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Texas Is Not Greece But... Crude Bust Leads To Olive Oil Boom
Texans know all too well that relying too heavily on the oil industry can lead to trouble, and so, as Bloomberg reports, as crude prices tumble, landowners across Texas are accelerating production of a different kind of oil -- olive oil. "I can't look, it's depressing," mourns one Eagle Ford rancher over oil's demise, but "I love the trees," he brightens up as about 70 farmers across the state - up from 24 in 2008 - are hoping to cash in on America’s growing appetite for olive oil.
Texas isn’t traditionally olive country, and two decades ago the state had virtually no olives to speak of. In the late 1990s a handful of farmers became intrigued by the prospect of growing olives in the state. As it turned out, the climate in parts of central and southern Texas was well suited to the Mediterranean specimen. And now, as Bloomberg reports, the Crude oil bust is fueling an Oilve oil boom...
Five years after one of the biggest oil booms in decades boosted royalty checks, a steep decline in oil prices has Texans seeking new ways to stay ahead. About 70 farmers across the state -- up from 24 in 2008 -- are hoping to cash in on America’s growing appetite for olive oil, a small part of the latest effort to diversify the economy of the second most-populous U.S. state.
In 2013 Texas farmers planted about 500,000 olive trees, up from 80,000 trees in 2008, according to figures from the Texas Olive Oil Council. The council expects around two million trees to be planted by the end of next year.
...
The U.S. is among the world’s largest consumers of olive oil, yet it produces just a fraction of its own consumption. About 97 percent of the olive oil used in the U.S. is imported from overseas...
Last year the U.S. imported $1.1 billion worth of olive oil, up from around $400 million in 2000, according to import figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
California remains the dominant producer of American olive oil, accounting for almost all of the nation’s domestic production. Last year the state produced approximately 3.5 million gallons, according to the association.
Texas, which produces less than 15,000 gallons a year, is a mere drizzle.
Texans know all too well that relying too heavily on the oil industry can lead to trouble. In the 1980s, the bottom fell out of the oil market, leading to a wave of bank failures and, eventually, a regional recession. Thomas Tunstall, research director at the Institute for Economic Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio, preaches economic diversification.
“I’m working with them to try to figure out how not to become the next ghost town,”
To be sure, olives aren’t a panacea.
“You have to be very careful about thinking olives are the salvation to counties that are dependent on the oil industry,”
Coffman isn’t daunted, and says he has nothing to lose, especially as oil prices continue their downward march. “Nobody knows what these Eagle Ford wells are going to do,” he said, noting that estimates put the life of his wells in the range of 15 to 50 years.
* * *
It appears the Texans are a little less exuberant about the oil price drop than the mainstream media proclaims people in America to be...
But shifting to Oilve Oil - which looks even more boom and bust prone - might not be a great idea either!
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Americans will not go down without a fight.
....or high cholesterol....
Butter too, but I don't much fancy dry toast. You?
Is it "Olive oil", or "I LOVE OIL"?
In the south it is: Y'all-ive oil
Less ignorance. High cholesterol is typically a result of too many carbs. Google de novo lipogenesis. Healthy fats and consumption of cholesterol have a neglibible impact on cholesterol levels, and usually improve lipid profiles when accompanied by a corresponding reduction in carbohydrates. Good luck getting this truth through the multi-billion dollar agri-business propaganda and its "healthy whole grains" lie that is killing millions.
" We're not Deadbeats !"
I'm all in favor of domestic food production; especially there's not such thing as a Genetically Modified Olive Tree.
Give Monsanto a few years
my roomate's half-sister makes $65 /hr on the computer . She has been without work for 7 months but last month her pay check was $14940 just working on the computer for a few hours. you could try this out... www.works3.com
Don't mess with Texas
Keep those olive trees away from Palestinians, otherwise the whole orchard is likely to get bulldozed. Mysterious, I know, but it happens in Israel/Palestine all the time and you never hear much about it on the news. Yes, it's weird, yet it happens quite frequently.
I think you meant Israelies.
It's the Israelies that have a habit of destroying olive trees of the Palestinians.
Israelis? No, no, the trees belong to Palestinians.
I wish the news would cover this then we'd know why those trees fall down.
Texans talks a big game but mainly they are full of shit. They gave us LBJ, two Bushes with Florida Jeb and George Pedro Bush in the wings. They do nothing about the border and it is the one state that coukd start sucession but they do shit.
All they care about is mindless football and who they are gonna screw in the next business deal. Texas can ytalk some shit when they do something to restore the Constitution.
Fuck off Freddie
As a texan I have to say he's right. Although Freddie, I hope you're staying out of Panera Breads as it were.
Neither will the feminists...
Been salable at a profit since before Christ; almost as good as a Silver Maple. (Joke).
Talking to some folks in Greece this summer, I found it out that the profit on olive oil is less than low grade cow shit. They made most of their money by exporting it to Italy where it is rebranded as Italian (as is Olive Oil from Spain). You also need a good amount of transient workers which, from what I understand is slim pickings down south thanks to Amnesty granted by the Sherif of Rock Ridge.
Good luck, Texas. This Oil massacre is going to be a real mess in 2015...
Since Texas has been through this before we have learned to spread things out across many industries. It'll hurt us but we have many other things now and unlike Wall St, we tend to invest in ourselves for the future.
Sheriff Bart working the civil service thang -
right on! Give the brutha 5!
There's no shortage of illegals in South Texas. If they would stop providing welfare to them, there would be a huge surplus of crop pickers.
As for Texas being totally dependent on oil, this isn't the 80's anymore. It'll be mainly Houston and the Eagle Ford Shale. North Texas is mostly NG. West Texas has regular oil wells, not shale. They cap them up when oil falls below $50. Some of those wells were capped for over 20 years until around 2005.
There's plenty of money in the stuff once you adulterate it:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/olive-oils-dark-side
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/897805...
Olive Oil: The other Yellow Gold. Bitchez.
What a concept: A renewable, liquid asset. You can sell it for cash, barter it, process it (add value before selling it), use it in cooking, making soap, or lighting candles.
Come to think of it, isn't the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (festival of lights) based on some ancient supply of olive oil burning in a Menorah for 8 days? Now that's Oilive Oil marketing for you!
Maybe oil plant an olive tree in the yard.
Total bunk. Most Muricans use Veg Oil, Canola. Are we really at the illusion of Olive Oil in Texas.
I use lard myself, it makes the best fries....
Depends on what you're cooking
if they label it as produced in texas it will make it easier to pick out as a consumer
Go premium... http://texashillcountryoliveco.com/
a boss gave me Texas based premium olive oil and vinegar gift basket. very nice and high quality products.
Nova
Thanks for the link KD-X
Gonna try some.
That place is exactly halfway between the graves of two of my ancestors who moved from NC to TX and were soldiers of the Republic of Texas in the Revolution and they both became Rangers as well. One is buried in Johnson City, the other in Driftwood.
A few years ago a delegation of Chinese businessmen went to Greece to discuss trade opportunities. The Chinese minister asked the Greek minsiter what Greece could export to China.
The Greek Minister replied, "oilive oil."
The Chinese minister seemed interested and asked how much Greece could export in a year. Upon hearing the reply, the Chinese Minsiter responded,
"And how about the other 51 weeks?"
Congratulations however to those that seek to re-invent themselves and olive oil may well be one of the finest foods an American can choose to consume.
A good olive tree is at least fifty years old and many are hundreds of years old, some are thousands. I think a lot of these trees are brought over from Italy and transplanted, at least the one guy I know who does this has paid large $ to bring in those old trees. You can't just grow an olive tree in a few years.
I would stick with the Italian stuff. Texas gaves us LBJ and the Bushes. They talk big but in 6 years they have done nothing about the border or usurper.
well, they won't go to waste if cared for properly... central TX has the perfect soil for olive groves, pretty darn good for wine growing too...
It's known as the Rachel Ray phenomonon.