Urban Sprawl Makes Farmers Dig Deep To Stay In Fort Worth

Arlington TX

17 March, 2022

5:18 AM

Description

By Seth Bodine, Fort Worth Report March 16, 2022 Rick and Travis Wilson have learned how to farm around concrete. A mile away from Interstate 35 West in Fort Worth, the father and son duo are growing wheat on a patch of land. A Cracker Barrel sits a mile away. It's crowded compared to the expanses of land in rural areas. But the Wilsons insist that Fort Worth has the most fertile soil to grow crops within a 100-mile radius. "When the old settlers came here, what were they looking for? The best land they could find," Rick Wilson said. "So they settled here right here in Fort Worth on the Trinity River." For about 35 years, Wilson has farmed on pockets of land around Fort Worth. But as property values explode and the city's population grows, open land where farmers like the Wilsons can grow crops like corn and wheat shrink, forcing them to leave the business or adapt and farm farther away. Rick Wilson recalls all sorts of places where he used to farm in Fort Worth over the years. One area is now a FedEx Freight Center. In another area, he farms on 200 acres that once was 1,200 acres. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.