Editing Dalhart, Texas (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:Dalhart, Texas (circa 1910-1930).jpg|thumb|Dalhart, c. 1910–1930]]
[[File:Dalhart Grain Elevator IMG_0568.JPG|thumb|Dalhart Consumers [[grain elevator]]]]
[[File:Mission Twins Theater in downtown Dalhart IMG 0564.JPG|thumb|The former Mission Twins Theater in downtown Dalhart is covered in stucco over the original brick to give it an adobe look.]]

Dalhart's economy is centered around [[agribusiness]], including farming, ranching, [[feedlot]] operations, large-scale pig farms, and more recently, a cheese processing plant. Dalhart is also home to a state [[prison]].

During the peak operating period of the [[XIT Ranch]], the land was in [[prairie|native grass]]. Some land was diverted into [[Dryland farming|dry farmland]], but the rain was insufficient to make it productive. A few irrigation wells were drilled in areas where the soil was not sandy and was level enough for [[irrigation|row irrigation]]. Later, [[center pivot irrigation]], credited to Colorado farmer Frank Zybach in 1949,<ref>{{cite news |title= NASA's Landsat Satellites See Texas Crop Circles — Of the Irrigation Kind |author= NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center |url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120428000222.htm|newspaper= ScienceDaily |format=news story|date= April 28, 2012 |access-date= April 28, 2012 |quote = Retrieved from ''ScienceDaily'' (Apr. 28, 2012) — A water-rich polka dot pattern ....}}</ref> was introduced and was found to be ideal for the area's rolling sandy soils. About the same time, large feedlots were built due to the low-humidity climate. This created a good market for [[Maize|corn]], which is the major crop grown by farmers in the area.{{citation needed |reason=No Sources Support this Information |date=August 2013}}

In the mid-2000s, a combination of tax incentives, Texas' relatively unrestricted environmental regulations, and Dalhart's existing agricultural infrastructure attracted industrial dairy farms to the area.<ref name="hpj">{{cite news|url=http://www.hpj.com/archives/2008/jan08/jan7/Dairybusinessisboomingacros.cfm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130812092934/http://www.hpj.com/archives/2008/jan08/jan7/Dairybusinessisboomingacros.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 August 2013 |title=Dairy Business is Booming Across Texas Panhandle |newspaper=High Plains Midwest Ag Journal |date=3 January 2008 }}</ref>  In 2007, [[Hilmar Cheese Company]] of California capitalized on the resulting milk availability, opening a major production plant in Dalhart.  Texas Governor [[Rick Perry]] visited Dalhart to speak at the company's official welcoming ceremony, reiterating the company's projection that 2000 new jobs would be created in the region by the emerging dairy product production industry.<ref name="RickPerry">{{cite web|url=http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/10039/ |publisher=Office of the Governor |title=Hilmar Cheese Company Speech Dalhart, TX |work=Office of the Governor |first=Rick |last=Perry |date=30 November 2005 |access-date=19 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615062731/http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/10039/ |archive-date=15 June 2013 }}</ref>  This factory and the surrounding dairies are a significant emerging subsector of Dalhart's established agribusiness culture.<ref name="hpj"/><ref name="news10">{{cite web |url=http://www.newschannel10.com/story/6829490/dalhart-hilmar-cheese |title=Dalhart Hilmar Cheesework|work=  Amarillo News Channel 10 KFDA|year=  2007|access-date=19 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="globe3">{{cite news |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/070310/new_news4.shtml |title=Hilmar Eyes Expansion|newspaper=  Amarillo Globe News|date=  3 July 2010|first=  Kevin|last= Welch|access-date= 19 August 2013}}</ref>

The international agribusiness company [[Cargill]] owns a 21,500-acre hog-production site near Dalhart.<ref name="cargill">{{cite web|url= http://www.cargill.com/news/releases/2011/NA3043482.jsp  |publisher=Cargill Company|title=  Cargill Buys texas Hog Production Facility|date=27 April 2011|access-date= 19 August 2013}}</ref>