Agriculture dwindles From the cover
The challenge
Closed farms and ranches Buckner Cow Horses Barton Hill Farm Current farms and ranches 1 Green Gate Farms 2 Hope Valley Tree Farm 3 Middle Ground Farm 4 Tarcoola Ranch Current developments 5 Ad Astra 6 The Colony 7 The Boring Company 8 SpaceX 9 X Headquarters
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The Local Food Action Plan outlines initiatives ranging from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program incentives at farmers markets to agritourism, student farm collaborations, farm- to-table programs and more. Sarah Fulton-Smith, Texas director for the American Farmland Trust, said Bastrop County is expected to lose up to 27,000 acres of agricultural land by 2040. This equates to a potential loss of 7.64%, according to data provided by the Bastrop Central Appraisal District. Consumer access is another obstacle local producers face, said Willy Culberson of Culberson Cattle Company, adding that there is nowhere to sell local food daily. Data from the Texas Center for Local Food supports Culberson’s statement, with numbers showing about 95% of the food produced in the county is not processed, sold or consumed locally. Even if location were not an issue, families— particularly those with nancial constraints— struggle with the cost and having the time to prepare meals from scratch, said Austin Moline, coordinator for the Texas Center for Local Food, or TCLF. Big businesses, such as those belonging to Elon Musk and Alton Butler’s upcoming Bastrop 552 Film Studio, are migrating to the county due to its lower cost and higher quality of living compared to metropolitan areas such as Austin, according to data from the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation. At the same time, green space is being paved over to support the growing population’s needs, such as master-planned communities, shopping centers and more—creating opportunities for industrial and manufacturing facilities. Erin Flynn, co-owner of Green Gate Farms and a
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MCKINNEY ROUGHS NATURE PARK
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MAP NOT TO SCALE N
Ocials are utilizing the increased industrial options to help ease the property tax burden on residents. Recently, Bastrop County commissioners approved a 10-year tax abatement incentive for a $5 billion data center campus to do just that, said David Glass, Bastrop County Precinct 4 commissioner, at a Dec. 9 meeting.
communitywide volunteer eort called Friends of the Land, said a prime example of this can be seen in the county’s increased gravel mining industry. “In the past three years, gravel miners have purchased more than 1,100 acres of farmland and have begun disrupting and/or ending farming operations,” Flynn said, noting Barton Hills Farms as an example, which closed in August 2023.
What else?
Elgin Farmers Market SNAP incentives Issued Redeemed
half of the DUFB issued is redeemed. Moline speculated that this is due to meal planning and preparation time constraints that tend to accom- pany fresh food. “This can be particularly challenging when the alternative is lower cost fast food, which is conve- nient, proli c, arguably designed to be addictive and is targeted at low-income families,” he said. Because of these challenges and more, the TCLF said Bastrop has more than 2,000 farms and ranches, yet fewer than 50 grow and sell their food for local markets.
Consumer aordability is another hurdle local food producers are facing. Michelle Akindiya, Farmshare Austin education director, said that more programs are needed to help those who cannot aord local food. Current eorts include the SNAP Double Up Food Bucks program implemented at the Elgin Farmers Market in July 2023; however, use has been minimal, Moline said. The DUFB doubles SNAP bene ts up to $30 per week for those purchasing fresh food. According to data provided by the EFM, about
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SOURCE: ELGIN FARMERS MARKET COMMUNITY IMPACT
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