Western Rice Belt Production Conference set Jan. 17 in El Campo

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host the annual Western Rice Belt Production Conference on Jan. 17 in El Campo.

The free event will be held from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at the El Campo Civic Center, 2350 N. Mechanic St. Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. with the main program beginning at 8:15 a.m. A pre-conference session on feral hog abatement will be held from 7-7:50 a.m.

To RSVP, contact the AgriLife Extension office in Wharton County at 979-732-2082 or online at https://tx.ag/WesternRiceBeltConf.

There will be a total of three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units available, including one general and two integrated pest management units. There also will be certified crop adviser hours available.

The conference is a joint effort between the Western Rice Belt Committee, AgriLife Extension, the U.S. Rice Producers Association and U.S.A. Rice.  A catered lunch will be provided, and a trade show will feature booths from conference sponsors.

The winners from the Rice Poster contest will also be announced during the lunch.

On the agenda

The speakers and topics include:

• Feral hog abatement – Corrie Bowen, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Wharton County.
• Rice variety performance – Joe Pankey, sales agronomist, RiceTec, East Bernard; Tim Walker, general manager, Horizon Ag, Memphis; Scott Greenwalt, rice agronomist, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Wharton; Shyamal Talukder, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research hybrid rice breeder in Beaumont and assistant professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
• Rice insecticide update – Lina Bernaola,  AgriLife Research entomologist and assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, Beaumont.
• Lower Colorado River Authority update – John Hofmann, executive vice president of water, Lower Colorado River Authority, Austin.
• Rice production economics – Mark Welch, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist and professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Bryan-College Station.
• Sustainable rice production – Jake Mowrer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension state soil fertility specialist and associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station.
• Texas Rice Council report – Tommy Turner, president, Texas Rice Council, El Campo.
• Texas Rice Research Foundation report – Galen Franz, chair, Texas Rice Research Foundation, Victoria.
• Utilization of agronomic data – Ross Rinderknecht, Helena Agri-Enterprises, Taylor.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service conservation programs update – David Daniels, district conservationist, USDA-NRCS, Wharton.