THE REFUGIO COUNTY
AGRICULTURE CONNECTION
June-July 2012
AGRICULTURE CONNECTION
http://refugio.agrilife.org/
2012 REFUGIO COUNTY CROPS TOUR
June 13, 2012
3 CEUs offered per Tour (Totaling 6 CEUs)
Schedule of Events
Morning Tours- Austwell / Tivoli Area:
Afternoon Tours- Bonnie View Area:
7:00 am – Registration & Breakfast
Canales Cafe
7:30 am – Educational Programs Presented by:
- Texas AgriLife Extension Service
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- USDA: Farm Service Agency
- USDA: Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Texas Boll Weevil Eradication
Program
- South Texas Cotton & Grain
- Followed by Agricultural Demonstration
Tours
4:00 am – Registration & Breakfast
Bonnie View Park
4:30 am – Educational Programs Presented by:
- Texas AgriLife Extension Service
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- USDA: Farm Service Agency
- USDA: Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Texas Boll Weevil Eradication
Program
- South Texas Cotton & Grain
-Followed by Agricultural Demonstration Tours
For more information about the 2012 Refugio County Crops Tour Contact the Extension Office
@ 361-526-2825
Please Support the Refugio County Crops Tour
Making a contribution prior to the tours insures that you are listed on the donors’ recognition page of our tour
program. Your financial support makes the morning and afternoon meals possible.
Sponsorship Levels
Gold Star-$300 or more
Gold Star sponsors are welcome to display their company logos at the afternoon tour in Bonnie View.
Silver Star-$150
Silver Star sponsors can email their company logo to the Extension Office, which will be used in a PowerPoint
presentation.
To insure that your company’s name is listed on the donors' recognition page, please mail
your contribution to us by May 30th, or sooner.
If you have any questions or want to contribute any amount please contact the
Refugio County Extension Office @ 361-526-2825
“Excellence in Agriculture”
Pasture & Beef Management Workshop
Tuesday, May 29th @ Extension Office
July 27, 2012
8:30am-3:00pm
This workshop is being hosted by Texas
AgriLife Extension of Kleberg County.
Topics will include Successful Small
Acreage Ranching, Feral Hog Update,
Windmill
Alternatives,
Plant
ID,
Cattle
Market
Outlook,
Cattle
Supplementation, and Drought Update &
Climate Outlook.
Cost
for
this
(includes lunch).
workshop
LIVESTOCK & RANGE COMMITTEE
MEETING
is
There will be a Livestock and Range
Committee meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the
Extension Office to discuss results
from
the
Tri-County
Heifer
sale,
Blanconia Field Day, and program plans
for the fall.
$10
CALL FOR ADDRESSES AND EMAIL
If anyone knows of someone who does
not receive this newsletter, please
let us know!
For more information please contact
Frank
Escobedo,
CEA-AG/NR
Kleberg
County
@
361-595-8566
or
fescobedo@tamu.edu.
Also, if you would like to receive
this newsletter by email, let us know!
REFUGIO COUNTY EXTENSION OFFICE 361526-2825.
level of production experience and the needs of
their ranch, Cleere said.
“These concurrent workshops will feature
information on introductory cattle production,
management practices in the areas of forage,
nutrition and reproduction, record keeping, brushbusting, cattle handling, landowner issues and much
more,” he said.
COLLEGE STATION – The 58th annual Texas
A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, conducted by the
Texas AgriLife Extension Service, is scheduled for
Aug. 6-8 at Texas A&M University in College
Station.
A variety of cattle production management topics
will be presented at this year’s short course
including a weather outlook, said Dr. Jason Cleere,
AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist and
conference coordinator.
“Our topics this year will fit right into what Texas
beef producers are experiencing with forage
management, beef cattle management and beef
cattle marketing,” Cleere said. “The long-term cattle
market outlook is one of many other topics that will
be discussed in the 22 different cattleman’s college
sessions at the short course.”
The general session will feature a virtual tour of a
U.S. feedyard and U.S. beef packing plant, a
presentation on what consumers want to know
about raising beef, as well as challenges and
opportunities for ranchers in the next 20 years.
Sessions will be held at various locations on the
Texas A&M campus with the main general sessions
at Rudder Auditorium.
“Planning committee members from around the
state have met with us and helped us
put together another outstanding program,” he said.
“The short course has
become one of the largest and most comprehensive
beef cattle educational programs in the
U.S.”
The cattleman’s college portion of the three-day
short course provides participants with an
opportunity to choose workshops based on their
In addition to classroom instruction on Aug. 6-7,
participants can attend one of the popular
demonstrations on the morning of Aug. 8.
“There will be demonstrations on chute-side calf
working, cattle behavior, penning, selection and
brush-busting,” Cleere said. “These provide an
opportunity for ranchers to see beef cattle
production practices put to use.
“The goal of the short course each year is to provide
the most cutting-edge information that is needed by
beef cattle producers, and this year is no exception.”
Participants can receive a Texas Department of
Agriculture private pesticide applicator’s license
during the short course and can earn at least seven
pesticide continuing education units if they are
already licensed, Cleere added.
An industry trade show will be held during the
event, featuring more than 110 agricultural
businesses and service exhibits.
Registration is $160 per person and includes
educational materials, a copy of the 600-page Beef
Cattle Short Course proceedings, trade show
admittance, admission to the prime rib dinner,
lunches, breakfasts and daily refreshments.
Registration information and a tentative schedule
will be mailed to previous participants in May, but
can also be found on the short course website at
http://beef.tamu.edu.
Producers can register online at http://beef.tamu.edu
or contact Cleere’s office at 979-845-6931.
USDA ANNOUNCES COTTON PRODUCTION TOTALS FOR 2011
According to the USDA Texas Field Office, Cotton harvested acres were down 47
percent from the previous season and yielded 589 pounds, which was 114 pounds,
lower than 2010.
Harvested acreage for the season totaled 2.85 million acres, down 47 percent from
the previous season, and down 8 percent from the January estimate. Upland cotton
planted acres are unchanged from the January estimate of 7.55 million acres, and
up 36 percent from the acreage planted in 2010.
Pest Management News
Stephen Biles, IPM Agent
Pest insects I have seen include:
thrips, cotton fleahoppers, corn leaf
aphids, sorghum midge, rice stink
bugs,
and
three-cornered
alfalfa
hoppers.
Cotton
Most fields are beyond the damage
window for thrips to be yield limiting
but squaring cotton should be
inspected for cotton fleahoppers. I
found field populations of cotton
fleahoppers ranging from 0 – 58
fleahoppers per 100 plants.
In fields that have begun to bloom,
sorghum heads should be inspected for
sorghum midge. The adult sorghum midge
is a small (< 1/8 inch), orange-red
fly with a yellow head, brown antennae
and legs and gray, membranous wings.
Scout fields in the morning when the
temperature warms to approximately 85°
F. Because adult sorghum midges live
less than 1 day, each day a new brood
of adults emerges. Sampling must be
done almost daily during the time
sorghum grain heads are flowering.
I would not treat fields in the first
week of squaring. We have research
that shows treating in the first week
of squaring does not increase yields.
Treatment should be considered after
the plants have three fruiting sites
when populations exceed 10-15
fleahoppers per 100 plants.
Sorghum midge adults can be seen
crawling on or flying about flowering
sorghum grain heads. The simplest and
most efficient way to detect and count
sorghum midges is to inspect carefully
and at close range all sides of
randomly selected flowering grain
heads.
Grain Sorghum
Maturity of sorghum fields range from
3-5 leaf sorghum to bloom. I have seen
corn leaf aphid in the whorl of plants
in some sorghum fields. This dark
bluish-green aphid is oval-shaped,
with black legs, cornicles and
antennae.
When feeding, corn leaf aphids suck
plant juices but do not inject toxin
as do greenbugs and yellow sugarcane
aphids. The most apparent feeding
damage is yellow mottling of leaves
that unfold from the whorl. This
insect rarely causes economic loss to
sorghum. In fact, they can be
considered helpful. Beneficial insects
such as lady beetles are often
attracted to feed on corn leaf aphids.
When corn leaf aphid numbers rapidly
decline at sorghum heading, the
beneficial insects are present to
suppress greenbug and other insect
pests.
Inspect plants along field borders
first; particularly those downwind of
earlier flowering sorghum or Johnson
grass. If no, or few, sorghum midges
are found on sorghum grain heads along
field edges, there should be little
need to sample the entire field. If
you find more than one sorghum midge
per flowering grain head in border
areas of a sorghum field, inspect the
rest of the field. Sample at least 20
flowering grain heads for every 20
acres in a field. For fields smaller
than 20 acres, sample 40 flowering
grain heads.
Sorghum Downy Mildew
Dr. Tom Isakeit confirmed sorghum
downy mildew in Refugio County on May
9. This disease is probably resistant
to seed treatment fungicides for its
control and should be managed by
cultural practices and resistant
hybrids.
For More information Contact Stephen Biles @ 361-552-9747 or biles-sp@tamu.edu
Individuals with disabilities, who require an auxiliary aid,
service or accommodations in order to participate in
any of the above mentioned activities, are encouraged
to contact the County Extension Office eight days
before all programs for assistance.
For more information contact:
The information given herein is for educational
purposes only. Reference to commercial products or
trade names is made with the understanding that no
discrimination is intended and no endorsements by the
Texas AgriLife Extension Service is implied.
Michael Donalson
County Extension Agent Agriculture & Natural Resources
Refugio County
107 East Roca Street, Refugio, TX 78377
Phone: (361) 526-2825
Fax: (361) 526-4340
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension
Service are open to all people without regard to race,
color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.
The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of
Texas Cooperating.
Refugio County
107 East Roca Street
Refugio, Texas 78377