Hay Field Day and Seminar Slated for June 1, 2023 in Hungerford, Texas

Hay Field Day and Seminar Slated for June 1, 2023 in Hungerford, Texas

By Corrie Bowen
County Extension Agent – Agriculture/Natural Resources
Wharton County

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, Wharton County Office announces a Hay Field Day and Seminar for Thursday, June 1, 2023 in Hungerford, Texas.  This is our second consecutive year for Sikora Hay Farm to host us for a field day. Last year’s Hay Field Day and Seminar was a success, with over 150 hay producers attending.

We are offering a two-part program on June 1st.  A field day with hay equipment demonstrations and sprayer demonstrations will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 1, 2023.  1 CEU in in the General category will be offered to TDA Pesticide License Holders.

The irrigated hay field where the field day will be held is located on Hwy 60 N, about 4 miles north of Hungerford, Texas.  GPS coordinates for the hay field listed on the flyer posted at http://wharton.agrilife.org/events.  Signs will be posted on the day of the event to mark where to turn off of Hwy 60 to enter the hay field.

The second part of the June 1st program is the Hay Seminar to begin with a TDA Pesticide Laws and Regulations Presentation by TDA Pesticide Inspector, Stephanie Theriot at 5:30 p.m. at Hungerford Hall, 235 Cypress St., Hungerford, Texas 77435.   1 CEU in Laws and Regulations will be offered to TDA Pesticide License Holders attending the evening program at Hungerford Hall. A Meal will be served at 6:30 p.m.

At 7:00 p.m. Mr. Toby Hlavinka with American Plant Food Corporation will give us an update and outlook on fertilizer prices. After a year of record high fertilizer prices, hay producers are eager to learn about where the industry is heading with fertilizer prices for the near future.

Please RSVP by May 30, 2023, by contacting the Wharton County Extension Office at 979-532-3310.  Due to an increase in food cost, it is important that you let us know that you will be attending the June 1st Hay Field Day or Hay Seminar.

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Corrie P. Bowen
County Extension Agent – Agriculture & Natural Resources
Wharton County
979-532-3310
cbowen@ag.tamu.edu

 

 

‘Pecan Listening Session’ Wharton Extension Office – April 5th

‘Pecan Listening Sessions’ across Texas

Opportunity for pecan growers to set industry priorities

MARCH 14, 2023

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ServiceTexas A&M AgriLife Research and the Texas Pecan Growers Association, TPGA, will hold the first of 12 Pecan Listening Sessions March 28 in Smithville. The collaboration is designed to uncover pecan growers’ attitudes, perceptions and needs.

Pecan harvest at Texas A&M’s pecan orchard on Nov. 2, 2021. (Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications)

Session schedule

The listening session meeting dates, pecan growing regions and cities are as follows:

  • March 28, Lower Colorado River, Smithville.
  • April 5, Gulf Coast, Wharton.

  • April 11, Guadalupe Valley, Seguin.
  • April 18, East Texas, Palestine.
  • April 24, Wintergarden-South Texas, Uvalde.
  • May 2, High Plains, Lubbock.
  • May 9, Concho Valley, San Angelo.
  • May 16, Central Texas, Goldthwaite.
  • May 23, North Central-Red River, Bowie.
  • June 6, West Texas, Fort Stockton.
  • June 7/8, El Paso Valley, Fabens.
  • July 30, TPGA Conference, Denton.

 

The first of 12 ‘Pecan Listening Sessions’ is March 28 in Smithville. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Laura McKenzie)

Pecan growers across Texas are invited to participate in the “town hall-style” listening sessions, which will be hosted in diverse cities across the pecan growing areas through July.

The first session will be from 4-6 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, 557 N.W. Loop 230.

“We simply want to meet with pecan growers in or near their home communities, talk with them about what they’re facing, and hear about their successes, challenges and needs,” said Monte Nesbitt, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension specialist in horticulture, Bryan-College Station, and lead contributor to the project for Texas A&M AgriLife.

Pecan growers in Texas of any size orchard and any aligned businesses are invited to attend one of the 11 regional meetings starting in Bastrop County and concluding June 8 in El Paso County. The 12th listening session will coincide with the TPGA annual conference in Denton on July 30.

“These will not be typical AgriLife Extension pecan meetings,” Nesbitt said. “Yes, we will attempt to answer questions about pecan growing if folks have them, but this is about us listening carefully and critically to grower opinions on where the legacy of pecan growing stands right now. We all want to keep it standing.”

Grant funded

TPGA received a 2022 Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture to critically assess the Texas pecan industry’s economic development and sustainability through a series of survey-based projects.

Pecan harvest at Texas A&Mís pecan orchard on Nov. 2, 2021. (Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications)

The meetings for producers will run through the summer and will be held across Texas in pecan-growing regions. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Laura McKenzie)

TPGA partnered with Nesbitt; Larry Stein, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension horticulture specialist, Uvalde; and Amit Dhingra, Ph.D., head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Bryan-College Station, to engage the pecan growing community with three fact finding assessments.

The components of the assessments are:

  • In-person listening sessions that will uncover grower attitudes, perceptions and needs.
  • A crop cycle survey focused on crop management and production problems.
  • A mixed-mode quantitative survey of Texas pecan growers that will define demographic and geographic influences on scope and health.

Nesbitt said the outcomes of the assessments will raise awareness of the current condition of pecans as a specialty crop industry in Texas, identify research and AgriLife Extension priorities, and define critical needs for sustainability and growth of pecan production in Texas.

Pecans in Texas

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the pecan acreage in Texas declined 17.5% from 1997 to 2017, while acreage increased 7% nationally.

“Over the past 20 years, total utilized pecan production in Texas reached 50 million pounds just three times, but in four years over that same timespan, pecan production in Texas was less than 25 million pounds per year, revealing the alternate bearing habit of pecan trees as well as the challenges that Texas pecan growers have faced from weather and pests in that time,” Nesbitt said.

Session schedule

The listening session meeting dates, pecan growing regions and cities are as follows:

  • March 28, Lower Colorado River, Smithville.
  • April 5, Gulf Coast, Wharton.

  • April 11, Guadalupe Valley, Seguin.
  • April 18, East Texas, Palestine.
  • April 24, Wintergarden-South Texas, Uvalde.
  • May 2, High Plains, Lubbock.
  • May 9, Concho Valley, San Angelo.
  • May 16, Central Texas, Goldthwaite.
  • May 23, North Central-Red River, Bowie.
  • June 6, West Texas, Fort Stockton.
  • June 7/8, El Paso Valley, Fabens.
  • July 30, TPGA Conference, Denton.

Specific meeting times and exact locations for each of the regional sessions can be found on the TPGA website as further details are confirmed. If additional information is needed, contact the TPGA office at 979-846-3285 or email pecans@tpga.org.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES

Kay Ledbetter

 

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Corrie P. Bowen
County Extension Agent – Agriculture & Natural Resources
Wharton County
979-532-3310
cbowen@ag.tamu.edu

PVAMU Beekeeping 101 Program April 13

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Prairie View A&M University’s Cooperative Extension Program of Wharton County would like to invite you to

Beekeeping 101: Understanding the Basics of Beekeeping on Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the Wharton County Extension Office.

Address:
Wharton County Extension Office
315 E. Milam St.
Wharton, TX 77488

Topics for this program include:

  • The Basics of Beekeeping by Nathan Hermond, PVAMU Extension Associate
  • Ag Exemption Guidelines: Beekeeping by Irene Klein, Wharton County Appraisal District

If you’re unable to join us in-person, there will also be an option to attend via Zoom.

Dinner will be served, so pre-registration is strongly encouraged.
Register to attend in-person or virtually by following the link below or scanning the QR code.

*There is no cost to attend.

https://pvpanther.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEodu6gqzgsHNASeYjYUryFuWePyD8BnFRp

 

For more information, contact:
Braxton Mitchell, Wharton/Austin County Extension Agent
(979)532-3310
bjmitchell@pvamu.edu

 

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Thanks,

Braxton Mitchell
Extension Agent, Wharton County & Austin County
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program

315 E. Milam St., Suite 112
Wharton, TX 77488
p: (979) 532-3310 | f: (979) 532-8863
bjmitchell@pvamu.edu

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Healthy Communities Gardening Program

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Walk Across Texas! Event

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CLICK HERE to Register