nicolesniftynonpapernotes: November 2009

I'm camping at Medici coffee shop on guadalupe...my rough draft is due tomorrow, two faculty members are going to read it and give me feed back... not that any one is interested in reading this but i just want to post it!

Chapter 1
Introduction and Research Question
Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
When you think of farming in Texas, what comes to your mind? Perhaps dust bowls in west Texas, people living a simple and hard life, or the American pioneer spirit? Farmers have always been at the mercy of nature and its weather cycles. For farmers to be successful they have to cooperate with nature and work with what they are given by her, especially in regards to rain. (QUOTE SURVEY)
The focus of this thesis is how farmers use the water they have and what kinds of policies are affecting their operations. I will be exploring Bell County exclusively, which is a part of central Texas.
My research question is; what kinds of water policies affect (pricing, wells, conservation etc.) small farmers in Bell County? How do the farmers perceive these policies and their effects?
Why Bell County?
I was raised in Temple, a city in Bell County which has a population of approx. 60,000 people. It is surrounded by subtle hills that are dotted with small farm homes and the land is carved up into pastures and crop rows. While my family was not involved in farming, I have a personal interest in this area and I would like to know about people’s farming experiences in regards to water and how that experience may change for farmers in the future. It’s a small fraction of the population as a whole, but a very distinct part of Bell County.
Bell County is part of Central Texas and includes the cities of Killeen and Waco. What is the population of Bell County? The population of Bell County is 285,084. How many farms are in Bell County? According to the 2007 Census conducted by the USDA, there are about 2,384 farms in Bell County that spanned approximately 432,000 acres. Out of the total number of farms, about 1,900 of those are small farms. The majority of the farms in this county are small, family farms which is the type of operation that I’m interested in.
Definition of Small Famers
Farming businesses operating on around 100 acres are considered small farms in this study. This is an arbitrary cutoff for the purpose of this research project. I sent a survey by mail that was sent to individuals on the AgriLife mailing list who had registered pesticide license renew or first time permit. AgriLife selected farms that were within the small acreage requirement to compile the mailing list I used for the surveys.
Literature Review
Introduction
Water usage by small farmers in Bell County is not a well studied population, so the aim of my literature review is to give a brief overview of the prevalence of water management problems at the global, state, agricultural and county level. I hope to cultivate a broad conceptualization of water management issues to give context to my study of Bell County farmers and to help the reader recognize the scope of this topic.
Global Water Management and Scarcity
Water management is not only a concern for Bell County farmers, but a global concern for a world experiencing unprecedented population growth. According to a report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) “about one-quarter of the world's population lives in areas where water is physically scarce, while about one-sixth of humanity -- over a billion people -- live where water is economically scarce, or places where "water is available in rivers and aquifers, but the infrastructure is lacking to make this water available to people."”
The quality of life for those living without access to enough water is very poor and according to IWMI, efforts to improve impoverished environments are undermined by lack of water. Those numbers, 25% experiencing physical scarcity and 1 billion experiencing economic scarcity are a devastatingly high amount of people. For people who live in physical scarcity of water, they are not concerned about purchasing water to irrigate their crops, but somehow obtaining water for their consumption and sanitation. (http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0821-water.html) “1 in 3”
While the amount of people affected by water scarcity and management problems is already quite high, ICWGG predicts harder times ahead. Water shortages are particularly catastrophic when it is considered as an input for human life. The International Conference on Water Scarcity, Global Changes, and Groundwater Management seeks to raise awareness about serious future conflicts that could arise in the political realm as countries encounter disputes over shared water resources. The colloquium estimates that “within 25 years, two thirds of the world’s inhabitants will live in countries facing serious water problems.”( http://www.waterunifies.com/rationale.html)
Not only does water shortage create human rights concerns, but water scarcity will create global security concerns as well. If water becomes a scarce resource then nations will have a major task of diplomatically distributing this commodity or face serious conflicts.
(http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/djc-wsw100609.php)
Some people may find it hard to believe that nations may go to war over water. Isn’t water everywhere? Doesn’t rain fall all over the world? Consider the global drought conditions this year. As severe as the droughts are becoming, it may not be hard to imagine militarized conflicts over water in the near future. Some would argue that these “water wars” have already started to occur. Articles on global drought conditions this year
List global water conflicts like Lebanon/Israel etc. Give figures on 2009 drought.
(http://www.marketskeptics.com/2009/02/texas-drought-conditions-becoming.html)
What does this have to do with small farmers in Bell County and their water situation? Lack of water for a human being seems a lot more serious than lack of water for a plant, even if someone’s income is dependent upon that plant. I guess I would just like to point out that drought and water shortages are not just an issue that affect one sector of business (agriculture) but an issue that is affecting people’s ability to continue living. Not just to make money. But does that really need to be discussed in this paper? So far we do not have people in the U.S. that are without drinking water, but if we don’t pay attention to people who are suffering from water shortage like farmers are right now, it is possible that the shortage issues will become bigger and bigger. Texas alone is expected to double by 2060, so high water demands are only going to increase in the future.

Texas Water Scarcity
Moving from the global scale to a more local perspective, Texans have long been familiar with water scarcity problems. Seasonal droughts are part of the annual cycle and affect everything from home owners unable to keep their lawns green to agricultural businesses struggling to stay afloat financially. According to the “Handbook of Texas online” there are historical accounts of droughts dating back to the 1700’s when Spaniards were exploring the Texas area and records of Texas droughts have continued ever since. (Handbook of Texas online – Droughts http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/ybd1.html).
This year, 2009, Texas has had particularly bad drought conditions. Some say they’re as bad as the drought of record 50 years ago, which was the worst drought in the history of Texas.
Here is a visualization from the U.S. Drought Monitor that shows Texas as having areas of “Extreme” and “Exceptional” drought, the two most severe categories on the chart. (http://drought.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.html)
Many cities and counties have implemented restrictions on water usage to combat the shortage that is draining aquifers and reservoirs to low levels. How do I know they have implemented restrictions? What kind of restrictions/rations have they inforced? Maybe talk about voluntary conservation practices in Bell County as listed on the Clearwater website?
According to Media News Wire, “Texas Drought Conditions Becoming Historic” areas affected by drought continue to expand. “Steve Quiring, a professor in the Department of Geography who specializes in Texas weather patterns, says 88 percent of Texas is experiencing abnormally dry conditions and 18 percent of the state is in either extreme or exceptional drought conditions.” Exceptional drought is a severity which may occur every 50 years or so. (http://media-newswire.com/release_1085736.html) How little rain constitutes a drought? FIND OUT

Agriculture and Water Scarcity
FIND ARTICLES
Globally, water is precious for development of good quality of life and its scarcity is devastating. In Texas, drought conditions are part of its history. But what is the overall importance of water as an input for agriculture?
For agricultural produce it is an absolute necessity. A farmer’s income and well-being are based on the market price of a given harvest and that price is dependent upon the quality and quantity of plants for the harvest. Without water, crops will grow withered and sparse or not at all. Some farmers irrigate their crops with water they purchase, others draw from wells, and some rely solely on rainfall to provide enough water to nourish agricultural production.
While fluctuations in the price of water effect all farming operations, rising water prices have the most detrimental effects for small farmers. Why would it be more detrimental for small farmers than large? Small farmers are running their businesses with a much lower income and therefore cannot absorb a steeper cost as easily as a large business. What kind of simple economic theories might help support this claim that larger business can handle rises in input prices better than small businesses?
Along with market flucuations, policies will affect small farmers to a far deeper level than they will affect owners with large holdings. But no water policies regarding price have any effect on small farmers? What about well permits and river or creek usage permits?(find policies or price changes that HAVE affected farmers)
Some producers in California have found an innovative water to make a profit in the midst of a water shortage. The water there has become so expensive, that producers have decided to sell their water instead of using it to irrigate their crops. The producers are opting out of this years harvest and selling their water on the open market. They believe they can make more profit by selling their irrigation water than by irrigating their crops and selling the harvest. Who are the parties buying this water? The water purchasers are the more “capital intensive” farming businesses who either cannot afford to let their crops die or who are large enough to afford to buy extra water. Some capital intensive crops are: list.
What do these stories have in common? What am I talking about? These farmers have all been affected by water shortages and all of the farming operations suffered. Whether losing a harvest, chosing not to plant at all, or cutting back on planted acreage next season, all these stories are about farming operations taking a hard hit from lack of water. Water is a crucial input into all farming businesses. The crops will not flourish without water and the business owner will not only fail to make a profit, but will also fail to cover the costs of planting, fertilizers and other inputs.

Texas Farmers and Water Scarcity
While drought leads to water shortages that are irritating for urban suppliers and residents, for farmers it can be completely devastating. “A combination of record-high heat and record-low rainfall has pushed south and central Texas into the region's deepest drought in a half century, with $3.6 billion of crop and livestock losses piling up during the past nine months.” (Wall Street Journal) According to the article “Texas Scorched by Worst Drought in 50 Years”, the farming and cattle industry will be suffering record breaking economic losses. Texas is the only state experiencing a drought of this magnitude in 2009, other Midwestern states are expected to have excellent crop yields. While meteorologists predict above average rainfall this winter, it will come too late for many farmers and ranchers to offset the costs of the summer drought.( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124872939604384837.html) If these droughts continue, agricultural production may move out of Texas.
Is agricultural production already moving out of Texas?
Farming in Texas is becoming more difficult to profit from as a business. This article addresses immigrant farm labor and the movement of south Texas farming to Mexico. Because of freezes, heavy rains, and droughts in Texas, moving agriculture further south to warm and stable climates is a very attractive option for some business owners. (http://jpe.library.arizona.edu/volume_3/mcdonaldvol3.htm)
Unsuitable climate conditions are not the only things that may be moving agriculture out of Texas. Texas Environmental Profiles points out that technological advance in farming are shrinking the labor force required to run farming businesses. Many of the labor intensive processes are becoming mechanized, eliminated the need for man power. (http://www.texasep.org/html/lnd/lnd_2agr_econ.html)
A news article from the Temple Daily Telegram explains how lack of water due to 2009 droughts is deeply affecting small producers throughout the county. It describes farmers as holding their breath, waiting for the “El Nino” rains to come. El Nino refers to the heavy rains that are expected to pass through Bell County over the fall and winter seasons. While producers are excited about the future rain predictions, county officials are concerned that rainfall will not save the drought damage that has been inflicted this year. One official explains that producers “…are in a crisis mode. A drought breaking event is not going to solve their problems for this year because problems are many-fold: too low yields, too high expenses.” (TDT) Even though producers are suffering from lack of water and even facing the possibility of losing their businesses, purchasing water is not mentioned as an option for them. Irrigation from purchased water is very expensive.
Austin American Statesman – “The drought is the latest setback for Texas rice farmers, who have seen their acreage wane for the past couple of decades as they try to maintain the political clout that has practically ensured them a steady stream of water and federal subsidies. Although many rice farmers also use well water, the threat of the water cutoff may foreshadow the ultimate fate of rice farming in the Colorado River basin, where growing demand among cities and industries is crowding out the farmers.” The LCRA is proposing some cut backs to the amount of water released for downstream use by rice farmers. Because of drought conditions, there is not enough water to keep everyone happy. The farm family that was interviewed said next year they would probably cut back on the amount of acreage they planted because of the drought conditions this year.
(http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/10/14/1014rice.html)

Affects of Drought on Bell County Aquifers
How have the aquifers and river and lakes been affected? Because of the drought conditions in 2009, counties all over Texas have had to pump more water out of underground water like aquifers to meet water demands. Bell County rests on top of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers. I need to put information about how the Edwards and Trinity were affected this year. Were they lower than usual? Who was buying the water, was it just Bell County people or were they pumping it south to Austin, etc?
Aquifers are one type of water resource that is strained in drought season, but lakes and rivers can be used as well. The Central Texas Water Supply manages the Stillhouse Hollow lake and it was pumped to extremely low levels. Stillhouse was not only meeting the water demands of Bell County residents, but was also being released for downstream use at lake Georgetown and lakes in Granger county. This lowered the water level so much that the CTWB was no longer able to draw water for their customers because the pumps were no longer below water level. I need to find some articles to back this up.
Have there been other serious problems with aquifers, lakes and rivers due to drought or population increases/increased demand? FIND ARTICLES
Here is some information I gathered from lecture at the Bell County Water Symposium, hosted by the Clearwater Conservation District. (part of the RWPG for region G)
Bell County Water Symposium
Nov. 12th
Randy Williams – Get to Know Your Aquifers – Edwards, Trinity and “Others” in Bell County
BarW Groundwater Exploration, LLC
Mr. Williams mentioned development conflicts in Bell County can be problematic for aquifer replenishment. Aquifers need “permeable” soil for rainwater to travel back down to the underground reservoirs. Developers and urban populations have an interest in increasing city structures like homes, businesses and roads. These structures cover permeable land and inhibit aquifer restoration.
Not only is urban expansion detrimental to aquifer replenishment, but to rural and farming populations as well. The value of land on the edges of cities is rising in value, which is positive for owners who are looking to sell their property, but difficult for producers who are looking to expand their farming operations or rural dwellers who wish to preserve the spacious atmosphere of country life. Some people are also concerned about too many people trying to share rural water resources through digging too many wells. New highways are also non permeable surfaces.
Drought management planners are encouraging people to voluntarily comply with conservation projects. (What kinds of conservation? List list) This introduction is attempting to get people used to the idea of conservation, as it is possible these practices will be mandatory or regulated in some way in the future.(What about CTXWB and Stillhouse? Was it voluntary when the pumps went dry from over pumping downstream?)
Clearwater Conservation District is undergoing research on the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. They have been conducting research to understand some of the geological components of the aquifer so they can better manage its resources in the future. Some of the things they have been doing are mapping water levels, increasing water sampling, conducting pumping tests, and other documentation of the Edwards aquifer.
Other Aquifers in Bell County
Bell County also contains other pockets of underground water that may not be officially labeled “aquifers” because of their small size, but they are very important to the people who use these resources. There are around 2,500 wells that are drawing water from unrecognized aquifer, some of these small aquifers are part of the Edwards.

Brad Brunett- Status of Water Supply in Central Texas and Future Water Plans
Brazos River Authority
Water Supply Reservoirs
Mr. Brunett gave an update on the status of the water supply in Central Texas and briefly outlined some future water plans. He suggested that water should be saved/stored in times of surplus so that it can be utilized in drought periods. Central Texas often has dramatic fluctuations in rainfall from one year to the next, for example in 2007 there was severe flooding but only 2 years later, 2009, there was the worst drought in 50 years. This kind of variety creates a problem for efficient water management.
He notes that Bell County is not considered to be in drought conditions anymore, but I would like to add that while Bell is not technically still in the drought, the ramifications of the long dry spell are still being experienced.
Capacity of Water Reservoirs
According to Mr. Brunett, during the 2009 summer drought, rivers and creeks dwindled as reservoirs became depleted. However, after the fall rains the reservoirs are almost all full again. This includes the Edwards, Trinity, Stillhouse, Lake Belton, and several other reservoirs.
This year’s hard times seem to be coming to an end in regards to drought, but as the population in Bell County continues to grow, as is expected, the resources will be taxed further under similar drought conditions in the future.
Not only is the Bell County population expected to grow, but growth in other downstream counties could affect the local aquifers because of water that is released to meet downstream demands. Lake Georgetown receives water from Bell County as does Lake Granger from a Lake Stillhouse pipeline. Water management strategies will have to be coordinated between counties upstream and downstream.
Mr. Brunett said that population is expected to double in Texas by 2060 which will bring increasing water demands. He said that the cheap solutions to water supply demands are gone, the future projects will be expensive but they are necessary. Some future projects he mentioned were:
- System Operations Permit
- Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water
o Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer
o Trinity Aquifer
- Bellhouse Pipeline
- Lower Brazos Saltwater Barrier
- Seawater Desalination
- New Reservoirs
Conjunctive use with Lake Granger
He said that it was important to try to get people to use surface water because aquifers are over pumped, but surface water is often too expensive.
Armstrong is another supplier that distributes from Still House and supplies to farm families. Mayor Smith said that the bodies of water in the area had been affect by the droughts this summer. They were not replenished by rain and eventually the water levels became incredibly low because of pumping and distribution. Gerral Sweatner was one supplier that had to merge with CTXWB because their water supply dropped to such a low water level that they could not meet customers’ demands.

How is water management done in Texas:
Texas recognizes need for water management
The last several decades have brought about increased concern about water management and led to government action on Texas water shortages. After the “drought of record” in the 1950’s the state legislature created the Texas Water Development Board to respond to water shortages and droughts in the future. According to the Texas Water Board website “water legislation was an outgrowth of increased awareness of the vulnerability of Texas to drought and to the limits of existing water supplies to meet increasing demands as population grows.”

Creation of the Texas Water Development Board
The 75th State Legislative Session passed Bill 1 (SB 1) and created the Texas Water Development Board government agency in 1997 to manage Texas water supplies and resolve water conflicts through annual (is it annuals??) water planning. The Water Plan stipulates that there will be 16 regional water planning groups that will be in charge of managing water resources in their designated area. The regional planning groups assess current and future water needs and try to formulate solutions to shortage problems. The regional groups must submit their management plans to the TWDB for approval and funding. All regional plans are combined by the TWDB to create a statewide water management strategy. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) laid out the model Texas currently follows in the 2007 State Water Plan. (http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/wrpi/swp/swp.htm)
Here are some features of the 2007 State Water Plan to give you an idea of what sorts of stipulations it makes in regards to water management.
How do regional groups go about creating plans?
Regional Water Planning Groups
The regional water planning groups (RWPG) are made up of a panel of specialists who take “engineering, socioeconomic, hydrological, environmental, legal and institutional components” into consideration for regional water plans. RWPG’s are also required to hold public meetings so that the general population may be involved in the policy making process.
What kind of factors do they consider?
The three most important components may be population projections, water demand projections and drought management strategies.
RWPGs determine water demands, water supplies available in times of record drought, surplus and additional water for usage, social and economic costs and develop plans that contain long and short term water management schemes. They submit these plans to the TWDB for review.
What kinds of policies/solutions come out of planning?
According to Water for Texas – 2007 the state water plan that Texas currently follows, RWPG’s have made policy recommendations in the following areas:
• financing water management strategies
• reservoir site designation and acquisition
• interbasin transfers of surface water
• environmental water needs
• water conservation
• expedited amendment process
• indirect reuse
(http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/wrpi/rwp/rwp.htm)
(http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/State_Water_Plan/2007/2007StateWaterPlan/CHAPTER%201%20FINAL%20113006.pdf)
Region G is Bell County
Region G is one of the 16 regional planning groups and it spans 37 counties, mostly along Brazos River. Here is a map illustrating the area of Region G.

The RWPG for region G has delegated most political tasks to the Brazos River Authority manages most issues. HDR Engineering provides consulting
TWDB Website
(http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/wrpi/rwp/g.htm)
Brazos G Regional Water Plan Website http://www.brazosgwater.org/2.html

Chapter 2 – Methodology
Questionnaire and interviews with key informants.
In this section I will give some background information on the people, organizations and events that have contributed to my research.
Interview with the Mayor of Holland, Mae Smith
I conducted an interview with Mayor Mae Smith of Holland TX. She serves on the board for the Central TX Water Supply Corporation, who distributes water out of the Stillhouse Hollow lake. It supplies to 18 entities in 7 counties, most of those being farm families. She is actively involved in the Bell County community and is passionate about water management issues and protection of rural land rights.

Clearwater Conservation District
To begin writing my survey questions, I needed some background information on Bell County water and what kind of issues farmers were having concerning water usage and policy. I decided to contact the Clearwater Conservation District office. The Clearwater Conservation District is responsible for underground water management for the Bell County area and has the Edwards and Trinity aquifers under its jurisdiction. Chapter 36 of the Texas Water Code (TWC) gives the CCD the authority to “issue permits and set regulations for managing the underground water resources”. The CCD aims to educate the public about water resources and conservation as well as handle issues regarding the two aquifers’ management. One of the goals in their mission statement is to "develop and implement an efficient, economical and environmentally sound groundwater management program to protect and enhance the water resources of the district."( http://www.clearwaterdistrict.org) PUT MAP OF AQUIFERS HERE
How does their management of the water resources in Bell County have anything to do with small farmers? If a small farmer would like to irrigate using underground water, such as via well, they would need to obtain a permit from CWCD. Irrigation that involved surface water such as rivers or rainwater would not come under their authority.
I chose them as my primary contact because I wanted to hear a narrative of Bell County’s water situation from people who dealt locally with water issues and small farmers. If the CWCD;s policies do effect farmers, it seems that it would be through well water regulation. Whether or not they regulated the irrigation water that small producers are using, they are very active with the farming community through education events especially concerning conservation practices. (SITE SOME SOURCES) What kind of conservation? Rainwater collection? Limiting water waste? Specific crops?
Email Correspondence
While waiting for the surveys to be returned and after receiving the last survey, I have been corresponding with several agencies and organizations in the Bell County area to continue my own education about water in Bell County. I corresponded via email with AgriLife, the Blackland Research and Extension Center, Clearwater Conservation District, the Soil and Conservation District office for the Bell County region, the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Brazos River Authority and the Bell County Extension office. They answered questions and referred me to websites or other organizations that had the information I was looking for.

AgriLife Extension
CWCD directed me to officials at the Bell County AgriLife Extension office. The purpose of AgriLife is largely community education for the improvement of quality of life for Texans. They are an outreach of the Texas A&M System and provide a variety of programs that educate the public about areas like agriculture, natural resources, family consumer management and provide youth programs like 4H. I contacted their Bell County Extension office with a brief explanation of my project and they graciously provided me with a list of 100 farmers in Bell County that I could send my survey to by mail. The list was selected at random from a data base of farmers who had been trained and approved for private pesticide licenses in the last five years. (This includes license renewals?) An official explained that the farmers were selected from a small acreage agriculture category which is farms under 50 acres approximately. (survey included in appendix)
Bell County Water Symposium
I attended a water symposium in Bell County hosted by Clearwater on Nov. 12th 2009. The meeting was open to the public and its purpose was to share ideas with management officials as well as educate the community. The Symposium was organized by Clearwater and featured speakers from many water management agencies and water supply related businesses. Some of the participants were from the following organizations: LIST SPEAKERS ORGANIZATIONS

Survey of Farmers
The survey is written to get a general picture of the respondent’s farming business and also to get information on water usage practices and attitudes. Some key questions were repeated in various ways to solicit information and encourage respondents to expand on their answers. Here is an example from the survey:
6. What are the major issues you have encountered in your farming business?
7. What do you feel are the most important issues regarding small farmers in Bell County?
This set of questions gave respondents a chance to write about issues that had affected them personally, but also to express their perceptions of problems farmers face as an aggregate.
I sent a survey by mail that was sent to individuals on the AgriLife mailing list who had registered pesticide license renew or first time permit. AgriLife selected farms that were within the small acreage requirement to compile the mailing list I used for the surveys. After about 3 weeks I received 14 responses back.

Chapter 3 – Data, Analysis and Conclusion
Table of Questions 1-6, 11,12,18 and 21
Here is a table with some descriptive information from the survey. The questions listed in the table are:
1. How many acres is your farm?
2. When was your most recent property purchase?
3. When was your most recent property sale?
4. How long has the farm been in your family?
5. What kind of crop do you raise?
6. What are the most important issues facing farmers?
11. What water source(s) do you use?
12. Have they changed over time?
18. Do you irrigate using a well?
21. Do you irrigate with surface water?

1(1084) 2(1063) 3(1062) 4(1061) 5(107) 6(1082) 7(1081) 8(1014) 9(10142) 10(1016) 11(105) 12(1013)
1.Acres 40 150 75 25 76 74.8 80 11 105 25 yrs 28.33 80
2. Recent Purchase 5/94 10/2003 7/2005 1990 2007 8/1979 N/a 9/08 2/93 4/2006 1975 8/2008
3. Recent Sale 4/2005 10/1999 None N/A 2009 8/1977 N/a N/A 6/2006 None 6/2008
4. How long has farm been in family 15 yrs. 23 yrs 4 yrs 19 yrs 10 yrs 30yrs 1 yr 16yrs 3.5 yrs Since 1975
(34 yrs) 14 months
5. Kind of crop Hay Cattle, pecans, corn, cotton Wheat, corn Coastal Hay Oats, coastal Bermuda grass Hay grazer, Oats Ag. Exempt no farming.
Grazing Hay Bermuda, Hay N/A Red Top Cane
Coastal Hay Hay, beef cattle
6. Most important issues 1. Drought
2. Fertilizer 1. Drought
2. Bugs
3. Fertilizer 1. Clearing trees
2. Weed Control 1. Drought 1. Equipment
2. 1. Cattle prices
2. Equipment costs None at this time Drought 1.Economy
2.Drought
1.Drought
1.Rising property values

11. Water source Well 1.Community water from Lake Belton and Still house
2.Rain water collected in ponds East Bell Water Supply 1.Rain
2. Well Nature 1.Rain
2.Pond
3.Creek Local Water Supply 1.Well
2.Wind mill 800 foot well East Bell Water Supply Stock tanks (cattle) Supplement with community water
12. Changed over time No No No Yes, had to deepen well No No No No No Yes, water rates have increased No
18. Irrigate with well? No No No No No No No N/A No No No
21. Irrigate with surface water? No Rainwater collects in ponds and is used No No No No No No N/A Searsonal runoff, do not irrigate

Narrative of the Table
In the table above I provide some of the descriptive data I received in the surveys. The table includes questions 1 through 6 and then questions 11, 12, 18 and 21. Here is a verbal summary of the data;
1. Respondents had an acreage ranging from 11 to 150 acres. Most had less than 75 acres.
2. Most recent property purchases ranged from 1975 to 2008.
3. Most recent property sales ranged from 1977 to 2009.
4. Respondents had been in possession of farms from 14 months to 34 years.
5. Crops listed were: Hay, Corn, Pecans, Wheat, Oats, Bermuda grass, Red Top Cane, and Coastal Hay.
6. Most respondents claimed that the most important issue for farmers is drought. Also listed were fertilizer costs, rising property costs, the economy, weed control, clearing land, and equipment prices.
11. Water sources varied among respondents and most listed more than one source. Four said they used well water. Five said they relied on rainwater. Five listed purchased water from either community water supplies of Lake Stillhouse and Lake Belton, east bell county water supply or an unnamed local water supply. Also mentioned were windmill, pond, creeks and water tanks.
12. Only two respondents said they had changed their water source over time. One had to deepen their well and the other responded that water rates have increased.
18. All respondents said they did NOT use their well to irrigate, even though question 11 asked what water sources they used for their farming business and four had responded that they used wells. I take from this response that when the respondents said they used their well for their farming business they did not mean that they used it for irrigation.
21. Two respondents said that they were affected by surface water, one used rainwater collected in ponds to irrigate and the other had seasonal runoff but did not use it to irrigate land.

Explanation of survey data
Responses came from a diverse range of farm sizes and farm ages. While most farms were older than 5 years, one had only been purchased 14 months prior to the survey. Even though the farmers have had land in their possession for very different amounts of time, they responded similarly to questions regarding problems they’ve experienced in farming.
I’ve organized the survey data into themes that seemed to be emerging in the responses. They are crops, drought, increased costs of operation and living, urban expansion and water policy.
Crops
There is a lot of variety of crops being grown in Bell County, Hay was mentioned the most but also listed were Hay, Corn, Pecans, Wheat, Oats, Bermuda grass, Red Top Cane, and Coastal Hay. The respondent who had been farming the longest (34yrs) grew Red Top Cane and Coastal Hay and the shortest farmer grew Hay. Here are some numbers from the USDA agricultural census. The top two crop categories were “grains, oilseeds, dry beans, and dry peas”, 203 farms, and corn, 154 farms.
Drought
When asked about the most important issues for small farmers, 6 out 12 respondents listed drought as a major concern for farmers. Other operation costs were mentioned, but drought was listed most often. One respondent writes,
“Pecan orchards produce subpar pecans…ponds dry up, etc. It seems all life is brought to the brink of its existence.”
You don’t have to be a small farmer to realize that drought is a big problem for producers. Officials at the Clearwater Conservation District office as well as researchers at the Blackland Research Facility and SWCD workers have told me that drought is a huge problem for small farmers, sometimes ruining crops beyond recovery. In some scenarios the best a farmer can do is replant when the next season comes and hopes to recover the losses over time.
Increasing Costs of Operation and Living
Several farmers mentioned various ways that the costs of farming have increased. From dealing with drought to rising operational costs to competition over land with urban populations, small farming is becoming harder. One respondent writes “It is actually cheaper for us to purchase hay from out of the county and pay to have it hauled to us then [sic] what we would spend on fertilizer and fuel. Even if we produce enough to sell some, we still come out ahead by purchasing.” Other surveys mentioned buying crops from another county because of the high expenses in producing the crops themselves. Some of the expenses mentioned were fertilizer costs, equipment costs, and increased price of everyday living.
Urban Expansion
Several people mentioned population growth in different ways. Ranging from passive observation to obvious irritation, farmers are aware of the growing cities that are infringing on traditional farming areas. Some producers seemed concerned about developers taking land for new subdivisions that they would like to use for expanding their farms, others were worried about neighbors sharing their water source. A few responses:
Population in Bell County is expected to increase in the next 50 years, do you believe this will affect your farming business? If so, how?
“An expanding population will make it very difficult to expand my operation.”
“Yes, encroachment by developers.”
“…if we get neighbors that move close to our farm and tap in to our water source, it could affect our well being.”
“Already I am seeing good farms being split up to make smaller and smaller parcels. I have seen new homes go up in previous plowed fields…..I would like to double my land holdings for expansion but am having problems finding land.”
“Rural development will eventually be a problem.”
“People will try to control ground water even more than now.”
“Too many city folks trying to build in the country. They like to build on top of you. Why don’t they just stay in town if they want to live next door!!!”
In regards to urban expansion, when asked what some of the most important issues are for farmers, one farmer mentioned the trans-Texas corridor a highway that would pave over valuable farm land.
Affects of Water Policy
It seems that these farmers are not really affected by water policies pertaining to the price of water because they are not purchasing water. How do I know that they are not purchasing water? The surveys themselves do not reveal any evidence, with the exception of one case, to suggest farmers are purchasing irrigation water. For small producers especially, purchasing water would most likely be far too expensive.

Survey Responses: In my Own Words
Analysis and Conclusion
My initial research question was about water policies that affect small farmer operations, but after looking at the survey responses and obtaining information from key informants, I’ve found that the majority of these farmers are not irrigating and therefore are not affected by water policy. However, I would like to share some of the issues that are affecting their operations and well being. In this section I will try to put what I read in the surveys into my own words to provide the reader a clearer picture of the feel of the responses and tie together some of the themes about drought, population growth and water management that have emerged from my research. I will also incorporate material from the interview sessions, email correspondences, the Bell County Water Symposium lectures, and internet research to provide an analysis and draw conclusions about the survey response content.

Drought
Drought seemed to be the number one concern for most and, if they are a “dry-land” farmer, there is nothing a producer can do to get nourishing water to their crops when the weather won’t cooperate. “Dry-land” farming means the producer does not use any irrigation techniques. According to Mr. Jez of the Soil and Conservation District, most of the small producers in Bell County are dry land farmers. Mayor Smith and the Clearwater Conservation District officials agreed that this was probably the case.
I was expecting to find a lot of information in the surveys about irrigation. I just couldn’t imagine that the farmers were solely relying on the weather, especially considering the severe drought over the summer! But only one individual mentioned purchasing water and it was still unclear as to whether or not it was used for irrigation purposes.
One farmer mentioned having to drill a deeper well. Somehow the water level of the well must have dropped, perhaps due to increased use of water in the area or maybe severe drought. While this does not have to do with my question about what water policies have affected his farming operation because the well was not used for irrigation, it is interesting to note that this individual was affected by a drop in the water level in his well, which could connect to greater water shortage problems in Bell County.

Irrigation
Several respondents said yes when asked if they used a well for their farming business. I don’t know what that means, because later in the survey, when I asked if they used well water to irrigate they said no. Maybe “use for farming business” meant something other than “irrigating crops” to the people who gave different answers on these two questions.
I started this thesis/research thinking that I would find out how the farmers irrigated and then find which policies might regulate that irrigation. I didn’t understand that small farmers were not very likely to irrigate. I found out from CWCD that there was only one well permit for irrigation in the area, but I thought that only meant that farmers must be irrigating some other way.
According to Mayor Smith, the only option for irrigating is using rivers or creeks that run through the property. Buying water to irrigate crops, she laughed, would be way too expensive. This may be part of the reason that the survey respondents did not irrigate their property and did not have much to say about irrigation in general. Small farmers are not likely to have the capital needed irrigate their crops.
Some producers in the Little River/Academy area use Little River to irrigate. Otherwise some might also use a well, but she didn’t seem to think that was very likely.
She also said that drought is a major issue, but so is getting too much rain. In west Texas they can irrigate until they have the desired amount of water in the soil and have confidence that the weather is not going to put more water in the ground and over-water the crops. But in Central Texas, if you irrigate you might have bad luck and get a lot of heavy rain, which could ruin your crop. Texas weather being portrayed as unpredictable also resonates with Mr. Brunett’s lecture about flooding in 2007 followed by severe droughts in 2009.

USDA Survey Data : Irrigated Land and Number of Farms
Even though many officials have told me, as well as farmers, that Bell County small farmers do not irrigate, this survey done by USDA suggests otherwise.
Farms and Irrigated Land Statistics Bell County
Farms ...........................................................................number, 2007
2002
Land in irrigated farms .................................................... acres, 2007
2002

Harvested cropland ..................................................... farms, 2007
2002
acres, 2007
2002
Other cropland, excluding cropland pastured .............. farms, 2007
2002
acres, 2007
2002
Pastureland, excluding woodland pastured ................. farms, 2007
2002
acres, 2007
2002

Irrigated land ................................................................... acres, 2007
2002
Harvested cropland ..................................................... farms, 2007
2002
acres, 2007
2002
Pastureland and other land ......................................... farms, 2007
2002
acres, 2007
2002
2007 irrigated acres by size of farm:
1 to 9 acres ....................................................................... farms
acres irrigated
10 to 49 acres ................................................................... farms
acres irrigated
50 to 69 acres ................................................................... farms
acres irrigated
70 to 99 acres ................................................................... farms
acres irrigated
100 to 139 acres ............................................................... farms
acres irrigated
140 to 179 acres ............................................................... farms
acres irrigated
180 to 219 acres ............................................................... farms
acres irrigated
220 to 259 acres ............................................................... farms
acres irrigated 119
84
37,424
22,797
95
69
14,073
7,474
19
16
234
339
81
47
19,552
14,371
2,746
2,690
88
67
1,787
1,516
39
23
959
1,174
30
62
55
223
9
(D)
1
(D)
4
164
1
(D)
----
8
450
3
272
3
318
5
1,181

In the table, 95 farms of less than one hundred acres are listed as farms that use some kind of irrigation method. Of these 95 farms, 285 acres were irrigated. This is confusing considering that small farmers are supposed to be “dry farms” primarily. Is 95 an extremely low number out of whole population of small farmers?
Is this a large enough number of farmers to research relevant water policies? If I don’t, then I need to find what water policies might affect these 95 farms. If Mayor Smith is right, they are probably using river or creek water. The Brazos River Authority would be responsible for regulation of surface water.
What regulations does the Brazos River Authority have that would affect river or creek irrigation? (sent email to BRA)
This may not be a large amount of farms, but I wanted to take note of these findings.
Increased Cost of Operation and Equipment
Some of the other topics that respondents brought up frequently were related to operating costs, like equipment and fertilizer.
Many of the interviews and email correspondences affirmed that small farming is getting harder. It’s getting more expensive to fund equipment and other necessities. Mayor Smith said a lot of small farmers just do it as a hobby or they have to have a second job.

Small Farms Economically Disadvantaged
Why is it getting harder? How is this sociological? Small farming as a way of life is on the way out and social forces must be at work somehow. Population growth is placing a lot of demand on the food industry for more food as well as cheaper food. According to the TWBD report in 2007, population in Texas is expected to double by 2060. That means a lot more mouths to feed. Texas may be experiencing competition from out of state as well as globally.
The larger the business the more economic advantage it has because production can be more specialized and efficient. Increasing food demands not only affect the type of farm that is needed as populations in Texas grow (large farms instead of small farms) but a growing population needs more and more physical space to occupy as well. This leads me to my next topic, urban expansion.

Urban Expansion
Bell County is experiencing a lot of population growth. Urban expansion is spreading out into farm country, raising the prices of land and making it difficult for farmers to expand their businesses. According to SWCD, kids are splitting up their parents land and selling off the smaller lots. How does this relate back to the surveys?
Urban expansion was something that SWCD official, Travis Jez, explained to me in a phone interview. He said that ____(explain what Jez said about urban expansion) He said there were no doubts it is getting harder to farm. I asked him where was the farming business moving to? Who is selling us our produce, where is it coming from? He said “that’s the million dollar question.” (Where is it moving to?)
Mayor Smith spoke about this very passionately, the TXdot agency failed to complete research on the environmental and economic impact of this highway. It would run through the “Blackland Praire” an area that Natural Resources (a federal agency for environmental issues) rated as a 90% “do not destroy” zone. It cannot be replaced. The implication for farmers is the loss of valuable fertile farm land which is already coming under increasing stress from city expansion.

Water Policy
Bell County farmers are, generally, not irrigating their crops, therefore policies surrounding water are not going to impact them. The rising price of water is not relevant to their business because they are not purchasing water to irrigate land. Regulations around prices do not affect them either. Conservation policies could be a factor, but I did not see much evidence that conservation was being implemented for irrigation purposes. Some people mentioned water tanks or ponds, which is a conservation practice, but I don’t know for sure if they use those ponds to irrigate their crops or if they are only using it for domestic consumption needs.
Government Assistance Programs
It is possible that some of the farmers could be affected by state or federal policies regarding financial assistance programs. Some government assistance is available through loans (SWCD interview) to help absorb exceedingly bad drought damage. What kinds of loans are available? The USDA has statistics on Government payments and Commodity Credit Corporation Loans(CCCLS).How many farmers receive these subsidies? 425 reported receiving money from Government payments and 14 for CCCLs. Are they more likely to be small farms or large farms? How do the payments work and what can the money be used for?
Water policy is out, that isn’t what is keeping small farmers awake at night. I was wrong in my suspicions. They are most distinctly affected by drought, increasing costs of running their business and lack of available land because of population growth and urban encroachment.
Why are the costs of their business rising? Well, equipment is getting more expensive. Not only is equipment going up, but farmers have to farm more and more acreage to continue to compete, so more advanced and computerized machinery might have to be purchased.(Smith mentioned a boy 11 years old farming on the computerized tractor)

Armstrong is another supplier that distributes from Still House and supplies to farm families. Mayor Smith said that the bodies of water in the area had been affect by the droughts this summer. They were not replenished by rain and eventually the water levels became incredibly low because of pumping and distribution. Gerral Sweatner was one supplier that had to merge with CTXWB because their water supply dropped to such a low water level that they could not meet customers’ demands.
While this information helps to understand the effects of water shortage on water suppliers and their customers, she informed me that it was very unlikely that any small farmers would be purchasing water to irrigate their crops with. The water would be much too expensive.
If they were to irrigate it would be from surface water, such as rivers, creeks and/or small ponds on their property. She mentioned that some farmers who have property along Little River sometimes use it for irrigation. Most farmers, however, will rely solely on the weather to provide water for crops.
When I asked her what the biggest problem for small farmers would be, she replied too much rain or too much drought. In the east side of Bell County, there runs a strip of land that extends up through the U.S. and it’s called the Blackland Prairie. It’s some of the richest soil around, but the weather is not always optimal for farmers. Farmers can lose a whole harvest from bad drought conditions but they can also lose a crop from too much rain. (look up info on Blackland Prairie)
Drought has been the age old enemy of farmers, but Mayor Smith says, urban encroachment and development could be the new one. Texas decided that east Bell needed to have the Trans-Texas corridor running through it, a highway that would extend up to Dallas area. The highway would slice through valuable farming land. TXdot, a government agency responsible for the planning, said that they had survey the area east of I-35 highway to find out the new highway’s environmental and economic impact. When asked by local officials, who were in opposition to the highways construction, to produce the documents, TXDOT came up empty handed. The highway plans were eventually dismissed after a long battle between local officials and the state. Federal agency Natural Resources was called in to assess the value of the Blackland Prairie and they gave it a rating of “90% do not destroy”. The highways construction was also planned to be contracted to a Spanish company who would receive the revenues from the highway for the next 50 years, even though the company would be paid for with Texas tax payers dollars.
Bringing the highway discussion back to water, the highway would disrupt drainage patterns that allow water to flow back to the local aquifers, replenishing them for usage. The Salado area has already considered building holding lakes to store surplus water in for times of drought, Salado creek went completely dry this year for the first time.

If the farmer is poor then so is the whole country. - Polish Proverb

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