Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON – Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and Congressmen Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) today announced that U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded $600,000 to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley1 (UTRGV) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.
This funding will assist the Frontera Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Project which will support Hispanics and veterans in South Texas with development and sustainability in the farming and ranching market.
“The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley deserves to be recognized with this award due to their continued efforts to provide outreach, training, technical assistance, and mentorship to Hispanic and Veteran Beginning Farmers and Ranchers,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar. “I would like to thank Representative Gonzalez for working with me to help bring federal dollars to our South Texas communities, and for joining me in support of the hardworking farmers and ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley.”
“This new funding will allow the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to encourage beginning farmers and ranchers in their pursuit of prosperity,” Congressman Gonzalez said.
“By carefully planning, developing, and implement strategies for success – every resident in the 15th District of Texas can contribute to the economic opportunity of Central and South Texas. I thank Congressman Cuellar for his collaboration in this endeavor and will continue to work alongside other Members of Congress to keep the farming and ranching industry, and UTRGV, thriving.”
This project will provide outreach, training, technical assistance, and mentorship to Hispanic and Veteran Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (BFRs), farmworkers, and NGOs in a 44-county border region of Texas and Southern New Mexico. The service area has the highest numbers and greatest concentrations of Hispanic farmers in the U.S.
Strategic sub-award partners include Texas/Mexico Border Coalition CBO, La Semilla Food Center, and National Center for Appropriate Technology. Additional partners include an innovative partner with SCORE Chapters, as initiated by the Secretary of Agriculture.
Partners supporting farm-and-ranch entrepreneurship include Small Business Development Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Center, and the Texas Rural Cooperative Center.
This project is relevant to the primary goal of BFRDP: to train, assist, and mentor Limited-Resource Hispanic and Veteran BFRs to enter and improve their success in agriculture.
Supporting objectives include:
- Collaborate with NGO partners to recruit BFRs and promote program awareness.
- Customize training and assistance to the specific needs of each BFR individual or group.
- Contribute to the sustainability of Hispanic and Veteran BFRs by providing mentorship.
- Condition Hispanic and Veteran BFRs to be sustainable through innovative approaches.
- Coordinate the efforts of project partners to ensure effective governance.
Congressmen Cuellar and Gonzalez continue to be vocal in their support of Central and South Texas farmers and ranchers. Both congressmen intend to continue to seek additional funding for institutions of higher education, like UTRGV, to ensure that all Central and South Texans have access to economic opportunity and prosperity.
