1. Economic Development Potential of Producing Food within 150 miles of Houston

3. Sizing Up the Region Female Operators – 2,700 farms - 333,000 acres Male Operators – 17,300 farms - 4,300,000 acres Family Farm – Individual Operator – 18,260 farms - 3,390,000 acres

4. Farmer Age

5. Region compared to State Rice 80%, - 162,000 acres Soy 20% - 39,000 acres (>1 million bushels) Sorghum 11% - 175,000 acres Orchards 7% - 14,800 acres Corn 7% - 119,000 acres Vegetables 3% - 3,400 acres

6. Production examples Chickens – 83,500 – 0.02% state – 90% of region’s production in Walker County Soy – Wharton – 19,000 acres – Matagorda - 8,800 acres – Liberty - 4,400 acres

7. Value of the Land Market Value of Ag products sold – $602,000,000 total – $374,000,000 crops – $228,000,000 livestock Estimated Market Value – Land & Buildings – Average of $1,845 per acre – $906 – Chambers – $2,809 – Montgomery – $768 – State average

8. Mixed Bag Local & Global Opportunities Sysco & Walmart National and International Brands Exploding desire for Farmers Markets Diverse population Strong small business presence Import/Export Maritime Shipping International investment “Houston Lag Effect”

9. What’s Out There? Wild Caught seafood Grass-fed Beef Watermelon Tofu Goat milk Bullfrogs Eggs Wine Blueberries

10. Local Success Stories Houston Dairy Maids Tropic Lightning Haak Vineyard and Winery Blue Bell Ice Cream Chappell Hill Sausage San San Tofu Hallal meat

13. Food Recognition & Sense of Place BBQ and meat markets Oysters, Flounder, Shrimp Sausage Rice Coffee Festivals Crabs, Gators, Strawberries, Mayhaw, Crawfish, Rice

14. Business Challenges Lack of technical assistance & grants Workforce (especially value-added) Cheap v. Quality and Local Broker Consistent supply Year round expectation for seasonal crops – Seafood – Business leakage – Drought, flood, fire, storms, disease, pollinator decline

15. Opportunities Growers Processors Distributors Brokers Community Development Organizations Value-added Cultural niches Chefs

16. Local Agriculture Along the Transect

33. Chuck Wemple Economic Development Program Manager Phone 713-993-4514 cwemple@h-gac.com www.h-gac.com