Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Jackie Smith, 806-746-6101, j-smith34@tamu.edu
LUBBOCK – What to grow and when to market it are the main ideas behind the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Profitability Workshop, set from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. March 19 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock.
The center is a half mile east of Interstate 27 on U.S. Highway 1294 north of the Lubbock Airport.
“We are teaching only one profitability workshop at the Lubbock center this year,” said Dr. Jackie Smith, AgriLife Extension economist at Lubbock. “This training will center around an Excel spreadsheet developed by my coworker, Jay Yates, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist at Lubbock and myself.
“The overall objective of the workshop is to provide the tools and the data along with the skills needed to evaluate the potential profitability of alternative crops for the 2013 crop year,” Smith said.
The spreadsheet was developed and is maintained as part of a project supported by the Texas Cotton State Support Committee, Smith said. It is comprised of one Excel file with 16 irrigated and seven dryland crop budget and summary sheets that draw information from the individual crop budgets.
“The profitability spreadsheet has been used by many producers on the South Plains as well as statewide and internationally and can be downloaded at http://SouthPlainsProfit.tamu.edu ,” Smith said.
He said he and Yates have also developed a mobile app now available that will also be demonstrated during the training. The app is similar, but contains less detailed cost data than the spreadsheet.
“The Crop Cost app can be found in the iPhone category in the Apple store, but is also compatible with the iPad,” Smith said.
Smith said workshop participants will learn to enter general price data into the program’s universal input price sheet, which will show the inputs used per acre as well as the potential yield.
“We as instructors, plan to provide participants with the necessary computer skills and the understanding of how the budgets are designed so they will leave equipped to use the tool to make better cropping decisions this year,” Smith said.
Smith and Yates have used the spreadsheet for several years at many crop conferences to compare the likely profitability of relevant crops. They said the spreadsheet is continually improved to make it more accurate and user-friendly and updated annually in January or monthly as needed.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop computers to the class.
Individual registration is $20 per person due on arrival. The fee covers lunch, refreshments and a spreadsheet file on a CD, a USB flash or “jump” drive or installed on their personal computer.
To reserve a place in the workshop, RSVP to Viki Bartlett at the AgriLife center in Lubbock by calling 806-746-6101.
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