The Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement toured the diverse agriculture industry of Texas’ Rio Grande Valley during a weeklong trip April 11-15, 2024. The tour is one of three regional agriculture tours MILE students will do as part of the three-semester professional and leadership development program.
While in the RGV, students were exposed to a wide range of agricultural production including produce, fruit, grain, livestock and cotton. Meetings with producers, agriculture organizations, and agencies helped students understand the key issues affecting the region.
MILE Program Director, Lindsay Kennedy, said the Rio Grande Valley tour provides a unique opportunity for students to see real-world issues and learn how they can become problem solvers.
“For students to truly understand the main issues affecting an industry and a region, they need to go there and see it for themselves,” Kennedy said. “This trip to the RGV has become an important experience for students in our program because of the diverse production and agricultural issues in the region. One goal of the MILE Program is to create problem solvers for the industry, and I believe these kinds of hands-on experiences, where students engage with producers and hear about their issues, are a good way to achieve that.”
There are two students from the Rio Grande Valley who are members of the fourth cohort of the MILE Program: Paola Castro, an animal science major from Brownsville, and Rowly Sandoval, an animal science/pre-vet major from La Feria. Both students agreed they enjoyed sharing their home with their classmates and learning more about the region.
“This trip changed my perspective on the place I have always called home,” Castro said. “I no longer want to run from it but want to nurture the place that once did the same for me. With this new realization, I feel compelled to give back to my community, serving it in the areas that need it most.”
Castro added that it was interesting to see each industry sector more in-depth and how they each relate to one another in the supply chain.
One of the key issues discussed during the tour was water and the impact of ongoing problems related to the 1955 Water Treaty with Mexico. The water problem caused the closing of Texas’s only sugar mill earlier this year. The Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc. facility, which was in operation for more than 50 years, was a featured stop when the third MILE cohort toured the Rio Grande Valley in 2022.
Sandoval said that although he knew water was a serious issue in the Valley, the trip to his home region helped him understand his place in the problem-solving process.
“Hearing just how serious the water shortage issues have become in the Valley and learning of the Sugar Mill closing really lit a fire inside of me,” said Sandoval, who hopes to one day return to the region as a large animal veterinarian. “It has motivated me to want to do something to help the place I call home and try to bring awareness of the issues. After this ag tour, I’ve come to understand just how important advocacy is for agriculture and understand the role that I might one day have to play as a future leader in the agricultural industry.”
The MILE Program would like to extend a special ‘thank you’ to England Farms and Cattle, Texas Citrus Mutual, Cotton and Grain Producers of the RGV, and the Hidalgo County Farm Bureau for sponsoring meals during the trip. The program would also like to thank Nelda Barrera for her help in setting up meetings. Below is a list of all meetings during the 2024 Rio Grande Valley Regional Agriculture Tour. MILE IV will resume in August, and the fall 2024 semester will feature a South Plains Agriculture Tour and a weeklong trip to Washington, D.C.
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