USDA is sending $280 million to help Texas producers amid severe water shortages from Mexico

USDA wants to help Texas producers who they say have been cheated out of water from Mexico.

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a $280 million grant agreement between USDA and the Texas Department of Agriculture. She said for too long farmers have suffered from Mexico’s failure to meet its water delivery obligations under a 1944 treaty.

Under the agreement, Mexico is obligated to provide the U.S. with 350,000 acre-feet of water each year, over a five-year cycle. Mexico has delayed all deliveries this cycle until the final year, and lawmakers have even considered sanctions in the past.

Rollins was in her home state this week, where she hosted a roundtable with farmers and ranchers, alongside Senator Ted Cruz. She reassured farmers of their commitment in Washington and said the Administration would do all it could to deliver for America’s farmers.

Related Stories
Roger McEowen joins us to explain the USDA appeals process and how farmers should navigate adverse decisions and crop insurance disputes.
The House is moving forward with debate on the Farm Bill after a lengthy session in the House Rules Committee cleared the legislation for floor consideration.
March pork gains lifted total meat production, but first-quarter output still ran below last year.
Weekly export movement stayed solid, with corn and sorghum continuing to show the strongest overall pace.
Lewis Williamson with HTS Commodities joins us to break down the latest USDA crop progress report, share insights from growers, and discuss how global factors are shaping planting decisions this season.
RFD News correspondent Frank McCaffrey spoke with the Texas Shrimp Association at the Port of Brownsville about the future of the USDA’s new Office of Seafood.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

What can these facilities do to protect themselves? I wrote about this issue last spring, and since that time, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued a significant opinion. That makes an update in order.
Updated Dicamba information is the topic of today’s Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV’s agri-legal expert Roger McEowen with the Washburn School of Law.
On January 31, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed tax legislation containing provisions of importance to farmers and ranchers in particular and many taxpayers in general.
In this Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV legal expert Roger McEowen, he looks ahead at what might be the biggest issues in ag law and tax in 2024.
In part seven of his blog series,"Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax in 2023,” agri-legal expert Roger McEowen covers the #1 issues, SCOTUS and defining a “Water of the United States.”