For Texas Farmers, Access To Overseas Markets Is Critical

 

A lot of Texans will be paying close attention Monday to the words and tone of President Donald Trump as he addresses farmers and ranchers at the American Farm Bureau Convention in Nashville. At a time when Texas is growing in population,  becoming less rural and more urban than it was 10 years ago, advocates say rural issues are no less important than they once were. And that's the message Trump aims to send during his Farm Bureau speech. But what do Texans want to hear, especially on issues such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA?

 

Luis Ribera, director of the Center for North American Studies at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension says Texas growers and livestock producers rely heavily on trade. He says about one-third of Texas farm income is derived from exports. NAFTA countries account for six or seven percent of the total.

 

"Our markets overseas are very important," he says "especially now when we have low commodity prices."

 

Ribera says that despite the importance of trade to Texas farmers, NAFTA negotiations are currently not focusing on agricultural issues. He says that other overseas markets, including China and other parts of Asia, are important and lucrative destinations for Texas crops.

 

"There are a lot of people [in Asia], but they didn't have money to buy agricultural products," Ribera says. "Now that they have grown and they have more money available to purchase not only grain-based products, but also more protein...that's a big positive impact."

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.