Jeff Stapper Awarded Sorghum Extension Agent of the Year – Jeff Stapper, County Extension Agent in Nueces County, was presented with Texas AgriLife’s Sorghum Extension Agent of the Year award at the Extension Agent’s annual meeting held at the end of July. Mr. Stapper’s regional director, Monty Dozier, noted that Jeff uses a variety of methods to reach producers related to grain sorghum production. He has extensive on-farm trials that he implements each year. In 2011, Jeff’s trials included studies related to grain sorghum varieties, sorghum fertility management, sorghum planting methods, and sorghum herbicide tolerance. Jeff is always providing information to his producers through face-to-face interaction, at meetings, in print and electronic media and on television. Last year he held a grain production workshop and implemented various other workshops on crops grown throughout the county. Mr. Stapper played an important role during the Sorghum Checkoff referendum in relaying information to producers. As a token of our appreciation, Texas Grain Sorghum Producers will be sending Jeff to the annual Commodity Classic in the spring of 2013 where he can network with industry leaders and growers across the nation and learn about the newest innovations in with grains. TGSP congratulates Mr. Stapper on this outstanding achievement and we look forward to continue to work with him in the future!
Jeff Stapper (center) awarded Texas AgriLife's Extension Agent of the Year
Monte Alto Variety Tests Results – Texas AgriLife recently released their results from their fully irrigated and limited irrigated grain sorghum performance tests in Monte Alto at their variety plots at Rio Farms Inc. The fully irrigated test plot averaged 8,096 lbs/acre. There were 38 hybrids in the trial, and 19 of the hybrids produced over 8,000 lbs/acre. The highest yielding hybrid was Pioneer 84P80 at 9,537 lbs/acre with a test weight of 59.6, and the second highest yielding hybrid was Monsanto Company’s DeKalb DKS51-01 at 9,467 lbs/acre. The limited irrigated test plot averaged 8,021 pounds/acre with an average test weight of 58.1. There were 42 varieties in this plot, and 19 produced over 8,000 lbs/acre. The highest yielding hybrid in the limited irrigated plot was also Pioneer’s 84P80 at 9,275 and second was also Monsanto Company’s DeKalb DKS51-01 at 9,190. To see all the results from this performance test, please visit http://varietytesting.tamu.
DuPont Pioneer to Celebrate 50 Years in Plainview – The DuPont Pioneer company will celebrate its 50th anniversary of its Plainview production facility on August 30. Sorghum is the primary crop that is produced at this facility and as marked on Pioneer’s website it was a milestone for the company – in 1962 “Pioneer sorghum operation begins in Plainview, Texas.” This year the facility is growing its largest sorghum seed crop it has ever seen. After harvest wraps up, they will then prepare the sorghum seed and ship it all over the world.
3rd Annual South Texas Commodity Symposium – Texas Grain Sorghum Producers, Corn Producers Association of Texas, South Texas Cotton and Grain and Southwest Council of Agribusiness will once again team up to bring a commodity symposium to South Texas growers. For the first time, the event will be held in conjunction with the Robstown AgXchange Farm & Ranch Show at the RMB Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, Tex. Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 4th and plan to join us at 10 a.m. to discuss the Farm Bill, the Texas Grain Indemnity Fund and hear from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples on border control and immigration issues. The event will conclude with tickets to eat lunch at the AgXchange BBQ cookoff. More information will be coming soon on the symposium, but in the meantime visit www.texasagxchange.com to view what the new Texas AgXchange will be bringing to Robstown to growers in South Texas!
