4-H and the Texas Rangers: A Great Combination!

This past Saturday night, August 28, the Texas Rangers Baseball Team might not have won on the scoreboard, but they should have won a spot in your heart. Saturday was 4-H night at the Ballpark at Arlington. A great big Texas Thank You goes to President Nolan Ryan, General Manager Chuck Greenberg and the entire Rangers organization for their commitment and dedication to promoting the youth of our state. If you can believe it, they even let me throw out the first pitch of the game, and it was an honor to be involved with such a special day at the Ballpark!

The participating 4-H clubs were able to keep $3 per ticket they sold to help fund local projects. Representatives from the top selling clubs were treated to a night in a suite and a personal visit from Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. It was also the first ever GREEN OUT night at the Ballpark, and T-shirts with the 4-H emblem and Texas Rangers logo were being handed out thanks to the sponsorship of Texas Farm Bureau.

Texas 4-H impacts the lives of more than 590,000 young people across Texas who participate in its programs. With all the “opportunities” available for youth today that send the wrong message, you should feel proud of the many volunteer hours associated with giving our youth good and wholesome information that not only teaches them responsibility for today, but prepares them for tomorrow.

To find out how you can be involved in a 4-H chapter in your community, go to http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/.

Thanks again to Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers. GO TEXAN! Go Texas Rangers!

More Damage From D.C.

Texas agricultural producers should not have to pay the price for Washington, D.C.’s broken diplomatic relationships. Last March, the United States Congress unilaterally suspended part of the NAFTA agreement that went into effect allowing Mexican operated trucks to go further into the United States. It has been widely reported this was in response to union complaints.

There are protocols within NAFTA to address legitimate issues, but what our Democratic leaders in Congress did was bypass these mutually agreed upon guidelines. The result: American farmers, ranchers, companies and employees have been paying the price. That’s correct; Mexico has the ability to add tariffs to U.S. products because our federal government did not play by the rules they agreed to operate by.

This is costing U.S. jobs. We should never be cavalier about what we agreed to do, because this only limits our credibility and hurts the unemployed Americans who are waiting for this economy to rebound.

We sometimes forget that Mexico is one of our largest agricultural trading partners. In fact, according to Census Bureau data, the U.S. shipped more than $1 billion worth of fruits, vegetables and nuts to Mexico in 2009, up 45 percent from $748 million in 2005. Mexico is one of our biggest customers here in America. Texas is a big producer and exporter in multiple categories, and this tariff hits many of our grapefruit, orange, onion and peanut growers. Texas happens to rank 2nd in grapefruit production, 3rd in oranges, 4th in onions and 2nd in peanuts, so you can imagine how our economy is going to feel the pain.

Mr. President, here is a stimulus package that doesn’t add to our meteoric debt calendar: instruct our trade negotiators to work this problem out immediately, and help our economy and U.S. workers! Our Democratic Congressional leaders started this problem, and they can do something about it.

Rural Highlight: Jon Means and the Moon Ranch

Agriculture today is precariously balanced on a surgically-fine edge between the past and the future. As research enables us to discover innovative ways to feed and clothe a booming global population, we must embrace progress as an industry goal. On the other hand, what makes agriculture different from many other industries is the heritage and history behind what we do, something to be cherished, not forgotten.


This is a difficult balancing act, one that requires leaders willing to take on the challenges of tomorrow by studying the footsteps of yesterday. Jon Means of Van Horn, Texas, is the quintessential example of a successful rancher: true to his heritage and excited about the prospects of the future.


Jon and his wife, Jackie, live on the Moon Ranch in Culberson County amid the arid and often unforgiving Davis Mountains. Anything but newcomers, Jon’s family has been ranching in the area for over 125 years. In 2007, Jon was elected to serve as the president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, a key role in the promotion of one of Texas’ most important products. I had the pleasure of visiting Jon and Jackie on the ranch, and their passion for Texas runs as high as the temperature of the West Texas sun.


While the Means family used to raise Highland Herefords, Angus has been the ranch’s bread and butter for sixty plus years. Jon has a progressive mindset on the future of the beef industry and how best to move it forward in changing market environments, yet his appreciation for the traditional aspects of ranching is very clear. As he would put it, “Ranching is an art, not a science.”


Ranching is and will remain one of the premier endeavors that sets the Lone Star State apart from the rest of the nation. It takes men and women like Jon and Jackie Means, who understand the economic and cultural importance of ranching and cattle, to propel us into a successful future while constantly reminding us of our rich and vibrant legacy.

Real Hope for the Future

Sir Tom Stoppard once said, “Age is a high price to pay for maturity.” Sometimes, though, we are reminded that taking the youth of our country for granted would be a grave mistake. Maturity and wisdom surface everyday in the minds of Texas young people, and we could all take a page from the book of the young and vibrant.

I recently received an email from a young woman about to start her senior year at a Texas high school. The email, titled “Problems in Washington for the Future of Agriculture!” chronicled her distress regarding the direction of our country, particularly the policy decisions being pushed through Congress and their disastrous effects on the industry upon which we all depend. Some of the things she said:

• “The government is killing agriculture and it isn’t fair at all.”
• “We all need healthy ways of living, but stop putting so many regulations on agriculture when other countries where we get our source of food have none or a few regulations.”
• “The Estate Tax Reform does need to be passed by Congress! If it’s not then it hurts our economy even worse.”
• “Not many people these days know a lick about agriculture and where their food comes from. Most think it comes from a can or a box, they never think about ‘Hey, I’m helping somebody out!’”

I think it is safe to say based on these astute observations that a high school senior possesses more common sense and capability than many of our leaders in Washington, D.C. Her keen message contains many of the points that we must send to Washington in November. More importantly, we should all be proud that the next generation of leaders is taking an active roll in the future of our country. After all, we are all involved in agriculture at least three times a day.

Texas Education Threatened

Every day we see more and more examples of a federal government out of control. In the latest abuse, the U.S. Senate has passed legislation that, if allowed to stand, would severely limit the ability of all Texans’ right to set their own education policy.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved legislation that would require Texas – and no other state – to maintain state education spending levels through 2013. The bill essentially allows the U.S. Senate to bypass the legislative process and mandate what Texas can and cannot spend on education.

All Texans want a quality education for our children. As a state senator and state representative I have worked to increase teacher salaries and improve school accountability and school funding.

However, this overreaching mandate to Texas is an encroachment on states’ rights and essentially ignores the will of the people of the Lone Star State.

This is unconstitutional, as Gov. Rick Perry has rightly said, but more importantly, it sets a dangerous precedent. If the federal government can pick and choose which states to bind with onerous mandates, then can the states even be said to have a representative, republican form of government, which is guaranteed by the constitution?

We need change in Washington, but more importantly we need to end the arrogance of government on all levels. We need elected leaders who recognize limits on their power, and recognize the will of the people.

Texas At Its Best

As I have mentioned several times, Texas is performing at a far superior level compared to the rest of the nation economically. The numbers speak for themselves, so much that I decided to make Texas’ economic prowess the topic for this month’s e-newsletter, “Shooting Straight with Staples.”

"Texas’ economy leads the nation. Growth over the last few years has been phenomenal and positive news still abounds: Texas created more net jobs in the last five years than all other states combined. The trend continues in 2010, with the Lone Star State producing more jobs than any other state in the country from April to May. Despite that, many of our citizens and businesses are being negatively impacted by the national recession. That recession is being prolonged by the lack of a clear and cohesive strategy and course of action by our current administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress. As the Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported, U.S. corporations are sitting on $1.6 trillion in cash reserves. That’s a recovery waiting to happen, but no business is going to spend its money when it can’t predict what their future costs will be…

Texas families have to live within their means...and they have every right, I mean every right, to expect their government to do the same. After all, government works for the people, not the other way around. "

To read the full article, click here. Additionally, if you do not receive my monthly newsletter and would like to, please sign-up to learn how important agriculture is to the great state of Texas. You deserve to be informed of the real issues that affect our state and nation, and I would be honored to hear your opinions and questions.