million people.

As the state’s agriculture acreage continues to decline Staples said, “we have to look at what this does to food production.”

Another challenge facing the state and rural areas is jobs. The commissioner said in the coming years 70 percent of all jobs created in the state will be in the state’s four major metropolitan areas.

“That means 80 percent of the land mass of the state, which means us, will be competing for 30 percent of the new job growth,” Staples told the Rotary Club.

To be prepared for the future, Staples said communities and organizations need to start working together to develop agriculture opportunities, such as tapping into the $15.8 billion hunting and fishing economy in the state and to capitalize on the state’s natural resources.

In an effort to help farmers and ranchers, Staples said the Texas Department of Agriculture has expanded its Go Texan program to include landowners and hunting guides to use the “Go Texan” logo.

“Our new logo is, ‘go hunt, go fish, Go Texan,’” Staples said.

Possibly the biggest issue for the state, Staples said, is education. The state has been successful in agriculture because it has been able to apply science and technology and efforts need to be undertaken to continue to urge people to attain four-year degrees in order to remain competitive on an ever-increasing world market.

By continuing to encourage education Staples said Texas will continue to be the greatest state in the nation.