No Food for Thanksgiving Without Texas Farmers Ranchers

As Texas families once again gather around Thanksgiving tables it would be appropriate to remember and give thanks to those who produce the food we eat and the fiber for the clothes we wear.

Texas farmers and ranchers are literally the nation’s best.  Our state leads the nation in the number of farms and ranches; land in agricultural production; the number of cattle horses sheep and goats; and in the production of cotton wool mohair and hay.  

In addition Texas agriculture produces vegetables horticultural plants watermelons citrus fruits peaches peanuts pecans grapes sorghum rice sugarcane poultry dairy pork and timber.  Catfish shrimp and oysters are harvested along the coast and in inland ponds.

Texas agriculture adds almost 10 percent of the gross state product and employs one out of every seven working Texans. 

While we are expressing our appreciation to the farmers and ranchers it would be appropriate to acknowledge the important role that the Texas Department of Agriculture has played in serving and promoting Texas agriculture.

One hundred years ago the 30th Texas Legislature created the Texas
Department of Agriculture.

The Legislature gave the new agency a staff of four a budget of $17038 and directed it to gather statistics and publish agricultural information.  Staff members went to work and reported that in 1907 Texas farmers and ranchers had 8.1 million head of cattle and had produced 1.8 million bushels of wheat and 2.3 million bales of cotton.

One hundred years later in spite of floods droughts rising gasoline prices and narrowing profit margins Texas ranchers had 14.1 million head of cattle while farmers harvested 30 million bushels of wheat and 6 million bales of cotton.

In addition Texas growers produce a wide array of fruits vegetables nursery crops and livestock that were not even a part of the state’s agricultural picture a century ago.

What is amazing is that in 1907 each farmer or rancher produced enough to feed and clothe his family and to sell some of his products to local markets.

Today each farmer or rancher produces enough food and/or fiber for 129 people in the United States and abroad. 

And what is even more amazing is that in 1910 there were 418000 farms and ranches in Texas.  Today there are only 230000 farms and ranches; however the productivity has increased significantly.  For example in 1907 115.7 million bushels of corn were produced on 5.1 million acres. In 2006 168.2 bushels were grown on 1.5 million acres.

Cutting-edge technology has led to increased productivity while the Texas Department of Agriculture’s marketing efforts have helped put Texas agricultural products in homes around the world.

Texans who enjoy the bounty of our state’s fine farmers and ranchers can help them by looking for the GO TEXAN label in the marketplace and support them by buying Texan.