Olive oil thriving on land atop Eagle Ford formation

Houston Chronicle:

Jim Henry, a pioneer in the Texas olive industry, believes the midcoast area around Victoria could be the best place in Texas to grow olives and is planning a $5 million orchard there to prove it.

Henry currently produces extra virgin olive oil from the fruit of about 40,000 olive trees he's been raising at his Texas Olive Ranch in the Carrizo Springs area for eight years.

But with a group of investors, he's about to close on 383 acres northeast of Victoria where he plans to plant 300,000 olive trees. That will boost his company's productive capabilities and, he says, Texas' reputation as an olive-growing center.

"We've proven we can make great olive oil. The only thing we haven't proven is that we can do it on a large-scale commercial basis," said Henry, who has been producing Texas olives since the 1990s.

"I believe this orchard will grow Texas' credibility in the olive industry worldwide and certainly in the U.S."

Texas is considered the nation's second-leading olive oil producer behind California. The Texas Olive Oil Councilestimates the state has 50 "serious" olive growers - those cultivating at least 10 acres of land - and 920 acres of olives in production.

In two years, the numbers of growers is expected to double and about 2,000 acres should be under cultivation, said Karen Lee Henry, Jim Henry's wife and the managing director of the council. The council estimated Texas produced almost 16,900 gallons of olive oil in 2010.

The new orchard, also to be called the Texas Olive Ranch, would be the state's largest olive oil production facility, and it has generated skepticism in the small-but-growing Texas olive industry.

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Victoria may have even better more consistent weather than Carrizo Springs which sits atop the heart of the Eagle Ford oil boom.  Victoria is also benefiting from the boom as one of the larger cities in South Texas.   The Victoria operation is an example of how the olive oil business is growing in Texas.  It gives the area some diversity from just raising cattle too.