By Gene Hall

Last week I was in Washington, D.C., and had the pleasure of interviewing U.S. Representative John Carter, who represents the 31^st District of Texas. Congressman Carter, along with fellow Texas Congressman Sam Johnson, is working hard on the U.S. House version of an immigration reform bill for our country.

It takes some Texas-sized courage to stick your neck out on a heated issue like immigration reform in Congress. For agriculture, though, a legal guest worker program is the difference between harvested crops and lost opportunity. No workers in the field… No crops from the field… No food for the people.

By Gene Hall

It’s a curious coalition that always creeps out of the deep woods to oppose the farm bill, which, in one form or another has ensured U.S. supplies of food and fiber since the 1930s.

It’s sort of like an episode of The Walking Dead.  One group of zombies swoops in from the deep woods of the left, believing that attacking modern agriculture in their typical Luddite fashion will produce the environmental utopia of which they dream. 

By Chandler Bowers

As I am top dressing wheat with fertilizer and herbicide, I am reminded of the sacrifices that we all must make to keep the world revolving for generations to come.

There are lots of sacrifices made by farm families in order to keep their businesses profitable. Long hours, seasonal vacations, the unpredictability of Mother Nature—these are just a few of the challenges that we face. And that’s just the beginning of the “lessons learned at the end of a dirt road.”

So, if these lessons are so great, why would young people come back to farm and ranch?

By Mike Barnett

The Legislature took a significant step last week toward meeting Texas’ future water needs as the House Committee on Natural Resources passed a bill to jump start water projects in Texas, as reported in Texas Farm Bureau’s Austin Newsletter.

 The multi-year drought that caused over $7.6 billion in agricultural losses in 2011 alone and is drying up water sources for many Texas towns and cities has drawn the attention of our lawmakers in Austin. HB 4 by Representative Allan Ritter (R-Nederland) proposes that $2 billion be used from the Rainy Day Fund to create a revolving loan program so communities can begin working on projects outlined in the State Water Plan.

By Gene Hall

Let me tell you about a young man I know. No, actually, the word is “admire.” His name is James D. Sartwelle IV. J.D. is a heck of a kid. His dad, Jim, and I work together here at Texas Farm Bureau. He’s been “raised right.” But that’s only part of the story.

J.D. is a product of that great character-building enterprise of showing livestock at a few of the hundreds of junior shows that are held across Texas every year.

By Jessica Domel

I’m of the opinion that there’s nothing quite like a livestock show and rodeo. I’ve only been to a few in my life, but I have to say, there’s something about standing under the bright lights with my boots crunching fresh hay while the aroma of freshly cooked hot dogs fills the air. The sounds of children’s excitement as they crowd around a display of freshly-hatched chicks is just intoxicating.I forget how exciting it can be to see those first few moments of life, and I have to tell you, it’s something to behold.