By Steve Byrns
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county agents will be conducting a series of farm bill decision-aid meetings across the South Plains during the next two months, said a keynote speaker for the meetings.
Dr. Jackie Smith, AgriLife Extension economist at Lubbock, said the free public meetings are collaborative efforts among AgriLife Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and various commodity groups.
The meetings are scheduled for the following dates, times and locations:
Oct. 22, Morton, 9 a.m.-noon, AgriLife Extension office.
Oct. 22, Littlefield, 1-4 p.m., Lamb County AG Center.
Oct. 24, Lamesa, 9 a.m.-noon, Forest Park Community Center.
Oct. 27, Seminole, 9 a.m.-noon, Gaines County Civic Building.
Oct. 28, Tahoka, 9 a.m.-noon, Housing Authority Center.
Oct. 29, Floydada, 9 a.m.-noon, Lighthouse Electric. This meeting will include a basic overview of the farm bill.
Oct. 30, 9 a.m.-noon, Garza County, Graham Community Center.
Oct. 30, 1-4 p.m., Snyder, Scurry County Coliseum.
Nov. 6, 9 a.m.-noon, Plains, Yoakum County Courthouse.
Nov. 6, 2-5 p.m., Lubbock, Plains Cotton Cooperative, Inc.
Nov. 12, 9-noon, Plainview, Justice Center.
Smith said each program’s goal is to help producers through the new farm bill’s decision-making process.
“Sign-up for this farm bill requires producers to make several significant decisions that will affect them at least through 2018,”Smith said. “These trainings are meant to help them through the sign-up process and to teach them to use the online the decision-aid tool that’s available for them to use.This tool will help them with the decisions they’ll need to make related to base reallocation and yield data as well as the decisions concerning whether to select Price Loss Coverage or PLC or Agricultural Risk Coverage or ARC for covered commodities.”
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