A woman is scouting for pests in a field. The concepts of field pest scouting will be one of many topics taught at the Northern Texas Panhandle Field Scout School on April 30 in Amarillo.
The concepts of field pest scouting will be one of many topics discussed at the Northern Texas Panhandle Field Scouting School on April 30 in Amarillo. (Michael Miller/Texas A&M AgriLife)

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host the Northern Texas Panhandle Field Scouting School on April 30 in Amarillo.

The workshop registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the main program following from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Amarillo, 6500 W. Amarillo Blvd.

The program is free, thanks to sponsors, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Texas Pest Management Association, FMC Corp., Gowan Co.,  Syngenta and BASF.

Lunch is on your own, and there will be three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units available, including two general and one integrated pest management.

Field Scouting School agenda

The morning session will include:

  • Cotton: Agronomy, scouting, plant mapping and insect pest identification — Jourdan Bell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist and associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Amarillo; John Thobe, AgriLife Extension integrated pest management in Bailey and Parmer counties; and Blayne Reed, AgriLife Extension integrated pest management agent in Hale and Swisher counties.
  • Cotton plant mapping: Hands-on practice — High Plains integrated pest management team.
  • Sorghum and corn agronomy, scouting, and insect pest ID — Bell, Thobe and Reed.

The afternoon session will include:

  • Common weeds ID and herbicide injury in summer crops — Kevin Heflin, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomy program specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Amarillo.
  • Cotton plant mapping: Hands-on practice — High Plains integrated pest management team.
  • Plant diseases in summer crops — Ken Obasa, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Amarillo.
  • Beneficial arthropod identification — José Santiago-González, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist and assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, Amarillo.

For more information, contact Santiago-González at 806-677-5618 or [email protected].