By Rob Williams
Producers from the northwest Panhandle can hear the latest updates on agronomic and pest management issues at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Northwest Panhandle Crop Conferences on Jan. 17 at Stratford, Jan. 25 at Dumas and Feb. 6 at Dalhart.
Each day’s programming will be from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. with lunch included. The events will be at the following locations:
- Jan. 17: Sherman County Exhibit Barn, 501 S. Maple St., Stratford.
- Jan. 25: Moore County Community Building, 1600 S. Maddox Ave., Dumas.
- Feb. 6: Frank Phillips College, 2890 Farm-to-Market Road 281, Dalhart.
The programs are free; however, advanced registration is requested at the following AgriLife Extension offices: Moore, 806-935-2594, Dallam-Hartley, 806-244-4434; or Sherman, 806-366-2081.
Dennis Coker, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomy agent in Dallam, Sherman, Moore and Hartley counties; Marcel Fischbacher, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Moore County; and Laura Taylor, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Dallam and Hartley counties, coordinated the events.
On the agenda
All the programs and speakers will be the same at each location. The topics and speakers will be:
- Overview of second-year plant mapping progress and its contribution to a standard target development curve for the northwest Texas Panhandle – Craig Bednarz, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research crop physiologist and director of the Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems Institute and associate professor at West Texas A&M University, Canyon.
- Acreage optimization tools for crop water management – David Parker, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension water engineering specialist and associate professor at West Texas A&M, Canyon.
- Survey of soil carbon levels in cotton and corn cropping systems on different farms scattered across the northwest Texas Panhandle and comparison to soil carbon levels elsewhere in the High Plains – Joseph Burke, Ph.D., AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension cropping system agronomy and weed scientist and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Lubbock.
- Market outlook for cotton and grains cropping systems, coping with increasing input costs and protection measures for adverse weather – DeDe Jones, AgriLife Extension program specialist, Amarillo.
- What is going on with the use of biologicals in crops? – Cameron Murley, Ph.D., senior station superintendent, Oklahoma Panhandle Research and Extension Center, Goodwell, Oklahoma.
Source : tamu.edu