Texas and Oklahoma to bridge regional agricultural issues
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contacts: Stan Bevers, 940-552-9941, sbevers@ag.tamu.edu
ALTUS, Okla. – Challenges, obstacles and profitability potentials facing agriculture producers don’t recognize state boundaries, so Texas and Oklahoma officials along the Red River are erasing the state line when developing a new event aimed at helping address these issues.
Crop production information specific to Southwest Oklahoma and the Texas Rolling Plains will be covered in the first-ever Red River Crops Conference, set for Jan. 28-29 at the Southwest Technology Center, 711 W. Tamarack in Altus, Okla.
The goal of the conference is to provide agricultural producers with relevant management information applicable to this production area that will create and enhance the profitability of farm and ranch enterprises, said Stan Bevers, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural economist in Vernon, Texas.
Bevers said AgriLife Extension and Oklahoma Cooperative Extension have joined together to help address these special agricultural production circumstances in the upper Red River region of Oklahoma and Texas.
In the Red River region, obstacles can include water and land resources, and weather extremes such as hot and dry summers and bitterly cold winters, he said. Producers also find themselves managing pastures of both introduced and native grass for cattle operations, and crop mixes such as cotton, wheat, and grain and forage sorghum. More recently, producers have discovered that canola, guar and sesame can also be successfully cultivated within this environment.
Cotton will be featured on Jan. 28, with topics including market outlook, variety discussions, herbicide options, seed treatments and disease management, irrigation and new technology.
In-season and summer crops will be featured on Jan. 29. Discussion topics will include a market outlook, wheat breeding, pasture management, climate, and canola and other specialty crops. Also, a special presentation is scheduled by U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture.
The fee of $25 covers both days. To register, print the form from http://agrisk.tamu.edu/. Make checks payable to the Jackson County OSU Extension Office and mail to 2801 N. Main, Suite A, Altus, OK. 73521.
For more information, contact a local Extension office in either Texas or Oklahoma, or call 580-482-0823.
-30-