The 45th annual Randall County Ag Day and Crops Tour, hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, is set for Aug. 30 at the Kuhlman Extension Center, 200 N. Brown Road, Canyon.
The program will run from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and include a free lunch. An RSVP is requested by Aug. 26 at https://tx.ag/randallagday or by calling the AgriLife Extension office at 806-468-5543.
This event is free, with the registration and lunch covered by Happy State Bank of Canyon. Breaks and refreshments are sponsored by Palo Duro Soil and Water Conservation District and Plains Land Bank.
Three general Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be available for private pesticide applicators.
The Randall County Ag Day and Crops Tour is the largest-attended agricultural educational event that AgriLife Extension in Randall County hosts each year, said J. D. Ragland, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Randall County.
“With limited crops expected to be harvested this fall due to drought conditions, we feel like many producers may not be aware or clearly understand all the new assistance programs that are currently available for both crops and livestock,” Ragland said. “Our focus will be to provide producers with all the available packages, criteria and signup deadlines.”
Morning session topics and speakers
This year’s guest speaker will be state Sen. Charles Perry, who serves as the chairman of the Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs. He will present “Water Policies and the Impact for Agriculture Producers.”
The morning session will address crop varieties, conditions and markets. Topics and speakers will be:
– 2022 Top Wheat Variety Picks, Jourdan Bell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist, Amarillo.
– Top Three Drought Management Decisions for Cow/Calf Producers, Jason Smith, AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist, Amarillo.
– Beef Cattle and Commodity Price Trends and Future Outlook, Justin Benavidez, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist, Amarillo.
– 2022-2023 Producer Assistance Programs/Crop and Livestock Insurance panel discussion — Mark Tucker, Farm Service Agency District 2 director, Muleshoe; Eddie Womack, FSA county executive director, Swisher County; Rachel Myers, Myers Crop Insurance, Claude; and Kathy Brorman and Kaeli Hales, Ag Specialist Insurance Services, Hereford.
Following the keynote address at noon, the AgriLife Extension Top Hand, Outstanding Result Demonstrator and Outstanding Agribusiness awards for Randall County will be presented.
Afternoon session topics and speakers
The afternoon session will feature the annual tour. Stops on the schedule will be:
- No. 1: Depart for Adams Farm, 7 miles south of Canyon, to view the AgriLife Extension sorghum variety study featuring 30 varieties, drone images/video recordings.
- No. 2: West Texas A&M University Meats Lab tour — Ty Lawrence, Ph.D., professor of animal science and director of the Meat Laboratory and Beef Carcass Research Center, and Loni Lucherk, Ph.D., assistant professor of animal science, will provide a live beef carcass quality demonstration and evaluation.
For more information, contact Ragland at 806-468-5543 or email him at j-ragland@tamu.edu.
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