House Agriculture Panel to Weigh Screwworm, Feral Hogs and Texas Product Marketing

The Texas House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock will gavel in at 10 a.m. Oct. 2 in Capitol Extension room E2.012 to take invited and public testimony on invasive species threatening Texas farms and ranches, state programs to expand markets for Texas-grown products, and oversight of the agencies under its jurisdiction. The committee’s chair may limit public testimony to accommodate all who wish to speak, according to the official hearing notice. Texans who will not testify in person can file comments on any of the listed items through the committee’s online portal until the hearing adjourns.

Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City, chairs the nine-member committee, which splits seven Republicans to two Democrats, with Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-Mission, serving as vice chair, according to Texas Policy Research. The panel oversees the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Animal Health Commission and several university-based research and extension agencies, and this is one of several interim hearings it has held this year to work through Speaker Dustin Burrows’ charges ahead of the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027.

The Invasive Species charge is likely to draw the most public attention, arriving as Texas works through its worst New World screwworm outbreak in decades. The flesh-eating parasite, first confirmed in a Zavala County calf on June 3, has infected animals on 41 premises in 17 Texas counties to date, with active movement restrictions still in place in 12 counties, according to the Texas Animal Health Commission. Federal and state crews have released more than 1 billion sterile flies to suppress the population, and TAHC has begun releasing quarantine zones as surveillance turns up no new cases, according to a DTN report on the process. The outbreak’s trade fallout eased Sept. 24, when the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, port — the largest crossing for Mexican cattle imports — reopened after an 18-month closure, though only a fraction of its typical volume crossed on the first day, the Texas Dispatch reported. Members are also expected to hear about cattle fever ticks, rice delphacids, cotton jassids and feral hogs, which number roughly 2.6 million statewide and cause an estimated $118.8 million in Texas agricultural losses each year, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s wild pig ecology and management page.

The Market Development and Expansion of Texas-Grown Products charge turns to the state’s efforts to grow demand for Texas-grown goods. Lawmakers asked the committee to assess the Texas Department of Agriculture’s “GO TEXAN” Partner Program, the state’s Shrimp Marketing Program, which the Legislature created in 2003 to help the Texas Department of Agriculture market Texas Gulf shrimp, and the Texas Beef Checkoff, which funds promotion and research for the state’s cattle industry through a producer-paid assessment. The charge also directs members to consider Texas’ seafood and viticulture industries as they weigh whether existing programs are doing enough to raise consumer awareness of Texas products.

The Agency Oversight charge is broad by design: it covers the Texas A&M Forest Service, the Texas Apiary Inspection Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension, and the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, among others, and directs the committee to watch for fraud, waste and abuse across each.

Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will take no vote and no legislation is before it. Its findings will feed an interim report and any bills members file when the 90th Legislature convenes.

Meeting at a glance

Committee members

• Rep. Ryan Guillen, R–Rio Grande City (HD-31) — Chair
• Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D–Mission (HD-41) — Vice Chair
• Rep. Briscoe Cain, R–Deer Park (HD-128)
• Rep. Andy Hopper, R–Decatur (HD-64)
• Rep. Stan Kitzman, R–Pattison (HD-85)
• Rep. Janie Lopez, R–San Benito (HD-37)
• Rep. Don McLaughlin, R–Uvalde (HD-80)
• Rep. Brent Money, R–Greenville (HD-2)
• Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr., D–Mission (HD-36)