Water Grows the Texas Economy
Across the Panhandle and South Plains of Texas, the vast Ogallala Aquifer underlies 36,000 square miles of Texas. The water used for agricultural production brings billions of dollars into the economy every year, creating jobs and income for people in Lubbock, Amarillo and throughout the region.
It is vital that we find ways to conserve this valuable resource without damaging the economy. It can be done. We can conserve water for the future without sacrificing jobs and economic growth today. Watch this video to learn how . . .
Study finds High Plains crop production supports 103,000 jobs
An economic analysis conducted by Texas Tech University and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension found crop production supported more than 103,000 jobs and generated more than $12.2 billion in economic activity in 2010 in the Texas High Plains region.
Those findings come from a new, first of its kind economic model that can now be used to measure the economic effects of different policy options such as changes in water regulations, energy costs, and federal farm programs according to one of the leaders of the research, Darren Hudson, Ph.D, the Larry Combest Endowed Chair for Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech.
“We’ve always known crop production was a huge part of the economy of this region, but now we have a comprehensive model that can measure in dollars and jobs the total amount of economic activity generated by growing, selling and processing crops in the Texas High Plains,” Hudson said.
The measures in the study reflect the impact of a wide variety of economic activity including production costs, such as buying seed, fertilizer, fuel, labor and equipment, as well as post-production processing of crops in the area, including livestock and dairy usage, cotton gins, grain elevators and other relevant processing. Read more
What are ag producers doing?
Texas agricultural producers are making a number of strides to conserve our natural resources such as conservation tillage, irrigation conservation tools, and more. In 2011, we followed a Panhandle corn producer's corn field on drip irrigation, learn more about his success with this conservation method here.
What is Drip Irrigation?
Drought conditions continue in areas of Texas following last year’s worst drought on record across the state. Efficient water is paramount in the agricultural industry, as Texas farmers work to grow the crops consumers and livestock rely on. With water being a finite resource, this topic is not one that will be dropping by the wayside any time soon. That is why Texas Corn Producers has teamed with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service in Texas to provide an informational resource for producers on drip irrigation, which it released on the Water Grows Jobs YouTube Channel this month. Learn more about these videos here