Some of the best farm land in the USA is in the RGV. Does it bother anyone else that so much of it is being developed and used for other purposes? Where is our food going to come from in the future?

uh no. development = cash

besides, we grow more than we can eat here in the united states anyway.

Matsushi, The only reason it doesn't bother you is because you live and work in a concrete jungle. If you lived in the country or if your livelyhood depended on that farmland, you would have a different opinion.

? for Mat? What kind of work do you do exactly? Do you work for a company that provides infrastructure for the gov?....and by infrastructure I mean build roads, bridges, etc....

[This message has been edited by A-K (edited 2/14/2008 1:14p).]

yes. i help build the quality roads in south texas. you are welcome for the excessive pot holes.

It bothers me. The valley has grown so much over the last 20 years that the people have to live somewhere. Unfortunately, the land that was used for farmland is being bought up and subdivided in ways that put sometimes 10 houses or even more apartments per acre. All the buildings and pavement raise the temperature of the area (I don't want to talk about the global warming junk), causes excessive water runoff, and forces kids to have to play in the street instead of a postage stamp yard.

The price of progress and $ is high.

we are better off as a valley with the growth.

I miss the old valley......no more orange and grapefruit trees, so sad

If you knew the old Valley, you would miss it too. I cannot imagine a better place to have been raised.

The citrus used to be so plentiful, that you could start smelling the orange blossoms when you got to the Hidalgo County line. Most everyone could irrigate their yards, so they had trees in their yard instead of large bushes. The only black person I knew was Otis that worked in the barbershop. He was one of the finest gentlemen you would ever meet.

We've given up a lot for progress.

Go out to Willacy County and look at the farmland till your heart is content. My family farms cotton/sorghum and honestly, that's where the majority of farmland is located in the RGV.

Skins, where are you from?
My Father (and his before him) farmed cotton, citrus and winter vegetables in Hidalgo County.

TKEAG is right- Willacy is still ag-intensive as is northern Cameron. Hidalgo's northern (south of the brush country) and southern (south of the levees) are still ag.

OVR: I also miss the smell of the orange blossoms. I don't, however, miss the smell of the TexSun grapefruit plant (long gone) in Weslaco.

Trash is now what we smell.

I was born in McAllen and raised in Pharr. Graduated PSJA in 1970 and then off to Aggieland. Mom still lives in Pharr. Dad passed two years ago. I now live near Houston but part of me is always in the Valley.

ALLSOME
come back home

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Trash is now what we smell.

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That is what I hate the most of all the new development. I used to hate to goto mexico b/c of this, now I can't tell if I'm in the RGV or Mexico.

Matsui, tell us...what do you know of "growth"?

skins: I ask because I was wondering if there was a Donna tie (Redskins). I grew up in el Valle also (north of Donna). My mother now lives in Pharr, as well. I'm in the Dallas area. I'm probably like most Valley Rats: in my younger days I could not WAIT to get away. Now, manana doesn't seem so bad.

Matsui will not be able to reply for 2 weeks...he got the bananation for posting pics of Marzia Prince.

I guess I really am getting old. Most of youall probably know who Marzia Prince is, I had to look at Google to find out!

Posting her pictures must be the equivalent to yelling fire in a crowded movie?

yes you could say that.

MLK -- I agree. The laid back Valley that we knew would sound great now. Used to love going to watch the Bears and Redskins slug it out on the football field. Those games were always good.

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The citrus used to be so plentiful, that you could start smelling the orange blossoms when you got to the Hidalgo County line.

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That reminds me of driving home from College Station in the winter. I would open up my windows about 50 miles North of home enjoy the smell. Green vegetation. It was a great feeling.

Things have changed a ton down here even since I arrived in '78.

Never fear, my Aggie friends. Contrary to what Matsui will have you believe, there is still enough agriculture here in the valley to provide more than a few posters on this board a meager living.