Senate committee advances overhaul of Texas Agricultural Finance Authority with reduced grants, debate over funding

Sen. Sparks explained a committee substitute to House Bill 43 on behalf of the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority, saying the measure restructures the authority, revises grant and loan amounts and creates programs for pest and depredation control.

The bill’s sponsor said the changes respond to substantial recent losses in Texas agriculture. “Our ag industry really is in crisis due to, a number of, weather related issues the last couple of years,” Sen. Sparks told the committee, and he asked for the panel’s support for the substitute.

Committee members and a string of invited witnesses described the financial strains on producers and rural businesses. Bridal Adamec of the Texas Farm Bureau said recent years had produced “some of the most difficult” conditions for Texas farmers and ranchers, including drought, storms and higher input costs. Cody Bessent, chief executive of Plains Cotton Growers, described lost ginning capacity: “We had around 94 gins in our service area in 2012. We’re down to 65 today,” he said, calling the decline a threat to marketing infrastructure.

Individual producers gave concrete examples of the pressures the bill is intended to address. Rodney Shrunt, a fifth‑generation farmer, told committee members, “Our bill is $50,000 to fix that bearing at John Deere. That is 5% of our whole budget on repairs for the year.” Morgan Hodges, a young rancher and past recipient of the authority’s young farmer grant, said, “At 26 years old, we’ve taken on $496,325.58 of strictly business debt.”

The committee substitute narrowed some originally filed funding items: it reduced the maximum award for the Young Farmers Grant Program from $500,000 to $100,000 and lowered the interest rate reduction program’s maximum loan amount from $1,000,000 to $750,000; the sponsor said several program changes will be contingent on appropriations and some statutory changes delayed until the next biennium.

Members asked about fiscal implications. Sen. Johnson asked whether there was a ballpark fiscal figure; the sponsor replied that negotiations were under way and referenced a $50,000,000 figure discussed in leadership conversations, but that the final appropriation remained unresolved.

Invited witnesses from cotton, grain, ginning and feed associations urged passage to protect supply chains and rural employers; the Texas Grain and Feed Association described recent storm damage to a cooperative and said HB 43 would help restore agribusiness capacity.

After discussion, the committee adopted the committee substitute and voted to report the substitute favorably to the full Senate. The committee clerk recorded 8 ayes and no nays on the motion reporting the substitute to the Senate floor.

Questions and concerns raised during the hearing focused on available funding levels, the program match and fee structures intended to sustain parts of the authority, and the need to preserve programs targeted to early‑career and young farmers. Several witnesses urged keeping some priority for younger producers; Carolina Mueller of the National Young Farmers Coalition urged the committee to reserve 20% of funding for young farmers if possible.

The bill will go to the full Senate with a fiscal note. Sponsors and supporters said HB 43 is aimed at stabilizing producers and preserving Texas agricultural infrastructure ahead of further budget negotiations.