LUBBOCK–A crisis exemption allowing area grain sorghum producers to use Tilt fungicide to control sorghum leaf blight has been issued by the Texas Department of Agriculture. The disease in sorghum fields across the Texas High Plains has been brought on by unusually wet and cool weather early in the growing season, said Dr. Harold Kaufman,…
COLLEGE STATION — High prices and wet weather have caused many producers to turn to soybeans as a substitute crop this year. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture Chief Economist Keith Collins, the shift in acreage is partly due to the increasingly strong soybean prices in the late spring. “Those soybean prices attracted a little…
COLLEGE STATION — Texas voters will be able to vote on a school property tax amendment on Aug. 9 that could have an impact on their homestead exemption and the tax freeze for people who are 65 years old or older. Economist Dr. Judith Stallmann of College Station said House Bill 4, passed at the…
COLLEGE STATION — Dr. Neal K. Van Alfen, Texas A&M University plant pathology department head, has received the 1997 U.S. Department Agriculture Secretary’s Honor Award as chair of an international group charged with the biological improvement of chestnut trees and the management of chestnut blight. The award was presented by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan…
DALLAS — The results of a three-year study of landscape run-off water at Texas A&M’s Dallas Research and Extension Center will be the focal point of a water quality conference set for July 9 at the North Dallas facility. Dr. James Reinert, Dallas researcher and director of the project, will conduct tours of micro-landscapes to…
COLLEGE STATION — Sizzling prices on beef and poultry are the big news in supermarkets this summer, according to a food marketing specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Dr. Richard Edwards, Extension agriculture economist, said because of the drought and massive sell-offs of beef herds last summer, prices dropped. Many people expected beef prices…
COLLEGE STATION — Geraniums are red, violets are blue. And the price had better be right, too. At least that’s what one Texas A&M agricultural economist found out when he and several other economists studied consumer preferences in geraniums. Consumers in Texas, Delaware, Alabama, North Carolina and Kentucky were asked to rank color, leaf variegation…
AMARILLO — Two day-long workshops aimed at helping grain handlers recognize features of grain quality are planned here on May 6 and 7. The workshops are hosted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service and the Grain Exchanges of Amarillo and Plainview. The event will be held…
WESLACO — Sometimes connecting sewage hookups or providing garbage dumps in the impoverished colonias along the South Texas border simply requires legwork and an extra set of hands. Plus some knowledge of municipalities and government agencies. The second part often may be what snags such improvements in the colonias, but by weaving the Texas Agricultural…
COLLEGE STATION — Knowing the fish population in a pond is critical to maintaining a healthy, continuous fishing enjoyment, a Texas Agricultural Extension Service wildlife specialist said. “Probably the easiest way to determine how good the fish population is in a pond is to record fishing success over a year-long period, then check the records,”…
