This is a Republican primary race.  Do you promise, if elected, to abide by the RPT platform? And if not, please enumerate what problems you have.

Yes. I will abide by the platform

Please comment on the TGLO's disaster relief response to the wildfires of 2011 & 2012, and hurricanes Ike(2008) and Harvey (2017)?

I am only responsible for the actions of my agency.  I can tell you that the TDA was responsible for feeding all the people in the shelters and we performed our function without delay and no one went hungy.  Also we were responsible for setting up the animal shelters (Harvey we set up over 70). We were responsible for finding cattle panels, feed, hay, water troughs etc..  my agency did this in a rapid response with my employees sleeping in their truck and eating out of igloo coolers for days on end. We received and distributed 3 million dollars worth of feed and hay in 48 hours and we worked around the clock. We not only fed all the people but also all the animals.  We assisted in animal rescue, cattle horses, hogs, etc..   We helped airlift hay and feed to the stranded livestock.  I can tell you that we received no criticism, like many other state agencys did for their response to the disasters. We also helped make sure feed got delivered to the dairy's and chicken houses, along with making sure dead livestock got buried before they became a public health problem. 
     For the fires, our agency raised funds for my STAR fund, State of Texas Agriculture Relief Fund.  This fund uses no taxpayer funds, we raise it from individuals, non profits, companies and different organizations.  With this money we helped farmers and ranchers with things that property and crop insurance did not cover, things like fence post, wire, hay and feed etc..  We had an overwhelming support all across the country. I personally traveled to the Panhandle to distribute the items in need and made calls to help raise the funds to help our farmers and ranchers.

Please discuss the challenges the TDA faces in dealing with the federal agencies, such as the FDA, and how you propose to meet those challenges.

During my tenure as Agriculture Commissioner under the Obama administration I probably spent 30-40 percent of my time fighting back against an overreaching federal government. I fought or sued the EPA, Corp of Engeniers, BLM ((Bureau of Land Management), and FDA.  
Under  the Trump administration I was asked to help form an agriculture advisory committee, become the Secretary of Agriculture in the second term and served on the Tri National Agriculture Accord, representaing Texas on the new USMC.  Now I am back once again fighting the overreach of the Biden administration.  Fighting against Waters of the US, climate change, including cow farts, increased regulations, increased taxation etc...  I recently sued Joe Biden and Secretary Vilsac and won.  The suit was over pandemic relief for farmers. I sued because the only way you could qualify  for the program was to be black or a minority, which is a constitutional violation.

Please list any federal grant monies you would refuse because of federal "strings."

We do receive federal funds for rural communities.  The good news is is comes in block grants and we are in charge of the awards.   We are also in charge of rural health care for 191 rural counties.  I would never take or distribute funds for abortions, CRT, same sex marriage, or any other immoral activity.

What differentiates you from your opponents?

I am an eighth generation farmer and rancher.  I still make my living off the land and they don't.  I am the only one in the race with a degree in vocational agriculture. I was an ag teacher.  I have totally reorganized the agency into a lean, efficient machine and it is run like a business.  Neither of my opponents have ever done anything like that. I have created several successful small businesses and have signed more paychecks than I have ever received.  Neither of my opponts have done that.  I have a much more conservative record than either one of my opponents.  I always put Texans first, the consumers, farmers and ranchers.  I am the Ag Commissioner today, I will be tomorrow and I will be next year, this is not a political stepping stone for me. If the people will re-elect me I will be their commissioner for the next four years and I will continue to work as hard as I can for them.

Neither of my opponents make their living in agriculture, I do. I have raised cattle, horse, sheep,  goats, hogs, sorgum, pumpkins, wheat, oats, peanuts, corn watermelons, cantaloupes, turnips, peas, beans, peaches, pecans, hemp, nursery stock, trees, and I am still known to raise a lot of cane.  I have bred, raised, trained and shown 21 world champion horses in the American Quarter Horse Association, Appoloosa, Paint, and Buckskin Associations. I am an Honarary Vice President of the American Quarter Horse Association.  I am past president of the Southern Association of States Department’s of Agriculture, and past president of Southern United States Trade Association.  I was asked by President Trump to join him in his second term and run the USDA. (well, that didn't work out)  I am a past county Farm Bureau Director.  The biggest difference is, I am the Agriculture Commissioner, with a successful proven record. 

 

What are the three main reasons you are running for this office? Do you see any potential conflicts of interest?

Haha. I laugh at this question. This is the only office I know that you are required to have a conflict of interest to run for it, to run you must be involved in the business of agriculture. However I would never put myself in a position for personal profit from the abuse of my position.

Even though we have done many amazing things under my administration, I am not through yet.   I created a global outreach program for our marketing program and we have been on every continent on the globe marketing Texas products.  I even have an office and an employee in Argentina now.  There are still many untapped markets to explore.  Prior to the pandemic, my plan was to open a marketing office in China and the Middle East.  I still plan on doing that.

I am determined to stop the sell of our agricultural land to the Chinese which would allow them to put up wind or solar farms and access our electrical grid.  (that's just stupid). Actually we need to stop the sell of agriculture land to any foreign investor.  I will lead the charge to do just that.

I am the only one, strong enough, bold enough, forceful enough, tough enough, to fight back against the Biden Administration and win.  I have just proven that.  I will continue to fight back against an overreaching federal government.  I just sued them and won. 

I will continue to promote agriculture through our weekly TV program that goes into 55 million homes and will continue to make sure our school children and others are fed healthy, locally grown meals through my nutritional programs.   We will continue to improve everything we do at the TDA.

The TDA provides financial assistance to farmers and ranchers in the form of loan guarantees and interest rate reductions. Is this an example where the need is great enough to go against the free market? What, if any, changes to this do you commit to vigorously pursue?

We have the ability to make direct loans to farmers and to issue bonds for projects. Previous Commissioners have done such and made some very bad decisions that ended up costing tax payers a lot of money when the loans defaulted.  I have decided that I would not make direct loans unless I could be absolutely sure the taxpayer wouldn't get hosed.  Well, so far, I haven't made any loans.

I have been involved in guaranteeing certain low risk farm loans. I am very careful making them and have a appointed a very good board to oversee these loan guarantees.  We actually have guaranteed several million in loans and I am proud to say that there have been zero defaults.  Theses farmers probably would not be able to get theses loans, or if they could, it would be at a very high interest rate. This is a very valuable tool to the farmers that use it.

What we do, does not compete with the local market.  These farmers partner with us as a last resort. We give these farmer the chance they need. We give them a hand up not a hand out.

TDA provides tools, from tax payers, for communities to attract businesses and pursue other economic development opportunities. Why use tax dollars for this? What, if any, changes to this do you commit to vigorously pursue?

Here at TDA, we pull down federal dollars for rural community development, most of it from the USDA in block grant form. It is used for job creation or infrastructure improvements mostly.  I don't believe in giving taxpayer money away, but here is my view on these programs. I draw the money down and get it out the door, that's Texas money that we sent the federal government.  Now, I could turn it down but that would only mean that it would be sent somewhere else like California or another liberal state.  I believe, in this situation, we should bring our money back to Teaxs  just like we do for our roads.  I don't plan to change the way I do that.

Why is the TDA administering the Certified Retirement Community program to attract retirees? What part of the Texas Constitution requires this?

Well, it certainly isn't required in our Constitution.

But, it is simply a marketing tool for certain communities.  The Go Texan Certified Retirement Community Program is a program run independently of taxpayer dollars. Members pay a fee to join. This program has very rigulous qualification standards.  Less than 4 percent of rural communities quality for the program.  It sets them apart from other communities and helps them market the town as a great place to retire.  The program is working very well and has had no complaints so far. 

Why is the TDA, and not faith-based organizations administering assistance to feed the hungry through the Texans Feeding Texans initiative?  What will you do to change that?

I like working with faith based organizations, I plan to continue to work with them to make sure that no Texan goes to bed hungry. We work closely with area food banks to bring them surplus agriculture products, that other wise would go to waste. We do the same with local food pantry's, which most are faith based.   We are not the only provider that feeds hungry Texans.  Actually, most of it is done through faith based organizations, like churches and non profits.  Working with the area food banks is a legislative mandate set in law by the legislature.

TDA fights obesity in Texas through a statewide campaign highlighting the 3E's of Healthy Living - Education, Exercise and Eating Right.  Who pays for this and why must the government be involved or why must it be stopped? What, if any, changes to this do you commit to vigorously pursue?

Here at TDA, we run the nutrition programs for the state and federal government, all but SNAP and WICK.  We are responsible for 5 million public school meals each day plus many other programs.  Having been an Ag teacher and school board member, I firmly believe in local control and that we need less government in our lives. My very first action as the new commissioner was to do away with all the rules and mandates that TDA had put on our schools.  (yes, I granted amnesty to cupcakes). The problem is, there are federal rules that have to be met.  I refuse to be like other bureaucrats and add further rules and regulations to our school programs.  I am for local control and believe parents and school boards should deside what is best for their school children.

We have done many good things in our nutrition department.  One thing is, I started Farm Fresh Fridays.  Our schools were serving zero local fresh products to our children. Actually, the food was so bad, instead of healthy children we had healthy trash cans because that is where the taxpayer's food went.

From that we built out our farm to school program, which is now the USDA's model for the nation.  When I first became commissioner, our schools served zero local products.  Last year, they served over 65 million dollars worth of locally grown products.  It is local, fresh, no added salt, no added preservative, dyes or chemicals and never flash frozen.  It taste good and the kids eat it.  This is a double win for our school children and our local farmers.

Most of the school lunch program is paid for by the USDA with taxpayer dollars.  I have no control over that.  I will, however, commit to keeping the rules to a bare minimum, saving taxpayers as much as I can and run a lean and efficient program.
 

TDA leads in the development of statewide broadband services.  What business does an agriculture department have in this arena? What, if any, changes to this do you commit to vigorously pursue?

We really don't do broadband, most of that is done directly by the USDA.  We have a few grants available on occasion, but it's rare.

TDA administers grant funds for agricultural research to develop new technologies.  Where does this money originate?

We do very little in the way of research funds, most of that is done through the University systems. The source for the funds are mostly federal and some from the state.  Much of it is also funded privately.

TDA facilitates trade and markets development of agricultural commodities ranging from livestock to crops.  Is this done with tax payer dollars and if so, why not let those who have vested interest in it form coops?

Actually there are many farmer coops across our state.  They mainly focus on purchasing and less on marketing.  But they do both.
We nave a 20 year old marketing program called the Go Texan Program.  It's original purpose was to help startups get their product to market.  We still do that but I have expanded the program. I launched a global outreach program. Myself, or one of my executives, were on every continent marking Texas products the first 12 months of my administration.  People all over the world love to do business with Texas.  We also expanded to marketing non agriculture products and companies, too.  Companies like SpaceX and Toyota are members. We have been very successful. During the tariff wars with China, agriculture exports hit an all time low. In 49 states, agriculture exports fell like a rock.  One state increased their exports, and that was Texas.  I am convinced that was because of our global effort to find new customers for our products. We have added things like a daily market report that is emailed out and is given free to over 100 radio stations along with our weekly radio show.  We are in production of our 6th season of our TV show, Texas Agriculture Matters and we also now have the GoTexan NASCAR team.  We do have one full time employee and office in Argentina, with plans to open more in China and the Middle East.

The program receives no tax dollars from the state. We fund it through membership. When I took over, GoTexan had a little over 200 members.  I have grown that to over 2000.  When we can, we piggyback with federally funded marketing programs.

Hey, watch our TV show on RFD-TV on Tuesday nights at 6pm.

Describe the proper role of TDA in dealing with Texas water issues and list at least two specific initiatives you recommend.

When I became Commissioner, there was no one at the department designated to protect water for rural Texas. Rural Texas uses about 60 percent of the water in Texas. Without adequate water, we can't grow the food we need to survive.  One of the first things I did was create the TDA Office of Water.  The legislature gives us zero funding for the my water department but we mange to run it anyway.  

We promote rainwater harvesting systems. Cities pay millions of dollars to get rid of excess storm water through storm water projects.  We work with cites and counties to capture that water and use it for manufacturing, landscaping or even filter it for drinking water.

We work closely with water conservation districts to fund projects that help them conserve water, and become more efficient.

We also work with river authorities, counties, farmers and other organizations to promote water conservation 

Is there anything in your background of an embarrassing nature that should be explained before your election? Arrests/Convictions? Bankruptcys?

Never arrested, never indicted, no bankruptcy.

Liberal and other opponents over the years have had me investigated for many bogus claims, none of them ever proved be true at all. Never indicted. They all were dismissed.

I have, like most candidates, had violations of omissions and errors with the Texas Ethics Commission on my campaign reports.  All were corrected. 

List your top 7 individual donors and their expected relationship during your administration? List the top 7 PACs supporting you?

Honestly, I don't keep a list of those and I couldnt tell you who they are.  It all is a matter of public record and can be researched on the Texas Ethics Commission website.  The majority of my support comes from many small donors from across the state.

Please explain why you do or do not support the government providing benefits to non-citizens.

I do not support benefits to non citizens, because that is just stupid.  When we do stupid things like that, is makes us a magnet and we continue to get more and more illegals coming to our country.  Just look at our southern border here in Texas.

What should be the key factors in a Guest Worker program and what criteria would you require for each factor?

A good guest worker program would be the following:

 Background checks, no one but good honest people get to be part of the program

Each worker would pay a fee to be in the program.  This is necessary to make sure they cover the cost and not the taxpayers.

They would need to honor their agreement and return to their home country at the end of the contract.

To make sure the contract is honored, 20 percent withholding is taken out of each check. When they fulfill their contract, this will be sent to them.  If they default, they forfeit it and are kicked out of the program.

This would eliminate the need for coyotes, and would stop the cartels from exploitation of these people.  At the same time it would give agricultural the much needed labor it seeks.

Please describe your philosophy of public agricultural management.

Government needs to stay out of agriculture.  It is already over regulated. 

Please discuss the proper working relationship between the TDA and FEMA and what changes can be made to improve relief efforts.

We are first responders and don't really work with FEMA.  FEMA comes in after we have cleaned everything up. FEMA is the "final" responder.