Locally harvested free range eggs, grass-fed beef, gorgeous red tomatoes, eight varieties of carrots and containers of fragrant herbs signal the Valley’s latest agricultural adventure.  The number of small farms is rising in the Valley as growers connect to consumers eager to buy fresh picked produce and Valley grown food. The New Ag age centers on direct marketing, cutting out the middleman.

Twenty-five percent of the Valley’s income still comes from agriculture. According to Luis Rivera, agricultural economist with Texas A&M AgriLife in Weslaco, the region’s fruits, vegetables, cotton, sugar cane and livestock production have a farm-gate value of $870 million annually. Support businesses such as fertilizer, tractor and seed suppliers, packers and shippers, boost agriculture’s annual impact on the Valley to $1.9 billion.

The resurgence of small Valley farms is an ironic replay of the Valley 100 years ago.  Railroads, built to carry produce from the Magic Valley to eager northern markets, unleashed  a flood of settlers who established 40-acre, one-mule farms and orchards.  Over the years, farms size changed from small mom-and- pop operations to commodity crops on vast acreages. Now spurred by the quest for the freshest, locally grown fruits, vegetables and eggs, the number of small and medium farms is inching upwards.

Their total production is dwarfed by the large farms’ output but bypassing the established distribution channels and controls is beneficial for them.

The owners of small farms control the prices they ask for their harvests, unlike the commodity growers who have their prices set by outside agencies and marketing boards.   By selling directly to the public through farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture cooperatives, the new farmers’  prices more accurately reflect their costs, the supply and the demand.

What came first?

JC Zapata, who established the McAllen’s farmers market at his Alhambra restaurant, now manages the Market@McAllen (which opened at the main library in November) and Weslaco farmers markets. “Initially for the Alhambra, we had to go look for farmers.  Now we’ve had a long relationship with many of them,” Zapata said.  His goal continues to be to give the community access to the freshest locally grown produce and foods. Currently he is trying to find growers of the local Lulu avocado and herbs for the market.  The market now accepts the SNAP card.

“After three years of operation, consumers realize when it’s time to come back to the market in the fall,” Zapata said.  They have learned the Valley’s growing season dictates what will be available for sale in any month, although eggs and beef are year-round items.

Gregory David and his wife Mary are in the fourth year of growing House of David tomatoes which they sell at five farmers markets and to restaurants and salsa makers.  The House of David, south of La Feria, has 8,000 square feet of hydroponic greenhouses devoted to raising four varieties of flavorful tomatoes.  David showed house. wine. & bristro chef Larry Delgado one variety that is meaty but has a thin skin.  Delgado served that tomato, along with the Mr. Stripey variety and a black cherry tomato in a beautifully plated salad that day.

Initially a hobby farmer, David starts his seeds between August and October for the spring crop. While his season ends in May, in mid-spring his harvests are bountiful and popular.   “I could go back and pick 400 pounds right now.  McAllen is hopping. This is the best market in the Valley,” he said. When his wife asserts he has grown too many, he replies that all the markets haven’t kicked in yet.  David has grown beans, cucumbers and vine-ripened red and yellow peppers.  “They were so sweet, it was like putting sugar on your tongue,” he recalled.

Mary David smiles when she sees people picking up the plump tomatoes to take a sniff.  “Only the older shoppers do that.  They know what a tomato should smell like.”

Fidel del Barrio raises sells grass-fed and finished Irish Dexter beef from his K2 Ranch.  “Grass fed beef is healthier and these have no hormones,” said del Barrio at the McAllen market.  “This is a sideline to help people eat healthier.  The Irish Dexter is one of the oldest breeds.  It tops out at 900 pounds.” The beef is processed and packaged in Poth at a USDA inspected facility.

Debbie Cox has been growing pots of herbs under the name Perennial Favorites since 1989.  She began taking plants from their lower Valley greenhouses to farmers markets five years ago.

Cox has an outgoing personality and aromatic plants, a combination which draws customers again and again. “You’re welcome to touch and smell,” she said to shoppers peeking at labels on various mints and basils. Perennial Favorites stocks an immense array of herbs, ranging from cilantro and chamomile to geranium citronella along with many native plants like mistflower. “We’re always looking for new and different things.”

The customer holding a handful of beefy carrots asked Saul Padilla of Yahweh Farms how to use them.  “Roast them and they taste like sweet potatoes,” he replied. The Rangerville farm, which has a goat herd along with turkeys and hens, supplies fresh produce to several regional restaurants.  Their harvests include poblano peppers, plantains, mixed greens and purple carrots, which sell out rapidly.

Fresh from Debbie’s Garden, tiny bantam eggs and colorful Americana eggs are being sold by   Debbie’s spouse, Dr. Jose Rodriguez, while Debbie is busy at the Growing Growers market.  The produce is grown in raised beds, he said.  “That’s the way to go down here.  Next season, we will bring tropical fruits.”

Yvonne Sandoval now grows and sells four varieties of pecans as Valley Pecans in Elsa.  She bought the business six years ago from owners who wanted someone who would run it as a family farm.  She oversees cracking, shelling and packaging the pecan crop. Sandoval also processes and dries fruit using no sugar.

Justin West of Terra Viva farm outside Santa Rosa explains to shoppers at the Harlingen Farmers Market what fennel is and how it is used.  Heather Gracia of Gracia Farms recommends slices of fresh fennel on top of steamed fish.  Another small farmer displaying free range eggs said, “It started as a hobby and has grown. We’re planning to raise rabbits.”

Options

Opportunities to get into small scale farming keep popping up.  Texas AgriLife Extension was the co-sponsor of a March workshop on alternative orchard crops.  The program was designed for South Texas landowners who would like to raise a low-cost but profitable crop on limited acreage, said Barbara Storz, the AgriLife horticultural agent based in Edinburg.  Soft-seeded pomegranates designed for hot dry areas like the Valley, along with blackberries and figs are viable border crops.  Papaya trees have also shown much potential as a Valley crop.  Loans and micro-loans are available to get into those crops.

Legislators have recognized the impact of new small scale agriculture and have filed numerous bills.  One allows sustainable farms to qualify for ag valuation.  Others limit the fees charged to farmers who sell directly to the consumer and allow the home-based production of what is called cottage foods, such as salsas and jellies.

Twenty years ago, newcomers to the Valley who knew of its agricultural heritage were disappointed to find so little locally grown vegetables available.  The evidence of the impact of new ag is on the table and in restaurants.

 April cover story by Eileen Mattei