UVALDE — Dr. Robert Hogan is the new Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde.
Hogan, who began his new role at the center on Sept. 16, has a doctorate in agricultural economics with an emphasis in livestock marketing from Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Daniel Leskovar, resident director of the Uvalde center, said proper risk management and prediction of various economics scenarios, such as the possible mix of traditional and new crops based on available water for irrigation, are critically important for the region.
“The Winter Garden area is one of the most diverse and dynamic agricultural regions in the state when it comes to crops and water use,” Leskovar said. “We are simultaneously experiencing rapid changes in water dynamics, climate, insect and disease pressures, land fragmentation and use, cropping and water management systems.”
“Dr. Hogan’s broad knowledge in farming and ranching management will help provide tools to enhance profitability for producers and the overall regional economy,” he said. “I am looking forward to his contributions in these areas, as well as other areas of importance to producers and residents.”
Hogan has been a participating scientist and/or principal investigator for dozens of grants. Grant topics have included: effects and strategies for conservation-till and no-till cotton production in the Southeastern U.S.; profitable cotton fertilization rates; risk management for absentee landowners; profitable pest-control thresholds; analyzing corn and grain sorghum research verification programs; sustainable beef cattle production systems; optimal irrigation for production cotton; analysis of precision agriculture procedures; the economics of biofuel production from algae; and risk management education.
He also has had many published abstracts and proceedings on his research related to livestock species selection, stocking rates and risk management, fuel outlook, beef demand outlook, financial benchmarks for Texas cotton producers and beef demand.
Hogan was an associate professor and AgriLife Extension economist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Fort Stockton from 2007-2012, and for the past year has served both the Fort Stockton and Uvalde centers. Prior to coming to Texas, he was an assistant professor and Extension economist with the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
From 1999-2003, Hogan was a teaching and research assistant in the agricultural economics department of Oklahoma State University, where he gained teaching experience related to cattle market stimulation, farm and ranch management, and quantitative analysis.
Prior to returning to graduate school in 1999, Hogan lived in the Texas Panhandle where he had been a rancher since 1972.
“I’m hoping the applied research I do here at the Uvalde center will help producers yield better profits through lower costs and greater efficiencies,” Hogan said. “And of course, AgriLife Extension is all about extending research from the university to producers and other stakeholders at the production frontier. I want to help agricultural producers in this area find technologies and methods that can be applied to their operations to increase profitability, so they can continue to do the work they enjoy.”
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