Taking TEXAS Worldwide

How Raised-beds Improve Citrus Irrigation Efficiency

TakingTexas Worldwide

BY JEAN LONIE

Over the course of this year, we’ve all likely found ourselves trying to find new ways to accomplish things that used to be “normal.” Whether these are work tasks or chores and activities around the house, everyone has had their moments of having to be creative to get things done. It’s no different here at the

Texas Department of Agriculture.

When the State Fair of Texas was cancelled, the team here switched gears and took our GO TEXAN pavilion online. While everyone on our team was sad to not get the chance to promote our GO TEXAN partners in person, now we are able to ship their products across the country through the shop.GOTEXAN.org site. (Hint – check the site out for some holiday gift ideas!) So, despite the disappointment, State Fair being cancelled gave us the chance to launch a great opportunity to promote GO TEXAN partners and products to a bigger audience.

Looking beyond our borders, we were also working on a big global tour focused on showcasing Texas agriculture to potential trade partners. Most countries with embassies in the United States (more than 175 in total) have someone there whose focus is on agriculture and agricultural issues – which is a great reminder that no matter where you live, agriculture is critical! Each year these foreign agricultural attachés are invited to participate in a week-long tour and a chance to go out in the field to explore what the host state has to offer. In 2020, Texas was going to be that state. I think you can figure out what happened. But, just like with the State Fair challenge, we had the chance to regroup, get some ideas together, and come up with a way that we could still help promote Texas agriculture to these important trade leaders.

We worked with our partners as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service and found a way to host a virtual roundtable to promote the Lone Star State. And we recruited some outstanding Texas farmers and ranchers to tell their stories – covering the beef, cotton, pecans, citrus sectors – and help bring our great state to life. We even had an amazing video done by our friends at the Ag Mag to showcase Texas agriculture and how important the industry is to our local communities and economy, as well as what we have to offer to consumers around the world. A special note for everyone living in the Valley, we were excited to have Michelle Martin participate in the session to help promote agricultural communications and outreach, along with Dale Murden, head of Texas Citrus Mutual, to talk about the Texas grapefruit sector.

While nothing can ever compare to being here in person, thanks to a big group effort we brought a bit of the

magic of Texas (and a lot of our state pride) to more than 80 potential partners from almost 50 countries. And we have tentative plans to host the group in person in 2021.

Beyond the virtual meeting and the 2021 tour, we now have a number of new contacts to work with when promoting and exporting Texas agriculture products, food, and beverages around the world. And, in truth, we got to reach a whole lot more of the trade representatives virtually than we would have if we only hosted the tour. We hope to get our new global friends here (and down in the Valley) next year, but until then we have lots of follow-up to do as we try to bolster our agricultural community and economy through extended trade and international outreach.

And as we continue to work to support our agricultural producers and agribusinesses by getting them into new countries and new markets, there are two lessons I learned recently.