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Q: Are you for or against the Trans-Texas Corridor, and why?
Gilbert: One of the main issues that started this race for me was the Trans-Texas Corridor. I have been studying it for a couple of years. I am definitely against the corridor. It will eventually take over 1 million acres of prime agricultural land in Texas and turn it over to a Spanish company. This company will construct over 4,000 miles of toll roads and rail, dissecting Texas into fragments. It will destroy rural Texas as we know it, and displace hundreds of thousands of Texans from their farms and homes. It will go down as the largest eminent domain project in the history of the United States if it allowed to continue. I pledge to the people of Texas to do everything in my power to stop this huge Texas land grab.
My opponent helped to create most of the legislation concerning the Trans-Texas Corridor, and in the last session, authored SB2702 that will allow TxDOT to toll existing roadways.
Clearly, he cares little for private property rights.
He has also authored legislation giving the state the right to move water from one part of the state to wherever they deem necessary. Inside the corridors will be large water transmission lines capable of transporting water throughout and outside of Texas. With Mexico needing water for irrigation (NAFTA) and the U.S. always needing oil, is there much question where our water may be going?
This is politics that goes directly against Texas agriculture, and I plan to put a stop to it.
Q: The draft State Water Plan will be presented to the Texas Water Development Board in November for approval. What do you see as the biggest challenge(s) regarding ensuring an adequate water supply for all Texans in the next 50 years?
Gilbert: The biggest challenge apparently is enforcing water conservation policies that we have on the books. Every day we have large water users that do not conform to our laws, yet nobody is holding them accountable. Manufacturers, industry, oil companies are using large amounts of water each day, then pumping the contaminated water back into the ground and/or releasing it untreated into our rivers and streams. This not only wastes valuable water, but it contaminates future water supplies.
In the midst of the driest year on record, we cannot allow private estate owners to use 3 or 4 million gallons of water per month to water their lawns. This type of behavior is irresponsible.
We have to look at other alternatives. Desalination plants need to be constructed along our coastline to convert brackish waters of the Gulf into potable water. We need to look into creative ways of capturing overhead waters without damaging our lakes and rivers. All of these projects are doable and economical.
The only way they can be accomplished, however, is to remove some politicians and the political barriers. In these desperate times, common sense and creative thinking are in greater need than politics and political posturing.
Q: What are your thoughts on the issues of illegal immigration and the guest worker program in regards to how it affects farmers and ag-related businesses in need of workers?
Gilbert: First and foremost, people in this country without proper documentation are here illegally, and should be returned home. The laws of our country govern that. Furthermore, employers that are working these people illegally should also be dealt with in accordance to our laws. One cannot happen fairly without the other.
Having said that, nationally, 45 percent of all farm labor is migrant labor. In Texas, that number is closer to 65 percent. If all of these people are sent home, the hardest hit industry in this country will be agriculture. Can we survive … I don’t know.
The Hispanic population accounts for about 11 to 12 million of the projected 35 million illegal immigrants in our country. There are a lot more to send home to other countries if we chose to send them all home. Can we physically do this? Personally, I don’t think so.
We can’t seem to find one man hiding in a country a lot smaller than ours, so how can we expect to find 35 million people in ours.
Q: Some Texans are voluntarily registering their premises within the state’s portion of the National Animal Identification System, but not all livestock and poultry owners are on-board with the plan. Would you encourage Texans to participate in NAIS? If yes, why; and if no, why?
Gilbert: Not only would I not recommend Texans to participate in the NAIS, when elected, I plan to file an injunction in federal court excluding Texas from participating in the NAIS as it currently exists. This plan was flawed from the beginning. When the “Big 3” meat packers sponsor the federal legislation, that should tell you something. By eventually making this program mandatory, it will force small beef cattle producers out of business, therefore giving the large meat packers complete control of the live cattle industry.
Texas is the largest beef-producing state in the country, with 70 percent of that beef being produced by individuals owning less than 50 head of cows. With the economic restraints placed upon these producers to implement this program, it will put many of them out of business. The local auction barns around the state don’t want it either.
The trace-back mechanism in this program is no better than what we have with the current brucellosis program or the “brand law” already in place. Everything goes back to producer’s records.
I am in favor of voluntary programs that will benefit our producers economically, and intend to create some of those types of programs after elected for various phases of the agricultural industry. Mandatory programs never benefit anyone except the last link of the chain, not the producer. The current agriculture commissioner and my opponent support this legislation. Once again, politics over common sense, and the losers are the rest of us.
Q: What positive attributes will you bring to the office of Texas Agriculture Commissioner that your opponents cannot?
Gilbert: I bring practical and real-life experience in the field of agriculture. I have been involved in agriculture my entire life. Besides growing up in a cattle operation, I taught it in high school for 13 years, owned a livestock auction barn for several years, and continue to raise cattle with my wife and two sons.
I’m not a politician, but I know how to get things done. I bring common sense and practicality to this office, not politics.
I plan to involve everyday agriculturalists in the planning of our state’s agriculture industry. I plan to form committees made up of individuals who making their living in that industry, to identify the problems within that industry, and to set goals for improvement.
This country, and the world, depend upon Texas for abundant, safe food products. It will be my job to make sure that we can continue to live up to that commitment. Political obstacles like the Trans-Texas Corridor and the NAIS make that job very difficult, if not virtually impossible, to achieve.
I will make it my goal to eliminate these obstacles, and to return Texas to the ranking of the No. 1 agriculture state in the nation.
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