The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host a Crop Production and Risk Protection workshop for all Panhandle and South Plains counties on Dec. 18. 

A field of cotton ready to be picked.
Cotton insects will be one of the topics discussed at the Crop Production and Risk Protection workshop on Dec. 18 for Panhandle and South Plains counties. (Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife)

The workshop will be offered both in person and virtually, with in-person meetings being held throughout the two districts. For costs and to register, contact your local AgriLife Extension office

Speakers and topics

  • Know your pesticide laws and regulations — Cheryl Goswick, assistant director for pesticides, Texas Department of Agriculture, Amarillo.
  • Weed management decisions — Peter Dotray, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research agronomist and professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Lubbock.
  • Update on cotton, corn and sorghum insect pests — David Kerns, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist, statewide integrated pest management coordinator and associate department head, Department of Entomology, Bryan-College Station.
  • Cotton insects ­— Suhas Vyavhare, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist and associate professor, Department of Entomology, Lubbock. 
  • Southwestern corn borer potential issues — Pat Porter, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist and professor, Department of Entomology, Lubbock. 
  • Options for controlling woody species on rangeland — chemical, mechanical and burning, and new research/projects on managing control and monitoring grazing — Morgan Treadwell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension range specialist and professor, Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, San Angelo. 
  • Management and use of pesticides following wildfires — Treadwell.
  • Cotton preplant decisions and management, variety decisions, populations studies, row spacings, seed quality and treatments — Ken Lege, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension cotton specialist and assistant professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Lubbock.
  • Matching available water to planted acreage and crop selection, plant-soil-water relationships — Jourdan Bell, Ph.D. AgriLife Extension agronomist and associate professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Amarillo.
  • Discussion and updates on diseases and viruses in panhandle crops — Ken Obasa, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension pathologist and assistant professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Amarillo.