January 2008 Archives

Take the guesswork out of beef cattle management.

The "Beef Herd Health Managment Calendar" is an interactive computer program that allows producers to generate a personal management calendar tailored to their operation.  Producers can create management calendears based upon breeding/calving seasons of up to 3 consecutive months during any time of the year.

The program also contains videos and publications on related topics.

Cost is $98 plus tax and shipping.  Order from http://tcebookstore.org and search for publication SP-289.  You may also order by calling 1-888-900-2577. 

To view a calendar for a February to April calving season, click on the following file: feb april calendar.pdf

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service is trying a new platform for delivering educational content to newer and smaller farmers in Texas.  Our agency is planning to offer three different online courses in 2008.

The Rusk/Smith County Forestry Landowner's Association is sponsoring a tour of the Texas Forest Service's Indian Mounds Nursery on Thursday, January 24, 2008. 

 

The tour is free and open to the public.  Indian Mounds Nursery has produced over 1 billion pine seedlings since it began operation in 1940. 

 

The tour will begin at 9:30 AM and last around 2 hours.  The nursery is located west of the town of Alto on US Hwy 21.

 

 

Following the nursery tour, there will be an optional free guided tour of the Caddoan Mounds State Historical Site that is located across the road from the nursery.  This Caddo mound center was developed around AD 900.

 

For more information contact Mark Walters at 903/983-1765 or mwalters@wildblue.net.

The East Texas Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Conference is an event that focuses on topics and issues affecting these industries in our part of the state. 

The conference will be held February 19, 2008 at the Rose Garden Center in Tyler.

Cost is $20 per person and you register at the door.  Three (3) CEUs will be provided to Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide license holders.

Afternoon breakout sessions include one devoted to winegrape production in East Texas this year.

For a full agenda, view this file 2008fvgconfroughagendav3.pdf

Call 903-590-2980 for more information or to request a commercial vendor space.

The East Texas Turfgrass Conference, a day-long event dedicated to lawn and turfgrass management issues in our part of the state, has been scheduled for February 7, 2008, at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton. 

This conference is a great venue for obtaining pesticide CEUs for your Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide license. 

Cost is $25 per person and you register at the door!

The following file contains an agenda for the day's program turf08.pdf

Call 903-590-2980 with questions about the event or to inquire about commercial vendor space.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts a survey of all agricultural producers every five years called the Census of Agriculture. These surveys were mailed out to all producers who were currently on the NASS register on December 28, 2007.

The information gathered in the survey is intended to assist with the allocation of funds for disaster relief, start-up funding, co-op opportunities, product marketing, and resource allocation. It is important that all producers be counted in the census, and is especially important that minority producers be fully represented in the statistics. NASS has determined that African American producers have been particularly under-represented in the census data.