Texas Citrus Fiesta underway as farmers face challenges

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The citrus industry in the Rio Grande Valley has faced serious challenges in recent years.

“It’s what the Valley is known for, the citrus industry," said Oscar Martinez, Board Member of the Texas Citrus Fiesta. "The event that we promote, Citrus Fiesta event, is just kind of giving back to this whole industry. Let people know what it’s about. The event is meant to celebrate the citrus industry and the farmers who make it possible.

Martinez said, “They put in a lot of time and effort, and at the end, it’s something that’s for the Valley.”

With drought-like conditions, an ongoing dispute with Mexico over water rights, and now a freeze, Valley citrus growers have faced many obstacles.

Martinez said farmers he knows have had to ration their water or cut back on production because of the challenges they have faced.

“Without water, we are gonna see that impact be felt, not just by the other half a million irrigated acres of agriculture in the Valley," said Dante Galleazzi, President and CEO of the Texas International Produce Association. "Which, by the way, employs maybe nine thousand people directly, maybe 3 to 4 times that in the adjacent industries like trucking, boxing, chemicals so forth."

Galleazzi said residents in rural and unincorporated areas will be the first to feel the impacts of water shortages.

“They’re gonna be at a point where they’re gonna turn on their tap, no water is gonna come out. And they’re going to have to go to the major cities to get their everyday water needs,” Galleazzi said.

But the grower's fortunes may be showing signs of turning around. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Services forecast reported Texas's orange production is expected to increase from 850,000 boxes in December to 900,000 boxes for January. The Texas grapefruit forecast jumped from 1.9 million to 2.5 million boxes over that same period.

It is unclear how freezing temperatures over the past few nights will affect citrus grower's crops.

“It just impacts the Valley, the community, the families of these farmers. It’s a big, big thing, and it’s one of those things that it’s like a dying art. But yet, you still have some farmers there, and they work day in, day out to make sure that they continue doing, again, what their grandfathers and fathers started in this industry,” said Martinez.

Martinez said the Texas Citrus Fiesta also connects local citrus farmers with community members who want to see how the farming is done.

The city of Mission will celebrate farmers and the citrus crop with Texas Citrus Fiesta events all week.