Two-minute MP3 Audio of Texas crop, weather for June 18, 2013

The 12 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Districts

Central: The region had scattered showers, which improved the outlook for all crops. However, more rain was needed to fill stock ponds. Corn was looking great. The wheat harvest and other field work was well underway. Sunflower fields were in full bloom. Grasshoppers were abundant, seemingly worse than last year. There was evidence of some second-generation pecan nut casebearer activity.

Coastal Bend: Intermittent showers fell across the reporting area, but probably came too late for row crops. Corn and sorghum yields will certainly be affected. Many producers did not replant cotton, and what did come up did not have enough moisture to develop. Although grazing conditions improved, cattle numbers remained very low. Ranchers were cautious about restocking. Producers were taking good hay cuttings. Ponds remained low or dry in many areas.

East: Recent rains continued to improve grass growth in a few counties, but most of the region needed rain as high temperatures continued to dry out pastures. Warm-season grass was being cut for hay. Producers reported increasing grasshopper populations and were spraying to control them. They were also applying herbicides to control weeds in hay fields and pastures. Vegetable and blackberry growers continued harvesting and reported good yields. Cattle were in good condition. Horn flies continued to cause problems. Feral hogs were active.

Far West: Some counties received spotty showers, with accumulations from a trace to 2 inches, while others remained rainless. Days were hot, humid and windy. Cotton producers finished planting. Ranchers were almost done with spring branding and were weaning calves early due to poor pasture conditions.

Panhandle: The region had record-setting heat and windy weather. Most areas received some rain, with amounts ranging from a trace to 2 inches. Soil-moisture levels continued to be mostly very poor to poor. Irrigators were actively pumping. Wheat was mostly in very poor to poor condition. Corn was mostly in fair to good condition, while cotton was rated mostly fair to good. Thrips on cotton were a concern where no seed treatment was used prior to planting. Rangeland and pastures continued to be in mostly very poor condition. The extreme heat was hard on livestock, impacting both feedlot performance and milk production. Livestock producers reported death losses on spring calves because of the heat.

Rolling Plains: Temperatures rose as the wheat harvest continued. Yield reports varied from nearly nothing to 45 bushels per acre. This wide difference of yields reflected varying weather conditions, planting dates and variety choices throughout the growing season. Most, if not all, of the winter wheat was harvested in some form or another, either as grain, for grazing or as hay. Cotton growers were planting. Some were waiting for rain while others were taking advantage of rain a week ago. The big issue was water. Some producers weren’t very optimistic they would get the needed rains through the growing season to carry cotton to harvest, so they were cautious about planting. During the last two weeks, recent rains in some areas greened up rangeland and pastures, but lakes and ponds needed more rain in order to carry livestock through the summer. The calves of cows that were held through the drought were being weaned early. Recent rains also helped the bobwhite quail population in northern Jack County.

South: Mild temperatures and scattered showers continued to regularly fall throughout most of the region, improving rangeland, pastures and soil-moisture levels. Accumulations varied from 0.25 inch to as much as 4 inches. Soil-moisture levels varied greatly. Counties in the northern and most of the western parts of the region reported 30 to 100 percent adequate levels — except for the Kleberg/Kenedy area with 80 percent very short. Dimmit and Maverick counties reported 60 to 80 percent surplus levels, while Webb and Zavala counties reported 50 percent short to 100 percent adequate respectively. Counties in the southern parts of the region varied even more in soil-moisture levels. Cameron County reported 75 percent adequate, while Starr County was 80 percent short and Hidalgo County reported 100 percent very short. Peanut planting was in full swing in Atascosa County and ongoing in Frio County. Also in Frio County, the potato harvest continued. Rangeland and pastures improved and summer perennial grasses responded very well to the rain there. Forage supply was still in short supply in the more heavily grazed pastures that usually recover much slower. Late-planted crops in Jim Wells County began to emerge, also as a result of good rains. Unfortunately, the rain came too late for regular-season crops, which were zeroed out for insurance and plowed under. Livestock sales there were at an all-time low, with less than 150 head offered. Duval County also reported a drop in livestock sales. In Maverick County, Bermuda grass and other forages continued to be harvested for hay to be sold. In Zavala County, corn and cotton progressed well without irrigation. The rains gave livestock producers there some relief as all rangeland and pasture conditions improved. Producers were able to decrease supplemental feeding and lighten up culling of cattle herds. In Cameron County, corn was turning color and was nearly ready for harvest in some fields. In Hidalgo County, producers were preparing to harvest grain sorghum.

South Plains: The region had scattered showers with the chance of more next week. Many AgriLife Extension county offices were still receiving damage reports from the June 5 hailstorm. Bailey County reported from 2,500 to 3,000 acres of cotton lost. Most counties were still waiting to hear from adjusters. Lamb County reported some cotton producers had to replant. Garza County reported as much as 2 inches of rain. Crops, rangeland and pastures will need more moisture as the season progresses, but the recent rains raised producer optimism. Some thrips damage was reported in cotton, but it was mostly below economic threshold levels for treatment. Cochran County peanuts improved with the rains despite the hail that accompanied the rain.

Southeast: Hot weather reigned throughout the district, and though some areas received rain, more was needed to maintain soil moisture. Montgomery County rains helped promote a second cutting of hay. A variety of insects have started feeding on pasture and landscape plants. Forages were also growing well in Walker County. In Chambers County, most of the rice looked good. As always, there were issues with too much water or ducks, and a lot of rice needed to be replanted. Some organic rice still needed be planted. The first rice crop was expected to be harvested in late July or early August due to earlier-than-normal planting dates, even with the slow start from cool weather. Recent hot weather really accelerated the rice growth. In Orange County, high temperatures were drying out soils, but forage growth was only slightly impacted.

Southwest: From 1.5 to 8 inches of rain was reported throughout the region. Livestock, wildlife, rangeland, pastures and row crops continued to improve. Cotton improved to fair or good condition in some areas. Harvested hay was of good quality with high yields. River and creek levels were still low but were slowly improving rising. Much more rain was still needed to bring the area out of drought.

West Central: Days remained hot and humid with mild nights. Many areas reported scattered showers. Cotton planting was in full swing, and producers were expected to finish as soon as crop-insurance planting deadlines neared. Grain sorghum and forage sorghum improved. Hay harvests were underway. The wheat harvest continued with below-average yields. Late-summer annual Sudan grass forages were being planted. Rangeland and pastures continued to improve with the recent rains. Another factor in pastures was the reduction in livestock herds and subsequent lower grazing pressure. Warm-season grasses and forbs continued to green up as well. Some ponds and livestock tanks caught much-needed runoff from recent rains, but most still remained critically low. Some livestock producers were hauling water. Livestock remained in fair to good condition. Late-season peaches were being harvested.

More information on the current Texas drought and wildfire alerts can be found on the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at http://agrilife.tamu.edu/drought/ .

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Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu

Contact: Dr. Dan Waldron, 325-653-4576, d-waldron@tamu.edu

SONORA – The Texas A&M AgriLife Research annual Angora Goat Performance Test Field Day and Sale is set for July 25 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Station at Sonora.

The station is located 28 miles south of Sonora on U.S. Highway 55, between Sonora and Rocksprings.

Activities begin at 10:30 a.m. with an informal inspection of the test animals and their records. Educational presentations start at 1 p.m. after lunch. The sale of performance-tested animals will immediately follow the educational program at about 2 p.m.

“With the recent strength in the mohair market, this may be a good year to invest in genetic improvement for the future,” said Dr. Dan Waldron, AgriLife Research geneticist at San Angelo and test coordinator. “The purpose of the test is to identify those top animals that have the genetic potential to improve a producer’s flock. Given that the animals on this test come from some of the world’s best flocks, this is the ideal opportunity to purchase animals with proven recorded traits for increased profits in the Angora goat business.”

The program’s topics include:

– Mohair Market Update and Outlook, Seco Mayfield, representing the Mohair Council of America.

– Best Practices for Caseous Lymphadenitis control, Dr. Elmer Herndon, D.V.M., Uvalde.

– Comments On Test Results, Waldron and Faron Pfeiffer, AgriLife Research, San Angelo.

– Presentation of Mohair Council of America Awards and recognition of the Certified Bucks, Mayfield, Mohair Council of America.

The sale of performance-tested animals will conclude the day’s activities.

Complete performance data, as it becomes available will be posted to the internet at:

http://sanangelo.tamu.edu/performance-tests/angora-goat-test/  . Photos of the bucks in-fleece will also be available on the website.

For further information, contact Waldron or Dr. Frank Craddock, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state sheep and goat specialist, San Angelo at 325-653-4576 or the AgriLife Research station at Sonora at 325-387-3168.

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      And the end results could take a bite out of more than a side dish for stir fry, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Research rice scientist Dr. Ted Wilson of Beaumont. A drop in rice yields will also impact the state’s economy.

Rice at Texas AgriLife Research Center near Beaumont. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Kathleen Phillips).

       Because of the 2011 drought in Texas – which continues in a large portion of the western region – water use has been restricted for crop irrigation in three large rice-producing counties: Matagorda, Wharton and Colorado, he noted.

      “The rice industry brings in $500 million to $600 million in value-added contributions to the economy for the state of Texas,” Wilson said. “We are in the second year for the rice industry of a curtailment of access (to surface water) in those three counties, and that impact has been a 30 percent reduction in rice acres in Texas, so that’s about $180 million dollars lost from the state economy.”

       For long-time farmer Mike Burnside, the water restriction for the second year meant he had to change crops to grow soybeans for the first time in 28 years.

       “I have no rice,” said the Bay City area farmer. “After 100 years of growing rice in this area, for the second year in a row we can’t because there is no water. We need the drought to break.”

       “Those three counties have represented 72 percent of the rice grown in Texas,” Wilson said. “The canal system there, which was originally constructed by the rice industry, has transferred to municipalities over time so that puts constraints on what rice growers can use. And that has economic implications for Texas.”

      Coupled with the water limitations, he added, are “very unusual” weather conditions that started off the rice planting-growing season.

       “It remained cool for a long, long time as the planting season was starting, so the plants have grown more slowly,” Wilson said. “We haven’t had many problems with seedling disease because it’s been dry along with the cold, but it still begs the question what the long cold weather will have done to the yield potential. And there is some indication that it reduced the tillering, which are baby plants produced by each of the plants that come from an individual seed, and that is what allows rice basically to fill in the space.”

 Almost 95 percent of the state’s 131,094 acres planted had emerged by the end of May, according to AgriLife Research figures. That is somewhat better than last year when only about 80 percent of the 132,822 acres planted had emerged.

      However, by this time in 2012, about 19 percent of the crop was developing panicles – where the grains of rice develop. This year, only about 10 percent of the state’s crop is at that stage, figures indicate.

      The rice crop is generally harvested in August and September.

       “The important question for a healthy rice industry is to understand what makes for a good year and one that is not so good,” he said. “We don’t know the  impact on the yield from the cold, but it may have affected the tiller production,” which, in turn, could put a dent in yield.

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AMARILLO – Producers looking for aphid control in their wheat fields might have a new tool, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research study.

Dr. Jerry Michels, Texas A&M AgriLife Research entomologist in Amarillo, talks about aphid control in wheat fields. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Kay Ledbetter)

Dr. Jerry Michels, AgriLife Research entomologist in Amarillo, and Johnny Bible, research assistant, are conducting a study on control of small grain aphids with seed-applied thiamethoxam insecticide, or Cruiser, at the North Plains Research Field north of Dumas.

Michels and Bible have demonstrated the control for the past three years as part of the iWheat project.

iWheat is a multi-state project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program, also known as RAMP. The goal is to develop a region-wide pest management program for winter wheat that includes insects, plant diseases, weeds and agronomic practices.

The iWheat team includes members from AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Colorado State University, Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Nebraska and USDA-Agricultural Research Service.

“The team laid the foundation for iWheat in 2010,” Michels said. “Some of our efforts have been hampered by the current drought, and of course this year’s severe late freezes. But, we made the best of the opportunities we’ve had, and implementation of iWheat is underway.

“There are some additional features we want to incorporate into iWheat that need user input,” he said.  “The most important features that will make iWheat shine are maps and predictive models. We need to accumulate data this year and in the years to come. The more data we have on pests, varieties, yield and other production components, the more accurate our predictive models will be, and in real time, you can access information on problems throughout the season.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Michels said anyone can join iWheat by going to http://my.iwheat.org  to register at no cost.

Once completed, the results of the seed-applied thiamethoxam insecticide study will be part of the iWheat database, he said.

“Because of drought and unusually high temperatures, the greenbugs, Russian wheat aphids and birdcherry oat aphids were found only in low densities in 2011-12,” Michels said. “This year, however, cooler temperatures and a little more moisture resulted in a natural aphid infestation in our plots and a successful demonstration.”

The plot consisted of level borders planted to either Hatcher or TAM 110 wheat varieties, he said. The plots were sampled five times this spring, beginning in early April. Data consisted of aphids-per-tiller and percentage of infested tillers.

Ten late-season freezes occurring between April 4 and May 5 almost certainly affected aphid infestations and damaged the wheat, Michels said. However, on most sampling dates, there was a clear indication that the treated plots had lower aphid infestation than untreated plots.

“We had significant populations,” he said. “The untreated by April had up to 85 percent infestations by primarily greenbugs, although we did have some Russian wheat aphid and some birdcherry oat aphid. Where we were getting upwards of 80 percent infested tillers on untreated, we were down below 15-16 percent of the infested tillers in the treated plots in early April.”

With the exception of the April 18 and May 15 sampling dates, Hatcher wheat treated with thiamethoxam had significantly fewer infested tillers than the untreated counterpart. Treated TAM 110 wheat had significantly fewer infested tillers than the untreated plots on April 4, but was irregular after that date, and there were no additional sampling dates with significant differences in tiller infestation.

Michels said the tiller samples followed the Glance ‘N Go scouting system protocol to determine if an aphid infestation warranted an additional treatment. At one sampling date, April 4, the protocol indicated that a foliar insecticide application would be economically valuable. This was based on a treatment cost of $11.42 per acre and wheat priced at $6.90 per bushel.

However, subsequent freezes seemed to have an impact on the aphids, he said. By the May 15 sample, there were few aphids or infested tillers because lady beetles and parasitic wasps had practically eliminated the aphid infestations.

“Our conclusion is that, although freezes caused problems, the treatment with Cruiser will last about seven months and give you pretty good aphid control,” Michels said. “If you use the Glance ‘N Go method to look at infested tillers and make a management decision as to when you are going to apply a foliar application, our readings late in April were indicating those untreated plots were ready to be sprayed. We are really excited Cruiser is working.”

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COLLEGE STATION – A senior official from the U.S. Agency for International Development recently praised Texas A&M University and its students for becoming one of seven institutions participating in USAID’s Higher Education Solutions Network.

“I want to applaud you and you should applaud yourselves,” said Dr. Alex Dehgan, USAID’s science and technology adviser to the administrator, speaking at a recent lecture at the AgriLife Center on the Texas A&M campus.

Dehgan’s remarks drew a rousing ovation from the student and faculty audience.

Texas A&M’s Conflict and Development  is a member of the agency’s Higher Education Solutions Network — a partnership which aims to utilize academic institutions to help fuel research and progress in tackling our world’s most challenging development problems.

As one of seven institutions selected to join the network, Conflict and Development seeks to improve the effectiveness of development solutions for conflict-affected and fragile countries, according to officials.

The lecture focused on the challenges of food security, climate change, resource management, and political instability in a rapidly-changing world.

“Fundamentally, the planet is changing,” Dehgan said, adding that by 2050 approximately 9 billion people will be living on the planet, putting increasing strains on both water and food security.

Dehgan noted the many technological advances taking place in human health and discussed how those achievements can be built upon through future innovation.

Dr. Ed Price, Howard G. Buffet Foundation Chair on Conflict and Development at Texas A&M, concurred that these natural resource management issues contribute  immensely to conflict around the world.

Price praised Dehgan for “encouraging leadership at the university to think creatively about this new partnership and how it can build on and enhance Texas A&M University’s mission of service around the world.”

Dehgan closed with a call to the students.

“I hope you take the opportunity to dare mighty things to help us achieve the grand challenges of our day.”

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AMARILLO – When a farmer starts noticing he has disease in a wheat field, it doesn’t matter how much water or nitrogen is applied, it can be a waste, said Dr. Charlie Rush, Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant pathologist in Amarillo.

Dr. Charlie Rush, Texas A&M AgriLIfe Research plant pathologist, talks about how wheat plants infected with mite-vectored diseases can severely limit the effectiveness of inputs such as irrigation and fertilizer. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Kay Ledbetter)

“It’s a waste because the root system can’t take it up,” Rush said. “Anything you put on severely diseased wheat, you are wasting your time and resources and energy – it just doesn’t pay off for the current crop.”

But that doesn’t mean site-specific management isn’t possible, especially on plants infected later in the season which are still capable of producing good grain and forage yields, he said.

Rush is leading a research team to study mite-vectored virus diseases, which are the main pathogenic constraints to economically sustainable to profitable wheat production, and transmitted by the wheat curl mite. The project is funded by the Ogallala Initiative and also by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

Wheat plants infected with mite-vectored diseases, such as wheat streak and triticum mosaic, not only have reduced grain and forage yields, but also greatly reduced root weight and water-use efficiency, he said. Their progressive nature makes it difficult for producers to know when additional crop inputs, such as fertilization and multiple spring irrigations, are economically feasible.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rush said the study’s goal is to help producers develop some site-specific practices to make those critical economic decisions.

Wheat streak mosaic, one of the mite-vectored diseases, develops in gradients across the field, starting on one edge and spreading across the field. Almost every plant eventually becomes infected.

Because this is known, Rush and his plant pathology crew are studying the hot spots and making transects across the field, starting where the disease started and going into the center of the field where there is no disease yet. The study is being conducted at the AgriLife Research station near Bushland and in farmers’ fields.

Wheat streak mosaic virus is one of the most common wheat viruses found in Texas. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo)

Members of the team detect and quantify plant diseases using a variety of remote sensing devices. Most recently, a hand-held hyperspectral radiometer was used to quantify severity gradients in the field. By recording hyperspectral readings of disease symptom severity over time and associating each reading with GPS coordinates, it will be possible to determine how a specific reflectance reading, at a particular location and point in time, relates to grain and forage yields.

Knowing when specific crop inputs were made, in relation to disease severity at the time, will allow economic cost/benefit analysis and development of an economic threshold for irrigation of diseased wheat, Rush said.

“We take radiometer readings and also visual readings on how severe the disease is at that particular point,” he said. “We are making those ratings each week at the same spot over the entire season. At the end of the season, our statistical guys will be able to say ‘if you had a particular level of disease at a particular time of the season, then it is not going to pay off for you to put any more inputs into that wheat.’

“Or, if you have a disease level that is below a threshold, then we would say based on what we measured in the past, it would be economical for you to irrigate or apply that top-dress of nitrogen,” Rush said.

This year the study has been somewhat limited by the freeze damage and hail, but the wheat that is growing out of the damage is showing the same trends as the wheat prior to the freeze, he said.

“We are going to continue to do the study for three more years,” Rush said. “At the end, we believe we will be able to provide an economic threshold that will tell you when it is worth it to continue to irrigate or put nitrogen on if you have disease in a field.”

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SONORA – The Academy for Ranch Management will host a Prescribed Burning School Aug. 8-10 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research-Sonora Station located on State Highway 55 between Sonora and Rocksprings.

The workshop will provide information on the history of fire, weather, planning a burn, fuels and fuel moisture, and equipment, according to Ray Hinnant, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research senior research associate in College Station and a workshop presenter.

The fee for this workshop is $395, payable upon registration, plus a $45 facilities-use fee that will be payable to the AgriLife Research station upon arrival, Hinnant said.

The academy’s primary goal is training ranchers for effective rangeland management, and the focus now is on prescribed burning for rangelands, he said. Prescribed burning is a tool that can be used to manage rangeland vegetation for livestock and wildlife, and also reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires by removing hazardous fuel loads.

“These courses offer hands-on experience for ranch owners, as well as new landowners and absentee landowners who may be several generations removed from the ranch,” Hinnant said.

The Academy for Ranch Management is a program of AgriLife Research and the Texas A&M University department of ecosystems science and management in College Station. The Sonora facilities provide a teaching laboratory for hands-on experience.

Hinnant and Dr. Charles “Butch” Taylor, superintendent of the research station at Sonora, are prescribed-burning board instructors. Other speakers during the two courses include Dr. Mort Kothmann, department of ecosystems science and management professor, and Nick Garza, an AgriLife Research associate at Sonora.

The basic course is a prerequisite for the Advanced Prescribed Burning School, which provides more information on fire behavior, fire effects, and planning and conducting a prescribed burn, he said.

Successful completion of both courses and a passing grade on the exam will provide the educational component to begin application for either a private or commercial certified prescribed burn manager through the Texas Department of Agriculture, Hinnant said.

For more information, call Hinnant at 979-820-1778, and to register, call Jeanne Andreski at 979-862-2128 or visit http://www.ranchmanagement.org to download the registration form.

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           Clarke, special assistant for program development for the vice chancellor of agriculture at Texas A&M University, was recognized for his “outstanding contributions towards poverty alleviation and food security in the developing countries” and for his commitment to the association’s mission.

Dr. Neville Clarke (Photo courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife Research)

           The citation noted that since 1954, “Clarke has served our country in several capacities both in uniform and in the civil society.” It was upon his retirement as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force in 1975 that Clarke became director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, now called Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

           In that role, Clarke initiated research projects in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, the citation noted, along with the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya, which were aimed at “reducing poverty, hunger and environmental degradation in developing countries.” That concept has since been developed to serve smallholder livestock producers in other African nations as well as in Asia and Latin America.

           Clarke also was founding director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Center of Excellence on Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense and has been a U.S. Department of Agriculture advisor on agricultural biosecurity since 1996.

           He earned a pre-med associate’s degree from Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde, a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M, and a master’s and doctorate in physiology from the University of Washington School of Medicine.

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Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Jackie Rudd, 806-677-5600,  jcrudd@ag.tamu.edu
Steve Brown, 940-552-6226, rsbrown@ag.tamu.edu 

AMARILLO – The question of wheat seed availability is still to be answered, because none of it is in the bin yet, according to Steve Brown, Texas Foundation Seed manager in Vernon.

Experts say drought, freeze and hail could cause a scramble for wheat seed this fall. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Kay Ledbetter)

“From a seed availability standpoint, for those of you who will be looking for specific varieties, I would talk to your seed dealers now,” Brown said. “Some of those guys are already pulling wheat out of South Texas for varieties that perform up here.

“One of the nice things about some of the TAM varieties is they are very broadly adapted. So, some of the same varieties grown south of San Antonio are some of the high input varieties that grow up here in the Panhandle.”

He said seed dealers are already scrambling trying to take care of their customers for next year.

“Some of the wheat looks better than it did two and three weeks ago. I have been surprised at what we are seeing as it continues to grow,” Brown said. “In the Rolling Plains and south to Abilene where we had some freezes, but not as many as up in the Panhandle, we had a little rain. Some of the guys who stayed with it are going to cut some wheat.

“The problem we have in that part of the state is most of the wheat we will cut will be off of secondary tillers. We have already had temperatures of 104 and 105 degrees in the Rolling Plains, so this wheat is trying to finish in the heat. So my expectation is test weights will be low.”

Brown said the State Seed and Plant Board met earlier this week to consider recertification of wheat seed. In years with a big loss of seed wheat due to natural disasters, recertification can be used to relax the normal requirements for seed certification.

Recertification was approved, he said, but that does not necessarily solve the problem. In some areas of the state where harvest has been completed, it will be impossible to recertify in those areas unless fields were inspected in advance of harvest.

For recertification to occur, the applicant must be a certified grower or conditioner, he explained. The land where the variety is grown must meet all criteria for seed certification. All application paperwork must be completed and sent to the Texas Department of Agriculture and the field must be inspected in advance of harvest.

He explained any big loss of seed is not a one-year problem; it can be a two-year problem. This is because not only the Certified class is affected, but also the Foundation and Registered classes are affected. The Foundation and Registered classes are the ones used to produce the Certified class which is most typically used by the commercial producer.

Early harvest has proven to have much lower yields and test weights, Brown said. Lower test weights indicate that seed count per pound will be higher. Seed counts will be very important for fall planting so producers can make appropriate determinations of how much seed to plant.

“If you lose that Foundation-registered class in your seed production, then the start-up again takes a lot longer. That recertification generally is more likely to happen when you have other places to go to recertify things. But trying to find a field, especially a dryland field, which would meet certification requirements and has any wheat to harvest, is going to be a problem this year.

“Talk to your seed dealers. Most of them can’t tell you what they are going to harvest yet, and I can’t tell you what we are going to harvest yet either.”

Brown said a list a varieties and their performance, as well as seed dealers, can be found by going online to http://varietytesting.tamu.edu/wheat/ and http://www.texasseedtrade.com/cms/.

Dr. Travis Miller, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program leader for soil and crop science in College Station, said cooler spring weather experienced across most of the state has helped what would have been a 50 to 60 percent loss of the state’s wheat yield to be only a 25 to 30 percent loss.

“Although it is still a little speculative at this point,” Miller said. “We know we had significant losses – 25 is a conservative estimate and 40 percent plus might be closer.”

He said many fields where yields looked marginal after the first freeze events did not receive additional irrigation and will experience higher losses.

Dr. Jackie Rudd, Texas A&M AgriLife Research wheat breeder in Amarillo, said the primary breeding locations that suffered damage this year due to drought and freeze were the Bushland dryland nursery, which suffered heavy losses, and the Chillicothe nursery, which saw 50-60 percent yield loss and a lot of sterility.

“The sterility means we have outcrossing, so we can’t go harvest it and think it is self-pollinated, so no seed source there for further breeding development of new varieties,” he said.

Bushland irrigated nurseries looked better, but a May 28 hail storm eliminated the rest of it, Rudd said.

“We have a lot of things growing at Castroville, and while we normally don’t harvest there, we needed to get what we could,” he said. “That field also was broken over by an earlier hail storm, but it was still harvested by hand off the ground and the germplasm was brought back to Amarillo.”

Dr. Calvin Trostle, AgriLife Extension agronomist in Lubbock, said as producers scramble around for seed, those who are fortunate to harvest some need to remember the Plant Variety Protection Act.

“Most of these varieties are protected and you have to have permission to do anything other than collecting and cleaning what you can use in your own farming operation,” Trostle warned. “You can’t sell a protected variety to a neighbor as seed.”

Texas Foundation Seed Service is part of AgriLife Research. For more information on the Plant Variety Protection Act and what can and cannot be done with harvested seed, producers should access AgriLife Extension’s “The Plant Variety Protection Act:  Information for Texas Small Grains Producers” (E-338), available at http://agrilifebookstore.org.

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Betty Atchley, Smith County Master Gardener, prepares sets for planting at the East Texas Horticultural Field Day North Farm Site. More than 500 bedding plants will be tested at the site under sun and shade conditions. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Robert Burns)

Writer: Robert Burns, 903-834-6191, rd-burns@tamu.edu

OVERTON – Gardeners, professional landscape managers and seed company representatives will learn which landscape plants did well under regional conditions at the 2013 East Texas Horticultural Field Day set June 27 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton.

Dr. Brent Pemberton, Texas A&M AgriLife Research ornamental horticulturist, has conducted bedding-plant trials at the center since 1994. He tests bedding plants and flowers, including establish varieties and those more recently developed by national and regional seed companies. The tests are conducted under East Texas conditions, which some years can be rather hot and harsh, he said.

There is no cost to attend or for the barbecue lunch. The field day will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the center’s North Farm site, which is about four miles north of the Overton Center on Farm-to-Market Road 3053.

This year’s field day will feature more than 500 bedding-plant entries, everything from geraniums to petunias to verbena to begonias, which will be on display in outdoor plots, said Pemberton.

The tour will continue at the North Farm until about 10:30 a.m., then move to the Overton center’s headquarters building, where a demonstration garden is located. Lunch will be served at about 11:45 a.m. Indoor presentations will begin at 1 p.m., and the program will conclude by 3 p.m.

The trials include thousands of square feet of plots planted with purple, pink, red and white flowers. Pemberton designed the tests to help local growers, but the event has become popular with local gardeners too, with hundreds of people typically attending.

The trials will include many varieties of scaevolas, which are a good heat tolerant plant, said Dr. Brent Pemberton, Texas A&M AgriLife Research ornamental horticulturist. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Robert Burns)

This year there will be new varieties of geranium, trailing petunias, verbena, angelonia, begonias, lantana and lobelia, Pemberton said. And there will be continuing emphasis on vinca, a widely used landscape plant throughout the South.

“The new Cora Cascade vinca will be on display as well as a large number of trailing petunias,” Pemberton noted. “Also on display will be the new Stream series of heat-tolerant alyssum.”

Newer additions will include Napier grasses, almost all of the commercially available varieties of pentas and a large number of new scaevola varieties, he said.

“Pentas are a great plant for full sun in our heat and humidity that flowers continuously and is attractive to butterflies,” Pemberton said. “This will be my first attempt at a comprehensive trial of this great plant.”

Also new in the trials will be many Napier grasses, a purple-leaved ornamental plant, he said.

“I think the Napier grasses will be really interesting in the future for us,” he said. “This year, we promoted Princess Caroline Napier grass as a Texas Superstar plant.”

There is also a huge selection of geraniums this year. New interspecific hybrids that have better heat tolerance are becoming widely available now and many are in the trials.

There will be an expansion of the tests of verbena from 2012.

“Verbenas have been around for awhile, but the new varieties are making the bedding plant attractive to gardeners again,” Pemberton said. “Several previous varieties did very well in 2012, and we’re bringing them back for an encore, along with many new varieties.”

He said there will be some new begonias with enormous flowers in both the sun and shade trials.

“They are looking absolutely beautiful this time of the year,” he said. “The high relative humidity that we have been experiencing may be uncomfortable for gardeners, but it’s been great for getting all of the trial plants well established in the field plots.”

The East Texas Horticultural Field Day will show the results of container plants in large pots, suitable for a patio setting. (Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Robert Burns)

The program will move inside after lunch with presentations by Pemberton and Dallas Arboretum representatives Jimmy Turner and Jenny Wegley, who will discuss the 2013 California Spring Showcase, also known as Pack Trials, as well as top performers for 2012.

The bedding plant industry has had a $500 million annual economic impact on the region for at least a decade, and though not recession proof, it hasn’t experienced the downturn in consumer spending that other businesses have in the last couple of years, Pemberton said.

Before Pemberton began his trials, there were few if, any, tests under East Texas conditions of the many new varieties released by seed companies each year, he said.

The center and the North Farm site are north of downtown Overton on Farm-to-Market Road 3053. For driving directions, go to http://flowers.tamu.edu/field-day/ or call 903-834-6191.

Texas Superstar is a registered trademark owned by AgriLife Research, a state agency that is part of the Texas A&M University System. More information about the Texas Superstar program can be found at http://texassuperstar.com/ .

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