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The House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock met on February 21, 2019, to take up invited testimony. This report focuses on the Dept. of Agriculture, Animal Health Commission, Soil and Water Conservation Board, and includes less detailed notes on other invited testimony.

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Texas Dept. Agriculture

Sid Miller, Agriculture Commissioner

  • Agriculture is second largest industry in the state.
  • Compared Texas Ad. Dept. to counterparts in Florida and California.
  • $0.91 out of every $1 comes from federal funds. Most of the remainder is paid for through cost recovery of Ag Dept., get a small amount of GR funds.
  • is exceeding all performance measures that were set by the legislature.
  • Implemented skimmer protection program to stop credit card skimming efforts by the Cuban mafia
  • Responsible for school nutrition programs, most other state and federal nutrition programs.
  • Lost 5 of 6 budget tools when Miller took over due to actions of previous administration.
    • Fees could be lowered across the board if those budget tools were reinstituted.
  • Audit findings have been addressed
  • Springer – What percentage would you be able to lower fees with UB authority?
    • Miller – It depends on the program. We have already been able to lower fees in the egg inspection program through efficiencies in the program. Would have to crunch the numbers to get exact percentage.
    • Springer – Last session fees were a big topic, what percentage could those see?
    • Miller – Estimate, somewhere around 20% they went up across the board.
    • Springer – Question about drift issue with 24D and dicamba
    • Miller – We have proactive education programs, which keeps drift numbers down. This is a big issue for vineyards.
    • Springer – You mentioned TX Ag. Dept. has fewer employees than CA or FL, are those due to efficiencies or do they have employees under Ag that we have under the school program or another one?
    • Miller – Privatize everything I can, for example fuel pumps. In the process of privatizing scales.
    • Springer – A few groups under Ag Dept. that we are looking at privatizing or moving to another agency, what affect would that have on budget for other parts of the agency?
    • Miller – Would have no effect. We are asking for authority back to move that money around.
  • Raymond – Question about moving WIC program into Ag Dept.
    • Miller – Don’t know about any other Ag Dept that handles WIC, but we could do that.
    • Raymond – I think it sometimes helps to have an elected official heading up an agency. “Bureaucrats come up with some dumb ideas”, elected officials bring some common sense.
  • Raymond – Question about nutrition in public schools, nutrition is important to teach students. Has Ag Dept. had discussions with TEA on this issue?
    • Miller – have 5 teams travelling the state giving presentations at school assemblies
    • Raymond – Maybe we need to give you more resources to get to more schools
    • Miller – We are somewhat limited, especially in state dollars.
  • Springer – Do you work with food pantries
    • Miller – Legislature gives $5m-$6m for food pantries, that has been increased every year since I’ve been here.
  • Zwiener – Access to internet an issue in rural, agricultural communities.
    • Miller – Working with USDA, $600m in federal grants coming down for rural broadband. $200m of that is for private enterprise. That is only the first phase, there will be more.
    • Zwiener – Is there some we can do to help those efforts?
    • Miller – It is right now in a holding pattern, once we get guidelines on how to draw that down we will instruct local entities on how to draw that down.
  • Anderson – Comment on transfer authority
    • Miller – LBB has us set up with numerous strategies. When we get to the end of the year we can’t balance things up. We can never get our budget increased because we do not have transfer authority. We do not need 100%, more like 30%. When we go over balance it is akin to stealing a producer’s money because it is all swept away, so I have to artificially set those fees high.
    • Anderson – We need to make sure we properly fund Ag Dept. and Animal Health Commission
    • Miller – If we get our budget tools back we can fund ourselves
  • Raymond – Is LBB responsive to your requests?
    • Miller – No.
    • Raymond – That is frustrating, but that is what they are supposed to do to a certain extent. We need to properly fund Ag Dept.
  • Zwiener – Question about financial history of Ag Dept.
    • Miller – When I started out we were in the red and not collecting enough money to cover costs. During the financial crisis the legislature said Ag Dept wouldn’t get any GR. Previous administration said they weren’t going to raise fees, which put me in the penalty box.
    • Zwiener – What have you done as Commissioner so we can feel confident giving you that budget authority back?
    • Miller – We have created a number of efficiencies, cost savings that we did not have before.
    • Zwiener – Big issue in my district is eminent domain, has Ag Dept been working on resources for landowners threatened by eminent domain?
    • Miller – We understand need for eminent domain, but we want to get a fair price
    • Zwiener – Have you considered creating guidelines for how to move through the process?
    • Miller – We have not.

 

Animal Health Commission

Andy Schwartz, State Veterinarian and Executive Director Of Animal Health Commission

  • Exceptional items
    • $400k for database modernization, would create database to track diseased animals.
    • Increase for livestock inspector salaries. Losing inspectors to higher paid jobs
  • Springer – Who are we losing those inspectors to?
    • Schwartz – Broder security jobs, energy or oil jobs, whatever pays higher
    • Springer – SO it is to higher paying jobs, not other jobs in the industry
    • Schwartz – Yes
  • Funding for fever tick disease prevention and containment programs.
  • Raymond – Update on Webb County with regard to fever ticks?
    • Schwartz – Webb and Zapata County have been hotspots for the past 2 years. Properties have to be under quarantine for at least 9 months before they can be released.
    • Raymond – How many ranches or properties are under quarantine?
    • Schwartz – Can get that info later, issue is mainly white tail deer and Noga antelope that are moving in and out of the quarantine zone.
    • Raymond – We talked in the past about funding for fencing for landowners, where are we on that?
    • Schwartz – That is federal money, we have used some of that in our fish and wildlife refuge.
  • Bovine tuberculosis outbreaks happen occasionally, testing a large number of cattle. Program is funded properly now, but there was a bit of a challenge during the shutdown since we rely on fed help
  • Chronic wasting disease
    • 3 quarantine areas in Trans Pecos, panhandle, and Medina County
    • 350 herd investigations, have close partnership with parks and wildlife in that capacity
    • Administer voluntary herd certification program, enrollment has increased to 319 out of 1300 captive breeders in the state.
  • Involved in emergency management response to Harvey.
  • Preparing for disease outbreaks
    • African Swine Fever, currently in China, Vietnam. Are taking measures to prevent an outbreak
  • Raymond – Is that African Swine fever but it’s in China?
    • Schwartz – It is in China but is called African Swine Fever. In the past in the US we have had Classical Swine Fever, which is slightly different.
    • Raymond – How would it get here form China?
    • Schwartz – Concern that it would live in a pork product for a number of months and make it across the water.
    • Raymond – And it would be consumed by humans?
    • Schwartz – Human consumption is not a concern, concern would be a feed additive that is fed to swine in Texas. There are certain laws against it in Texas, but it could happen from feed additives. Pork casings handled in China also have a risk of carrying the disease.
    • Raymond – What are you doing about it?
    • Schwartz – We have no control over international trade, but we have a quarantine plan in place in case of an outbreak and have been educating people about the potential impact.
  • Raymond – How significant of an impact was Harvey to livestock owners?
    • Schwartz – We saw relatively little amount of livestock loss. Water came up slowly and animals sought the high grounds. Previous floods meant we were prepared on what to do, worked with fair and show grounds to move livestock if we need them.
  • Break
  • Began by addressing fever tick infestation – 499 premises under quarantine in Zapata, 58 were infested. 693 under quarantine in Webb.
  • Raymond – asked about trend of infestation over last few years, are their efforts working to address
    • Schwartz – Two years ago seeing a rapid rise in outbreak area, recently have seen infestation areas drop but there is still exposure to white tail deer.
    • Raymond – Is Parks and Wildlife responsible for the deer?
    • Schwartz – We work with them and with USDA on deer containment
    • Raymond – How many of the quarantine areas in Webb and Zapata are game management sites
    • Schwartz – Do not have that information
  • USDA will fund a fencing project if it is maintained by the state.
    • Raymond – We should do that.
    • Schwartz – Would have to go property by property to get permission, plan to move forward with that in the next few months.
    • Raymond – As a democrat who has supported appropriation for border security, what we need to do is work with Governor’s Office and other agencies on this issue. Stopping fever ticks is part of the border security issue, we should use some of the border security money for fever tick containment.
  • Springer – Do landowners object to that fencing, would it be eminent domain?
    • Schwartz – Would not be eminent domain, 2 years ago all landowners agreed with the fence. They were sympathetic to the cause.
    • Raymond – We could do a matching deal.
  • Buckley – Give an overview of the potential economic impact of the fever tick?
    • Schwartz – TAMU did an analysis 10 years ago, would be about a $1.2b impact on ag industry. Currently updating that study. Big issue would be a loss of trade.
  • Zwiener – Concerned about further spread of CWD?
    • Schwartz – Very concerned, no cure or prevention. Only way to stop it is to not be exposed. Disease is invariably fatal. Cannot allow animals or animal products to leave a quarantine zone. Have been able to get 250 samples of exotic wildlife in past year and a half. Found CWD in an elk in the panhandle and another case in Medina County.
  • Springer – Did agency lose any equipment in Harvey response that are not being addressed in supplemental?
    • Schwartz – No, most of our expenses were in travel and overtime hours. We are expecting to be reimbursed from FEMA, there would be about $100k in liability to the agency, which we should be able to cover.

 

Texas AgriLife

Susan Ballabina, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Texas AgriLife

  • Gave overview of AgriLife program.
  • Estimated $93m loss in livestock from Harvey.
  • Discussed research on nutrition.
  • Exceptional item for emergency preparation, would reduce reliance on a local agent in case of a disaster.
  • Springer – Highlighted dedication of Forest Service during Harvey response. Some of the Forest Service were used out of state for California wildfires, how many man hours were used by the Forest Service out of state?
    • Ballabina – Can get you that information.
  • Springer – Might be a good idea for the state to pick up the cost for counties of handling FEMA paperwork, could save counties a significant amount of money in labor costs.
    • Ballabina – Would be better if we had a dedicated team of professionals who could come in and handle it rather than sending staff to Austin to get trained on FEMA paperwork.
  • Buckley – Address exceptional item 1, concerning Dr. Stover’s initiative
    • Ballabina – Dr. Stover was responsible for fortifying food with folic acid, which has prevented neural tube defects. He saw an opportunity here for creating precision nutrition and responsive agriculture.
  • Springer – What were the results of the diabetes program from a few years ago?
    • Ballabina – 3 years into the pilot program. No Medicaid savings at this point, have worked with some health economists to project future healthcare savings.

 

Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board

Rex Isom, Executive Director

  • Gave overview of TSSWCB organizational structure
  • Manage voluntary natural resource conservation efforts.
  • Exceptional items
    • Fully restore water supply enhancement program. Funded in HB 1.
    • Funding for ongoing backlog in flood control dam maintenance and rehabilitation.
    • Funding for backlog of water quality management plans.

 

Liza Parker, Policy Analyst

  • Gave overview of TSSWCB programs
    • Water quality management plan, 460 requests in backlog.
    • Program for on-point source pollution. 48 projects currently active.
    • 611 dams classified as high hazard. 488 of those need rehabilitations to meet safety criteria. Backlog of over $1b in repair needs.
    • Carrizo can eradication program. Have treated 127 miles along Rio Grande, covering 6,000 acres.
  • Fierro – How much is available in grants for dam repairs and rehab?
    • Isom – State funding is at $13m, we use these funds to help local sponsors share in these costs. Local sponsors often need help. About 65% of rehab we get from federal. Never know for sure what will be available from feds but get all that we can.
    • Fierro – How will $13m be spread out over that many repairs?
    • Isom – That is the problem, it is not enough. We are appreciative for what we have but it is not enough.
  • Springer – Most of these dams are 50-60 years old, the upkeep has not been adequate. Not enough has been done about disclosing risk from these dams to homeowners.
  • Springer – What was spending on water supply enhancement program?
    • Isom – Not sure exactly.
    • Springer – Question about treatment of weeds
    • Isom – Bulk was aerial chemical, most landowners will choose that over mechanical.
    • Springer – What is the life expectancy of the chemicals we are using today?
    • Brian Ginch, TSSWCB – Expecting 2-3 years of residual control from herbicide is expecting a lot, there are not a lot of those on the market.
      • We do not talk about eradication in weed science, we accept 99% control as good.
      • Products today do not have the same longevity as earlier products, but they are much better for the surrounding environment.
      • Herbicides are by definition toxic according to the EPA, and they are toxic to plants, but the ones used today are not toxic to other organisms. Toxicity to humans is generally less than caffeine or aspirin.
    • Zwiener – Are you making progress on high hazard rehab or is the number increasing
      • Isom – Dams are becoming high hazard faster than we can address them. 22 new dams a year come into high hazard. We are not coming close to keeping up with the issue.
      • Zwiener – Are there any barriers to upgrading dams that you anticipate will become high hazard but is not yet?
      • Isom – We would not do the same update as if it was high hazard.
    • Springer – There is real risk with these dams, issue needs to be addressed.
    • Member – Any ranking of dams which are most in need of repairs?
      • Isom – Yes we can get you that ranking.
      • Member – I would assume by looking at this that the odds of new flood mitigation projects is pretty low?
        Isom – We are responsible for the dams that are already built. When most of these were built we did not have this issue with urban development.