By Steve Byrns
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct the Multi-County Wheat Tour beginning at 8:30 a.m. May 1 at the Taylor County variety plots located off State Highway 351 on County Road 52, also known as Mesquite Lane.
Robert Pritz, AgriLife Extension agent in Taylor County, said attendees at the first stop will hear reviews on this season’s planted varieties and an overview of the current small grain situation from Dr. Clark Neely, AgriLife Extension small grains and oilseed specialist at College Station.
Pritz said the tour, which is free and open to the public, will then move to the Callahan County test plots to view varieties there and hear Dr. David Drake, AgriLife Extension agronomist at San Angelo, discuss managing wheat for forage and grain.
“With the the great rains we’ve been having, this year’s variety plots should definitely reveal differences in disease resistance,” Pritz said. “It’s been a unique year with all of the moisture. I think wheat producers attending this tour will take home some valuable information on which varieties will perform at high levels of production and which ones don’t under our current growing conditions.”
The tour ends at Eula Lions Club where Bill Thompson, AgriLife Extension economist, San Angelo, and Dr. Mark Welch, AgriLife Extension economist, College Station, will present Economics of Wheat Forage and Market Situation, respectively. An industry-sponsored lunch and sponsor updates will follow.
Three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units – one general, one integrated pest management and one laws and regulations – will be offered.
Further information is available by calling any of the AgriLife Extension offices in the participating counties: Taylor, 325-672-6048; Callahan, 325-854-5835; Shackelford, 325-762-2232; and Jones, 325-823-2432.
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