Cover photo by Benton England
Staff
Michelle Martin
Owner/Editor michelle@theagmag.org (956) 330-8870
James 1:6
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt.”
Al Benavides
Graphic Designer (956) 492-6407
In This Issue:
A Letter from the Editor Faith. It’s something all of us have. Whether we have faith in our kids that they will do the right thing or faith they will get their chores and homework done, to faith that you will get your to-do list done. We put faith into so many daily activities without even realizing it. Most of us certainly have faith in God and that He exists and that he answers prayers. I’ve always thought of my faith as pretty strong. There are and have been (and possibly will be) times in my life when I didn’t think I was going to make it, but it was my faith that pulled me through. I remember being 16 weeks pregnant and my mother passing, two days later I had emergency surgery to remove a cyst, amongst several other unforeseen circumstances. I know I made it through because of my faith that God had a plan. Most recently however, I was really forced to step back and take a serious look at my faith. Anyone who knows my son Knox knows he is a boy who gets sick ALL THE TIME. He is that kid who catches everything. I had his immune system tested. The doctor wanted to test him for some very serious diseases and told me I would have to wait several weeks to receive the results. I was left for days wondering. My mind filled with “what ifs.” It was as if uncertainty had consumed my whole thought process. I kept saying have faith have faith, but how strong was my faith? Luckily, all came back normal. I remember throughout my weeks of waiting I was shown signs from above that all would be ok. One day I saw a sign on the back of a car that said, “God protects,” and another day I saw a shadow of a cross. It was those subtle reminders that God was present and I need to “let go and let God.” I was trying to control a situation that was out of my control. After a couple days passed by I went to pick up my sons lab results. My heart was racing as I drove to the doctor with Knox’s lab results sitting on my lap in an envelope. Again, the negative thoughts filled my mind and I began planning for the worst. I should have been at peace knowing God’s plan is always perfect and He can see our pain and worry. Bad things are going to happen in life - everyone’s life; nobody is immune. This is where our faith is tested. This is when our faith comes into play. Every day we are constantly filled with uncertainty in different areas of our lives. Whatever it is that you may be going through, whether it be a job loss, a sick child, a failing crop, be still and remember that God is great and He is near. You may not be given an immediate answer, but as you are waiting know God is watching and protecting you, always. He sends you signs all the time, but it’s up to you to see them. A lot of times our faith is brought into perspective on our most trying days and is constantly being tested and exercised; how strong is yours?
Owner/Creator of AG MAG
Page 6 Texas is Still Cotton Country Page 9 The Algodon Club 2017 Royal Court Page 10 Market demand remains strong for sorghum as an export product and for domestic uses Page 15 What is a Master Gardener? Page 16 Featured Farmer Story
The Road Always Leads BACK TO THE FARM
Page 20 Page 22 Page 26 Page 28 Page 30 Page 32 Page 34 Page 39 Page 40 Page 48 Page 50 Page 52 Page 53 Page 56 Page 59 Page 60 Page 62 Page 66 Page 73 Page 76
Control efforts push back sugarcane aphid Sorghum markets might find new and old customers this year In Season Fertility Management Empowering Rural Area Kids to Succeed FFA & 4-H Calendar RGV Livestock Show 2017 Pictures Star Show 2017 Pictures Citrus grower education program slated for May 9 in Mission Cotton Day at the Capitol Road Trippin’ Aound Texas The Texas Citrus Industry - Then & Now Educating the Children Are you telling your story? Research team finds better way to grow citrus and wins prestigious state award RGV Brahman & F-1 Assoc. has a busy spring Crops & Vegetables South Texas city increases efforts to overcome food desert Spring Crop Growing Stride USDA Offers Renewal options for expiring conservation stewardship program contracts DRONES Coming to a farm near you
Volume 3, Issue 5. May/June 2017. No part of this publication can be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ag Mag reserves the right to edit, rewrite or refuse editorial materials and assumes no responsibility for accuracy, errors, omissions or consequence arising from it. All correspondence to the publication become the property of Ag Mag. Ag Mag is published bi-monthly ©2017. To advertise in Ag Mag, call (956) 330-8870 or email michelle@theagmag.org
Texas is Still Cotton Country
T
BY GAYLON MORGAN, PH.D., Professor and State Extension Cotton SpecialistTexas A&M AgriLife ExtensionService, College Station, TX
he farms around the Rio Grande Valley have changed considerably over the past couple of decades. Where cotton and grain sorghum was previously planted, more and more of the acreage has gone to corn or has been consumed by urban development. A similar transition has occurred in much of Cotton Belt (North Carolina to Texas), due to changes in commodity prices, access to irrigation, and risk aversion. The row crop farms in the Mississippi Delta region was once the epicenter for cotton production. Now, many of those farms are now planting corn and/or soybeans. For example, Mississippi had 1.5 million acres in 1995 and only 320,000 in 2015; however, a big cotton acreage increase is expected in 2017 due to higher cotton prices. The overall U.S. cotton acres have decreased across the board in most of the Cotton Belt, while Texas’ cotton acres have remained relatively stable. Due to the general trend of reduced cotton acreage across the Cotton Belt, Texas now accounts for over 56% of the total planted cotton acres in the U.S. State-wide, it is estimated that cotton contributes nearly $5.1 billion in total economic output, plus an additional $1.3 billion from cotton ginning, warehousing, and oil mills to the Texas economy annually (USDA-NASS, 2016). Cotton is a huge economic driver to the Texas economy and why we are proud to say that “Texas is Cotton Country”. In Texas, there has been a steady progression of cotton acreage westward over the past 150 years. See images with dates, acres, and production for the different times f rom 1850 to 2007. This images were developed by Dr. Tom Isakeit with Texas A&M University from historical USDA cotton acreage reports. In the 1850’s nearly all of East Texas and down to Victoria had some cotton planted. By 1880, nearly every county from Uvalde up to Wichita Falls
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and eastward was growing cotton, but with the predominate production being in the Blacklands of Texas from Austin to Gainesville and over to Texarkana. The total acres planted in 1880 was 2.18 million acres with an average yield of 177 lbs/acre. By the end of the 19th century, the cotton acreage had expanded to nearly 7.0 million acres but with no increase in average yields (178 lbs/acre). The Blacklands remained the predominant production region, but still cotton was grown in deep East Texas and had expanded into the Lubbock and Amarillo regions. By 1920, cotton was grown as far west as El Paso and in over 85% of the counties in Texas and reaching over 11.5 million acres. Although the acreage was double what is planted today, the yields in 1920 were only 124 lbs/acre. As irrigation capacity increased in Far West Texas, High Plains, and Rio Grande Valley, the acreage was beginning to shift to these locations, and the overall acreage had declined to 8.1 million acres but average yields remained stagnant at 161 lbs/acre. By 1960, cotton acreage became more regionalized with major production regions looking somewhat similar to our cotton production in the 21st century with an average yield of 330 lbs/acre, but the acreage shift continued to move westward with the major production region being around Lubbock. At the turn of the 21st century, the cotton acreage has consolidated even more with a few distinct regions being the major cotton production regions. In 2007, cotton was going through a slump in acreage but had extraordinary growing conditions and yields over 840 lbs/acre. Over the past 5 years and including some of the driest years on record, Texas has averaged over 5.0 million planted acres and average yields exceeding 625 lbs/acre. It is amazing to believe that Texas plants half the acreage of 1920, but twice the total bales produces. These increases
in yield are the result of many advances in fertilizers and pesticides following World War II. More recently, the development of higher yielding varieties, transgenic crops, and the boll weevil eradication program have led to average yield increases of over 10 lbs/a annual yield increases over the past 30 years. In addition to increased yields, the production efficiency has increased significantly. Cotton is a very labor and energy intensive crop to grow and process. It is estimated that it took 300 labor hours to produce and process one bale (480 lbs) of cotton lint in 1920. Now, it is estimated to only take 3 labor hours to complete the same tasks. This 100 fold increase in efficiency has come from all aspects of cotton production, larger planting and management equipment, harvesting, ginning, and milling. Adoption of new technology has kept the U.S. farmer on the forefront in cotton production and has allowed the U.S. to remain competitive against other countries with much cheaper labor and lower input costs. Investment in research and development by universities, USDA, private industry, and grower check-off funds have continued to provide innovation that increases yield, fiber quality, while minimizing the environmental impact of growing cotton. Cotton and other row crops have a very positive story to tell in providing the U.S. population with the safest and least expensive food, less than 10% of disposable income, compared with 25% in 1925. For example, the amount of pesticide use has decreased 70% over the past 50 years, while yields have significantly increased. This is in part due to the adoption of transgenic cotton with Bt traits that provide a plant expressed insecticide that kills worm pests, such as the cotton bollworm and armyworm. Additionally, the Bt traits are very specific in their action on worms, and therefore help to preserve beneficial insects which further reduce insecticide use. Additionally, the joint effort between cotton farmers and the Texas Department of Agriculture to eradicate the boll weevil has resulted in a decrease in pesticide use by 66% since 2000 in Texas. Currently and into the near future, additional new technologies are being introduced that increase the value of cottonseed by broadening its use for human consumption. This will not only benefit U.S. producers but has the potential to provide a high value protein food source to people growing cotton around the world. In summary, “Texas is Cotton Country� and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Cotton remains an economical and sustainable crop for Texas farmers. The continued success of cotton in Texas can be credited to many things, including natural drought tolerance of the crop and technology utilization by the cotton farmers. Most importantly, it is the bond among the entire industry, including grower organizations, university and USDA scientists, Extension, Texas Department of Agriculture, and private industry work as a team to embrace and overcome the challenges facing the cotton industry in the state and the nation. M AY / J U N E
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The Algodon Club
2017 Royal Court
The Algodon Club is pleased to announce the members of the 2017 Royal Court who will be presented during the annual Algodon Ball on Saturday, June 17, 2017. The Algodon Club’s primary responsibility is to promote agriculture and the cotton industry in the Rio Grande Valley. The Algodon’s past Queen Carolyn Rebecca Boswell will crown Miss Bailey Anne Scogin as the 2017 Algodon Queen. The 64th annual Algodon Ball will be held at the Casa De Amistad in Harlingen, Texas. For more information, visit: www.algodonclub.com Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cody Cramer Scogin of Lyford, has been named Algodon Queen for 2017. Queen Bailey attends Texas A&M University in College Station where she is majoring in Plant and Environmental Soil Science. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Sorority, serves on the College Relations Committee of Freshman Leadership Experience and is active in the Texas A&M Ducks Unlimited Chapter and the Agronomy Society. Bailey was a 2016 Distinguished Graduate of Lyford High School where she was a FCA Huddle Leader, National Honor Society officer, and Lower Valley Cotillion Club member. She lettered in six sports earning multiple post season honors including being named 1st Team All-Valley in Basketball as a senior. Active in 4-H & FFA leadership, Bailey served on the Texas 4-H State Council. In FFA, she was a Tip-O-Tex District Officer in addition to being selected as a Ford Leadership Scholar and as a member of the State Nominating Committee. She earned numerous State FFA awards and was named Texas’ 2015 Star Lonestar Farmer in AgriScience. She was also a 2016 recipient of the Algodon Club Scholarship. Bailey’s heritage runs deep in Willacy County’s cotton fields and while growing up she was honored to serve as a Little Princess on the 2004 Algodon Royal Court. She enjoys reading, photgraphy and fly-fishing.
The Queen
Bailey Anne Scogin
The Ambassador
John Charles Scaief
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Scaief of San Benito. Ambassador John Scaief attends Texas A&M University in College Station. He is a Member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, Texas A&M Fly Fishing Club and is a partner in S&G Custom Harvesting. John graduated in Top 5% of his graduating class; was a State Finalist in the Nursery and Landscape Judging Team, and was the District Champion in Boys Singles Tennis. John and his family have been involved with Algodon for years. Mr. and Mrs. Scaief served on the Algodon Board, John was a Crown Bearer, and his sister Kate was a Little Princess. In his spare time, John enjoys keeping his family farming traditions alive. John’s great, great grandfather, Martin Scaief settled in San Benito, cleaerd 40 acres of brush, and started farming cotton in 1911. John, along with his grandfather, continue to farm the land surrounding the original homestead.
Macie McCay Ziehe
Ladies in Waiting
Daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Tim Bothwell of Harlingen. Natalie attends Texas A&M University and is a graduate of Harlingen South High School.
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mitch Thomas of Raymondville. Princess Morgan attends Texas A&M University and is a graduate of Lyford High School.
The Children’s Court consists of two Little Princesses The 2017 Little Princesses are:
Miss Madelyn Ray Duke
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Duke of Lyford
Miss Hadleigh Grace Keath
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hunter Keath of Harlingen
The Children’s Court
consists of two Little Princes: THE 2017 CROWN BEARER IS
Cooper Lynn Johnson
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Travis Johnson of Harlingen THE 2017 SCEPTER BEARER IS
Tyler Matthew Klostermann
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Klostermann of Lyford
Duchess of Hidalgo County
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Burns of Kenedy County. Victoria attends Texas A&M University in College Station and is a graduate of Lyford High School.
Duchess of Willacy County
Leandra Victoria Flores
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rick Hernandez of Weslaco. Regina attends Texas A&M University in College Station. She is a graduate of The Science Academy of South Texas.
Regina Nicole Hernandez
Princess
Morgan Ashley Thomas
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Flores of Edinburg. Leandra attends University of Texas RGV in Edinburg and is in the process of transferring to Texas A&M University in College Station and is a graduate of Edinburg North High School.
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Ziehe of Harlingen. Macie attends Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California and is a graduate of IDEA Public School, San Benito.
Duchess of Cameron County
Princess
Natalie Brooke Bothwell
Victoria Jerine Burns
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Peña of Edinburg. Lorissa attends University of Texas RGV in Edinburg. She is a graduate of Edinburg North High School.
Ladies in Waiting
Lorissa Denise Peña
Daughter of Mr. Clifton Smith & Ms. Sally Smith of Harlingen. Caitlyn attends Texas A&M University in College Station. She is a graduate of Harlingen South High School.
Ladies in Waiting
Caitlyn Lee Smith
Market demand remains strong for sorghum as an export product and for domestic uses
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BY FLORENTINO LOPEZ
Market demand for sorghum remains very strong for the 2016-2017 marketing year. Robust global markets, domestic markets and research investments to improve producer profitability are helping to elevate interest in sorghum at home and across the globe.
Global exports The export market has been a valuable marketplace for producers in recent years, and the current year should continue in that direction. Sorghum had a record year in 2014-2015 with exports of 365 million bushels, which represented 84 percent of the total production of sorghum that year. Then, in 2015-2016, 311 million bushels of sorghum were exported, representing 52 percent of the total product. So far in 2016-2017, the U.S. has exported 133 million bushels, which represents 29 percent of the total product — and that’s only six months into the marketing year. Sorghum producers can feel confident that market demand is high. Yes, the overall price has changed, but the key is the knowledge and understanding that demand still remains strong, which will help with profit potential for
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sorghum grain. China continues to be the leading export market for the U.S., though demand in China is expected to decrease slightly in 2016-2017. Last year, China imported 98 percent of the total U.S. sorghum exports. As the positive message about sorghum’s attributes spreads worldwide, purchases of U.S. sorghum are increasing in the countries of Mexico, Ethiopia, India and Sudan, while Taiwan, South Africa, Pakistan and Peru continue their commitment in purchasing this product. The U.S. is the top exporter of sorghum worldwide, and the U.S. Grains Council projects an estimated 73.6 percent of global sorghum exports during the 2016-2017 marketing year.
Domestic markets Though export markets consume a large volume of the total sorghum grown in the U.S., the United Sorghum Checkoff Program never loses sight of opportunities to develop greater domestic markets. The domestic ethanol industry typically ranks as the second largest marketplace for
sorghum grain, and the Sorghum Checkoff continually challenges that industry to utilize sorghum as much as possible. In 2016, demand for sorghum for ethanol production, a major biofuel used for auto fuel and energy production, consumed 21 percent of the total amount of sorghum grown in the U.S. Other areas the Sorghum Checkoff continues to develop include the livestock industry, particularly pork and poultry, and the pet food industry. In fact, an impressive 13 different brands use sorghum in more than 130 pet food products. Plus, the Sorghum Checkoff is continuing to learn how to best use sorghum for the aquaculture industry. In the U.S., sorghum also has exploded in popularity as a consumer food. In fact, demand for sorghum as a food product stands at its highest level in history. The Sorghum Checkoff launched its first consumer-facing brand in 2016, Sorghum. Nature’s Super Grain™, with a digital campaign, featuring a consumer website that contains a wealth of valuable information about sorghum grain, its variety of forms and an abundance of healthy recipes. The campaign educates consumers, the food industry and health professionals about the wholesome goodness of sorghum in a healthy diet. Today, sorghum is present in more than 1,000 retail food products, and that number continues to grow. In addition, sorghum is now included on 1.6 percent of restaurant menus across the country — an eightfold increase over the past three years.
A daily commitment to profitability The primary goal of the Sorghum Checkoff is a commitment to increasing producer profitability, which requires demand, value enhancements and productivity. To achieve our goal, most Sorghum Checkoff dollars are invested in research to supply producers with information about relevant topics, such as identifying ways to increase yield and most recently, discovering methods to control sugarcane aphids. For example, 480 million bushels of sorghum were harvested in 2016, and the Sorghum Checkoff helped sorghum producers reach a national yield record of 77.9 bushels per acre. Also, the Sorghum Checkoff has invested $350,000 in 2016 to study the sugarcane aphid and its effects on sorghum in an effort to provide producers with guidance and best-management practices to protect their sorghum acreage against the tiny yet devastating pest.
In conclusion Overall, sorghum retains very strong demand in both global and domestic markets, and that demand continues to expand. The Sorghum Checkoff is working diligently to discover and share knowledge with sorghum producers to help make sorghum a reliable, cost-effective and viable crop option with the optimal profit potential that producers want for their acreage.
M AY / J U N E
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Surrounding the Viva Fresh Produce Expo, a group of 50+ individuals from the Texas produce industry gathered for the 1st Annual Future of Fresh event. The event was planned by Valerie Helle (Green Gold Farms), Carly Borel (Alltech Crop Science) and Kristin Anderson (Syngenta) with the goal of bringing the younger generations of the Texas produce industry together. Producers and industry members at the Future of Fresh event enjoyed live music, food, drinks and shared their passion for the Texas produce industry. Special guests included Megan McDonald from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and Richard de Los Santos from the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Here is what people are saying :
“It was nice to hear about others experiences and realize how relatable we all are. Future of Fresh has provided a foundation for the younger produce industry professionals to build relationships that will continue year after year.”
– Emily Lord, Dixondale Farms
“Bringing younger generations into the agricultural industry is always a hot topic and without a doubt, a worthy cause. However, I think it is just as important that we, as an industry, ensure that when younger generations join the industry, they are provided with a sense of community and support. I want to see Future of Fresh fill that need.
– Carly Borel, Alltech Crop Science
“Being new to both the area (Winter Garden) and the industry, I have found it difficult to connect with people that have the same interests as I do. The Future of Fresh event provided a great avenue for networking among my peers.”
– Brian King, Dixondale Farms “I attended the event because I wanted to make new connections without the help of my dad that has been in the business for several years. It was a way for me to get my feet wet and start making a name for myself... (Future of Fresh) is going to benefit everyone to see different aspects of the business and meet the different people in it and start making those personal connections that we need to succeed in this business.”
– Kristen Davis, Texas A&M student Want to get involved with Future of Fresh events? Reach out to Carly or Kristin
Carly Borel
cborel@alltech.com
Kristin Anderson
kristin.anderson@syngenta.com 14
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Thank you to everyone who came out and a HUGE thank you to our sponsors!
What is a Master Gardener ? BY ASHLEY GREGORY
M
aybe you’ve heard the title or attended one of their programs, but what does it really mean? And how do I join?
The Texas Master Gardener Program is a volunteer development program offered by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The volunteers are highly trained and provide proven, research-based educational programs to the citizens of Texas. In 2015, the Texas Master Gardener program grew to include over 7000 volunteers. This is the largest corps of Master Gardener volunteers in the nation. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley there are two local Master Gardener Associations that you have the opportunity to join; the Cameron County Master Gardener Association and the Deep South Texas Master Gardener Association (Hidalgo Co.). Master Gardeners must complete 50 hours of instruction and 50 hours of volunteer service before they receive the title of Master Gardener. In order to keep the title members must complete a minimum of 24 hours of volunteer service and 6 hours of continuing education each year. Master Gardeners of course have a passion for gardening and the environment, but above all they have a desire to share their passion and extensive knowledge with their communities. Both Master Gardeners Associations each maintain their own 1 acre Educational Garden that has a variety of demonstration gardens that are used as teaching aides for
many of their gardening workshops. Demonstration gardens include a raised bed vegetable garden, butterfly garden, wildflower meadow, native and adapted garden, fruit tree garden and currently under construction a sensory garden. In addition to workshops held at the garden Master Gardeners provide educational presentations for schools, civic clubs, and community events. The 2017 Master Gardener Training program will begin in September for both Cameron and Hidalgo Counties. Cost for the 50 hours of instruction is $200 and includes curriculum, private tours and some meals. The training is conducted by a variety of local experts, researchers and Master Gardener Specialists. Topics covered include Plant Growth and Development, Growing Fruits and Vegetables, Soils and Composting, Native Plants, Tree Care and Pruning, and many more. If you are interested in becoming a Texas Master Gardener contact your local Horticulture Agent.
Hidalgo County Cameron County Ashely Gregory Jennifer Herrera 956-383-1026 956- 361-8236
ahgregory@ag.tamu.edu jherrera@ag.tamu.edu
M AY / J U N E
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Ag Mag Featured Farmer
J
THE ROAD ALWAYS LEADS
BACK TO THE FARM Just listening to Edward Clayton Willis speak is enjoyable. His smooth, resonating voice can conjure up images of a middle age Johnny Cash or one of those cowboy poets who travel the world, telling tales of days gone by. But Ed isn’t a recording or a movie star, and he isn’t a cowboy. He’s a farmer – and a very good one at that. “I’ve been driving a tractor for 70 years,” said Ed, owner, along with his son Mark of W & W Farms. “I came right out of high school and started helping my dad some – basically off and on farming.” It was during those years that he met his future wife, Johnelle. They got married in 1958 – after he had to wait three years during her sophomore, junior and senior years in high school. “She was a local girl and, well, a little younger.” Ed says, and one immediately knows there’s a story behind it – and he tells stories as good as anyone. “You see, the first car I owned had electric windows and the girls would love it and they’d run the windows up and down to see which one was the fastest, “ he starts, but then gets back to the point…quickly.
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That was 58 years ago, but before getting married Ed rented a plot of land on Rio Farms and farmed for a year. “Back then you had to apply to be approved to get on the farm,” Ed said. “And there was a square-tiled home on each farm. We knew we were getting a farm, but we had no money.” After the first year and after all the bills were paid, Ed and Johnelle threw a barbeque as a thank you to the 40 braseros (workers) who picked all their cotton. During the entire harvest, not a single brasero left the farm, a rare event back then, but something that showed what they thought of Ed and Johnelle. “After all was said and done we had $700 left – and we got married, bought all our kitchen stuff and fixed up the house – we had a neat little house.” Ed was, and continues to be, a very successful farmer, making a name for himself with the quality – and quantity – of his crops. Rio Farms used to keep a record of how much production was done for each crop and during his first 10 years there, Ed was the top-cotton producer seven times, fishing third once and second twice.
Today his favorite crop remains to be cotton. But he made and even bigger name for himself during the offseason, growing vegetables – especially broccoli. “They would call me the broccoli king,” he said. “I would grow 100 acres a year for my fall crop an fed everybody in the county. Broccoli was my favorite, but we also did onions and peas but broccoli can stand a lot of cold. It would give us extra money to spend and give work to my men. If you don’t have something like that, then you have no work for your men and men need to work.”
have something like that, then you have no work for your men and men need to work.” Ed’s son Mark would work the summer with his dad and grandpa, Clayton Willis, during the summers. “I literally grew up in cotton trailers,” Mark said. “I can remember doing flips off of the side of the trailers when I was eight years old. I tromped cotton every summer until I turned 14. That year I began driving my own picker. It was hot and nasty work on the old 2-row IH 622 picker. The trash flew everywhere, as there were no air-conditioned cabs back in those days. But it was well worth it when the weekly paycheck arrived. My dad always paid me just like his regular workers. That was a lot of money for a teenager.” After high school, Mark attended Southwest Texas State University for two years then transferred to the University of Texas in San Antonio where her received his degree in Finance. “When I left for college the last thing I wanted to do for a living was to come back and farm”, Mark said. But six years later the last thing he said he would do became the only thing he knew he would do. “I just kept thinking that I could be on the farm right now,” said Mark. Mark had plans to become an investment counselor, but quickly learned a cubical in an office just wasn’t for him. “I hated the life there and when you’re thinking about the farm all the time, there’s something wrong there – so I went back, and never looked back.” Farming just gets in your blood and stays there. Being a Willis farmer means diving in head first. There is no sitting down and passing traditions. There is no 12 credits needed or x number of hours of training. The tradition is simply this – you want to farm? There’s the farm, now get to work. One certainly can’t argue with that method after 60 years of successfully and constantly growing cotton, grain and sugar cane crops. “I was nine or so when I got on my first tractor,” Mark’s son
Johnathan said. “I remember being scared to death with two big ditches on either end. ‘The breaks will work,’ they promised me. ‘Good luck, use the clutch and the brakes and don’t fall in.’ And that was it, that’s how I learned.” That doesn’t mean, of course, that everything – or anything – is easy. There’s a passion that has to come with farming. Mark said there’s nothing more enjoyable than seeing a beautiful white field of cotton, ready to be harvested. It doesn’t always, however, end up so easily. There are challenges like insects and weather – especially when harvesting time and hurricane season overlap. While there aren’t many hurricanes that affect the upper valley, Hurricane Allen is always a reminder of what can happen. “Hurricane Allen was on our front door and I called Ed to just come back home and board up the windows and the doors,” Johnelle said. “He was out harvesting as much cotton as he could to save the crop.” “I had 600 acres at a farm in Edinburg, “ Ed said in his time-to-share-a-story voice. “She was calling me to come home – I should’ve listened. We worked until midnight with Allen coming at us. We picked 120 bales that day with my three machines and we rented three more. That’s a lot of bales. We hauled it to Hargill and lost every bit of it due to the storm. Everything I did that day was for nothing – the cotton got soured.”
He brought the cotton to store at a gin, but the storm was too much and the gin was damaged and the cotton destroyed. What made it worse was that the gin, which usually had insurance, didn’t have any this time and everything was lost. “That was a bad year,” Ed said. “But we still didn’t really lose any money. The crop I had already harvested helped us to not go in the hole. Today that wouldn’t happen. You can’t afford to make a mistake today.” Mark’s son Johnathan also got involved with the family farm, coming back after college he brought a different view back to the farm. After spending some time in college, Johnathan, too, simply could not stand the urge to come back and farm. “I’m more of a technology guy,” Johnathan said. “Innovation is my thing. I started implementing new GPS systems, running the spray rig and trying to increase the number of acres we have. I’m buying things online. Anywhere we can save money, I’ll find it. I don’t know everything about farming yet, but if it involves money, and there is a way to save it, I will find it.”
Wherever the road has lead the Willis boys it always ends in the same spot.. The farm. The Farm is where the heart truly is in this family. M AY / J U N E
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Control efforts push back sugarcane aphid
A Farm Bureau Publication
Scouting and sugarcane aphid control efforts by Texas sorghum growers in the Rio Grande Valley are proving to be successful, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension specialists. Southwest Farm Press reports the aphid populations have declined over the last week in the Rio Grande Valley. Earlier this month, Extension integrated pest management specialist Danielle Sekula reported high numbers of sugarcane aphids at various locations across the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The highest concentrations were detected in sorghum at flowering stage, especially in fields near the Rio Grande River. The detections were reported a month earlier than in 2016, according to Dr. Robert Bowling, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension assistant professor and integrated pest management Extension agent. Unseasonably warm temperatures and the migration of winged aphids riding southerly winds out of Mexico could be factors that led to the early and elevated numbers found across the Valley region earlier this month.
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“In grain sorghum at boot stage or heading, I was seeing about 5 to 15 winged aphids per leaf producing colonies of aphids, about five each, so they have been colonizing fast,” Sekula told Southwest Farm Press. “In grain sorghum in the flowering stage, I was finding anywhere from 500 to 3,000 sugarcane aphids per leaf in some areas.” Sekula noted that farmers are managing sugarcane aphids well. She scouted grain sorghum along the river last week and reported they were clean. The Valley farmers who began spraying after the high population reports have seen the most effective results, according to Sekula. She recommends farmers stay vigilant and continue to scout their fields with the recent rain and temperatures expected to rise by week’s end. According to Southwest Farm Press, some isolated reports of winged adults were reported in the Coastal Bend region last week. But numbers haven’t yet reached threshold. Crop officials are also advising Coastal Bend farmers to remain diligent in their control efforts now that warmer weather has arrived.
“ Hidalgo County Farm Bureau rededicated building with the 2016 Pioneer Winner Dwayne W. Bair ”
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Sorghum Markets Might Find New and Old Customers This Year BY JOHN MILLER
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Starting immediately after last year’s harvest season, South Texas farmers began to evaluate what cropping alternatives might hold the best prospects for 2017. While grain yields have been mostly agreeable in recent years, our dependency on a few key foreign buyers, and the uncertainty about future demand from those key players, suggested that a sharp pencil might be needed before planting time. Using the Port of Corpus Christi as a point of reference, we have seen the summer export market for sorghum weaken considerably in recent years. During mid-June of both 2014 and 2015, the value of sorghum delivered to the Port and Corpus Christi was approximately $9.50 per hundredweight. For that same time last year, the price there was $7.75. While early in the season, current market indicators suggest that prices for this June are approximately $7.00. Even though truck demand from Mexico during this time of year helps recover some of the cost difference from delivery to Corpus Christi, the price trend has been falling in the face of large US and world grain crops which creates uncertainty about the ability to achieve price levels needed to be profitable under normal yield outcomes.
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Since 2014, cotton prices and yield performance has improved. After spending two summers in the low-to-mid 60’s, cotton futures prices spent some time last summer at approximately 70 cents per pound. For the coming crop, farmers have had the opportunity to price their upcoming cotton crop at 75 cents per pound on the futures market, a level that would be profitable for most at average yields. Perhaps more importantly, however, is that cotton yields across the Valley have seen some remarkable results in recent years. Whether the better yields are more the result of timing of weather, adoption of seed and cropping technology, evolving cultural practices or just plain luck, the fact is that output has improved statewide. Price and yield projections looking more favorable for cotton before planting is likely the key reason that cotton acreage is up relative to grain not only in the Valley, but across the state. Grain acreage will still be strong in our area, but you will likely notice more cotton fields as you drive around this spring and summer. The change in crop mix is something that is going on across the US. With soybean price and yield outlook being more favorable than corn for example, the Midwest farmer is expected to flip up to 4 million acres of corn this year.
The “Change in Planted Acres’ chart shows the dramatic annual change expected by USDA. The ever- increasing cost of operating farms demands that farmers constantly reassess their cropping strategy and remain somewhat flexible.
US Milo Exports (million bushel) Source: USDA 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
As we move toward harvesting the Valley grain crop, sorghum looks both to the traditional truck market at the border, and other export opportunities. Over the past 4 years, China became a new entrant into our market, buying a high percentage of Texas and US production. Due to recent changes in the way that their government controls prices within that country, the degree of participation by China is unknown at this time. Some sources indicate that the quality of our sorghum and harvest timing will continue to work well. As you can see from the “China Corn Nearby Futures” chart, however, local supplies of corn there are available at much cheaper prices than recent years and will create an obstacle. The ample supplies within China, and the market and political forces dropping prices there has definitely had an impact as the “Milo Export Sales to China” chart shows. The brown bars clearly show the weaker sales pace relative to the past two seasons. This decline in sales is also picked up in the “US Milo Exports” chart since China has represented such a large percentage of our export business since 2014.
87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Some have also questioned whether the Mexico market will be strong given so much discussion about trade tariffs between our countries. With all of the ocean, rail and truck freight infrastructure that already exists, however, it is unlikely that Mexico could find cheaper corn or sorghum from another country with or without a tariff. The drop in the value of the Peso against the Dollar is probably a more important factor to trade than threat of tariffs. In the end, Mexico continues to be one of our largest customers of corn from the Midwest, and for sorghum if you were to look at the past decade as a whole. I have looked at some research that suggest that Mexico would have to pay an extra 50 cents to one dollar per bushel more to source corn or sorghum from South America. Both truck grain handlers in South Texas and rail operators from the Midwest look to Mexico like another domestic market that can be communicated with and supplied as efficient as most grain using areas here in the US. There is no question that the long-established relationships between Texas and Mexico agribusiness will continue to benefit Valley farmers as they strive to bring a high-quality product to the market.
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IN SEASON FERTILITY MANAGEMENT BY DEREK EMERINE Southern Business Unit Agronomist Helena Chemical Company
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The 2017 crop is well under way. Depending on the environmental conditions and fertilization practices, there could potentially be some nutri ent deficiency symptoms showing up. Historically supplemental nitrogen applications have been the “go to” solution. There are up to five ways that nitrogen fertilizer applied can be lost or not plant available. These nitrogen loss pathways will be discussed and generally quantified. It is also important to understand that many other plant nutrients may be deficient in season. Using visual symptomology to identify these deficiencies can be very difficult. This is especially true if there are multiple deficiencies. The best way to identify these deficiencies is by acquiring plant tissue samples. The advantages and limitations of plant tissue sampling will also be discussed. By understanding nitrogen loss pathways and the advantages and limitations of plant tissue sampling, there is an opportunity to better diagnose and manage in season fertility deficiencies.
In the southern United States, volatilization losses consistently account for the largest amount of nitrogen loss. Volatilization is nitrogen loss in the form of ammonia gas to the atmosphere. Any urea containing nitrogen fertilizer has a risk of nitrogen loss due to volatilization. High soil pH, warm air temperatures, moist soils, and surface crop residues lead to high nitrogen losses due to volatilization.
The nitrogen cycle is quite complex and different nitrogen reactions may be occurring throughout the year. Complete chapters and books have been written about nitrogen reactions in the soil. Most questions about nitrogen arise from wondering about how much of the nitrogen fertilizer applied has been lost. There are five major nitrogen loss pathways that include volatilization, leaching, denitrification, immobilization, and erosion.
The next two loss pathways, which are leaching and denitrification, are the ones that typically generate the most questions. They are both associated with excess rain but they are quite different. Leaching is the loss of nitrate nitrogen caused by excess moisture moving down through the soil profile. Denitrification is the loss of soil nitrogen in form of a gas in water logged soils. Leaching is more likely to occur on sandy or low CEC (CEC less than 10) soils and denitrifica-
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If all of these conditions are present, up to 40% of the nitrogen fertilizer applied can be lost. Volatilization losses can be reduced by applying nitrogen on cool, dry soils, incorporation, banding or strip tilling, and by adding a urease inhibitor to nitrogen applications. Urease inhibitors are the most effective strategy for reducing volatilization. There are many “urease inhibitors” on the market. The only effective products are ones that contain NBPT (n-butyl triophosphoric triamide). If the product in question does not have NBPT on the label, it is not going to be effective in reducing volatilization losses.
tion is more likely to occur on clay soils that hold water. Up to 20% of applied nitrogen can be lost to leaching. Up to 35% of applied nitrogen can be lost to denitrification. These two loss pathways generate a lot of questions, because it is very difficult to quantify losses. For leaching, the amount of nitrate in the soil, CEC, and quantity of rain will all affect potential nitrogen losses. For denitrification, the amount of nitrogen in the soil and how long a soil is under water or anaerobic affects potential nitrogen losses.
der that the predominant solution to most in season problems is applying additional nitrogen fertilizer. If there was no NBPT urease inhibitor applied with early nitrogen applications or there was excess rain, applying additional nitrogen is a good strategy. In South Texas, there are several other nutrient deficiencies that show up quite often in season. These include: sulfur, potassium, zinc, manganese, and iron. Many times visual deficiency symptoms in the field may be caused by multiple nutrients. The best way to determine which nutrient or nutrients are causing the problem is by pulling a plant tissue sample. The biggest limitation to tissue sampling are the sufficiency ratings. Most sufficiency ratings were last updated in the 1970’s. Varieties and yield potential has drastically changed since the 1970’s. Therefore, it is extremely important to always get at least two tissue samples.
Immobilization is the next nitrogen loss pathway; however it is a temporary loss. Immobilization is the conversion of inorganic N (ammonium and nitrate) into an organic form. Immobilization will only be an issue if nitrogen fertilizer is applied on soils with a large amount of stubble or plant material from the previous crop. Soil microbes will utilize the nitrogen fertilizer applied to facilitate the degradation of the plant stubble present. Once, that process is complete, the nitrogen will be available again. This is primarily an issue in the Midwest where left over corn stubble is prevalent the following season. Up to 40% of the nitrogen applied can be temporarily lost due to immobilization.
One from the part of the field exhibiting some sort of deficiency symptom and another from a better looking part of the field. The results from both may come back sufficient. By comparing the two samples, one can determine which nutrient or nutrients are lower from the area of the field that is exhibiting visual symptoms. Once it is determined which nutrient or nutrients are causing the symptoms, a plan of action can be made. This can include additional fertilizer, foliar fertilizers, or using the information to fertilize more efficiently in future. Utilize an agronomist or local agricultural input dealer to determine which plan makes the most sense.
The last nitrogen loss pathway is erosion. Up to 20% of the nitrogen applied can be lost due to soil erosion. Grass waterways, cover crops, and better soil structure to improve water infiltration are the most effective ways to reduce erosion. With all of the potential nitrogen loss pathways, it is no won-
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Kids
EMPOWERING RURAL AREA TO SUCCEED BY DEBRA ATLAS
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rowing up in the South Texas, rural kids have two opportunities for empowerment. Originat ing around the early 20th century to address the needs of farm and ranch kids, Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H helps prepare kids for what life may throw at them as adults. From the late 1890’s through 1928, progressive educators began stressing nature study in their curriculum. In most states, agricultural college professors organized “farmers’ institutes” to present the latest scientific agricultural information to farmers and their wives. And college ag professors and county school superintendents created a club structure to provide agricultural education for youth. Credited as “the Mother of 4-H”, in 1906 Ms. Jessie Field Shambaugh, Page County Iowa’s School Superintendent, started after-school Boys Corn Clubs and Girls Home Clubs in 130 country schools. Her 3-H Clubs focused on students developing their Head, Heart, and Hands. A fourth H - “Home” - was added which was later renamed “Health”. Evolving into 4-H clubs by 1912, Mc. Shambaugh was inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1917 Congress passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act. Establishing vocational agriculture courses and the Cooperative Extension Service – which provided information and technical assistance to people not attending colleges - it was pivotal to opening up educators thinking regarding how to empower rural youth. In 1926, Future Farmers began as a way to offer farm boys “a greater opportunity for self-expression and for the development of leadership.” Originally named the Future Farmers of Virginia (where it began), it officially became FFA in 1928 at a national livestock show in Kansas City, Missouri. Both organizations – FFA, which is primarily school based, 4-H which operates through clubs – offer programs that go beyond traditional farm and/or ranch skills. Both organizations aim to mold their young charges into responsible leaders. For years, 4-H focused on livestock-related skills, culminating in
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showing animals at the annual livestock show. Today, the organization guides rural kids through four development paths:
• educational • fellowship • physical • and moral development
There are lots of benefits to kids being involved in programs like 4-H said Kimberly Guillen, Hidalgo County (Texas) Extension Agent for 4-H and Youth Development. Guillen manages the 4-H enrichment curriculum. From as young as 5 years old, approximately 673 kids in county 4-H program gain important life skills. These include communication, going before a panel to answer questions clearly and public speaking. “They’re all beneficial to them on college applications,” said Guillen. “By time they’re in high school, the kids are comfortable in interview settings,” she said. These prepare them for the real world, she said. “They learn responsibility,” said Guillen, with monthly meetings, deadlines to keep and having to keep records. “When they go to college (or) get a job, they’re used to being responsible for their time,” Guillen said. FFA’s original mission was to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding a growing population. Today it provides a path to achievement in leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. FFA programs encourage not only future farmers but biologists, chemists, veterinar-
ians, engineers and entrepreneurs. And it;’s not just young boys taking advantage of these opportunities. Young girls, who gained full FFA membership privileges in 1969, comprise more than 45 percent of membership and roughly half of all state leadership positions. Every state and two U.S. territories have nationally chartered FFA members. 649,355 student members belong to one of 7,859 local FFA chapters. Designed to fit a family’s budget, 4-H has no national fees. 4-H offers STEM related (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) programs that give kids hands-on experience and activities in things like utilizing alternative energy and conserving energy; robotics, computer science and electrical engineering that teach problem solving, creative and critical thinking; veterinary science, entomology and biotechnology. It also sponsors contests and Challenges – like the Ag Innovators Experience (4H AIE). The Healthy Soils Challenge, a collaboration between 4-H and Monsanto, lets youth learn about soil health, sustainable environmental practices and the importance of being good land stewards. Big names are partnering with 4-H:
• Lockheed Martin sponsors The 4-H Career Readiness Program
$2,500,000 to deliver 4H Healthy Living experiences under the Youth Voice: Youth Choice program.• Target awarded a $100,000 grant for youth wellness efforts. • And the Disney Conservation Fund sponsors the Connecting Youth to Nature pro gram. Many kids join FFA or Junior FFA, then, later, join 4-H. Or vice versa. One benefit to join FFA, said Rebecca Galvan, who’s son’s a 4-H-er, is if you’re showing an animal and need transportation to the show, the ag teacher will transport your animal. “You can even put your animal in the school district’s ag barn,” she said. This works well for those with no place to house it. Ag teachers often grew up as part of FFA. FFA is about more than showing an animal. It teaches kids how to weld, about horticulture, and how to run a meeting. With its club meetings, 4-H naturally teaches how to run them, how to run for office and about leadership skills. Galvan says 4-H has opportunities for advancement, even to the national level. And both groups offer scholarships for college. “it’s a way to better hone your abilities, to become a better citizen, to have more community involvement to be in both.” she said.
• The Walmart Foundation awarded a
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FFA&4-H 2 017
RGV
D I S T R I C T
C A L E N
May 9, 2017
Lone Star Citrus Growers Mission, TX 8am-3pm 1 hour of CEU credit
http://twri.tamu.edu/irrigation
May 11, 2017
Area X Speaking Events RMB Fairgrounds 8am
May 12, 2017
Area X Advanced Degree Check/ FFA Convention RMB Fair Grounds 8am
June (TBA) 2017
State Advanced Degree Check
Location TBA Time TBA
June 24-25, 2017
Area X Leadership Camp Camp Zephyr Time ?
July 10-14, 2017
Texas FFA Convention
May 25, 2017
Corpus Christi Time TBA
Alaniz Residence 5:30pm
July 24-28
RGV AST Meeting
VATAT Professional Development Conference Location TBA Time TBA
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H Calendar DA R
O F
AC T I V I T I E S
Sponsored by:
May 5-6, 2017
District 12 RoundupLivestock Judging
May 23, 2017
County Council Meeting (Elections)
Fredricksburg, TX Time TBA
Extension Office 7pm
May 9, 2017
June 3, 2017
Lone Star Citrus Growers
District 12 Shooting Sports – Archery Match
http://twri.tamu.edu/irrigation
June 6, 2017
Mission, TX 8am-3pm 1 hour of CEU credit
May 12, 2017
District 12 Shooting Shotgun Match Laredo, TX Time TBA
May 23, 2017
Advisory Committee Meeting
Benavides, TX Time TBA
Ambassador Applications Due Extension Office 5pm
June 12-14, 2017
County Record Book Judging Extension Office
Extension Office 6pm
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RGV LIVESTOC
CK SHOW 2017
H STAR SHOW 2017
Covergirls
A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS YEAR’S
The covergirl organization started in 1949 10 years after the first livestock show and continues to be the Face of the Livestock show. Thank you girls for all your hard work!
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CITRUS GROWER EDUCATION PROGRAM SLATED FOR MAY 9 IN MISSION
A program on the practical aspects of water conservation technologies for citrus producers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley will be held May 9 in Mission.
Program will focus on practical aspects of new water conservation technologies
(Photo courtesy of Dr. Shad Nelson)
Reprint from AgriLife
A
n educational program for Rio Grande Valley citrus growers on the practical aspects of new water conservation tech nologies will be held from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. May 9 at the Lone Star Citrus Growers headquarters, 9625 N. Moorefield Road, Mission. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. at the citrus growers’ packing house. The program is co-hosted by the Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center and the Texas Water Development Board. The event is free, but attendees are required to preregister by May 5 at http://twri.tamu.edu/irrigation. Dr. Lucas Gregory, Texas Water Resources Institute research scientist, College Station, said the program will start in the Lone Star Citrus Growers’ orchard with a discussion on recent advances and demonstrations of water-conserving irrigation technologies.
search conducted by the Citrus Center and Texas A&M AgriLife. “Findings presented from citrus field demonstrations will show water savings and economic benefits that can be expected when these practices are implemented,” Nelson said. “A grower panel discussion will also highlight local experiences using alternative irrigation strategies.”
“The field session will emphasize producer perspectives on the advantages of drip irrigation and practical methods for using narrow border flood,” he said. “Growers will also be able to make preliminary observations on raised beds, with and without plastic mesh.”
Brad Cowan, AgriLife Extension agent for Hidalgo County, said an update on some key citrus issues will be given after lunch. “Pest management issues relative to water management strategies and financial assistance opportunities for producers will be covered,” he said.
Gregory said producers who have implemented some of these technologies will provide relevant insights to other producers and answer questions about how the technologies have affected their operations.
One Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education unit in the general category will be offered due to the disease- and entomology-related issues and mitigation strategy presentations, Cowan said.
He said the program will move into the packing house midmorning for discussions on water savings and the economics of each water conservation practice.
“Information about funding opportunities for producers to defray some of the implementation costs will conclude the day,” he said.
Dr. Shad Nelson, interim dean, Texas A&M University-Kingsville College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences, said local scientists and economists will highlight recent re-
Funding for the event is provided by the Texas Water Development Board through an Agricultural Water Conservation Grant to AgriLife Extension. M AY / J U N E
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BY WEBB WALLACE
Cotton Day at the Capitol
March 2, 2017 - Texas Independence Day!
Lindy Patton (left) and Webb Wallace (right) visit with Texas Senator Juan Hinojosa about the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Program. Senator Hinojosa is vice-chair of the Senate Finance Committee and supports the eradication program.
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Cotton Day at the Capital is a biennial event held every other year when the legislature is in session in order to educate and remind legislators about the importance of cotton to the Texas economy and to bring attention to any issues facing the cotton industry.
Council, and Texas Independent Ginners Association. About forty people participated this year. Participants from the Rio Grande Valley included Webb Wallace, representing Cotton and Grain Producers of the Rio Grande Valley, and Gerald Miligan, represent-
Cotton stakeholders from across the state met at the Capital on March 2 to take cotton souvenirs to all 150 state representatives, all 31 state senators, plus the governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller, and agriculture commissioner. The souvenir package included a set of cotton towels embroidered with the Texas state seal, miniature cotton bales, and a cotton tote bag. As the souvenirs were distributed, participants took the opportunity to visit with legislators or their staff and discuss cotton issues. The primary message this year was the outstanding success of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Program and the importance of finishing the job in the Rio Grande Valley. The proposed funding for the 2017-2018 biennium is $9.8 million, which is part of the Texas Department of Agriculture budget and is in the proposed budget of both the house and the senate. Those funds will all be coming to the Rio Grande Valley zone to offset operation expenses. The cost for the Cotton Day souvenirs is shared by Texas Cotton Ginners Association, Texas Cotton Producers, Texas Ag Co-op
ing Texas Cotton Ginners Association. If you would like to participate in the next Cotton Day, contact the Texas Cotton Ginners Association in early 2019.
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E. Wood Ave. mondville, TX 78550
MORE THAN JUST INSURANCE!
689.2113
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Anyone can become a member Smith ScottofGilbert and take advantage all these cy Manager Agent services for only
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May 2017 Dates May 2 - Pesticide License Training- Hidalgo County Extension Office, Edinburg (RSVP required) May 9 - Citrus Irrigation Meeting- Lone Star Citrus Growers, Mission May 10 - Texas Citrus Mutual Annual Meeting- RGVLS, Mercedes May 11 - Vegetable Crops Field Day @ A&M Center- Weslaco May 23 - Grain Sorghum & Corn Field Day- Rio Farms, Monte Alto
Important upcoming dates for Ag Producers:
Contact the County Extension Office for details on any of these events
Brad Cowan, County Extension Agent Agriculture Hidalgo County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service 410 North 13th Avenue, Edinburg, TX 78541 https://hidalgo.agrilife.org/home/agriculture o) 956-383-1026, m) 956-330-3208
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HANKA SOD 32054 Weaver Road, San Benito, Texas
956-207-9004
Harvesting year ‘round Delivery Available
Your business is our priority! Locally grown
TIFT 419, Bermuda, Floratam & St. Augustine
BREED AWARD RANCH LOCATION BULL RGVBIA INDEX *
Early Junior Bull Calf (01/20/16 - 04/20/16)
Beefmaster (23) Champion Pena Farms Beefmasters Edinburg 50 (603) 109.60 Reserve Rancho El Tardillo Laredo 90 (16) 107.08 1st Runner Up Cappadona Ranch Linn 41 (126/16) 106.40 Brahman (5)
Champion
Red Brangus (4) Champion
SRS Land & Cattle
Mercedes
25 (296/6)
95.72
Southern Star Ranch
Weslaco
94 (562D)
104.23
Santa Gertrudis (9) Champion La Campana Ranch George West 28 (629) 111.51 Reserve Lazy JV Ranch Edcouch 20 (6/157) 111.46 Simbrah (8) Champion La Muñeca Cattle Co. Linn 68 (5D43) 116.95 Reserve La Muñeca Cattle Co. Linn 61 (5D15) 110.18
Late Senior Bull Calf (10/20/15 - 01/19/16)
Beefmaster (8) Champion Santa Ana Ranch McAllen 09 (1580) 108.49 Reserve Santa Ana Ranch McAllen 07 (1574) 104.03 Santa Gertrudis (10) Champion Olivarez Ranches Mission 75 (6/641) 104.56 Reserve Puesta del Sol Ranch Austin 36 (16/69) 104.09 Simbrah (9) Champion La Muñeca Cattle Co. Linn 59 (5C/204) 112.97 Reserve 6G Ranch Eagle Lake 98 (5C76) 107.18
Late Summer Yearling Bull (07/20/15 - 10/19/15)
Beefmaster (9) Champion Santa Ana Ranch McAllen 02 Reserve Las Pintas Beefmaster Garciasville 78 Simbrah (7) Champion La Muñeca Cattle Co. Linn 63 Reserve La Muñeca Cattle Co. Linn 58
(1563) 108.89 (23/15) 97.67 (5C178) 120.73 (5C164) 117.89
* RGVBIA Index is the ratios of the following computed within each age group: 30% Average Daily Gain, 20% Rib Eye Area/cwt, 20% Weight per Day of Age, 20% Marbling and 10% Scrotal Circumference. Cannot compare indexes across age groups or breeds.
Road Trippin’ Around
A
BY KATHRYN BRADY
ll of my life, I have enjoyed driving across the state of Texas. And I have spent a lot of my life doing that very thing.
When I was growing up we lived far from the rest of the family; so we would travel to visit them, my family also liked to go for Bluebonnet drives to the hill country and other trips around the state. When we were growing up, my brother and I, were encouraged to entertain ourselves on these long road trips and to use our imagination and observe the world outside the vehicle. If we complained or started arguing in the car, my dad would ask us to take a look at the land and agriculture out the window and we would make comments about the breeds of livestock or types of crops. Early on this gave me an appreciation for the variety and vastness of the ‘Lone Star State’ Now, I’m all grown up and have a job that has sent me all across the state, where I have made many friends and still travel around to see them and to attend conferences. And it is still one of my favorite things to see the landscape of Texas subtly change before your eyes.
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As we all know, and our keen to boast, Texas is a large state with many different regions, vegetation, crops and agriculture. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife there are seven eco-regions in Texas; including the Big Bend, gulf coast, hill country, panhandle plains, pineywoods, prairies and lakes and south Texas plains. Each of these regions has characteristics unique to itself. The Big Bend region is in the western most portion of Texas and “has wide-open spaces with rugged plateaus and desert mountains. The plateaus have short grasses and brush. The only mountains in Texas are found here. It is a region of extremes. The desert is dry and hot in the day and cool at night. Plants and animals are adapted for the desert”. The gulf coast region “is dissected by streams and rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. Here you can find: barrier islands along the coast; salt grass marshes surrounding its bays and estuaries; a few remaining patches of tallgrass prairies; oak mottes scattered along the coast; and tall woodlands in the river bottomlands.
Photo courtesy of TPWD website
The Texas Hill Country is located in Central Texas. “The land is a rolling, hilly grassland. It sits on the Edwards Plateau. A plateau is high, flat land. There are many springs and some steep canyons in this area. There are also hidden, underground lakes in the Edwards Aquifer”.
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Brady
The panhandle region has mostly flat, grassy land or plains. States. Sometimes this land is also called the Llano Estacado or “Staked Plains.” The land is mostly treeless and is on a high, flat plateau. The eastern part of the Panhandle is not quite as flat. It is lower in elevation and called a rolling plain. There is more rainfall in this eastern half and it is brushy. The western and eastern parts of the Panhandle region is strikingly divided by deep canyons carved by rivers and their tributaries that wind their way through this area.
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Brady
“The East Texas region is primarily a thick forest of pines. The terrain is rolling with lower, wetter bottomlands that grow hardwood trees. Swamps are common, particularly in the southern most area of the region which is called the “Big Thicket.”
Photo courtesy of TPWD website
The Prairies and Lakes region is in north central and central Texas. This area is a transition between the plains of the West Texas Panhandle and the Pineywoods of East Texas. Patches of woodland running in a north and south direction are sprinkled throughout this grassland prairie. The land is gently rolling to hilly. This region is sometimes called “cross timbers” because these patches of treed areas cross strips of prairie grassland. The soil here is rich, fertile, and black. Part of this region is called Blackland Prairie because of this. Once, tall prairie grasses grew all across this region but settlers built farms and produce crops on it now. (TPWD website) “The South Texas plains and brush country stretches from the edges of the Hill Country into the subtropical regions of the Lower Rio Grande valley. Much of the area is dry and covered with grasses and thorny brush such as mesquite and prickly pear cacti.” All of these regions and their diversity in climate, plants and animals lead to the uniqueness and sustainability that is Texas. The range of weather, flora and fauna there is also an assortment of agriculture practice throughout the state as well. You can drive from east to west where there is forestry and pastureland to small farms and ranches in the urban areas in central Texas and then cross into the large ranch coun try with the wide open spaces that Texas is famous for. And going from north to south there is the variety of vegetable, fruit and grain crops grown in south Texas to the dry, arid landscape with large cotton and grain farms a few dairies and large ranches of north Texas and the pan handle. Just as distinctive is the uniqueness of each region’s culture including heritage, traditions, history, food and dialect; which can immediately alert another Texas as to where you hail from. First and foremost, though, Texans are Texans and amid all the distinctions, we are one in the same a people with a history and legacy unlike anywhere else; which leads to an enormous sense of pride that can never be taken away. Texans have a deep connection with their roots and the land. Just listen to the many Texas Country songs about driving across the state. After all Texas is the “boldest and grandest with an empire wide and glorious” that cannot be matched anywhere in world. Next time you drive across this vast state take the time to appreciate Texas’ exceptional array of landscapes and agriculture.
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The Texas Citrus Industry... The Legacy of Tenacious Growers BY ELEISHA ENSIGN
Then The first citrus trees were planted in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the late 1800’s. John H. Shary, a developer originally from Omaha, Nebraska, felt citrus was the crop of the future for Texas. Shary, also known as the “Father of the Citrus Industry”, combined his interest in growing citrus with the latest irrigation techniques and a determination to sell valley citrus commercially. In 1914, he bought 16,000 acres of brush land and after clearing it, proceeded to grow his first crop of seeded white grapefruit. The first commercial shipment of citrus – packed in onion crates – left the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas in 1920. In the mid 1950’s, acreage had grown to approximately 120,000 acres. Following freezes in 1949, 1951, and 1962, the industry was greatly reduced causing local canneries and packing houses to close and farmers and growers to have no income. And once again freezes devastated in the industry in 1983 and 1989 further
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depleting the acreage of citrus grown in Texas. Add this to massive urbanization in the RGV, and the industry today sits at approximately 26,000 acres of citrus, 70% being our world renowned red grapefruit and the remaining 30% various orange varieties. Growers and packing houses have worked tirelessly to grow delicious, healthy citrus fruit and to promote and sell worldwide. Recent years have brought eve more challenges to our industry. In 2012, Huanglongbing (HLB), better known as citrus greening disease, was first found in South Texas. And in 2015 citrus canker was also found as well. These incurable citrus tree diseases have shaken the industry and instigated a time of change and growth. Growers, packing houses, Texas Citrus Mutual, USDA, TDA and Scientists from Texas A&M University Kingsville Citrus Center
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have all banned together over the past 5 years to formulate a plan to combat these threats. Having witnessed from afar the great decline of the Florida citrus industry starting in 2005, everyone involved was very concerned about what the future of our industry would look like. Five years after that initial find of citrus greening disease, there is hope. The Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation (TCPDMC) has arisen from the work of all groups involved. The mission of the TCPDMC is to manage and control citrus pests and diseases in citrus plants in the state of Texas by planning, carrying-out and operating a suppression program while incorporating an area-wide, integrated pest management approach. This work is underway with a focus on trapping and surveying commercial groves for the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), the insect that spreads citrus greening disease. Biological control and educational outreach efforts to local growers and residents is ongoing as well. But most importantly, new citrus acreage is being planted in the RGV. New commercial citrus acreage has increased by approximately 3,278 acres since January 2013. New acreage includes grapefruit and oranges primarily with limited amounts of lime trees. Both organic and conventional groves are being planted. The most impressive factor of these new acres being planted, is they are being planted in spite of the serious citrus tree diseases the industry is battling. The information that growers have learned over the past few years battling these diseases has greatly impacted these decisions.
Growers do have some advantages. Most of the new trees were planted disease free since recent legislation mandated greenhouse screening to protect young trees prior to being planted. Also, soil injected with imidacloprid is one of the most effective ways to protect these young, susceptible trees from ACP for the first few years until tree canopies begin to develop. Growers are also ever vigilant for ACP outbreaks in their groves, especially from February through November when new flush draws ACP in. Treating groves against ACP has increased grove care costs by up to 30% in some instances. Trent Bishop from Lone Star Citrus Growers commented that “As part of our long term strategic plan, we do plant new acreage annually. It is crucial that we increase supply at or near the same rate as our customer’s needs increase. Although HLB is certainly a risk that bears our attention and respect, we have chosen not to allow that to deter us from growing to meet the demands of the market.” Five years ago, our industry was once again in great turmoil. And once again, our tenacious growers have worked through oftentimes insurmountable challenges. Today, there is new hope on the horizon in the form of freshly planted young citrus trees that will continue our great legacy.
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Educating the Children Name: Caleb Johnson Postion: GT (Gifted & Talented) Teacher School: Jefferson Elementary Grade you teach: 1st -5th grade What was the purpose of the field day? It was part of our 9 week unit learning about agriculture, plant growth, and gardening. After learning about the plant life cycle, we planted our own garden, and researched a variety of fruits, vegetables, and crops from around the world. We had already learned about the life cycle, history, and uses of cotton, and how the industry has changed over the years. For our trip, we went out to see and learn about the Johnson Farms operation from my father, Lynn Johnson, during planting season, inspect the farming equipment and cotton seed, and observe a cotton seed scientific test plot performed by Helena Chemical Co. What time did the kids learn? We went on the trip March 2nd and are planning on having an update on the cotton production sometime in May. Why did you feel it was important to take the kids? Most kids don’t have the opportunity to see a farming operation like I did as a kid. In fact, several of my students had never left Harlingen before this trip. So I try to take any chance I get to expose them to things in the world they may never have been privy too. What inspired you to have this idea? I felt it was important for kids to get a chance to see where there food comes from and how they can grow their own. While I was planning for the project, I learned Harlingen’s school district was implementing a gardening program in the elementary schools this year so it was serendipity. How many kids attended? We had 20 kids ranging from 1st – 5th grades. Where was the field day held? We went to Johnson Farms headquarters in Lyford.
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What kind of activities did the kids participate in? We learned about the different varieties of cotton seed and the history of cotton production and harvesting form Lynn and Alden Johnson at Johnson Farm HQ. They heard how much cotton farming has changed in such a short time. From the early days of horse and plow and tractors with metal wheels in my grandpa’s years to GPS computer controlled tractors that my dad now operates. Then we took our bus out to the fields to see the cotton planters planting different varieties of cotton seed in a ‘test plot’ to determine which seed produces the highest yield. Then students heard a presentation from Bayer Chemical Rep, Rick Hernandez about his job and how he works with cotton farmers to ensure the best final product. Finally, a few lucky students got to ride a round on the tractor to see the self-driving planters in action. Who all was at the field day? (Which Valley farmers, Seed reps etc) Alden Johnson (grandfather, 89, retired, founder of Johnson Farms) Lynn Johnson (father, Johnson Farms partner) Mark Jud (uncle, Johnson Farms partner, he came by to show the kids the ‘spray rig’ used to fertilize the already planted cotton) Travis Johnson (cousin, Johnson Farms partner, drove the kids on the planter) Rick Hernandez (Bayer Chemical Rep) Why is it important from a teachers standpoint for children to learn about agriculture? It’s important from a health standpoint to teach them the value of nutrition. Kids need to learn where their food originates from and how it’s made. Growing a garden teaches self-reliance and has real tangible results and rewards for your work. Our garden is now producing, and we have been using our crops in our cooking classes to make homemade pickles, zucchini pizzas, salsa, salads, and more.
Are You Telling Your Story?
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pril 27 is/was National Tell a Story Day. Are you telling a story … Your story? Are you a farmer, rancher or cattleman? If you are, you have a great story to tell and share to the world! From pasture, to packer to plate we have much to share. All too often our industry goes unappreciated and undervalued. People do not understand that even though they are not directly involved in the agriculture industry, they are still reaping the benefits that our great commerce offers.
Why should we tell our story? We must share our story to:
1) Educate 2) Raise awareness 3) Gain respect So how do we educate consumers about how agriculture, farming and ranching plays a vital role and significantly impacts their day to day lives? Well, it’s easy, we begin by telling and sharing our story. One of the easiest ways we can tell our story is with photos and utilizing the ever so popular and growing social media channels. As the saying goes, “Pictures are worth a thousand words!” Social media includes platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, to name only a few. Social media is free, fast, constant and ever-changing. It’s the way the world communicates now and it definitely is the way of the future as it continues to evolve. Social media is instant, easy and you can communication 24/7, year-round across the globe. Social media is a great way to share our story. Are you taking advantage of this resource and using it to share your story? If you’re not, jump on the bandwagon and join us in sharing our wonderful farming/ranch-
BY BONNIE RAMIREZ
ing story. It’s too good of a story not to share. This year National Agriculture Day was March 21; did you “Thank you a Farmer/Rancher”? Did you celebrate it? This is another great way to tell and share our story! National Ag Day is a day to recognize and celebrate the abundance agriculture provides. Every year producers, agricultural associations and several agriculture advocates join together celebrate and recognize the contributions of agriculture. National Ag Day is organized by the Agriculture Council of America. The Ag Day program encourages Americans to: • Understand how food and fiber products are produced • Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy • Appreciate the role agriculture plays in provid ing safe, abundant and affordable products Did you know that agriculture provides almost everything we eat, use and wear on a daily basis? Each American farmer feeds more than 144 people, which is a significant increase from the 1960s, which was a mere 25 people. Most people do not understand this feat. This is especially true with people who are not exposed to the agriculture lifestyle; who were born, raised and live in urban/metropolitan areas. So, my agricultural-minded friends, I challenge you to go forth and tell your story! Let’s share our agriculture and livestock story and not only raise awareness, but also gain appreciation and respect for our amazing industry! Tell your story and make it one worth telling, make it a good one!!! M AY / J U N E
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Research team finds better way to grow citrus and wins prestigious state award
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BY KAREN FORD
n May a team of researchers and educators from the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) will travel to Austin to accept the state’s top award for envi ronmental excellence as a result of their work in agricultural water conservation and finding a better way to grow citrus.
Each year, the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards honor achievements in environmental preservation and protection. As the state’s highest environmental honor, the Office of the Governor and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recognize outstanding projects from nine diverse categories. This year the award for Agriculture went to the citrus research team of The Texas Project for Ag Water Efficiency (Texas AWE), a grant-funded program managed by the Harlingen
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Irrigation District-Cameron County #1 (HIDCC1) and its general manager, Tom McLemore, and led by Dr. Shad Nelson, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center. Additional important collaboration came from Mr. Mac Young, Agricultural Economic specialist, at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and FARM Assist Program, and Dr. Juan Enciso, Agricultural Engineer, at Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Other key research participants included dozens of citrus growers/ cooperators who were willing to test new technology and irrigation methods in their own citrus groves. The TexasAWE was a 10-year project, funded by the Texas Water Development Board, which investigated the relative benefits of different irrigation techniques. Analysis of the project revealed a technique with the greatest water savings and economic gains for citrus producers in the LRGV called “narrow border flood” (NBF) irrigation.
Citrus growers in the LRGV commonly use large pan irrigation to flood the field with about six inches of water. NBF is a modified version of large pan that requires a flat field and berms between each of the citrus rows. When flooding the field using NBF, only the channels underneath the citrus trees receive water. This technique reduces the amount of water that moves beyond the root zone, which keeps fertilizers in place to be absorbed by the citrus trees. When compared to the traditional large pan flood irrigation practice and even other water-conserving irrigation techniques, NBF irrigation exhibited several advantages over the others:
1) during drought, NBF uses less water than micro-jet spray or drip irrigation; 2) compared to large pan, NBF reduces water use by 35 percent; 3) NBF is significantly less costly to establish over microjet or drip; 4) NBF produces higher yields of better qual ity than traditional largepan flood, drip or microjet spray; and
award-winning researchers continue in the LRGV as they study different irrigation and farming techniques to become even more water conserving and efficient and to tackle other challenges, like pest and disease control. This dedication benefits the environment and producers, and ensures a fruitful future for the citrus industry in the LRGV.
NOTE UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL EVENT FOR CITRUS GROWERS: A free, one-day program on advances in citrus irrigation practices is set for May 9, 8am to 3pm, at Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission, TX. Further, pest management implications of irrigation practices will provide 1 hour of CEU credit. More information, full agenda, and registration by May 5 at: http://twri.tamu. edu/irrigation
5) due to the better yields and low cost of implementation, NBF increases net cash farm income even with current low water prices. TexasAWE estimates a savings of about 13 billion gallons of water per year if the entire citrus industry in the LRGV converted to NBF. When compared to large pan, TexasAWE estimates that NBF brings producers an additional $1,000 per acre each year.
About the author: Karen Ford is principal at WaterPR, outreach partner for TexasAWE and other water-focused organizations and businesses around the state. Waterpr.com
The TexasAWE Project has led to international collaborations with visiting international scientists from Morocco, Israel, Egypt, China and Mexico to enhance water conservation in citrus production around the world. Videos and other reports on this project can be found at http://TexasAWE.org. While the TexasAWE project has ended, efforts among the M AY / J U N E
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RGV Brahman & F-1 Association Has A Busy Spring ”At the recent RGV Steer Show held in Mercedes, TX, the RGV Brahman & F-1 Association once again invested over $5,000 in premiums to all of the exhibitors in this show. This was the fifth year for this registered Brahman steer show which has created lots of interest for the Brahman breed due to the muscle shape, finish and disposition of the steers shown” stated Mike England, President of the RGV Brahman & F-1 Association. Carlos X. Guerra III known as “Pops” from the Linn San Manuel 4-H Club won Grand Champion with his 1370 lbs. Polled son of MR V8 279/7 (P). The steer was bred by Louie Flores of 4F Cattle Co. The Reserve Champion weighed 1305 lbs. and was exhibited by Ariana Pena from Mission FFA. The steer was bred by Beto Salinas, long time mayor of Mission, TX.” stated Javier Moreno, Treasurer of the RGV Brahman & F-1 Association. “Our next two events will be our Annual $6,000 RGV Brahman & F-1 Association Bull & Heifer Futurity held in conjunction with the LMC $ellabration at La Muneca Ranch where half of the premiums are awarded in showmanship. We also just held our Annual Showmanship Clinic and Show at the RGV Show with over 35 junior participants. It was judged by Eddie Garcia. Our other spring event will be our Scholarship interviews. We are excited about the growth of both our Jr. and Adult associaitons” says Carlos X. Guerra Jr., VP of the RGV Brahman Association.
For more info, please contact Mike England at englandfarms@aol.com or Carlos X. Guerra Jr. at cxg2000@aol.com M AY / J U N E
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Reprint from Farm Press
VEGETABLES
Resistance may be the key to devastating potato disease
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Potato psyllids cover the leaf of a potato plant.
he campaign against zebra chip of potato began in South Texas in 2000, and from 2006 to 2008, annual damage caused by the disease in the Rio Grande Valley, Pearsall, West Texas and the High Plains reached into the millions of dollars.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant pathology team in Amarillo has identified some promising germplasm that will help in the battle against the costly zebra chip disease in potatoes. Dr. Charlie Rush, plant pathologist, says the team intentionally infected potato plants with psyllids positive with the bacterium that causes zebra chip, a deadly disease plaguing the potato industry for the past 15 years. Rush and Dr. Fekede Workneh, senior research scientist, conducted the study, funded by a grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture, to look for potato varieties that have some
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resistance to zebra chip bred into them.
Related: Texas AgriLife extends commitment to vegetable research “If potato varieties with genetic resistance can be identified, growers will have another tool in developing a comprehensive integrated pest management program to battle the disease,” Rush said. The campaign against zebra chip of potato began in South Texas in 2000, and from 2006 to 2008, annual damage caused by the disease in the Rio Grande Valley, Pearsall, West Texas and the High Plains reached into the millions of dollars. However, early on, no one knew what was causing this devastating disease or how it was spreading so quickly, Rush said. While the disease was not harmful to humans, the discoloration it caused prompted the potatoes to be discounted going
into the market.
CULPRIT IDENTIFIED In 2008, the potato psyllid was shown to be spreading the disease from plant to plant, but the actual cause of the disease was still unknown, he said. Then in 2009, the bacterium, which is vectored by the potato psyllid and causes zebra chip, was identified as Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum or Lso. Today, Rush said producers can only reduce their losses to zebra chip by controlling the psyllid with multiple applications of insecticides. “This has prevented the catastrophic losses experienced by growers in the mid 2000s, but is very expensive and doesn’t provide growers with the number of management options they typically have available when dealing with other insect and disease problems,” he said.
left for about 50 days to ensure anything infected would be exhibiting symptoms,” Workneh said. The potatoes were dug up and sliced and then rated visually for tuber symptoms on a scale from zero to 3 with zero meaning no infection and 3 being the worst, he said. After they were rated visually, the slices were molecularly tested for titer levels – how much bacterium concentration the potato contained. “The severely infected potatoes will actually go down in titer level after a period of time, but only because they degrade rapidly if they initially had high titers,” Workneh said.
PROMISING RESULTS The results have all been gathered, and he said the study resulted in some promising germplasm in the battle against zebra chip, especially three or four lines from the Texas A&M program and one or two from the USDA. All of these will need to be further field tested to verify the 2016 results.
However, the industry is looking to research teams, such as AgriLife Research, to find more efficient and economical methods to battle the disease, Rush said. One such method would be to find potato varieties with a resistance to Lso, or to the psyllids that transmit the pathogen from plant to plant.
SEEKING RESISTANCE Workneh said they used two different sources of germplasm for the potato disease screening field trials in 2016 – the Texas A&M University potato breeding program led by Dr. Creighton Miller in College Station, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture potato breeding program in Aberdeen, Idaho, headed up by Dr. Rich Novy. “The germplasm from Dr. Novy is very wild and often the tubers from these plants look nothing like what is available in the grocery store, while the materials from Dr. Miller’s program are advanced in the breeding process and much nearer to commercialization,” Rush said. “Obviously, it would be great to find something from Dr. Miller’s advanced lines that had good resistance, but finding anything with strong resistance, even in the wildest germplasm, bodes well for availability of resistant varieties in the future,” he said. Novy sent seed tubers from 10 germplasm lines and Miller’s program sent seven. “We planted them in tents at the research farm near Bushland, with four plants per tent and replicated each tent twice under center pivot,” Workneh said. “Positive-testing psyllids raised in the greenhouse were placed in the tents – six per plant – after flowering.”
Workneh said the results will now be passed back to the breeders for further inclusion in their breeding programs. “Although the process seems painstakingly slow at times, it is necessary to provide the public with the high quality produce they demand, and to which they have become accustomed in the U.S.,” Rush said.
He said the psyllids were left on the plants for a week and then an insecticide was applied. “Normally after potatoes are infected, symptoms will show within a month; however, under this study, the potatoes were M AY / J U N E
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SOUTH TEXAS CITY INCREASES EFFORTS TO OVERCOME FOOD DESERT
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BY PAM GUERRA
he gift of agriculture has been given to the urban city of Laredo. The city coun cil voted to allow Laredoans to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs for con sumption in a home, community or dis trict gardens. Before this change, Laredo was one of the few larger cities in Texas to not have an urban agriculture ordinance. This change came about as the H-E-B on Farragut Street closed down and officially created the food desert, says Stephanie Garza, Former Director of El Centro De Laredo Farmers Market. The benefits of this change include the contribution of food security to Laredo, production of nutritious foods that use fewer carbon resources, and most importantly the creation of agricultural educational opportunities for all residents.
Urban Agriculture One of the major organizations assisting the benefits of urban agriculture is the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension in Webb County. They started the Growing & Nourishing Healthy Communities program –running through to the end of April, at the local La Presa Community Center. “The curriculum helps to increase the availability of fresh produce through teaching participants how to grow fruits and vegetables in community and backyard gardens” says Angie Sifuentes, Program Coordinator. Growing & Nourishing Healthy Communities, or GNHC, is a 62 Ag Mag
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6-lesson horticulture curriculum where participants begin with the basics and ensure Gardener Application –teaching participants sustainability of the raised beds and gives ownership to those who will be working on it. “They learn to identify the characteristics of a suitable garden site, evaluate soils and identify the main components such as sand, silt, clay, or loam”, says Sifuentes. She says they had so many calls after the city council voted on [the changes]; it was a great opportunity to talk to them about the program. Throughout the course, participants are exposed to educational components that empower them as gardeners. Starting with container gardens, the participants planted cilantro, basil, sage, dill, and parsley. “Once the garden bed was installed, thanks to Webb County Building Maintenance, our senior gardeners planted lettuce, radishes, cucumber, okra, and spinach” says Sifuentes. In lieu of their limited availability for water, participants are also exposed to educational materials involving water conservation and discussed rainwater harvesting for their location.
“With the motivation to harvest their garden and their water-conscious efforts, the plants have been prospering”, says Sifuentes. Through this effort, participants will not only have freshly grown vegetables for their disposal, but the program encourages workmanship and the knowledge to inspire them to trade their crops and herbs between each other and their lucky families.
Industrial Agriculture The organization’s other efforts to overcome the food desert is done by asking farmers to consider some management tips for keeping cowherds on the ground this spring season. Tip #1 With most of the calves on the ground, now is the time to begin planning to work this year’s calves. Vaccination for Blackleg and other Clostridia diseases should be a priority, says Sifuentes. The Sudden Death diseases (including Blackleg) are the number one killer of calves and cows. In addition, castration of bull calves, implanting the steer calves, internal and external parasite control treatment, dehorning, and identifying all calves with an ear tag and a ranch or holding brand should be included.
Tip #2 Any heifers considered for replacements should be vaccinated for Brucellosis or Bang’s disease between the ages of 4 and 12 months of age. Brucellosis causes abortion and was once a significant reproductive disease in the state. “After many years of vaccination and testing, Texas is Brucellosis free, but I highly recommend continued vaccination of replacement heifers, both purebred and commercial”, says Sifuentes. Your veterinarian will have to administer the brucellosis vaccine so you will have to schedule your calf working around an appointment with them. Tip #3 “Although I prefer knife cutting for castration, some prefer to use an elastic band to castrate calves…if you prefer to band your bull calves, I recommend a tetanus toxoid vaccination, explains Sifuentes. Since the process of castration by banding takes a little longer and the wound caused by the band takes longer to heal, there is a greater risk for infection. Some of the Blackleg vaccines, especially some of the 8-way vaccines, contain tetanus. Check the label or vaccinate with a separate injection. Tip #4 While planning for the calf working consider any cow work that might be done. If the calves are 3-4 months old, some early pregnancy checking could be conducted. In addition, “there might be some vaccinations your veterinarian recommends and certainly horn fly control would be appreciated by your cows” Sifuentes concludes. It has been an early season for horn flies and a combination of both a “knock down” product like a pour-on and long term control like a fly tag should be used. For more information on these efforts contact your local County Extension Agent.
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We Have Been Blessed! RGV CATTLE COMPANY
Our family has been blessed in the show ring the past few years. We are very proud of our daughter, Ava, for winning Grand Champion at the 2017 RGVLS Jr Show with RGV Enigma. She was also Reserve Grand in the Open show. We feel very proud and blessed of the fact that we have bred, raised, or shown a Grand Champion in the Jr or Open Simbrah RGVLS female shows in 6 of the last 8 years.
RGV Foxie shown by Olivia Vela– Grand Champion 2010 RGVLS Jr Show
RGV/LMC Dr. Beauty shown by Savannah and Cameron Chappell – Grand Champion 2012 RGVLS Open Show
LMC Delightful shown by Olivia Vela– Grand Champion 2014 RGVLS Jr Show Bred by La Muneca
We currently have a great set of heifers and steers for sale! Give us a call! RGV/LN Hope shown by Olivia Vela – Grand Champion 2015 RGVLS Open Show. Bred by RGV/La Negra
RGV Cattle Company
RGV/LMC/CTCF Blossom shown by Makayla Sanchez– Grand Champion 2016 Jr and Open Shows. Bred by RGV/LMC/Chappell Farms.
Edinburg, Texas (956) 279-2200
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rgvrene@aol.com
SPRING CROP GROWING STRIDE BY CASEY CLIPSON
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his month as we move into our “Growing Stride” for spring crops in South Texas, I want to discuss a couple of issues that have come up during this growing season. I’ll also cover some issues that have surfaced in our area from lack of rainfall and even too much rain in the same county. How these situations can be costly, and how they can be managed. Finally, I want to give a PLC update. I have owned CropGuard, a crop insurance business, in the RGV for 12 years now. I have seen many weather patterns in this time. Major droughts, heavy rains, hurricanes, hail damage, high winds, etc. I am not sure if I have seen a weather pattern like this before. For the most part crops look good, but there are some areas that are still very dry. I guess the strange thing is, this year the areas that have normally been wet to normal rainfall are the dry ones, and the normally dryer areas have good moisture thus good crops. There are areas that received 7-8 inches, and even up to 10 inches in March and across the road only received 1.5” and 1 mile down the road from that received .2 of an inch of rain with no sub moisture. This was during a 3 to 4 day rain event. These blessed rains that growers did receive should make a huge difference in the potential yields that should follow, and should make a substantial difference in our growers’ revenue for the 2017 crop year.
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However, there are some areas that we have had to adjust out. These areas just did not get the rainfall this past fall nor did they get enough rain to sustain a viable crop. If you drive around you can see some crops that are struggling due to lack of moisture especially in southern and eastern Cameron County. The sad issue is even the areas in other parts of RGV that have a good start on moisture, will need another solid rain to finish. One major issue, in weather patterns like this, is when growers have chosen EU or enterprise units. This option combines all acres in the same unit for the same crop, and gives the growers a huge discount in premiums. As costs of Crop insurance rises, growers choose to take more of a county wide approach in Risk management. However, one of the most dis-heartening things I experience as an agent is to see growers have 80% of their fields in good shape and 20% that did not come up. They soon realize that the 20% more than likely has very little coverage due to the selection of EU and the amount of production the 80% will produce. This is a very tough situation to be in, but if we look at the discount savings in premium we often see there is a lot less revenue loss (due to the savings in Premium given for EU) than one would think, thus making less of a difference in financial position for the Farmer if they would have written optional units. Not the case always but more times than not.
EU is an option that can also be written by Practice. This will create two Units. All dryland acres in one unit and all irrigated acres in one unit. This has been a helpful change in the 2014 farm bill, but more is needed. We are currently working with the Risk Management Agency on the ability to choose EU on Irrigated and Optional Units on NI, or vice versa. The ability to select different options on different practices is not allowed at this time, but hopefully there will be more to come on this in the future. Also in the near future growers will hear allot about new products that are coming out. They will hear about one in particular called Whole Farm Revenue (WFRP). I say this with great sincerity….…PAY ATTENTION!!!! I have done extensive research on this policy. It is a great Idea with very little substance for growers in the South that have had crop insurance losses. I have been monitoring the WFRP program for two years now. While I have seen major changes in WFRP in a very short time which is a good direction, it does however currently fall short in a lot of areas and may only add cost to already strapped farming operations. I absolutely feel WFRP has promise if we can get the correct changes to the policy made, but at this time there is much work to be done. There will definitely be more to come on this subject as it develops.
Lastly…..the good news…..April 11, 2017, the PLC update price list came out and it is showing the following:
As you can see the Grain Sorghum is showing $1.20/bu PLC payment and Corn is showing $.30/bu. payment. This means that a grower with 80/bu Grain Sorg. Yields on a farm, will receive around $80/ac for their grain sorghum acres and any generic base that rotates to Grain on that farm. This could be a huge number for farmers. These Prices do not get set until the late summer or fall depending on the crop, but it would be very difficult to not have a payment in Oct for the 2016 PLC payment. Remember there are FSA limitations, and the limits need to be looked at if there are any changes in the operations like additional acres, members retire, etc. All changes could affect what the entity/farmer is eligible for as far as PLC payments.
We at CropGuard Group, try our very best to help growers manage risk and farm programs to maximize the output. Stop in we will be glad to help.
CropGuard Group, Inc. 2315 W Expressway 83 Suite 102 San Benito, TX 78586 956-688-8485 C Casey Clipson Mobile 956-793-1282 M AY / J U N E
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Name: Lou Castro Occupation: Director of Food Services Rio Hondo ISD/Owner/Operator TXQ RUBS A little history about yourself: I have always wanted to produce a rub/marinade. I have been cooking, especially on a smoker or grill since about the age of 13. It is one of my true passions. And It is my goal to make this passion my occupation.
Tell me a little about 956 seasonings? TXQ RUBS was born late at night on a driveway next to a mesquite fired pit in Brownsville. Texas. We are proud Texans and wanted to showcase Texas in a different way than our predecessors. We separated our seasonings by area codes, representing different geographic locations with the flavors and traditions that customarily reside in these areas. For example, (956) is an all-purpose rub. We wanted our first regional rub to be our hometown region of (956)! We used the flavors of the area, lime, garlic, chile, Comino etc. to create a rub that enhances all foods. Our next rub (214) will be our Steak and Veggie Rub, based on simple bold flavors and a touch of citrus that enhance bold beefy flavors and bright flavors of freshly picked veggies.
A little further down the road are:
H H H H H H
(361) our coastal bend Seafood Rub (210) our zesty Fajita Rub (409) our Cajun/Creole Rub (512) our Brisket Rub (713) our Pork and Yard Bird Rub (806) our Green Chile South West Rub
Why did you start 956 and what inspired you to start? I am a dreamer. It has always been a dream of mine to go into business for myself/my family. The idea of representing the various wonderful, regional flavors of Texas is exciting to me! I have a natural knack for cooking, especially on the woodfired, rustic end. What a truly wonderful thing to be able to make a living doing something that I truly love and around people who also love to cook outside. This company was made for people whose idea of a good time is getting home after a hard day’s work and lighting 68 Ag Mag
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up the pit with friends and family! There is something inherently trustworthy about someone who loves to cook/BBQ/Grill!
Where can you find the seasonings? We are currently located in 17 retail locations across the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas.
H Lower Valley
• Jones Liquor Brownsville and Los Fresnos • Gordon’s Bait and Tackle Brownsville • Lopez Food Stores on Van Buren and Mcdavitt Brownsville • Charlies Meat Market Brownsville
H Mid Valley
• Hook Line and Sinker Harlingen • Mikes Supermarket Rio Hondo • Moe’s Corner Market Hwy 345 in between San Benito and Rio Hondo • Rio Valley Meats Weslaco
H Upper Valley
• South Texas Outdoor Kitchens in San Juan, and McAllen • Bob Starks Meat Shop in Mission and McAllen • South Texas BBQ Emporium Beeville, Texas • Staples Street Meat Market Corpus Christi • Moody’s Quality Meats Corpus Christi
How long did it take to perfect your seasoning? As for me, It took a couple,, three months to get it where I wanted it. Friends and Family played a big part in that process and were gracious guinea pigs all the way through. We decided to go with a co-packer from Texas. We wanted to ensure consistency and quality from the get-go. It was a task to get their recipe to match our recipe in taste aroma, texture and color due to a difference in the spices we were using and the spices that they use. It took us a total of 10 months to finalize a product that was exactly what we sent them. They did a fantastic job, and package an exceptional product for us.
Why is your seasoning so special?
sion for outdoor cooking, and food in general. The traditions and flavors that are represented in each of our current and upcoming blends will be special to all that enjoy them. They are meant to elicit fond memories of times past, or elicit the desire to find out more about a certain region. Each one of our rubs is designed to be a culinary tour of each region represented. It is a family affair. You will rarely find me without my beautiful wife and son by my side! We all love it, and we all believe in it!
Do you use Valley products in your seasonings? We currently do not use Valley spices in our seasonings, although we are working towards that end.
Are you recipes passed down from generations or did you make them up your own? These are my own recipes based upon my experiences of the traditions and flavors od generations past.
Where do you see your seasonings in the next 5 years? TXQ RUBS was not created to be a hobby. We plan to expand our retail coverage exponentially throughout the next year. Our main goal at this point is to get on to HEB shelves!
What do you think your seasoning goes best with? Our first rub (956) was designed to complement everything from shrimp to steak, venison to veggies. Everyone has their favorites though, my wife Melissa’s favorite is on fajitas.
How do you implement Valley Ag into your business? We have had the pleasure to use our rubs on fresh valley produce and game. As part of the (956) ideology, we try to utilize local products, including produce and beef to create exceptional culinary experiences! That being said, these experiences may occur in a dining room or leaning over the grass on a driveway.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF BEEF 706 FIRST SERIES Rio Grande City, TX – The Texas A&M AgrilLife Extension Service & Cooperative Extension Program were the hosts of the 1st Beef 706 Course held in the Rio Grande Valley. Over 45 South Texas cattlemen and women attended the Beef 706 three-part series on March 25, 2017 in Rio Grande City, Texas. The Beef 706 is a part of the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) efforts and is designed to educate producers about sound management decisions and the factors impacting the safety and quality of beef. The first session was held on March 25, 2017 at the R.Y. Livestock Auction Market beginning at12:00 noon with a steak lunch followed by a discussion lead by industry experts on factors effecting feeder calves. Attendees then choose a calf to monitor through the production system and will follow through the remainder two sessions. Session two will be held September 28, 2017 at Rio Beef Feedyard to only those participants who signed up for the class back in March. This session will offer an inside look into a feedyard and review the cattle as finished market steers. The final session will be held October 20-21, 2017 at the Animal Science Department on campus at Texas A&M University Kingsville beginning at 8 a.m. The final session will allow beef producers to participate in a hands-on exercise that takes their chosen fed cattle through the harvest, grading and fabrication process. This program is a joint effort of the County Extension Agents in Starr, Cameron, Hidalgo, Brooks, Zapata and Willacy Counties, along with the leadership of Livestock Specialist, Dr. Joe Paschal and Meat Science Specialist, Dr. Dan Hale. The Texas Beef Council is responsible for the complete financial support of this program. R.Y. Livestock Auction, Rio Beef Feedyard, Kane’s Processors and Texas A&M UniversityKingsville are partners in the program.
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WASHINGTON, March 31, 2017
USDA OFFERS RENEWAL OPTIONS FOR EXPIRING CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM CONTRACTS USDA’s Largest Conservation Program Helps Producers Improve Health, Productivity of Working Lands
A
cting Deputy Agriculture Secretary Michael Young has announced that a contract renewal sign-up is under way for the Conservation Steward ship Program (CSP), USDA’s largest working lands conservation program with more than 80 million acres enrolled. Participants with existing CSP contracts that will expire on Dec. 31 can renew their contract for an additional five years if they agree to adopt additional activities to achieve higher levels of conservation on their lands. Applications to renew expiring contracts are due by May 5. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) made several updates to the popular program last fall. These changes help producers better evaluate conservation options that benefit their operations while improving the health and productivity of private and Tribal working lands. “The changes made to CSP are providing even greater opportunities for stewardship-minded producers across the country to participate and bring their conservation efforts to a higher level,” said Young. “The new tools and methods for evaluating opera-
tions, expanded options to address the producer’s conservation and business objectives, and the focus on local resource priorities have resulted in a 30 percent increase in applications for this widely popular program.” Through CSP, agricultural producers and forest landowners earn payments for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities such as cover crops, buffer strips, pollinator and beneficial insect habitat, and soil health building activities – all while maintaining active agricultural production on their land. Benefits to producers can include:
• • • • •
Improved cattle gains per acre Increased crop yields Decreased inputs Wildlife population improvements Better resilience to weather extremes.
Producers interested in contract renewals or applying for CSP for the first time should contact their local USDA service center or visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/csp.
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T hank You S.T.A.R. Thank you for letting Swing City Auction Company be your Auction Company of choice for the past five years during the STAR Show and Sale. I would like to personally thank all involved, the STAR BOD for your stewardship to see that this show is always growing your leadership is appreciated. The Schools, Ag Teachers, and Parents for leading by example and showing your students and children a better way through the FFA. The students who work so hard to be able to show and to walk through the auction ring thank you for the respect you have shown to your community and thank you for letting me be the one to sell your livestock, you are the future. Thank you to the sponsors and buyers without your help and dedication a big part of this would not be possible, I appreciate each one of you. To those who house and feed me and make sure my stay is the best, to all the friends and family I have made I can’t tell you how truly grateful I am. – THANK YOU Que Dios bendiga a cada uno de ustedes y su familia, Phillip Pierceall
Drones
Coming to a Farm Near You
BY GREG KUNKLE, AEROAG DRONE FARMING
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ith drones already in everyday conversation, in the field they are a useful tool for increasing efficiency and agricultural management. Research has shown that incorporating preci sion agriculture techniques into management strategies increases profit margins and de creases waste. There are some great videos that people make with drones, but it is what you can’t see that is most important in drone farming. There are many uses for drones on your farm or ranch and there will only be more. Here is a short breakdown of what drones can do for you in South Texas.
How it Works The concept behind drone farming is nothing new. How we can look at our crops and land, now, is. Although acres are being lost over all in Texas ag, individual farm sizes, cotton acres, and sorghum acres are on the rise. As acres increase, drones are another tool monitoring and gathering data from your land. We use drones to take pictures of your crops, pasture, or ranch and use the data to identify problems. Correct management is the key to profitability in agriculture. A few years ago (and still now) satellites were used for the same process. While the uptime, resolution, and cost of satellite imagery has improved, it is still not as efficient (or fast) as drone imagery due to in house processing. Drone data, can be in your tractor the next day. With only GPS coordinates of the field, drones are programmed to fly a specific grid pattern taking thousands of pictures accounting for crop, wind, and light. After this flight, the important data is gathered in post processing that creates useful tools for us.
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The first operation completed after a drone mission is the creation of a new overall picture. A computer algorithm connects every picture through GPS coordinates and creates an overall file (MOSAIC) of your crop or ranch. There is a lot of data in this file. This “bird’s eye view” not only allows you to zoom into any area, it also stores data that the human eye cannot see for even more processing. If you need to keep up with changing features on your land, or if you are not sure how many acres of flood, hog, or pest damage may have occurred? We can give you an accurate map and calculation of it.
What is in the data? After we have the images, we undergo processing for using this data to your benefit. Studies
show that NearInfrared (NIR) light reflectance directly correlates with plant health. This is a type of light the human eye cannot see, however, using special cameras we are able to look at the health of a single plant or entire field at one time. Looking at every single image, we can map and indicate where plants are not as healthy and why.
Two plants may look exactly the same on the outside, but their NIR reflectance may show an extreme difference due to disease, insects, or fungus.
(represented by colors) that provide a wealth of information. Using strictly the numbers, we can process the image (and MOSAIC) to look at a variety of issues. Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a mathematical formula that uses the numbers inside of the image to calculate the health of the entire crop, pasture, or canopy. We represent the health using color. NASA uses
it to calculate rainforest health in South America. We use it to calculate Cotton health in Texas. This picture is of a NDVI MOSAIC showing disease in the black spots and surrounding areas (in red) diminishing in health. With this image we can create a prescription for your variable rate sprayer to address disease and nutrient deficiencies. Because the US has been collecting data on crops since the 1970s, we have a good metric for calculating the correct productivity and “reflectance� a healthy plant should have.
With these values we can watch for drought and other stressors in crops.
Although, right now is one of the few times in South Texas we are not worried about water resources, it is evident that will not be the case forever with increasing demand.
Using drones and our imagery, we can monitor your crop and calculate exactly when they start showing drought stressed. Increase margins on irrigation by not guessing if your crop is in need of water.
AeroAg has just partnered with John Deere to begin directly working with owners of 7000, 8000, and 9000 series tractors, or any tractor using their AMS. If you have precision agriculture tools and are not using them or not using them to their full potential, you are losing money. AeroAg is here to bridge the gap between data and farming.
If you want to learn more, you can contact Greg Kunkle at info@ AeroAg.net or at 979-450-1821. We will be joining the Texas A&M Agrilife Research Center at their field day, including drones, and will have a booth May 11, 2017 in Weslaco, Texas.
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Yield Higher Ag Services
Todd Carlton
7079 FM 3060 Midway, TX 75852 936-650-8147
LIVESTOCK JUDGING COMES FULL CIRCLE BY TY CHUMBLEY
When I take time to acknowledge the so many blessings I have received in my life, it is easy to see the three that top the list. These are my amazing family, lifelong friends, and the fact that I am an Agriculture Science graduate from Texas A&M University. It may sound crazy, but one activity in my life that connects each one of these tremendous blessings is Livestock Judging. My family has truly been blessed in many ways and Agriculture is truly one of those blessings. I have 3 brothers that all have degrees from Texas A&M that would not be possible without the skills, scholarships, and money we received while showing livestock in 4-H and FFA. My Father has been teaching Agriculture for more than 35 years and is currently the Director of Agriculture at one of the largest FFA Programs in Texas at Sandra Day O’Connor High School. My mom was one of the first female FFA presidents in all of Texas, so you can see how Agriculture has played a huge role in developing me into the judge, professor, consultant, and person I have become today. My father has been my coach, mentor, and inspiration in judging livestock since the first time I saw him judge at Live Oak County Fairgrounds in George West, Texas. This goal that I developed at the age of 6 has helped me remain focused and continually strive for greatness while judging livestock. The continued practice and development allowed me to win several contests throughout my high school career and to win a full scholarship to judge Collegiately as a charter member of the Blinn Jr. College Livestock Judging Team under Doug Pierce and Brant Poe. From Road Trips, to all night workouts, to never ending sets of reasons, and seeing the best livestock in the United States, livestock judging was developing me and my teammates not only as Livestock Ambassador’s, but also teaching us skills that the classroom never could. Traveling across the country developing relationships with producers, academians, and fellow livestock judgers has led me to develop lifelong friends in and out of the Agriculture Industry. Through livestock judging I was able to become a Fighting Texas Aggie and receive my most prized possession my Aggie Ring. Those friendships built through livestock judging have truly been lifelong as I have earned titles that are much more important than those you put on a resume, with a few being best man, groomsman, godfather, and teammate. When it came time to graduate it was easy to see that I wanted to give back to the discipline and activity that had done so much for me. I coached a top 5 livestock judging team in the State with Mr. Rod Vincent during my Agriculture Science student teaching at Bellville High School, and I knew this was my calling and way to give back to the newest livestock judgers that would be following in my footsteps to continue this tradition. After graduating from Texas A&M I was offered the Head Coaching Position at Texas State University where I was the youngest professor on staff and had the opportunity to build and coach the first livestock judging team ever at the University. Coaching a Collegiate livestock judging team and seeing students develop as leaders and role models in the Agriculture industry is truly a blessing and something that I cherish. I was able to win many banners and awards as a coach, but the true awards are seeing my students be successful and take the lessons they learned livestock judging into the Agriculture industry and passing these lessons on as Agriculture mentors themselves. As a livestock judge in the show ring I have been able to serve as a figurehead and role model to the future leaders of our industry. I believe it is very important that livestock judges are educators, motivators, and mentors. This is the opportunity to teach these future leaders the importance of animal husbandry, livestock evaluation, and sportsmanship. When judging I believe it is very important to speak with each exhibitor on a one on one basis. These students have given their blood, sweat, and tears to grooming, feeding, training, and caring for these livestock for 6-7
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months, and I believe it is the judges responsibility to give each student ample time and interest. I also believe it is very important to educate these students on the market or breeding traits that are relevant in today’s market and are used when placing the class from worst to first. The livestock judge has the task to educate the youth in Agriculture in the most public venue possible. When selecting animals at a stock show it is extremely important that the judge knows the current trends of the livestock industry and that they convey these trends to all exhibitors and spectators. If you see the Grand Champion Steer at San Antonio Livestock Show in 1980 and the Grand Champion Steer in 2017 you will see a world of differences. The Agriculture industry is consumer driven and we as livestock judges must understand what the consumer is looking for in their beef, pork, chicken, and lamb cuts. This also correlates into what we teach our students as we must teach our students to select ideal livestock that meets consumer needs while maintaining proper structure, environment, and diet in and out of the show ring. Livestock judging is a co-curricular activity that teaches our future Ag Leaders about the importance of the industry and to search for the ideal market or breeding animal that will influence our Texas Agricultural products that our farmers and ranchers market every day. It is vital that we have judges that truly care about the youth of Texas, Texas Agriculture, and believe in the mission statements of Texas FFA and 4-H. Stockshows are the opportunity for the showman to show off his hard work and dedication in front of their communities and peers. Stockshows are the Friday Night Lights of the Ag industry and it makes me extremely proud to support these communities and these events. When I am invited to judge a stock show it is an honor to be thought of as an expert in an industry I love and one that has done so much for me in my life. When you spend time in any livestock show barn from Mercedes to Amarillo you can see that livestock judging truly comes full circle. You will see Dads teaching their sons to show, Moms helping to feed and groom, brothers giving lessons about showmanship and volunteers making sure the show goes off without a hitch. My livestock story has come full circle as my first experience into livestock judging was watching my father, now I have a nephew that gets to watch me. The livestock industry will continue to evolve and grow, but it will always be an industry that trains our youth about respect, manners, teamwork, and above all responsibility to Texas Agriculture. Livestock judging in Texas has allowed me to work with families all over this great state and see students grow from Pee Wee showman to Collegiate livestock judgers. It is truly an honor to work in Texas Agriculture and I love what I do. Livestock shows truly are about the communities and the full circle of Agriculture families and their footprints on our industry.
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