WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:08.439 Patrip Cast listeners. Once again, we're taking a break for 2 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:10.599 the holidays and are going to play you a conversation 3 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.640 from the Texas Tribune Festival last month. This week's conversation 4 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.519 features three candidates for statewide office on the Republican side, 5 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.480 Nate Sheets, who's running for AG Commissioner, Joan Huffman, and 6 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:26.079 Aaron Wrights, who are both running for Attorney General. The 7 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.839 conversations will be moderated by Brad Johnson, formerly of the 8 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:33.439 Texan News outlet. We'll be back next week with a 9 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:35.640 new episode featuring me and Eleanor. 10 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:42.920 Happy New Year, Good afternoon, Austin. Great to be here 11 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:43.359 with y'all. 12 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.079 My name's Brad Johnson. I'm a senior reporter at the 13 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:50.880 Texan cover statewide politics. I see GUIDs of the Tribune 14 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:52.560 and all the other reporters in here quite a bit, 15 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.880 especially with the legislatures and session. We got rapid fire 16 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.640 interview setup today. We've got three republic Cans back to 17 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:05.040 back to back, one for Agriculture Commission, two for the 18 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.680 Attorney General's office. First up, we've got Nate Sheets, Republican 19 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:10.480 running for ag commission. 20 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:11.760 Nate Welcome, Thanks Brad. 21 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:13.000 Great to be here with you. Thank you. 22 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:15.879 So you know you're new with this. You're a first 23 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:18.519 time candidate. You never run for anything before. Actually, let 24 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.280 me sit first. Say everyone, make sure you silence your 25 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:23.760 phones please. You never run for office. 26 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:24.480 Before, that's correct. 27 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:28.640 You have had a pretty interesting background, to say the least. 28 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:33.799 Once you run us through where you've been and you 29 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:34.719 know how you made your keep. 30 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.840 Yeah, thank you. So it's fun to be back here 31 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:39.799 in Austin. I grew up down in Hayes County with 32 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:42.159 Southwest Texas. I was never smart enough. They wouldn't let 33 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:47.120 me into ut and so I here we go, and 34 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.200 so moved up to Dallas, where I met my lovely wife, Patty, 35 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:51.760 where she's in here somewhere. 36 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:52.920 Patty's back there. 37 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:55.040 And right after Patty and I got married, she told 38 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.560 us that we need a hobby together, and she was 39 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.120 thinking jogging, working out. But I bought a bee high 40 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:01.560 back in nineteen ninety six as a hobby and put 41 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.319 it at my parents' backyard because we lived in a apartment. 42 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.319 And that resulted in turning into what today is the 43 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.719 largest honey company in America called Nature Nates. But I 44 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.759 also went on a mission trip that year and at 45 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:15.080 the same time, wound up spending twelve years in full 46 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:18.080 time Christian ministry, travel into eighty eight countries around the 47 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:18.759 world telling. 48 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:19.439 People about Jesus. 49 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:22.360 And so I left there in twenty ten and started 50 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:24.960 doing the honey company full time. And at the time, 51 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.800 and honey, you know, people really didn't trust honey companies. 52 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:30.479 There was a lot of confusion and fraud, and so 53 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:32.919 I felt like we needed to be the most trusted 54 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.360 honey company in the world, and the only way to 55 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:36.080 have trust. 56 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:36.800 Is through transparency. 57 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:38.840 So I started testing all the honey that we bought 58 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:42.560 twice for pest sides, rbside, fun sides, corn syrup, rice syrup, antibiotics, 59 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:46.319 and so at first that really kind of annoyed the beekeepers, 60 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.439 but over time they realized Nathan's going to pay more 61 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.680 than anybody else, and he's going to pay early, and 62 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.120 he's not going to take any deductions. And so the 63 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:57.159 benefit of doing that is over time, I started to 64 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:00.639 motivate the beekeepers and how they produced honey, and all 65 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.400 of a sudden, I started getting a lot more clean 66 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:06.199 honey over the years, and so so we just did 67 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:08.039 that and within just a few years we became the 68 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:10.199 number one brand that honey in America, but we also 69 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.159 created the raw and unfiltered sector of honey. Before that, 70 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.319 no one had done that. And at the time honey 71 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:17.280 was like at three hundred million. Today it's at one 72 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:20.199 point five billion, and it all came from that raw 73 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:21.280 and unfiltered sector. 74 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:24.240 So, you know, I come at this. 75 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.319 Race is you know, thirty years of food experience, but 76 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:29.879 we also have the calcaf and we do cutting horses 77 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.840 and things like that, but really knowing how agriculture works, 78 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:36.680 knowing how to scale a small company and help small 79 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:42.400 producers become large producers and penetrate markets and have more revenue. 80 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.240 So when we think the agriculture industry in Texas, which 81 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.919 is obviously a massive one, but typically we think crops, 82 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:53.879 we think livestock. What's the share of the egg industry 83 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:56.280 that is encompassed by the honey industry, Like, is that 84 00:03:56.759 --> 00:03:58.439 is that a huge section. 85 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.840 Or no, No, I mean the whole the industry is 86 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:05.520 probably you know, if you included the ingredient side, you 87 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.120 included the industrial and the. 88 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:09.240 Food service side, it's probably two billion. 89 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:11.759 You know, the egg industry is one hundred and fifty 90 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.719 eight billion, so a little bit a little bit broader 91 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:15.680 when you start. 92 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.800 Adding in corn and cattle and wheat. 93 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.519 What are the biggest challenges facing the agriculture industry today? 94 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:27.800 Yeah, let me ask you. Anybody in agriculture in here? Okay, oh, 95 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:32.399 we've got one very nice all right. Anybody eat food today? 96 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.360 Now here's the real question. Who believes that the food 97 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:37.040 that you eat is related to your health? 98 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:39.519 This matters. 99 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:42.480 So I think we are today at this day and 100 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:45.160 age in America where we have a president who understands 101 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:46.920 the relationship between. 102 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.319 Agriculture and our health. 103 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.199 Because we have issues like seventy percent of all Americans 104 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:55.480 having one chronic disease or more. We spend five trillion 105 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:58.480 dollars a year treating symptoms of diseases related to the 106 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.000 food that we eat. We have seventy eight percent of 107 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:03.199 kids eighteen to twenty five who can't even serve in 108 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:06.160 the military. And yet at the same time, we're losing 109 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:08.639 small agriculture. Last year, we lost one hundred and twenty 110 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:11.959 two thousand farms in America. That's seven percent. That's a 111 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.240 pretty alarming statistic. We actually lost eighty percent of the 112 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:19.000 bees and Texas this past year. Sixty five percent across 113 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:23.240 the United States. Last week in Texas we lost sixty 114 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.120 eight farms. So we did this week and the week before. 115 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:29.759 All the way back to twenty eighteen, we've lost seventeen 116 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.959 thousand small farms. So, you know, the issues that we 117 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:38.279 have in agriculture today is really the intersection of consolidation 118 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:42.319 and food and how do we start to deconsolidate big 119 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:46.639 agriculture and have smaller agriculture that really cares about the 120 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:47.519 food that they produce. 121 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.319 Where's the ag Department fit into this? What's its role 122 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:52.439 with the industry. 123 00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:55.240 Yeah, so in nineteen ninety four, when I got into 124 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:56.959 the honey business, I was a member of the Go 125 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.879 Texan program. And the Go Texan program is part of 126 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:03.079 text Apartment of Agriculture, and it's this little logo that 127 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:06.000 looks like a brand of the State of Texas, and 128 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.040 you know that is there as the TDA is to 129 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.240 try to help small producers, you know, grow. Having been 130 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:15.399 a member for many years, they don't do anything to 131 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:19.079 help you grow. I'm not belittling their efforts, but they 132 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.240 never helped me penetrate a store, They never helped me 133 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:22.199 do marketing. 134 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:23.920 They you know, there was nothing there. 135 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:26.199 And so I think that the role of the text 136 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:29.040 Department of Agriculture is to help farmers and ranchers not 137 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.920 just thrive or survive, but thrive, and so being able 138 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:37.000 to go and utilize tools like the Texas Department of 139 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:41.399 the Go Texas program and know how to really use 140 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.800 that as a way to help farmers and ranchers grow 141 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.959 that product by penetrating retail, by creating a more robust 142 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.839 direct to consumer platform, so you're selling it full retail. 143 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.560 Because the issue that farmers have today in nineteen eighty 144 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.759 they made forty cents of every one dollar food forty cents. 145 00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:01.600 Today they make fifteen cents. Now, any of y'all, but 146 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:03.319 I don't want to really have a job where I 147 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.480 make sixty percent less forty five years into my career. 148 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.639 Farmers the ranching side, they used to make seventy cents. 149 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:12.920 Now they make thirty. You know who does make seventy cents? 150 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:18.680 The four packers, Tyson, Cargill, JBS, National Beef. 151 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:23.160 It's been reversed. And so we have these types of 152 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:24.519 issues where the TDA. 153 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:26.519 Really needs to be more thoughtful about how do we 154 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:29.319 help people stay in business, how do we level the 155 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:33.000 playing field? And so, for instance, in in nineteen seventy 156 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.040 we had about eight hundred meat packing plants across the state. 157 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:40.839 They could make seventy cents of every dollar because packing 158 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.240 was a commodity. We need to get back to that 159 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:46.199 so people that are small producers have the ability to 160 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.240 go process their beef and to be able to sell 161 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:53.160 it to consumers direct. Actually just got a text message 162 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.360 just a little while ago New Hampshire. New Hampshire just 163 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:03.000 passed a law that there don't require ranchers to have 164 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.399 USDA approved certification on their box beef. They can just 165 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.000 sell it anywhere in the state and they don't have 166 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.040 to sell it by the quarter or by the half. 167 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.720 And so New Hampshire's one up to us here in 168 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:17.399 Texas to help ranchers be able to be in business 169 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.720 more easily. And that's what the TDA needs to do. 170 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:22.800 We need to help people be in business better. 171 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:27.800 When I think of two more external problems that the 172 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.800 agriculture industry is facing in Texas, I think of water 173 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.480 that's a problem the entire state has to deal with 174 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:36.039 and is coping with right now, and then the screw worm. 175 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.320 Where do you see those two issues on the list 176 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:45.039 of top priorities for the states in the agg Department specifically. 177 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:47.679 Yeah, it's hard to grow crops or animals if you 178 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:50.840 don't have water. So it's pretty important. And having been 179 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:54.320 out on the campaign trail, it doesn't matter where I go, North, southeast, 180 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:59.559 or west, people are upset about water, either someone coming 181 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.279 in taking it from them, like in East Texas or 182 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:07.080 up in North Texas where there is imminent domaining four 183 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:11.639 hundred thousand acres of fifth, sixth, seventh generation of farmland 184 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.120 of people, so they can make an aquifer or a reservoir, 185 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:17.840 you know, to be able to provide water to the 186 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.679 city of Dallas. And so I've got a ranch out 187 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.440 in West Texas. Water out in West Texas is pretty 188 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:29.519 sparse right now. So it's a massive issue. No one's 189 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.720 got a silver bullet, candidly, but it's going to take 190 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.360 a lot of really smart people. And I think at 191 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:37.559 the end of the day, we're going to have to 192 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:40.600 do some things as consumers that maybe none of us 193 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.840 want to do. No one wants a restrictive waterhead. That's California, 194 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:45.960 not Texas. But if we all do something, I mean 195 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:48.440 there's going to be some issues. The new World screwworm. 196 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:53.519 You know, obviously everybody know what that is. Yeah, yeah, 197 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:56.639 So the New World screwworm is a fly that lays 198 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.559 an egg, typically on an open wound on an animal, 199 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:04.039 the umbilical cord of a newborn calf, or an orifice 200 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:09.200 on an animal or a person, and the fly lays 201 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:13.240 it looks like a blowfly, that big, ugly kind of 202 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.559 green blowfly, but it lays an egg and within seven 203 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:21.679 hours that egg hatches and then that pupa burrows, screws 204 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.399 itself into the living host, and it eats living flesh, 205 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:28.840 not dead flesh. So we had an outbreak here in 206 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:33.960 nineteen seventy one, caused billions of dollars of damage, and 207 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:38.840 it's coming back. The way it was stopped in nineteen 208 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:42.639 seventy one was through they sterilized male flies. The female 209 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:45.240 mate one time and she doesn't know if she mates 210 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:49.200 with a sterile male or a fertile male, but they 211 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.759 would produce about five hundred male flies a week, drop 212 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:55.000 them into the infected areas, and eventually they just burned 213 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.600 them out. So we had down in Panama sit facility 214 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:02.919 the sterile insect, and so that was kind of our 215 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.759 line of defense. But during COVID, and then also with 216 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.360 the immigration issues and even cartels utilizing cattle trying to 217 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.120 use it as a way to ferry people up. We've 218 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:15.240 had that New World screw worm within the border of 219 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:18.799 seventy miles, so the USDA has the border shut down, 220 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:24.440 and so the cattle, the feeding industry of cattle really 221 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.039 relies upon inputs from Mexico, Mexican cattle to be able 222 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:32.440 to go into the processing facilities to be able to 223 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.639 provide beef to McDonald's and Burger King and everyone else. 224 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.960 So that's just another issue on top of historically low 225 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:43.919 cattle population numbers lowest in seventy years, and one of 226 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.519 the highest prices that you've had, and all the input 227 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:47.519 costs continue to go through the. 228 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:49.879 Roof low in large part because of the droughts we've 229 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:51.440 seen in recent years. 230 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.840 Right, Yeah, the cattle population, yeah, and the input costs. 231 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:58.360 I mean, I've got we have this conversation internally inside 232 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:00.480 of our team. So if you have a how that 233 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.000 you want to hold off until the spring and have 234 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.679 her have a calf, you have all that cost of 235 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:08.480 feed and everything else between now and that spring, and 236 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:12.720 so it becomes a utilization, you know, time value of money. 237 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.600 So do you send that cow off to get processed 238 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.480 and buy her back, you know, pregnant or by a 239 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.519 by one back pregnant in the spring. 240 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:23.120 And that's what a lot of people are doing. 241 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:25.559 And so we really have to help figure out and 242 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:29.320 incentivize producers to hold back heifers and calves so we 243 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:31.679 can birth them and grow that population. 244 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:37.360 So back on the screwhere, we've seen some butting of 245 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:40.480 heads between the federal government and the states on the 246 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:44.600 issue of how exactly do we fix this. You mentioned 247 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:49.360 the sterile flies, there's also fly traps. What do you 248 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:53.679 make of at least somewhat of a disagreement between the 249 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.039 state and federal government on how to address this. 250 00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:58.120 I don't know if it was so much of a 251 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:00.559 disagreement as it was that we had a leader of 252 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:04.720 the Texas Department of Agriculture that was viewed as wasting 253 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:09.720 time and resources and coming up with a plan that 254 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:11.720 was more about him using it as a way to 255 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:15.039 promote himself and coming up with three hundred and fifty 256 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.080 traps and having a I think it's called swarm bait 257 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.960 that wasn't even an FDA or EPA approves lure, and 258 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.799 out of those three hundred and fifty traps they deployed, 259 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:29.759 they got one fly, not even screwworm. And the USDA 260 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.519 has nine thousand traps scattered along the border, and they 261 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:39.320 have USDA employees. And so Brooke Rawlins candidly got tired 262 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:42.039 of seeing how my opponent was dealing with it, and 263 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:46.720 so she did a public SmackDown on him by just saying, 264 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.519 stop wasting time of money and get out of the way. 265 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:53.039 So the adults can handle this. And so that's so 266 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:56.039 they're working hard on it. And even this morning, I 267 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.879 was meeting with the local association and they gave me 268 00:13:59.039 --> 00:13:59.320 the car. 269 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.080 And I had talked with these people previously. 270 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.679 But there's a company called three M and they can 271 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:08.639 produce a mobile sterile fly facility for ten million dollars 272 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.960 that can do like two hundred and fifty thousand flies 273 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:14.080 a week. So you know, I've done that quick calculation. 274 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:15.919 For about one hundred million bucks, we can get enough 275 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.279 facilities to you know, to be able to have our 276 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:20.600 five hundred million flies. So I'm going to go reach 277 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:22.399 out to their CEO and talk with them, and I 278 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:24.919 provide it to Dan Hunter, who is the farm service 279 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.000 agent for USDA here in Texas. 280 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:30.159 Have you talked to Secretary Rollins about your candiacy? I 281 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:33.960 have she backing you or she staying out of it? 282 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:35.159 Is this just between me and. 283 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:38.600 You'd be a pretty big endorsement if you can get it. 284 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.200 Well, you know what, Honestly, I think her position is 285 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.559 it's not her place to endorse. She's on Donald Trump's cabinet. 286 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:46.639 But she did tell me that she's working in the 287 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.679 background and she's she's glad that were in the campaign. 288 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.240 Let's let's get to the campaign side of this. You know, 289 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.759 you famously were one of Sid Miller's biggest donors before 290 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:59.559 you decided to run against him. I remember hearing the 291 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.879 story of out the conversation you had when he was 292 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.919 in his mind hopefully vuying for the USDA spot and 293 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.639 he was being considered for that and didn't get it. Ultimately, 294 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.559 there was a conversation between you two and you talked 295 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.960 about this. You talked about your desire to run, and 296 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:24.960 according to you, he says, do it right. I asked 297 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.039 him about that the other day and he said, well, 298 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:31.720 Nate conveniently leaves out the second half of that, and that's. 299 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:33.679 If I didn't run. If I didn't run, what do 300 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.080 you mean respond to that? Please? 301 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:35.360 Yeah. 302 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:39.279 So you know, I try to live my life according 303 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.840 to the biblical principles. And there's this verse in the 304 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.799 Bible says give honor to honors due. And since I've 305 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.600 been one of his donors, and actually my buddy Rick Sandtrum, 306 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:49.240 we have been up in Washington, d C. And we're 307 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:52.279 having lunch and Rick said, because I was the CEO 308 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:54.399 of Nature Nates until November of last year and I 309 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.840 stepped away and I was just on the board and 310 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:58.399 so I was just talking to Rick. I said, Man, 311 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:00.000 I'm just trying to figure out where I can go 312 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.440 invest my life next and go make a difference, you know, 313 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:06.039 for God's kingdom and people. And so Rick said, why 314 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.080 don't you go be the act commissioner. I was like, 315 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:11.320 you met governor or senator. I mean, so it's so 316 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.440 we started talking about that, and he said, you know, 317 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:16.840 you've been in the agg industry. People are getting sick. 318 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:18.960 You understand that part. Go make a difference. So I 319 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.360 came back talk with Patty about that, and we looked 320 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:23.679 at the job description and candidly, I was quite surprised 321 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:25.840 what the responsibilities were. Because I've been a donor of 322 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:28.080 his for a long time, didn't realize he was in 323 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.000 charge of feeding five and a half million kids in 324 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:31.120 school lunch programs. 325 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:33.840 And so Patty said. 326 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:35.919 Man, I could really see that because she said a 327 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:38.000 lot of the things I was attempting to do at 328 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.000 Nature Nate's. I was trying to, you know, do a 329 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.720 lot of those things that the act Commissioner's responsibilities were. 330 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.440 So I called sit up, took him lunch in March 331 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.399 and asked him what his plans were. And he actually 332 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.240 said he was thinking about running for John Cornet and 333 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:52.559 see for Senate. And I said, I think that's a 334 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.159 great idea. And I said I would like to run, 335 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:57.279 you know, praying about running for agg Commissioner, and kind 336 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:58.879 of laid it out, and he said, I think you 337 00:16:58.879 --> 00:16:59.440 should run. 338 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:01.639 And I asked him if that was an endorsement and 339 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:02.080 he said no. 340 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:06.759 And so so you know, I didn't go to ask permission. 341 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:08.119 I just went to tell him what I was thinking 342 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.599 about doing. Again, that was in March, and so then 343 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.759 April I filed. May. We went out and had a 344 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.519 big launch party up at our farm up in McKinney, 345 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.160 and then after Ken Paxton announced that he was running 346 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.480 in June or July, Sid announced that he was. 347 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.119 Going to run again. 348 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.799 So this did not I didn't go down this road 349 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:29.160 as an anti SID rant, you know, candidly, but I 350 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.920 will tell you now that I've gotten into it, the unethicalness, 351 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.079 the corruption, the things that I've seen that go on 352 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:39.599 at TDA. I'm not anti SID, but the guy needs 353 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:41.400 to be fired. It's time to replace him. If it 354 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.599 were my company and he was running that company for me, 355 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:48.480 I would fire him and all his leadership team because 356 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:50.799 it's not the way that you would run a company, 357 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.960 and it's certainly not the way that you stewed taxpayers 358 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.640 dollars in the opportunity to make an impact in the 359 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.519 agriculture and all of Texas and ultimately America. 360 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.039 We made an accusation. Let's get in specifics. What is 361 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.160 it about the TDA that you think is corrupt or 362 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.039 going awry? 363 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:15.319 Yeah, it's you know, Sid calls me a rhino in 364 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:19.119 elitist rhino, and I would just say that there's even 365 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:21.839 ambiguity and how he talks. I mean, when he was 366 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:25.480 in the state legislature, he actually voted to give illegal 367 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:28.960 aliens in state tuition. You know, he was against Donald 368 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:31.400 Trump's border wall and said that the Mexican government needs 369 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:34.160 to have more input on the on the wall. When 370 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.559 he left the legislature, he became a lobbyist, you know, 371 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.240 in between that and running for text Department of Agriculture. 372 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:44.279 But the ethical issues beyond him using state resources. I 373 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:45.880 mean the one article about he went and got the 374 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:48.720 Jesus shot or something, you know, and the state took 375 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:53.079 away his budgets, as Texas Department of Agriculture actually told 376 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:54.640 me at lunch, he goes, you know, I only have 377 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:58.119 like a two thousand dollars travel budget as a state legislator, 378 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:02.319 as a state agency head, I thought, huh, that's weird. 379 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:04.039 You didn't tell me the rest of the reason why 380 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:06.079 they took it away, you know, because he had abused it. 381 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:09.359 But you know, his campaign manager and this is where 382 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:11.559 the whole thing, you know, when the whole HMP thing 383 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.400 came about. The TDA was responsible for writing the regulations 384 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.000 for the state. I think that they did kind of 385 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:21.759 leave this crack in the door that ultimately became the 386 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:25.920 divide between the governor and lieutenant governor. But his campaign manager, 387 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.880 guy named Todd Smith went around and told people they're 388 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.839 only going to be fifteen licenses in the state for 389 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:36.559 HMP growers, and that licensed one hundred dollars. But if 390 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.599 you give me twenty five thousand dollars, Todd said, I 391 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:40.400 will make sure that. 392 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:41.519 You're one of the fifteen. 393 00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:44.880 So after I guess he had about one hundred and 394 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.319 fifty one hundred and fifty thousand dollars sent to his 395 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:52.039 bank account. He was arrested and charged with commercial felony bribery. 396 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:56.480 And then in November of last year, he plgged guilty 397 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.200 to that because they had subpoena SID to come in 398 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:05.119 and testify again. But he negotiated since he plaged guilty, 399 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.960 negotiated a deferred sentence. But he wasn't allowed to be 400 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.480 a lobbyist anymore. I think four years he couldn't be 401 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.480