MERCEDES, Texas – The last sugar mill in Texas shut its doors last month, citing a lack of water. Farmers were left to plow under the crop and wonder what drought would claim next.

That forced farmer and cattleman Michael England to destroy his 500 acres of sugarcane. The fertile fields remain empty, though, due to the lack of water. He only planted a fraction of other crops like cotton, sorghum (cereal grain) and corn on his remaining 2,500 acres.

“As all irrigated farmers, what we really need – the water – is in our dams… we just had no inflows,” said England, owner of England Farms and England Cattle Company. “We’ve only got just a few of our acres planted this year, and it’s just a big gamble that we’ve taken of even planting those.”

Drought causing crop failure

His row crops are 100% flood-irrigated. The water comes from the Rio Grande, about 10 miles from the farm. But with no upstream rain, the Rio Grande Basin dropped to record low levels recently, according to the National Weather Service and local media.

“Our water has been cut back over the last three years, but this is the worst I’ve ever seen where we’ve basically had zero water to work with,” England said.

“Our weather patterns have been changing over a number of years; (drought) in 2002, 2008, again in 2011, which, by the way, 2011 trumped the 1955 drought as far as statistics are concerned,” he added. “But then here we are back in a severe drought again. You’re (year) number three into it.”

EXTREME HEAT THREATENS CROP PRODUCTION IN TEXAS

The corn crop “is in really bad shape” according to England.

(England Farms and Cattle / FOX Weather)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has extended a disaster proclamation for much of south Texas, “certifying that exceptional drought conditions posed a threat of imminent disaster in several counties.” It was issued in July 2022 at the start of the most recent drought.

Lack of water from Water Treaty with Mexico

Another source of water is Mexico through a 1944 water treaty.

“Our main water source is the Rio Grande River, which is also an international boundary with Mexico,” England said. “It’s water that is shared by Mexico via the 1944 treaty that was there. And that water is pumped out of the river that goes to various water districts, spread out across the valley. And then we receive it through pipelines and canals. But as of right now, all of that water has been taken away from us and only for municipal use.” 

Complete lack of irrigation water for crop production in the Lower Rio Grande Valley would cost $495.8 million in direct revenue loss, Texas A&M University has calculated.

TEXAS DROUGHT, DRY HEAT LOWERING COTTON QUALITY

File: The Rio Grande River dividing Reynosa, Mexico (L) with Hidalgo, Texas in the United States (R). 

(Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis / Getty Images)

In exchange for U.S. water deliveries from the Colorado River, Mexico agreed to deliver water to Texas from several tributaries feeding the Rio Grande, according to the treaty. Every five years, Mexico must release 1.1 million acre-feet of water, which averages out to 350,000 acre-feet a year.

The Texas Farm Bureau pointed out that the country is behind over 736,000 acre-feet of water since the new cycle started in October 2020. That would mean delivering the equivalent of three-and-a-half years of water in the next year and a half.

The owners of the last sugar mill in Texas, along with other farmers, blame politics.

“Agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley depends on adequate and reliable irrigation water deliveries,” the mill said in a press release when it closed. “For over 30 years, farmers in South Texas have been battling with Mexico’s failure to comply with the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty between the U.S. and Mexico that governs water sharing between the two nations on the Colorado River and the Lower Rio Grande.”

Dried out crops.

(England Farms and Cattle / FOX Weather)

Mexico cites its own water problems due to drought.

“Right now, we do have a delay in water deliveries, that’s the reality this current cycle, but our intention is to mitigate that deficit as much as possible,” Manuel Morales, secretary of the Mexican Section for the International Boundary and Water Commission Between Mexico and the United States told the Texas Tribune. “We want to continue complying with the treaty.”

Out of his 2,500 acres, England only planted 500 acres of cotton and 120 acres of sorghum grain. The cotton is “still holding on” but stunted because of the extreme drought. His grain crop is in “bad shape,” with shallow roots, “the crop is burning up,” he said.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

The grain crop is in “bad shape,” according to England.

(England Farms and Cattle / FOX Weather)

“I just told myself, doesn’t make grain, I’ll make hay out of it for our cattle operation,” England said. “But, all the rest of the land is just sitting there idle.”

Texas is the top exporter of cotton in the country. In 2020, the state exported $1.7 billion. The Lone Star State exported $5.8 billion in agriculture in 2020, the sixth highest in the U.S., according to the state comptroller.

Efforts aimed at saving Texas A&M University students money on the increasing cost of textbooks are set to expand.

The university’s established course affordability efforts are credited with saving students an estimated $1.2 million this academic year by using Libraries-purchased materials as replacements for traditional textbooks. 

Texas A&M University Libraries recently hired Jennifer Pate to build on that success to create an even greater impact through OpenEd, a program launched at the start of 2023-2024 school year using funds from the Office of the Provost. 

“I’m thrilled to join a library system and a university focused on student success,” said Pate, who has considerable experience with open educational materials, most recently spearheading efforts at the University of Northern Alabama. “The cost of textbooks and course materials has increased steadily at universities worldwide. OpenEd addresses the issue head-on by embracing and advocating for the use of open educational resources.”

The course material affordability unit, housed in the Libraries:

• identifies low- to no-cost course materials;
• supports faculty who adopt, adapt and create open educational resources (OERs);
• increases awareness of program funding opportunities; 
• and assesses the program’s impact on student success

As OpenEd grows under Pate’s leadership, savings are expected to increase exponentially, with new program-focused librarians and technical staff.  

“OpenEd will help keep course materials affordable for current and future Aggies,” said Dr. Alan Sams, provost and executive vice president. “That is our objective, and that is a top priority for our libraries.”

Working alongside expert librarians, faculty, academic support professionals and campus partners,  OpenEd is charged with expanding the OER movement on the Texas A&M campus and making Aggieland a national leader in the course affordability movement.  

“Our existing, longstanding offerings for course reserves, open educational resources and open access materials have helped to make courses more affordable,” said Julie Mosbo Ballestro, university librarian and assistant provost. “OpenEd will consolidate those resources with enhanced, university-level focus and additional resources. I’m excited about the creation of positions dedicated to a program that will cut costs for students.” 

Savings generated through OER efforts will vary depending on majors, but with more than 70% of Texas A&M students receiving some kind of financial aid, even modest cost reductions can help.

“With the ever-increasing costs of housing, transportation and food on top of tuition, it’s no secret that budgeting for four years of college is difficult,” said Ben Fisher ’24. “The university’s efforts to reduce our educational expenses mean a lot to us and can help ease the competing pressures between focusing on our studies or striving to make ends meet to pay bills.”

After three years, the Libraries hope to expand OpenEd for students throughout the Texas A&M University System.

“University Libraries continue to innovate and find new ways to serve students, faculty and staff,” Mosbo Ballestro said. “OpenEd is a game changer that will keep courses affordable for all Aggies. That’s something all of us care about deeply.”

ARLINGTON – Buried deep beneath the rubble of their fifth straight loss, perhaps the heartbeat of the Rangers’ offense started to beat once again Tuesday.

Adolis García’s bat has been located.

García homered and doubled in the Rangers’ 7-4 loss to Cleveland. It was double his previous total for the first two weeks of May in which he had a lone double. He hadn’t homered since April 28. He was in a bad way with 11 strikeouts in 21 at-bats over the previous five games. As he is prone to do, García was in a stretch of chasing fastballs out of the zone. And the deeper the funk of the Rangers’ offense became, the more García tried to do, which only exacerbated the problem.

“He’s been trying too hard,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy had said before the game. “And when things aren’t going well, he can get a little down on himself because he wants to help the team. He’s set the bar pretty high for who he is.”

Though García is so physically imposing, he is at his best when he doesn’t try to overpower fastballs, particularly those above the strike zone. When he falls into that habit, an extended slump can follow. He went through a stretch like this late last year. He does his most damage on secondary stuff. Both his homer and double came on sliders from Ben Lively and Scott Barlow. On the homer, it’s worth noting that Lively had tried to get García to chase with three straight fastballs either wide of or above the zone. García did not swing.

It’s also worth noting that with García’s homer in the second and Corey Seager’s in the third, it marked the first time this year the Rangers’ best homer-hitting duo both homered in the same game. If Seager and García get hot at the same time, the offense becomes exponentially better.

Alright, that said, here are some other VERY IMPORTANT observations from the Rangers’ loss Tuesday:

Best silver lining: Jack Leiter’s loss was a chance for others to gain, namely Jonathan Hernández and Yerry Rodriguez, both of whom were called on to pitch multiple innings. Both have struggled with command and to come out of the gate firing their best stuff. Bruce Bochy has all but begged for them to step up.

Granted, coming in with a big deficit is the definition of low leverage, but both were very effective. Rodriguez especially so. He entered the game throwing 97 mph, compared to 95 mph over the weekend in Denver. Bochy had mentioned the need for him to bring his max velocity with him rather than needing a hitter or two to ramp up.

Pitched four hitless innings, allowing only a hit batter who was then erased on a double play. Even made a nice reaction on a hard-hit comebacker off his glove that knocked his hat clean off his head.

“When you are aggressive and attack the zone, good things happen,” Bochy said. “We need these guys to step up. And they did.”

Worst prediction: The Rangers are going to need a relief arm to boost the bullpen on Wednesday. There is only one healthy reliever on the 40-man roster, lefty Antoine Kelly. Put those factors together and it’s easy to believe Kelly will be the callup. He might be, but here’s why he might not: Kelly, who returned from a three-week stint on the IL just 10 days ago, still hasn’t pitched two full innings and hasn’t pitched on consecutive days.

Think the Rangers either need somebody who can go two-plus innings or somebody who can pitch on consecutive days. Think it makes it just as likely that either veteran Shaun Anderson or Gerson Garabito, signed to a minor league contract this winter after pitching the last two seasons in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, would be added. It would force the Rangers to create a spot on the 40-man roster. Reliever Austin Pruitt (knee) would seemingly be easy enough to move to the 60-day IL since he’s not even around the team right.

So, if I’m making a prediction for who replaces Jack Leiter in the short-term on the 26-man roster, I’m as inclined to go with Anderson or Garabito as I am with Kelly.

Worst collision: The collision between Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio and center fielder Ty Freeman was hard to watch. From the summit of the Globe, you could see the two converging on Adolis García’s pop to shallow center in the fifth and you kept thinking ‘’uh, nobody’s slowing down.”

Rocchio hit Freeman in the face with his extended glove and also in the elbow with his own face. Both crumpled to the ground. I was sure somebody had a broken jaw. Honestly, was also amazed that Freeman held on to the ball. And more amazed that after being visited by athletic trainers, both stayed in the game. It was scary and about as solid contact between two players as I’ve seen in some time.

Freeman took a beating Tuesday, getting hit twice by pitches and also making a diving catch in center field.

Worst stretch: Final score from Colorado this week: Stars 9, Rangers 6. Which tells you something about both teams, just how well the Stars played in Denver and just how poorly the Rangers did.

Worst sign of the apocalypse: When I got home from the ballpark, did another check of Ebay, just to see what people were seeking for Corey Seager World Series replica rings. Mind you: This is a replica. The stones are not real. The metal is not gold. It is a replica. It says so on the box. There were people on Ebay asking for $800 and $1,200 for their rings. Granted, they included “or best offer” in their ads. The going rate appeared to be about $125 a pop from what I saw. This was two hours after the game ended. What a racket.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

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