Extension Educationin Wharton County

Upper Gulf Coast Feed Grain and Cotton Production Conference at El Campo– January 23, 2024

By Corrie Bowen
County Extension Agent
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Wharton County

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in Wharton, Matagorda, Jackson, and Colorado Counties are happy to announce the Upper Gulf Coast Feed Grain and Cotton Conference for Tuesday, January 23, 2024.   This year’s conference will be held at the El Campo Civic Center in El Campo, Texas.  Registration begins at 7:15 a.m., with our first speaker beginning at 8:00 a.m.  The conference will include a catered lunch meal will conclude at 2:30 p.m.  3 CEUs will be awarded to pesticide license holders with the Texas Department of Agriculture (1 IPM, 1 L&R, 1 GEN); and 5.0 CEUs for Certified Crop Advisors have been applied for.  Thanks to ag industry sponsors, no registration fee will be charged.

The Feed Grain and Cotton conference will address the following topics: Oil Seed Crops—Brandon Gerrish, Extension Small Grains and Oilseed Specialist; Bollworm Update TBA, Texas IPM Program; Texas Sorghum Producers Update—Wayne Cleveland;  U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol—Bailey Nesmith, Grower Enrollment Specialist, Southwsest and Far West Region; South Texas Grain and Cotton Association Update—Jeff Nunley; Weed Control in Grain and Cotton—Josh McGinty, Extension Agronomist; 2024 Texas Auxin Herbicide Training Dicamba and Enlist Technologies – Dr. Scott Nolte, Extension Weed Specialist; Emerging Diseases in Grain and Cotton -Tom Isakeit, Extension Plant Pathologist; RACE Trial Update/Current Cotton Research – TBA, Office of the State Cotton Specialist; Economics—Cost of Production—Dr. Yuri Calil, Extension Economist .  The annual Auxin training will be a one-hour training for 2023.  The Auxin training that is provided as part of the Feed Grain and Cotton Conference will fulfill the annual auxin training requirements for Dicamba and 2,4-D Choline products and will count as the 1 hour of Laws and Regulations CEU.

For more information or for a copy of the conference flyer, go to http://wharton.agrilife.org, or contact Stacey at the Wharton County Extension Office at (979) 532-3310, or stacey.shanks@ag.tamu.edu.  .  The Planning Committee is asking all attendees to RSVP by January 19th so that we can plan the meal accordingly.  Because of the increase in the cost of food and catering, we’ll need a better idea of how many plates to order. We’ve made the RSVP process simple. Attendees can call the Wharton County Extension Office to RSVP, click on a pdf file of the Feed Grain and Cotton Conference Flyer, or download the QR code from the flyer.

Click here to view the 2024 Feed Grain and Conference Agencda

Annual Western Rice Belt Conference-El Campo, Texas – January 17, 2024

The annual Western Rice Belt Production Conference will be held on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at the El Campo Civic Center.  The Rice Conference is composed of a Production Conference for rice producers and rice industry professionals, and a Rice Consumers Seminar for homemakers.  One change to this year’s conference is the addition of an early bird session on Feral Hog Abatement in the Myatt room from 7 a.m. to 7:50 a.m.  Registration for the conference will begin at 7:30 a.m., with the main program to begin at 8:15 a.m.  After a catered lunch, provided by area agribusiness sponsors, the program will conclude around 2:45 p.m.

This joint effort between the Western Rice Belt planning committee, The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, U.S. Rice Producers Association, and U.S.A. Rice will offer growers and others the opportunity to hear presentations from the professionals and leaders in the agriculture industry.  Topics and speakers will include:  Rice Variety Performance, RiceTec—Derrol Grymes; Horizon Ag—Tim Walker; Dynagro—Scott Greenwalt; and AgriLife Research—Shyamal Talukder.  Rice Insecticide Update—Lina Bernaola; LCRA Irrigation Water Update—John Hofmann; Rice Production Economics—Dr. Mark Welch; Sustainable Rice Production—Dr. Jake Mowrer; Texas Rice Council Report—Tommy Turner; Texas Rice Research Foundation Report—Galen Franz; Utilization of Agronomic Data – Ross Rinderknecht, Helena Chemical; USDA-NCRS Conservation Programs Update— David Daniels.  The results of the Rice Poster Contest will be announced during the lunch hour by County Extension Agents Lori Garcia and Laura Reyna.

There is no fee to attend the Western Rice Belt Conference.  Sponsors who support the rice industry make this program possible.  The Planning Committee is asking all attendees to RSVP so that we can plan the meal accordingly.  Because of the increase in the cost of food and catering, we’ll need a better idea of how many plates to order. We’ve made the RSVP process simple. Attendees can call the Wharton County Extension Office to RSVP, click on a pdf file of the Rice Conference Flyer, or download the QR code from the flyer.

For more information, contact the Texas AgriLife Extension office in Colorado County at 979-732-2082; in Matagorda County at 979-245-4100; or Wharton County at 979-532-3310; or go to https://wharton.agrilife.org/event/2024-western-rice-production-conference/

Click here to view the 2024 Western Rice Belt Conference Agenda