Latest / Conservation Stories / From Ireland to the High Plains: Dr. Bridget Scanlon on Water, Innovation, and Agricultural Futures

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From Ireland to the High Plains: Dr. Bridget Scanlon on Water, Innovation, and Agricultural Futures · Conservation Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Foreign.
• 0:05
  Speaker B: Welcome back to another episode of Conservation Stories. This is your host, Hilary Timmons Sims. And once again, we're on video. This is kind of new for us, which is kind of exciting. And I am super excited about our guest today, which is Bridget Scanlon. Bridget is not from Texas. I can tell. Her accent gives her away. Bridget, can you give us a little bit about where you're from?
• 0:31
  Speaker A: Sure. I'm originally from southwest Ireland, but I have been in the US Much longer than I lived in Ireland. I lived in Ireland for the first 20 years, and then I moved to the US to go to graduate school. So I've been here since.
• 0:47
  Speaker B: I guess it's like a Texas accent. It just sticks. It does not go away. Well, it's fun to listen to you talk. You came to Lubbock to the Texas Tech water meeting that we had in the fall of last year, and that was my first opportunity to hear you speak. And you mentioned there that you had a podcast, which was very exciting to me because I'm a junkie. Podcast junkie. So I've been listening to that podcast now, and we were talking while ago. I was like this. My podcast is like the shallow end of pretty much everything, and yours is the deep end of all the water and the science. And so sometimes I have to really think while I'm listening to your podcast because it's very. It's very informative. But I am not a scientist, but I am really grateful that you're here today.
• 1:41
  Speaker A: Well, thank you very much. I really appreciate the invitation, and I very much enjoyed the conference in Lubbock. It was fabulous. It was great to meet all the different people working different aspects of water and. Fascinating.
• 1:57
  Speaker B: Yes. And I saw you then more recently at the Global Water for Food conference in Nebraska, my first trip to that conference. Really good conference.
• 2:10
  Speaker A: Yes, excellent. And I went there early on in 2012, and. And so it was great to go back again and see how much work they've been doing. And. And I communicate with many of the people there. So it's. It's. It's wonderful.
• 2:24
  Speaker B: Yeah, that people were. It was so welcoming, a great environment, easy access to the conference. It was just a. I mean, the whole. That whole event was really good, and the people that were attending and the speakers were really good. I was so surprised to see. I mean, I know it said global, but I was surprised to see that many international folks there, and there were a lot. And it. And they come every. Every time they host it.
• 2:50
  Speaker A: Yes, yes. They have a great coverage, and they work a Lot in Africa and India and other places, working on water for food and irrigation and all aspects, social, economic, technical. It's wonderful.
• 3:06
  Speaker B: Yeah. I think that's what I enjoyed the most, was that holistic approach to that conference where they were talking about all of these different things, and they're not as siloed. It seems like they're working hard to put a lot of these folks together and not.
• 3:23
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I think also they had the producers there, you know.
• 3:28
  Speaker B: Oh, yes.
• 3:28
  Speaker A: And it was fascinating to learn from them and the challenges that they have. You know, water quantity, water quality, all different aspects. You know, I truly enjoyed hearing from the producers. That was fascinating.
• 3:44
  Speaker B: I love it when people remember the farmers and it's happening more and more. You know, it just. I. That's one of the goals that we have, Lacy and I have for Sarah, is to make sure that we are out there at these events where farmers either, you know, they're not. They're not going to go. They. They don't want to go, or they don't have time to go, or it's expensive. They, you know, aren't going to spend the funds to go, but they need to be there, need to be represented by somebody who knows, you know, what it's like. And I think that has really been the key to the partnerships that we've built over the last 18 months is showing up. And Lacey is real salty, so she'll get up and she's not afraid to contradict someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. And recently we were at a conference where there was a company that was talking about how they'd given money to all these farmers for this, you know, stuff, climate smart stuff. And she was like, I didn't take any of that, and here's why. It wasn't worth it, you know, And. And by the way, that was the government's money. Government gave you that money to give to us, you know, and so, you know, in that. That people know that there's that kind of stuff going on, but they don't know who to connect with or how to connect to the farmer or there's somebody that wants to connect them for a fee.
• 5:06
  Speaker A: Right? Yeah. Well, I. I grew up in a farm in Ireland, so.
• 5:11
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 5:13
  Speaker A: And my dad had a farm, but unfortunately he had six girls. And so we did. We sold the farm a couple of years ago. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I do have one sister in veterinary, but that was the closest. But she didn't take it on.
• 5:29
  Speaker B: Interesting. Interesting. Well, I. It did. It did it sell for farmland or. Or is there. It did, okay.
• 5:36
  Speaker A: Yes. And the next door neighbor bought part of it, and so he could expand his farm. So that was very nice. And I know my dad would have been real pleased that he purchased part of it. So that was great.
• 5:50
  Speaker B: That's great. That's great. Well, tell us. Ireland. It rains all the time. I find it interesting that you are here working in almost. I know you're in Austin. It rains in Austin sometimes. It doesn't rain here very often. So I. I'm just curious how that transition happened, what that was also like for you to go from basically the Garden of Eden to the desert.
• 6:21
  Speaker A: Well, I mean, as I mentioned, I came over here to go to graduate school, and I hugely benefited from all of the opportunities that I have received in the US So I'm extremely grateful. So when I came here initially for my master's program, I went to University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and master's there. Then I did a PhD at the University of Kentucky because Kentucky has a lot of karst and Ireland has a lot of karst. And I thought I would go back to Ireland, but I met my husband in Kentucky, and so I stayed in the US Then. What is karst or karst is limestone, like Edward's aquifer limestone, with caves and all of that sort.
• 7:08
  Speaker B: Okay, okay. All right. I've never heard it called that. Okay, all right. Okay. So you met your husband.
• 7:16
  Speaker A: Yes. And then we lived in D.C. for a year, and then we moved to. Then I got a position here at the University of Texas at the Bureau of Economic Geology, and I've been working here since.
• 7:26
  Speaker B: Wow. So tell us a little bit about that. I'm not familiar with what happens a lot in Austin at University of Texas, and so I'd love to hear what the goals are there.
• 7:40
  Speaker A: Right, right. So I work at the Bureau of Economic Geology, and that's part of the Jackson School of Geosciences. And the Jackson School was formed in the early 2000s, and it was a gift from Mr. Jackson of about 350 million DOL. So it includes the department and the Bureau and the Institute of Geophysics. So three units. So the Bureau is the most applied research group, about 200 researchers. And we do a lot of work on different things. We do a lot of work on energy, oil and gas production, and now geothermal and hydrogen, and many different aspects of energy transition. And also hazards, coastal hazards, coastal erosion, carbon capture and storage, and our environmental group. We look at water resources, we look at droughts. And flood impacts, water quantity, water quality, all sorts of different things.
• 8:44
  Speaker B: Wow. Okay, so we, you mentioned a while ago that you've done some work with produced water and that's a, that's something, that's a topic that we spend a lot of time on and have made a lot of connections there. Not to make a prediction here, but you know, where we are right now. I don't know if you, you know that New Mexico came out a few weeks ago and said, we don't know what's in the water, it can't be made safe, it's bad. And when, if you go to the University of New Mexico's website, there's a list of all the constituents, all the things that are in the water. Texas Tech is testing for unknown unknowns. We do know what's in the water. And then we of course have seen, you know, I've seen the people that it can get cleaned up. You know, we used to have some issues with the waste disposal and things like that. What are your, what are your predictions? What are your thoughts of where we are, where we're going? Are we getting close to where, hey, we can figure out how to use this on cotton, right?
• 9:47
  Speaker A: So I have worked on produce water for many years and we had support from Exxon Mobil and other companies to look at the water issues, but we were mostly focused, focused on the water quantity aspects and how much water was being produced. So, you know, an average of three or four barrels of water per barrel of oil. And then because these are unconventional shale plays, we can put that water back in like we used to do with conventional reservoirs. And so managing that. And when we looked at that, we said, well, the low hanging fruit is to reuse it for hydraulic fracturing. And I think they're doing a lot of recycling. But when we were working on it, it was difficult to get the numbers to figure out how much of that water was being recycled. At the bureau we have the center for Injection and Seismicity Research. So we work with the Railroad commission and with industry to try to help understand the seismicity issues and over pressuring in the subsurface and helping them try to figure out how to manage the water. Katie Smy and JP Nicole lead that effort and so they work with a lot of companies on those aspects. And so I think, you know, maximizing reuse for hydraulic fracturing is the probably the most important thing to do initially. And then I was very impressed when I went to that conference last fall at Texas Tech and how they have advanced with the treatment Knowledge and all the pilot tests and everything. So Texas Tech University leads that and Shane Walker, Texas Produce Water Consortium. So I used to attend the Permian Basin Water and Energy Conference every year. And so they have come a long way and it's very impressive. And so I think they're on the right track. And I think, you know, economics is a big aspect of it. And so the cost of disposal is increasing and permits for disposal are more challenging to obtain. And so as the cost of disposal increase and the treatment costs decrease, I think they will ultimately be able to bring those things together and, you know, a lot of ways to deal with the surface discharge of treated produced water and also land application. So they're doing a lot of testing of that, and we've been talking to some companies about using the treated produced water to recharge some of the depleted aquifers.
• 12:33
  Speaker B: Out here on the Texas Plains. Water is everything, and there's a resource that's as vital as it is fragile. Our Playa lakes. These lakes are nature's reservoir, catching rainwater to recharge our aquifer and provide lifelines for wildlife. But now they need our help. In collaboration with the Texas Pillai Lakes Conservation Initiative and the Cargill Global Water Challenge, Sarah has started the Our Legacy Is Tomorrow's Water initiative to inspire and work with landowners to restore and protect our Playa lakes. Each playa we save helps secure a sustainable water future for the generations that will be coming after us. Whether it's improving soil health, restoring habitats, or recharging groundwater, we are committed to, to making a difference. Together, we can build a legacy that we can all be proud of. To learn how you can join in, visit the Playa Lakes Restoration Initiative page on the SARA website. Let's keep Texas water flowing strong for the future. Visit sara-conservation.com I'm curious, have you ever worked on getting those approvals? Like, I'm wondering what it's going to be like, the difficulty, and I don't know that anybody really can predict. Now we have a change in the epa, like going through that process of getting approval so that people can be confident that it's safe for this water to be put back into the. I mean, it's to be put back to be used to be cleaned, and not just what we have right now, which to kind of clarify, we're putting this water back down into these. The holes to say, you know, unscientifically in the. Down underneath the ground, it's being put back in there. That's the pressure that's building up. And I've heard that there are, like, places where the ground has risen six inches because there's so much pressure. And that's what's creating the earthquakes that we're hearing about in Midlands. And, you know, all these. All these different places in that Permian basin area.
• 14:47
  Speaker A: Right. So I think they've made huge advances in the treatment, and so they're really progressing very rapidly on that aspect. And again, Texas Tech has been doing a lot of that work. And I think what we were thinking about is that they could apply that water. I mean, the land application is one aspect, and Texas Tech is working on that. We're looking at applying that treated water in spreading basins to recharge the aquifer. So then that water would have time to equilibrate with the sediments and the soils and then eventually reach the aquifer and recharge the aquifer. So it wouldn't be injected directly into the aquifer, but. And then. So there could be, you know, contaminant removal or organics could degrade in the soils and in. En route to the aquifer. So if there was anything left in it, you know, then I think it should be safe.
• 15:50
  Speaker B: On that note, you've done work on recharge in our region, the Ogallala, and we have. We've wondered about, in that idea, can we put this in playas as storage and use that for some recharge? You're talking about years. I know, but what kind of. Where are you if not playas? How do we do that?
• 16:15
  Speaker A: We're looking at the Pecos Valley aquifer further to the southwest, and we are looking at suitable soil zones that would have high permeability and allow the water to move through. Not clayey soils, but high permeability soils. We did a lot of work on pliers way back, and we were doing that at the Pantex side near Amarillo and all that vicinity. Know, in the 60s or whatever, they thought playas were evaporation ponds. And then, you know, we realized that they were actually recharging. But the pliers can. The clays and the pliers can crack when they're dry and stuff like that. So that could be a fairly rapid pathway for. And even though you think there are a zillion pliers around, but they only occupy 1% of the land surface, so it may be better to put it in spreading basins. And for example, Arizona, the active management areas, they have a lot of these spreading basins where they recharge the groundwater with The Colorado river water and also in California, they have a lot of spreading basin. So it gives them an opportunity to equilibrate with the soils and the sediments before reaching the aquifer.
• 17:34
  Speaker B: Of course, where we are, we're in Lubbock and in our area and then the southern High Plains before you, you know, get into the Permian Basin is, you know, really drying up. And we'd love to find a way to utilize that water. I know from the, just the rough numbers that I've seen, it's about what's being produced right now. Would, would like cover about a quarter of what we use for irrigation. So, you know, it's not, it's not enough, but it's, it's something that we could use, you know, and I know that there's, you know, talk about what's the economics. And just by the way, we do have a, we have a page on our website that has that information that says, hey, this is what you need for cotton. This is kind of what the economics are and that kind of stuff for people to, to look at and refer to. Because that's kind of the number one question we have is how much money will farmers pay for it? And the answer is not much, because we want.
• 18:32
  Speaker A: We won't pay that. Not. We won't pay much for the cotton or for food.
• 18:36
  Speaker B: There's like, there's no way. You can't. If we have to add another, you know, input cost, we're already losing money. So it's, it's not, it's not possible. But like you said, the economics are changing quickly on the produced water. So I never heard anyone talk about it. When I was young, we just had water and we just had a lot of water and we just used a lot of water. We, you know, we're still, I can remember, you know, moving pipe. We row watered some. Not a whole lot where we were, but a lot of pipe. And then of course, we went to pivots during my childhood. And I can remember, you know, we'd fill up a big, you know, collection tank and we'd swim in that in the summer, you know, and now there's, you know, most of those tanks are completely, they're not even gone. I can't remember the last time I switched. I've seen one because they're just not enough water and it's inefficient, you know, way to, to use the water. But when did this recognition of the aquifer, like, I just saw it as a big lake and that's how was it explained to me? And so even as a young adult, that is what I pictured in my mind, you know, was that there's this big, huge hole, massive hole, and it's just a huge, like, lake or ocean almost of water. And. And now, of course, I know it's. It's not. It's not that simple. How did. How did this change come about? It sounds like to me you were there when the reality of what that was like and. And what was going on with Apply has happened.
• 20:16
  Speaker A: Right? Well, I guess, you know, it's gradual. You know, people realize that, you know, they have to drill deeper wells or their wells go dry, and so they can see the declining water levels. And, you know, this perception that we have oceans of water, I mean, way back when, in the early mid-1900s, oftentimes, you know, like the city of Dallas or whatever, they had water, artesian water, you know, flowing at the surface also in California regions. So, of course, you would have the perception that it's an endless supply, you know, and then gradually, you can see as you depressurize those confined aquas, the water levels have declined. You know, the reality sinks in that it's not limitless. So I think the last several decades, you know, people realizing. But I thought one of the good things about the conference last fall was the presentation by the producer who was doing horticulture on the 20 acres and then selling those goods to the nearby towns and stuff. You know, I think that is the real future for food production. You know, we're oftentimes concerned about food production, but a lot of the irrigation in the Southwest US Is used for alfalfa and things like that. So I think we gradually see a transition. And I was extremely impressed with his model.
• 21:43
  Speaker B: Yes, we. In fact, we just last month recorded an update with him. So he was actually, I think the second or third podcast that we did was with Leighton, and he's just expanding all the time. When we visited with him last month, he has planted strawberries, and he said, I don't think that you could plant too many strawberries. Like, they're great for here. They grow great here in our area, and people love them. And so, you know, not only has he been pioneering what he's doing and trying, he's also extremely generous, you know, and I so appreciate that because there's just. He's an open book on the economics on how to do it. Like, and I told him, I was like, I appreciate it. He said, listen, there is plenty of. To go around. Like, this is something that, you know, people need to be looking at.
• 22:41
  Speaker A: We were working recently with the Huffington foundation, and they have a similar type of farming situation in Colorado, you know, horticulture and intensive and, you know, so I think this is going to be a great way to provide food for local towns and all that sort of thing. So. And it's wonderful that Leighton is so generous with his knowledge and experience, expertise and know how and we need to spread that. And I would love to talk to him again because I was really interested in learning more.
• 23:14
  Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'll connect you because he'd be a great guest for your podcast.
• 23:18
  Speaker A: Yes, he would be.
• 23:22
  Speaker B: Today's episode is brought to you by Evan Stone with Clear Rock Farm and Ranch, part of the Clear Rock Realty Group in Lubbock, Texas. Evan understands west Texas land, agriculture, and what it takes to buy and sell farms and ranches in our unique region. If you're ready to make your next move, trust someone who knows the lay of the land. Visit Evan at clearrockrealty.com serving Lubbock and the surrounding communities, Clear Rock Farms and Ranch, your partner on the plains. Do you feel like when you look at the situation of our water where we are and you know, if you go the further south you go, right, there's. There's less and less playa. So I'm from Terry county, and if you look at Terry county supplyas and like Floyd County, Floyd county has like I think 1600 and I don't know how many are in Terry county, but nowhere near that amount. And so the further you go, the less there is of. And playas aren't a quick recharge, but they're faster than just nothing.
• 24:26
  Speaker A: The thing is, the pliers are found in the areas where the soils are more clay rich. And so as you go further south, then you get sandier and sandier soils. So the sandy soils recharge better than the clay. So the only place you have the recharge in the clay soils is in the playas.
• 24:44
  Speaker B: Okay. Okay. I hadn't thought about that. Okay. Because I've kind of been like feeling sorry for us over down here, you know, but actually, so I grew where I grew up, I know the people that are farming the, the land that I grew up on and there's no water there. I mean, I remember growing my dad growing corn. I remember, you know, 8 or 12 inch pipe with gushing water and. And now it's dry land, you know, and I don't know, you know, even what Leighton's doing, like the water Requirements, if there's even enough water for something like that, I don't even know.
• 25:21
  Speaker A: Well, I think, you know, it's. It was nice to see at the conference also that USDA had programs to help farmers transition from irrigation to dry land. And so.
• 25:37
  Speaker B: Yes. And, you know, there are those programs that are out there, and they're so rarely used, because they don't. I. What I wish we could get USDA to understand is even in Texas, if you create a rule for the entire state, it's gonna be great in one area or maybe two, but, you know, and the economics of what they're offering just doesn't. It doesn't. It's not enough incentive for someone to switch over, and you have to switch over before it gets so bad, you know, so it never. It's just not appealing. Like, I could grow this crop or I could get this little bit, you know, so it just. The economics don't work out. They just. They're just not there.
• 26:24
  Speaker A: I think that gets to the point, like, we sometimes say one size fits all, but it fits nobody.
• 26:30
  Speaker B: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Yeah. I'm hoping that there'll be more of that. I'd love to see, you know, as they're looking at, you know, shaking things up on the federal side, I'd love for them to, hey, let's just split this up and, like, bring it more down to the local level and, you know, have some good oversight for it, of course. But people at the local level know much. Oh, much more about what they need, you know, and I think there was a lot of intention for that. But. Well, so when you think about the future, when you look at. You came here in the 60s and you saw, if you were, you know, up here where we are, you saw this, the use of the like with. We have done this without thinking. And even then, when we became aware in the 90s, there's, you know, everybody knows this is going away. And Robert Mace was on several months ago, and he said he thought maybe we had two decades left of irrigation water. And do you have any suggestions of someone, I think that's an expert that knows, like, when it's gone, it's gone.
• 27:47
  Speaker A: Well, I mean, it's not just the technical aspects. And Robert and I are, you know, kind of more technical people, but I mean, there's so much social and economic aspects with it. And, you know, and that's why the USDA program was sort of appealing to me to help the farmers transition. And so, you know, the age of the farmers, whether their kids are in farming. You know, if there's an incentive for them to do it more sustainably and lengthen the lifespan of the farm. There's so many different factors involved. If the kids are not in farming, maybe this is their last shot. And then they just say, you know, use as much as they, you know, may not be considering the long term. So it's a very complicated issue. And it's happening everywhere. You know, Arizona, California, all of these different places. California has the Sustainable Groundwater Management act, and so they would be required to use groundwater more sustainably over. And they have 20 years to develop those plans. It's already like 10 years in. You know, that was passed in 2014. Now it's 20.
• 29:08
  Speaker B: Yes, I saw, I saw. I was in California a couple of years ago on an ag tour and a farm bureau there said that they anticipated the loss of a million farm makers due to that. That law. That's a. I don't know. I'm not sure that consumers are aware. You know, there's so much more we want to buy in America. If consumers aren't aware of what's happening, you know, how do we raising awareness? It's not just ag. We're aware of it all the time, but I just don't think consumers are aware of how this will impact, you know, you guys, are you. The name of your organization is like the economic. But it doesn't sound like that's what that means.
• 30:01
  Speaker A: The Bureau of Economic Geology has been around for more than 100 years. It's one of the oldest research units within the university. And so the name.
• 30:10
  Speaker B: Okay, right.
• 30:12
  Speaker A: Yeah. So I mean, we have some economists, but not that many. And. But we're always cognizant of economic impacts because it's a big driver on a lot of things, you know. And so you say you know, of consumers, but I mean, California, it's the economics for the producers also. So California moved a lot to almonds and nut trees and things like that with a big water demand and one that they could not shut off during a drought because it's not an annual crop, it's perennial. And so. But you know, the almonds that they develop supply a lot more regions than just.
• 30:52
  Speaker B: So tell us what your, what is your day to day look like? What are you. What are you working on now? Do you have a. Something you're studying currently?
• 31:03
  Speaker A: So we are a soft money organization, the Bureau of Economic Geology. So we get project funds from federal agencies or states or state agencies. And so Department of Energy EPA or Texas Water Development Board or Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a lot of different sources, and also from industries, Exxon and other companies, and then we have consortium with industry. So right now, today, I'm finishing up a report for the Department of Energy on critical minerals, because that's. I'm a hydrologist, but during COVID we were trying to get other sources of funding, and that was a good program. So we're looking at rare earth elements and other critical minerals in coal and coal ash and other feedstocks to produce rare earth for energy transition. So. And then I'm also doing some work on municipal water supplies for the Texas Water Development Board. How well can we predict. How well have they been doing with predicting population growth and municipal water demands over the past 20 years?
• 32:23
  Speaker B: Oh, that's very important to know.
• 32:26
  Speaker A: Right, Right.
• 32:27
  Speaker B: Yeah. That information can really help us understand how to move forward.
• 32:35
  Speaker A: Right.
• 32:35
  Speaker B: Do we keep doing things the way we have or do we need to change things up? That's really. That's really great to know.
• 32:41
  Speaker A: And, you know, we both do podcasts, and so I started the Water Resources podcast a few years ago, and I really enjoy doing them. I learned so much from them. And I spoke with Todd Vaughtler recently about the water markets in Texas, and I was very impressed, you know, in the Rio Grande and in San Antonio region, how much water markets were able to help with water management. I mean, he mentioned, I think, that the San Antonio region, San Antonio Water Systems, pays about $50 per acre for farmers who participate in the program. And then if it's a drought year, then it goes up to $250 an acre so that they wouldn't grow their crops, irrigate their crops during a drought year. So I thought, really?
• 33:32
  Speaker B: Wow, that's so interesting. Okay, yeah, that can really help. That's so fascinating. Yeah. Yeah. I think I must have missed this one, because I don't remember that at all. And I would definitely remember that released yet. Oh, okay. That's it. Okay. Well, I. This has been so interesting. I'd love to have you back on. And maybe we can even, like, more than this broad umbrella cover, something maybe a little more specific about some specific questions that, you know, that we hear or that we have as we, you know, travel around the state and, you know, even. Maybe even specific projects that we are looking at that, you know, how can trialing some of this produced water on. On some of these crops, you know, and I know that there's a little bit of that. A little bit of that happening right now. And there's a couple of places where it's happened on some pivots and some cotton down in the Midland, Odessa area. So I'd love to see it happen a little bit more here. That would be great. Or even, you know, a way to. To. To maybe use some of this water in these communities that are sitting dotted across the Permian Basin. How can we use it for municipalities, you know, even if it's not. Although I. I've seen where it can become, you know, meet safe drinking water standards, even if people are nervous about that, then it's used for, you know, watering lawns or, you know, things like that, you know. But I do believe that we can get this to a safe level.
• 35:10
  Speaker A: And I would love to see what they're doing with the horticulture, you know, those intensive. I would love to see that expand and provide food for local communities. I think that would be.
• 35:23
  Speaker B: And that would be. I was thinking the other day about Leighton, and I thought it'd be really great if you could take the best grocery store in the United States. H E B. They have been awarded and, well, deserving. They are so focused on. They're so good about buying Texas products. I wonder if we could even start getting those partnerships built on the, you know, as they're moving towards the west side of the state, you know, where we can be doing some more local.
• 35:58
  Speaker A: Right.
• 35:58
  Speaker B: You know, straight to market.
• 36:00
  Speaker A: Well, I'm very impressed with what you're doing with your program, Sarah. Conservation and working, you know, trying to help farmers and be a bridge.
• 36:12
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 36:13
  Speaker A: With all of the issues that are going on these days. And so. So it's wonderful that you're out there talking to all of the different people and then going to meetings and everything and parlaying the knowledge that you're gaining from those to the farmers.
• 36:30
  Speaker B: That's what I appreciate that, you know, farmers and just consumers, people that live in town, wanting them to understand, you know, that's our whole focus is we're just kind of gonna gather it and then pass it along and let people make the decisions and. And see that the opportunities are there. And I. I really appreciate your time. I know you're super busy, and I value. I value that, that you were willing to give us your time. Thank you for all the work you've done on behalf of a new home country.
• 37:05
  Speaker A: Thank you. It's lovely to speak with you. Thank you so much.
• 37:09
  Speaker B: Thank you, friends, for listening in to another episode of Conservation Stories. We are a podcast, of course, hosted by Sarah the Sandhills Area Research Association. Sarah Conservation is there, like we said to to bring you information and if we can be of help. If you like this podcast, share it with your friends and we will see you again soon.