Farmers and ranchers in my district have experienced cut water lines, stolen property, broken fences, and other damages as a result of migrants passing through the area.
I sent a letter to Secretary Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) urging him to administer disaster relief aid programs that were approved by Congress last year.
I represent the top-rated agriculture district in Texas, so protecting this vital industry and its overarching supply chains will always be among my top priorities in Congress.
Freeze has taken huge toll on agriculture in Valley
Cayla Harris, San Antonio Express-News
March 1, 2021
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Mani Skaria, founder and CEO of U.S. Citrus, checks out damage done to W. Murcott mandarins at his farm in Hargill, Texas, Feb. 23.Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-NewsShow MoreShow Less
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Azucena Izaguirre salvages Mexican thornless lime plants at U.S. Citrus in Hargill, Texas, Feb. 22. Crops throughout the Rio Grande Valley sustained widespread damage due to the recent freeze.Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-NewsShow MoreShow Less
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Mani Skaria has been through this before.
When the temperatures dropped below freezing this month, it was impossible not to think back to the 1989 freeze that wiped out more than 20,000 acres of citrus. He had seen it firsthand, just a year after he moved to the Rio Grande Valley to work as a faculty member at the Texas A&M Citrus Center.