A difficult path

The USDA’s State Emergency Board has recommended seven counties for a disaster declaration: Cameron, Duval, Hidalgo, McLennan, Starr, Webb and Zapata. The agency is also considering physical loss notifications, another type of disaster declaration that would offer low-interest emergency loans to growers, for 41 Texas counties, said Eddie Trevino, acting state executive director for the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

In the meantime, the USDA is encouraging any affected farmers to contact one of its 173 local service centers. Some aid programs do not require a disaster declaration, and local representatives may be able to offer specific advice or aid for growers harmed by the storm, Trevino said.

“Last week was tough on our Texas farmers and ranchers,” he said. “We want to reassure agricultural producers who have suffered damage and loss to their operations during the recent winter storms that USDA is here to help by providing technical and financial assistance.”

At the state level, the Texas Department of Agriculture is highlighting its agriculture relief fund, a donation-based reimbursement program that can help farmers restore their operations after the cold-weather crisis.

“We don’t get government dollars,” said Miller, the agriculture commissioner. “We raise that money from individuals, companies, corporations — and then we send that 100 percent back out.”

Dale Murden, the president of Texas Citrus Mutual, said this month’s freeze caps a “wild 11month period” that included the coronavirus pandemic and Hurricane Hanna. Looking at the crop damage now “gives you a hollow pit in the middle of your stomach, because you’ve got no income and you’re looking at a stack of bills to pay.”

Going forward, he asks the public to “remember that you like Texas grapefruit and Texas oranges” and to offers support for farmers when they begin selling again. He knows the industry will recover eventually, but the path will be difficult.

“The industry has always come back,” he said. “The industry has always come back a little better. But the industry has come back a little smaller each time.”