Farm bankruptcies running 23 percent ahead of a year ago
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Reprinted from The Rural Blog (irjci.blogspot.com)
Business
Texas RRC reports April 2020 drilling permits, completions
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AUSTIN—The Texas Railroad Commission issued a total of 456 original drilling permits in April 2020, compared to 909 in April 2019—a 50 percent decrease. The total includes 416 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, two to re-enter plugged well bores, and 27 for recompletions of existing well bores. Those permits included 97 oil, 15 gas, 311 oil or gas, 15 injection, and 18 other permits.
Apache Oil donates $56,000 to rural West Texas hospitals
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Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced this week that Apache Oil Corporation of Houston has donated $56,000 to six rural West Texas Hospitals. The donation was made to help those hospitals meet supply needs in the battle against the coronavirus.
FSA reminds producers of ongoing disaster-assistance program signup
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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started making payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program–Plus (WHIP+) to agricultural producers who suffered eligible losses because of drought or excess moisture in 2018 and 2019.
Full impact of COVID-19 shutdown still not reflected in May sales tax payments
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AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced this week that he will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $824.1 million in local sales tax allocations for May—down 5 percent from payments made in May 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in March by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in January, February and March by quarterly filers.
Cattle raisers welcome order to keep processors open
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FORT WORTH—Robert McKnight, Jr., president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), issued the following statement after President Trump signed an executive order to invoke the Defense Protection Act and keep beef processors open during the COVID-19 pandemic: “On behalf of cattle producers and beef consumers across the country, I would like to thank President Trump for his executive action to keep beef processors open amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining the viability of the beef supply chain has been TSCRA’s top priority since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Though fears of a shortage were largely unfounded, rumors can be self-perpetuating and cause over-buying of a product out of panic. Today’s action should go a long way toward easing consumer fear.”
Trump acts to keep large meat processors open
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This week, President Donald J. Trump is enacting the Defense Production Act to ensure that Americans have a reliable supply of products like beef, pork, and poultry. The presidentsigned an executive order providing the authority to ensure the continued supply of beef, pork, and poultry to the American people. Under the order, the Department of Agriculture is directed to ensure America’s meat and poultry processors continue operations uninterrupted to the maximum extent possible.
Texas oil regulators to vote on cutting oil production
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Texas oil regulators will decide at a public meeting on Tuesday whether to cut oil production, as plummeting global demand has already impacted the oil and gas sector in Texas.
Texas oil regulators take no action on production
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The morning after oil prices crashed into negative territory, Texas oil regulators on Tuesday decided against taking action to impose limits on oil producers, instead creating a “task force” to gather more information on oil-production cuts as the coronavirus has kept much of the world at home, crushing global demand.
Hemphill County Airport to receive $20K in COVID-19 relief
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WASHINGTON—Hemphill County Airport was awarded a federal grant of $20,000 as relief following the economic distress caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced this week.
