Dec 15, 2011

Specialty crops in Texas play vital role in daily lives

While strolling down the produce aisle at the supermarket, searching for items to fill out Christmas dinner, we consumers are reminded how important fruits, nuts, vegetables and potatoes are to our list and our daily lives.

Normally folks think of Texas as a place dominated by cattle ranching and cotton farming, but specialty crops are a significant part of the total picture. They run nearly 50 percent of the cash receipts range, said John Keeling, executive vice president and CEO of the National Potato Council in Washington, D.C.

“The specialty crops from the Rio Grande Valley, through the winter garden area of South Texas and up to the Panhandle, contribute approximately $800 million to the state’s economy annually,” Keeling told me during an interview during the National Association of Farm Broadcasters’ November convention in Kansas City. San Angelo Standard Times

read more of the story here.