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Texas Agriculture Archive

July 4, 2003

Agriculture fares well
during 78th session

By Mike Barnett
Editor

In a session marked by tremendous budget cuts, new leadership in both House and Senate, and a flight to Ardmore, Okla., by Democrats to stop a redistricting bill, Texas farmers and ranchers came out relatively unscathed and accomplished most of their goals in the just-completed 78th Session of the Texas Legislature.

Though many state agricultural program budgets were cut, Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke said, "It was a good session for agriculture, and we don't think levels of service to farmers and ranchers will be affected by the cuts that were made."

Still, facing an $11 billion budget shortfall, agriculture did take cuts, some 12 percent across the board.

"We managed not to lose any agencies and we managed not to cut below appropriate levels to get the job done," said House Agriculture and Livestock Committee Chairman Rick Hardcastle. "So we can still protect the food supply in this state and still regulate pesticides and all those issues that we're supposed to do. We're just going to have to do it with a little less money than we did last session."

TFB Associate Legislative Director Warren Mayberry said health care and education "probably took deeper cuts than most folks would have liked." Still, Mayberry warns that school finance will probably rear its head again during the interim and a potential special session.

"We think the appropriations process will obviously come back into play as well as some of the programs we enjoy as ag producers," he said. "I think we need to continue to stay diligent when visiting with our representatives and senators, and really keeping those lines of communication open with our members. I think that was part of the reason we had such good success in maintaining our funding."

Not only was adequate funding for state agricultural programs preserved, new legislation was passed that stands to protect the property rights of farmers and ranchers. High on the Farm Bureau's list was a bill to require cities to pay the fair market value of water beneath property that is condemned for the purpose of acquiring the water rights. Prior to passage of this bill, government entities had only to pay the market value of the land (see special water story, Page 19). Also, the city acquiring the land must first prove that it has developed a drought contingency plan, implemented water conservation measures, pursued alternative water supplies, attempted to voluntarily buy or lease the water rights and prove a need for the water within the next 10 years for domestic use.

"What we saw this session, we saw more of a fight at the Capitol between those that regulate water and those who want to market water, both ground and surface," said State Legislative Director Billy Howe. "The groundwater bills that were filed, almost everyone of them dealt with some issue that at some point is going to end up in court between water districts and water marketers. And obviously, the interbasin transfers legislation on junior water rights is because the water marketers want to be able to move water—surface water—wherever they want to throughout the state."

Howe foresees a time where rural Texans are at odds over water and what it's used for.

"We're going to have those people in rural Texas who want to keep on farming, who want to keep on ranching, and they're going to have to deal with their neighbors who want to market their water rights—water rights are a private property right," Howe explained. "But we're going to have some conflicts I think among our membership between those that want to market their water and those who want to see that water stay in that area for agriculture."

Also on the property rights front, landowner participation payments in transportation corridors are now possible due to action by the Legislature. Farm Bureau has long sought a system of royalty payments when land is condemned for utility or highway rights of way. The landowner and the Texas Department of Transportation would negotiate the duration of these payments.

"We think this is an important step forward," Dierschke said. "Rather than simply losing property to eminent domain proceedings, landowners can participate in the profits generated by these transportation corridors."

The Legislature also moved to protect the personal information of ranchers who use predator control services. Previously, animal rights groups had moved to acquire the names of participants who used these services. Farm Bureau took court action to stop the release and now the Legislature has voted to exempt this personal information from the open records law.

"We were successful in the court system," said TFB Associate Legislative Director Ken Hodges. "We had legislation introduced by Sen. Wentworth and Rep. Hilderbran, that would make clear that livestock producers using these predator control devices, that their private information remains confidential.

Adds TFB President Dierschke: "We believe this bill was important to protect the privacy and safety of our members."

The Legislature also helped farmers and ranchers deal with the growing problem of feral hogs. Feral hogs, commonly known as wild hogs, have been a destructive force in rural Texas for decades.

The Legislature approved a bill allowing farmers to control the hogs without a hunting license. Feral hogs have caused millions of dollars in damages to crops, fences and even livestock.

"There was an attempt to put coyotes in that same bill," said TFB Associate Legislative Director Jill Turner. "Farm Bureau was not successful in getting it in that bill, but we were successful in getting it in another piece of legislation.

"So now a landowner, an agent of the landowner or the lessee of the landowner will be able to take a feral hog or coyote on their own property without a hunting license."

Turner added it was a very controversial bill.

"It was something Farm Bureau has tried to do the past few sessions and didn't get anywhere," she said. "But because we were able to prove it was such a problem and this is actually a private property rights issue, we were able to get this legislation passed."

"We believe these bills are good policy for Texas and will provide a needed boost for agriculture," Dierschke said.