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Texas farmers concerned over growing trade war
Texas farmers are voicing growing concerns about tariffs being enacted by President Trump adversely affecting their ability to sell agricultural goods overseas, the Houston Chronicle reported. Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said the tariffs could be especially tough on younger farmers.
“We understand that’s his negotiating tool, but at the same time tariffs can be hard on agriculture,” he said. “If you’re in a good spot you can withstand this, but you worry about the producer who has only been in this for five or 10 years and doesn’t have a lot of equity built up. Those are the operations that could be in trouble.”
Drought and low commodity prices are already taking a toll on agricultural revenue. Cotton sank to its lowest price in four years this month after China announced a 15% retaliatory tariff on several U.S. agricultural goods. China, the largest purchaser of grain sorghum in the world, has almost completely stopped buying the crop from Texas farmers, Boening said.
Farmers are hopeful the Trump administration will provide federal relief as occurred during his first term. Voters in counties dominated by farms and ranches voted for Trump by 77.7%, the Chronicle reported.
DUST STORM IN PANHANDLE CAUSES FATAL CRASHES, FANS WILDFIRES
A dust storm that swept across the U.S. last week caused a number of deadly crashes and fanned dozens of wildfires, The Dallas Morning News reported. Three people were killed Friday in car crashes in the Texas Panhandle. One dust storm in Amarillo County caused a crash involving an estimated 38 vehicles.
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.”
As of Sunday, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported eight active wildfires. The largest was the Windmill Fire in Roberts County in the Panhandle. It covered 23,000 acres and was just 50% contained. A total of 130 counties have burn bans in place.
BILL FILED TO CLARIFY STATE’S ABORTION BAN
The author of the bill that essentially outlawed abortions in Texas has filed a bill that would give doctors more latitude to end pregnancies during medical emergencies, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, would remove language in the abortion ban that required pregnant women to have a “life-threatening condition” before doctors could legally induce an abortion.
The bill would also clarify that women in Texas can access abortions if they are at risk of a “substantial loss of a major bodily function,” such as their fertility. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last week designated Hughes’ bill as a priority, increasing the chances it will pass. An identical bill has been filed in House by state Rep. Charlie Geren, RFort Worth. The abortion ban authored by Hughes passed the Legislature and was signed into law in 2021.
“Our medical communities are desperate for relief and protection ... so that they can practice reasonable medical judgment in the face of pregnancy complications,” state Rep. Ann Johnson, DHouston, said. “This bill goes a long way to putting doctors back in the position of acting immediately.”
TEXAS CONTINUES TO LEAD NATION IN RENEWABLE ENERGY
The Lone Star State is known for its oil and gas industry, but information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and reported by the San Antonio Express-News indicates the state’s lead in solar and wind power increased in 2024.
However, natural gas continues to dominate electric generation both in Texas and across the nation at 43.3% of the country’s electricity last year, while the use of coal continues to decline, down to 15.2% from 16.1% in 2023.
Coal-fired plants continue to close across the state and country, largely because they are more expensive to operate. There are 15 active coal plants in Texas, down from 20 a decade ago.
Texas generated 169,442 gigawatthours form wind and solar in 2024, nearly double that of California, which generated 92,316 gigawatt-hours from those resources. Iowa ranks a distant third, almost all from wind power.
“Texas is the most innovative, most interesting market, and clean energy is thriving because it makes sense economically,” said Ric O’Connell, executive director of GridLab, a nonprofit that does technical analysis for regulators and renewable power advocates.
MEASLES OUTBREAK CONTINUES TO SPREAD
The Texas measles outbreak has now, in less than three months in 2025, surpassed the total number of cases in any full year since 1992, The News reported. A total of 259 cases have been reported, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, primarily in West Texas. The outbreak began in Gaines County, near the New Mexico border, which has reported 174 cases and one fatality — a school-age, unvaccinated child.
Four new cases were reported last week in Lamar County, 100 miles northeast of Dallas. Health officials said the four infected patients were not vaccinated and had traveled to Gaines County.
Measles is considered one of the most contagious viruses in the world and can spread rapidly among unvaccinated people.
FOUR TEXAS COUNTIES AMONG FASTEST GROWING IN U.S.
Census figures released last week show that Kaufman County, east of Dallas, was the fastest-growing county in the state and second- fastest growing in the country, The Texas Tribune reported. The number of people living in that county grew by more than 50,000 residents from 2020 to 2024. More than half the county’s residents are commuters to jobs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“I do think a lot of people are attracted to that small town vibe,” Kaufman Mayor Jeff Jordan said. “You're getting people that appreciate that and want to be a part of it.”
Of the 10 counties in the U.S. that grew the fastest between 2023 and 2024, four were in Texas: Kaufman, Liberty, Montgomery and Caldwell counties.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]
