Southwest Farm Press News Archive

Peanut production workshops slated in February

Feb 5, 2008,

By Tim McAlavy
Texas A&M University

South Plains farmers can update their knowledge of peanut production at two workshops slated in February....

Harkin says president needs to bend a little

Feb 5, 2008,

By Forrest Laws
Farm Press Editorial Staff

The clock is ticking, says Sen. Tom Harkin, and the Bush administration needs to show a little more flexibility if it wants farmers to have a new farm bill by the time the extension of the current law expires on March 15....

World cotton stocks continue decline

Feb 5, 2008,

By Forrest Laws
Farm Press Editorial Staff

The International Cotton Advisory Committee is projecting world ending stocks will decline to 52.5 million bales by the close of the current marketing year (July 31) as world consumption continues to outpace production....

Ag conferees face threat of presidential veto

Feb 4, 2008,

By Ron Smith
Farm Press Editorial Staff

House and Senate ag committee conferees face four options, including extending current farm law, as they work toward a farm bill reconciliation....

East Texas Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Conference set Feb. 19

Feb 4, 2008,

By Robert Burns
Texas A&M University

A Feb. 19 conference in Tyler will address emerging issues affecting commercial fruit and vegetable growers, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert. ...

Texas is declared brucellosis-free

Feb 4, 2008

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has received notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Texas has been declared brucellosis-free. This news means for the first time in the 74-year history of the brucellosis program, all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have simultaneously achieved Class Free status....

Soybeans pushing for return to prices of the 1970s?

Feb 1, 2008,

By Forrest Laws
Farm Press Editorial Staff

“Beans in the teens.” Soybean futures aren’t quite there yet — January was trading at $12.45 as this is being written — but the highest prices in decades could help soybeans recover nearly 10 percent of their acreage and perhaps push back above 70 million acres in 2008....

Precision agriculture techniques, innovation highlighted at BIG Conference

Feb 1, 2008,

By Blair Fannin
Texas A&M University

As the cost of diesel and fertilizer continues to create sticker shock, Blackland farmers evaluating future crop decisions can no longer afford to go with the adage "that's what I've always done." ...

Academy for Ranch Management schedules two workshops

Feb 1, 2008,

By Blair Fannin
Texas A&M University

The Academy for Ranch Management has scheduled two workshops in early 2008 for prescribed rangeland burning, a technique that renews vegetation by using fire to burn off unwanted brush. ...

Wheat price improvements warrant conscientious pest management

Jan 31, 2008,

By Ron Smith
Farm Press Editorial Staff

With wheat prices as high as most Southwest farmers have ever seen them, protecting the crop from insect pests will be job one for most growers this winter. “The changing economics emphasizes the importance of insect pests causing economic damage,” says Chris Sansone, Texas AgriLife Extension Service entomologist....

Cashing in on high crop prices may be limited by water availability

Jan 31, 2008,

By Kay Ledbetter
Texas A&M University

Before they plant fence row to fence row to take advantage of high commodity prices, producers need to develop realistic expectations of their irrigation capacity, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert. ...

BSE continues to alarm cattle industry

Jan 31, 2008

Canada’s 12th indigenous case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is the latest source of alarm for the U.S. Department of Agriculture....

Ed Schafer confirmed to head the USDA

Jan 30, 2008,

By David Bennett
Farm Press Editorial Staff

Ed Schafer is the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture....

Coastal Bend outdoor burn seminar

Jan 30, 2008

The recent statewide dry spell, and the resulting burn bans in place around the state, have raised questions raised about who could burn what and when. ...