Texas agriculture agency says climate change threatens state’s food supply

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On the heels of a historic drought that devastated crops from the High Plains to South Texas, a brand new Texas Department of Agriculture report launched Tuesday linked climate change with food insecurity and recognized it as a possible risk to the state’s food supply.

The food entry examine, coordinated by the TDA and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, notes that “climate instability” is strongly related to soil loss, water high quality, droughts, fires, floods and different environmental disasters. 2022 was one of many driest years on file for Texas, and about 49% of the state was nonetheless in drought situations on the finish of December. The drought resulted in failed crops, low yields for farmers and diminished grazing, which pressured ranchers to cull their cattle and led to the highest quantity of livestock gross sales — almost $2.7 million — in additional than a decade.

“From the agricultural perspective, concerns were expressed regarding droughts, drying up of artisanal wells, water use restrictions, fire threats and dangerous conditions for farm workers,” the report says.

Extended dry durations devastated Texas’ agricultural manufacturing, stated Victor Murphy, a climate service program supervisor with the National Weather Service.

“We’re seeing longer periods without any precipitation, then when it does come, it’s in shorter, more intense bursts,” he stated.

In complete, Texas obtained the same quantity of precipitation in 2022 as in 2021, however most of that precipitation got here on the finish of the summer time.

Much of the state went by way of the worst of the drought situations from June to August, in the course of the excessive warmth of the summer time whereas crops are nonetheless rising. This was a pointy distinction to the torrential rainfall totals that adopted. At the top of August, the Dallas-Fort Worth space was hit with a 1,000-year flood that introduced 13 inches of rainfall in 18 hours.

“It is very difficult being a producer to have high and consistent yields with this kind of weather whiplash of extremes,” Murphy stated. “It’s extremely difficult to prepare for a precipitation pattern that features long periods of near zero rainfall and short periods of extreme precipitation.”

The report recommends a number of actions, together with having farmers work alongside researchers and policymakers, creating extra food forests that permit bushes to revive soil well being and enhance water high quality, and strengthening bonds between native farmers and companies to spice up the farm-to-school infrastructure.

Food affordability and residing wages

The report, which was submitted to the Texas Legislature on Dec. 31, additionally factors to different components which can be making it more durable for Texans to entry and afford food, akin to wages falling behind rising prices of residing and lack of entry to food in rural areas. Another situation is organizations being unaware of others with comparable targets; for instance, the report notes that sure grocers are inquisitive about increasing supply companies into rural markets, whereas a number of food banks have acquired vehicles to do the identical.

The examine consists of strategies that lawmakers may think about to assist extra Texans have constant food entry, akin to increasing on-line and supply choices for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program contributors and permitting extra shops to simply accept these advantages.

Lawmakers have already filed some payments to deal with food insecurity throughout this yr’s legislative session. State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, filed House Bill 1118, which might supply tax credit to grocery shops that open in food deserts.

The report additionally recommends elevating the minimal wage, citing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s residing wage model, which estimates the hourly price people should earn to help themselves and their households in every state. According to MIT, in a Texas family with two mother and father and a toddler, every grownup must make $17.44 an hour to fulfill their primary wants. The minimal wage in Texas is $7.25 an hour.

According to the report, assembly the residing wage attracts the road between “the financial independence of the working poor and the need to seek out public assistance or suffer consistent and severe housing and food insecurity.”

The report acknowledges that elevating wages is an energized and politicized matter.

“The important take-away here is that there are significant gaps that need to be addressed between what researchers calculate to be a living wage in Texas, the wages that Texans are actually receiving, and many of the poverty thresholds that determine eligibility for assistance programs,” the report says.

The report additionally highlights what number of households’ incomes have remained flat on the similar time they’re having to spend extra on food, housing and utility prices.

In 2021, 13.7% of Texas households confronted food insecurity, the sixth-highest price within the nation.

According to a 2021 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, nearly 79% of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program contributors in Texas have been households with kids, and greater than 27% of them are households with older and disabled adults.

Disclosure: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Find an entire list of them here.