Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 103, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Page: 4 of 14
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PAGE 4, Seminole (Texas) Sentinel, Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Wednesday’s
'Editorials. Columns & Letters
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tate Capital Highlights
Compiled by Mike Cox, Texas Press Association
AUSTIN - Economic develop-
ment sounds like just another pair of
political buzz words unless you don't
have a job.
With the beginning of the state’s
new fiscal year, Texas' economic
development functions were folded
into the governor’s office. That was
a matter of legislative fiat, as well
creation of the $295 million Enter-
prise Fund, a financial pot designed
to allow Texas to respond fast in at-
tracting new employers to the state.
Luring Toyota to San Antonio,
$295Million Set Aside Texas to
Lure Industry and New Jobs
an effort mounted well before cre-
ation of this fund, stands as the top
accomplishment in recent years. The
idea behind the new fund is to make
something such as binding Toyota
happen more often in Texas.
With private money, the
governor’s office has launched a
marketing campaign called Texas
Guest Column
Moving from Value to Vision for Rural America
By Thomas D. Rowley
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Most of us value rural America. We value it whether we live in open country,
small town, suburbia, or downtown megalopolis. We value it for the food and fiber
it produces, the cultures and ways of life it nurtures, and the wonders of nature it
holds. We value it even if we cannot articulate it, even if we do not realize it.
Valuing rural America, however, and having a vision for what we, as a Nation,
want it to be now and in the future are two very different things. We have value;
we have no vision. And without that vision, rural America, as the proverb suggests,
will ultimately perish.
What would a vision for rural America do?
First and foremost, it would guide the public and private decisions that shape
rural America. Decisions about everything from the support of farmers to the size of
trom the conservation of nature to the supply of health eare.
For too long, these and other decisions that affect rural people and places have
been made without a vision. The result; market failures, policy failures, regulatory
failures. We fail in figuring out how to get “there” because we don't know where
“there” is.
On that note, a vision would also give us a way to measure our progress and
correct our course when we go astray a way to head off some of those failures.
What would a vision for rural America contain?
That, of course, is for the nation to decide. Rural America benefits us all. be-
longs to us'all, and is a responsibility of us all. As Wendell Berry puts it. urban and
rural people “share the same land, and therefore the same fate” and to “divide the
human community up into competing interests.. doesn’t work because it is a false
version of reality.”
That said, let me suggest three traits that a vision for rural America should, I
think, have.
First, it should be big enough to encompass the diversity of rural life. Rural
America is not a monolith. Its people and its places vary. . .a lot. The vision should
not only reflect ’hat diversity, it should protect it and celebrate it.
Second, it should be grand enough to inspire. With SO percent of the Nation’s
land, 20 percent of its people, and the vast majority of its natural resources and
treasures, rural America itself is nothing short of grand. The vision, too, must be
grand if it is to inspire this generation and the generations to come to take on the
Herculean efforts required in saving rural America.
Third, it should be concrete enough to act upon. Genius is one percent inspira-
tion, 99 percent perspiration. If the vision inspires us to new heights but offers no
steps for climbing there, it will have failed.
How do we get started on a vision for rural America?
Good question. Here are a few ideas to help get the ball rolling.
Election season is fast approaching. Push all candidates—local, state, and na-
tional-to share their visions for rural America, or at least their plans for building
them. Upcoming Democratic presidential candidates’ forums would be a great place
to start.
Push the Administration to hold the White House Conference on Rural America
called for in the Farm Bill. Congress wants it. The White House wants it.
It’s time to do it.
Rather than leaving it to elected leaders to start the visioning process, create an
electronic dialogue to hammer out a grassroots vision for rural America. As fodder,
read and react to the draft “Nebraska City Declaration” that came out of last year’s
Rural Matters Conference organized by the Rural Policy Research Institute and
other parties.
The point is that we need to act and act now. The danger is that we won’t, and
rural America will go on languishing, go on perishing. After all, we’ve been lament-
ing the “rural problem” since Teddy Roosevelt appointed his Country Life Com-
mission to solve it nearly a century ago. The Commission couldn’t and neither can
we ... not until we have a vision.
One. The job-generation program is
headed by Massey Villareal, chair of
the Texas Economic Development
Board.
Texas One has one big job ahead
of it, but the employee picture in
Texas already has gotten a little bet-
ter. In August, Texas gained 28,500
jobs. That was the first monthly in-
crease since May 2000.
Gator ‘aid’ to Texas...
Sure, everyone knows Texas
produces a lot of cotton, cattle and
oil (to keep the list of famous Texas
products in chronological order), but
alligators as a cash crop?
According to the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department, the state
has 29 licensed alligator farms with
44,000 alligators.
This is a lot smaller than the al-
ligator industry in Louisiana, which
has 122 licensed farms, but even so,
it’s a $10 million business in Texas.
That’s the estimated income derived
trom the sale of alligator hides and
products made from hides, including
boots, belts, purses and other items.
The first Texas alligator farm
was licensed in Rockport in 1986.
TPWD got $5,200 in license fees in
2001.
Seen any geckos lately?
Another Texas reptile has been
showing up in strange places - on
highway ramps and overpasses.
The Seminole Sentinel
P. O. Drawer 12(X) (USPS 489-400)
Seminole, TX 79360
Ph. 432-758-3667 - Toll Free 1-8', 7-251-9930
FAX No. (4.32) 758-21.36
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Oldest Established Business in Gaines Counly
Published each Wednesday and Sunday at The Seminole Sentinel Building, 406 S.
Main, under the act of March 3, 1879.
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Seminole, Texas, Post Office, Seminole, Texas
79360. /
Any erroneous reflection upon the character of any person or firm appearing in these
columns will be gladly and promptly corrected upon being brought to the attention of the
management.
Letters policy: Letters to the Editor arc welcomed. All letters should be kept as brief as
possible. They must be signed with name, address and telephone number, in case need for
verification arises (address and phone number will not be printed). The Sentinel reserves
the right to edit letters to prevent libel, invasian of privacy or untasteful language without
changing the desired context.Letters do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies or
beliefs of this newspaper. No letters about candidates seeking election or “Thank You"
letters will be accepted. _ _
f
(BQQQQQQ ID(M
2004 Program Signup Has Begun
By Shawn Wade
Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced that enrollment for
the 2004 Direct and Countercyclical Program (pop) began Oct. 1.
Under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA)
producers must sign contracts annually to participate in the pop, unlike the
one-time sign-up process that was installed under the previous farm pro-
gram.
Producers have until June 1, 2004, to enroll for the 2004 pop. Late*-
filed applications will be accepted through Sept. 30, 2004, if accompanied
by a $100 late fee.
Producers can opt out of participating in the program any year if they
choose. For both the 2002 and 2003 programs, more than 98 percent of the
eligible base acres were enrolled.
The 2002 Farm Bill authorizes direct and counter-cyclical payments to
enrolled producers. Both payments are computed using the base acres and
payment yields established for each farm.
The following are the 2004 crop year direct payment rates and maxi-
mum potential countercyclical rates:
Commodity
Unit
Direct
($/unit)
Maximum
Counter-Cyclical
($/unit)
Wheat
bushel
0.52
0.65
Corn
bushel
0.28
0.40
Grain Sorghum
bushel
0.35
0.27
Barley
bushel
0.24
0.15
Oats
bushel
0.024
0.086
Upland Cotton
pound
0.0667
0.1373
Rice
pound
2.35
1.65
Soybeans
bushel
0.44
0.36
Other Oilseeds
pound
0.0080
0.00
Peanuts
ton
36.00
104.00
The table above refers ONLY to 2004-crop pop payments, no announce-
Michael Ford, a graphic designer in
the Texas Department of
Transportation’s bridge division, is
the artist who designs the decorative
features that grace many new high-
way projects in the state.
If you look at Ford’s work close
up, you’ll see that each design cle-
ment features a hidden gecko, Texas’
lovable, bug-eating lizard.
Ford’s work can be seen in the
Harlingen area at Palm Cord Dr. and
U.S. 83, at Dixieland and U.S. 83 and
at Spur 54 and U.S. 77. The designer
also created a concrete prickly pear
pad in a retaining wall near Sea World
in San Antonio and a gargoyle for
Lubbock’s new East-West Freeway.
Lawmakers with mega-
phones...
The Capitol had only been in use
for a little more than 30 years when
lawmakers began to chafe at a de-
sign problem.
Acoustics in the House of Rep-
resentatives were terrible. No matter
how much air some legislator put into
his rhetoric, voice just did not carry
well in the large chamber.
early 1919, someone suggested a so-
lution; Buy some megaphones for.
members.
No action seems to have been
taken on the proposal, however. In
time, of course, the state installed an
electronic amplification system.
Modem lawmakers learned to turn
away from their microphone if they
want to say something to a colleague
in private._
ment has yet been made regarding 2003 Counter-cyclical payments. Any
announcement pertaining to the 2003 CC payment would come during the
month of October.
Producers receive direct payments at rates established by statute, re-
gardless of market prices. Countercyclical payment rates, on the other hand,
vary depending on market prices.
Counter-cyclical payments are issued only when the effective price
(which takes into account the direct payment rate, market price and loan
rate) for a crop is below the target price for the commodity.
For “other oilseeds,” because of the existing loan rate, the maximum
counter-cyclical payment rate is zero.
The following is the schedule of payments for the 2004 pop:
December 2003 - 50% advance direct payment; October 2004 - 50%
final direct payment;
October 2004 - first advance counter-cyclical payment (up to 35 per-
cent of projected payment); February 2005 - second advance counter-cycli-
cal payment (up to 70 percent of projected payment less first advance);
Dates vary by crop - In general, 30 days following the end of the marketing
year: Final counter-cyclical payment (100 percent of actual payment, less
any advances received).
By the end of October 2003, USDA reports that producers will have
received some $8 billion in pop payments for the 2002 crops, the 2003 crop
direct payment, and the first advance countercyclical payments (if any) for
2003 crops.
For all years, refunds to USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
will be due if there is a violation of eligibility requirements or, in the case of
counter-cyclical payments, if the advance payments exceed the final pay-
ment rate.
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Fisher, David. Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 103, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 8, 2003, newspaper, October 8, 2003; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth804344/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.