Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc. (RGVSG) a farmer-owned cooperative in South Texas, entered into an agreement on August 14, 2025, to sell the remaining assets of the company to Santa Rosa Sugar, LLC (SRS), a collaboration between Bizos Cavallo, Vera International and Verax Commodities.
RGVSG and SRS are currently in the due diligence phase of the agreement. Should SRS opt to proceed after completing its due diligence, the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
RGVSG ceased operations in February 2024 after 51 years of continuously growing and processing sugar cane into raw sugar in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. At its height, RGVSG and its more than 100 grower members grew, harvested, and processed over 40,000 acres of sugarcane, producing up to 200,000 tons of raw sugar annually. RGVSG’s , harvesting operations and raw sugar processing mill employed over 500 full-time and seasonal workers who, along with the growers members, proudly contributed to the food security of the United States.
Agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley depends on adequate and reliable irrigation water deliveries. For over 30 years, farmers in South Texas have been battling with Mexico's failure to comply with the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty between the U.S. and Mexico that governs water sharing on the Colorado River and the Lower Rio Grande. The Treaty calls for Mexico to deliver to the U.S. 350,000 acre-feet per year, as an average over a five-year delivery cycle for a minimum of 1,750,000 acre feet per cycle. The current five-year cycle began on October 25, 2020 and will end on October 25, 2025.
Earlier this year, Administration officials prioritized enforcement of the 1944 Treaty. However, given the deficit and the fact that we are in the last year of the cycle, it has been challenging to bring Mexico into compliance. Mexico has only delivered 798,000 acre-feet, or 46% of the expected amount, with less than one month remaining in this cycle. The slight increase in water deliveries was only due to the administration pressing Mexico to do so.
Mexico's failure over time to deliver the water stems from its internal policies of ignoring treaty requirements to the detriment of U.S. water users. We have seen an expansion of Mexico's irrigated acreage, using water that should have been available for growing crops in the U.S. In the fall of 2022, a weather system provided Mexico with over 2,200,000 acre-feet of water into its interior reservoirs. Yet, Mexico released none of this water to fulfill its water delivery obligations. The closure of RGVSG in February 24 was a direct result of Mexico's failure to deliver reliable and adequate water supplies to the Lower Rio Grande as called for by the 1944 Treaty.
RGVSG fully supports SRS’s bold plans to revitalize sugar production and refining in the Rio Grande Valley. If their proposed plans come to fruition, it will create jobs in the area and serve as an economic boost to the local economy. As chairman of RGVSG, I am grateful for the Administration's efforts to bring Mexico into compliance with the 1944 Treaty and for the support provided by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and his department to return sugar production and refining to the Rio Grande Valley.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Tudor Uhlhorn, chairman of Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc.
