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Herald
AGRICULTURE
Courtesy Photo
The Junior 1 Entomology ID team took third place at the 4-H District
Roundup. Team members are Simon Adair (left), Cortney James and
Blaise White.
Courtesy Photo
The Junior II Grass ID team took second place at the 4-H District
Roundup. Team members are Vicky Ramos (left), Kira Pierce, Camrie
Looney and Monica Ramos.
SIX DAY FORECAST FOR PLAINVIEW
Sunday
Winds gusting past 50
mph; mostly sunny
100°/63°
Monday
Partly sunny, windy and
not as hot
89°/59°
Tuesday
Partly sunny, a strong
t-storm possible
85°/62°
TRENDS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday
Partly sunny and breezy
89°/60°
Thursday
Mostly sunny and
seasonably warm
86°/59°
Friday
Sunshine
90°/60°
To Get Your Full Local Forecast, Go To http:/www.MyPlainview.com
TEMPERATURE
PRECIPITATION
Courtesy Photo
The Junior II Entomology ID team took fourth place at the 4-H District
Roundup. Team members are Vicky Ramos (left), Kira Pierce
and Monica Ramos.
Courtesy Photo
The Intermediate Grass ID team took second place at the 4-H District
Roundup. Team members are Rebekah Ortiz (left); Megan Harp,
third high individual; Emily White; and Logan Adair, second high individual.
’Tis the season for agriculture,
baseball and Mother Nature
By JUAN GARCIA
Texas Farm Service Agency
What do agriculture,
baseball and Mother Nature
have in common? Any
farmer or rancher will tell
you, without hesitation, that
in the competitive industry
that is agriculture, Mother
Nature always bats cleanup
and nine times out of 10,
she bats for the opposition
— she’ll make or break you
every time.
To date, crop year 2011
has been exceptionally tough
for farmers and ranchers.
That which isn’t drying up
from drought, burning up in
wildfi res or blowing away
in tornadoes is being swept
downstream by torrential
fl ooding.
It’s an unfortunate reality
that somewhere in the U.S.,
this very minute, a farmer
or rancher is battling the
elements — and as most
agricultural producers know
all too well, you win some
and you lose some.
So what happens when
you lose?
Prior to the 2008 farm
Program to look at
cattle management
GAIL — Beef cattle care,
with a nod to the current
drought, will be the basis
for a multi-county Texas
AgriLife Extension Service
program set for 9:30 a.m.
June 6 in Gail’s Borden
County Event Center.
The program, titled
“Cow/Calf Management in
Dry Times,” will focus on
management priorities in
response to the continued
low rainfall and subsequent
reduction in forage production,
said Cody Hill, AgriLife
Extension agent in Borden
County.
Dr. Ted McCollum, Agri-
Life Extension beef cattle
specialist at Amarillo, will be
the keynote speaker.
“A topic of particular
interest to many of our
producers will be how to
fi nd and acquire the various
commodity or ‘by-product’
feeds available in our region
and then how to realize their
full potential as supplemental
feeds for cattle on our area
ranches,” Hill said.
Hill said McCollum
also will discuss specifi c
strategies on how to adjust
management practices to the
lingering low-rainfall conditions.
Two Texas Department
of Agriculture continuing
education units in the general
category will be offered for
those in attendance.
Individual pre-registration
is $15 and includes lunch.
For more information and
to RSVP by Friday, call the
Extension offi ce in Borden
County at 806-756-4336.
bill, a row crop or livestock
producer was at the mercy
of lawmakers to approve ad
hoc funding for emergency
disaster assistance.
It literally took an act
of Congress for USDA’s
Farm Service Agency to
get much-needed recovery
assistance to producers impacted
by natural disasters.
The process was tedious,
time-consuming and budget
dependent.
Fast forward to 2008 when
Congress passed legislation
providing for fi ve “permanent”
disaster assistance
programs — the Supplemental
Revenue Assistance
Payment Program (SURE),
Livestock Indemnity Program
(LIP), Livestock Forage
Disaster Program (LFP),
Emergency Assistance for
Livestock, Honeybees, and
Farm-Raised Fish Program
(ELAP) and the Tree Assistance
Program (TAP). All
are administered by FSA.
So, how “permanent” is
permanent? The truth is;
these disaster assistance
programs are only “permanent”
for the life of the 2008
farm bill.
As of Sept. 30, 2011, the
legislative authority for these
fi ve programs expires and
they will, in essence, cease
to exist.
What does this mean to
the producer?
It means that, although
we hope a farmer or rancher
never requires disaster assistance,
no industry is more
vulnerable to nature’s wrath
than agriculture and the odds
are, if you’re in the industry
very long, you will indeed
experience your fair share of
setbacks — compliments of
Mother Nature.
Permanent disaster legislation
offers producers some
peace of mind that, in time
of need, FSA can be immediately
responsive.
To date, row crop and
livestock producers nationwide
have received more
than $2.9 billion in assistance
from FSA for qualifying
losses resulting from
natural disaster.
These dollars are, in turn,
pumped back into the rural
economy as producers purchase
inputs, hire contractors
or procure whatever is necessary
to get back on their
feet and back to the business
of farming and ranching.
There’s no doubt that, as
Congress begins to craft the
next farm bill, disaster programs
will be a signifi cant
topic of discussion.
The weather events of
2011 will be in the forefront
of the minds of lawmakers
as they gather around the
table to hash out future farm
legislation.
The faster a producer
recovers from a natural
disaster, the better for
everyone — including the
consumer, who can continue
to enjoy the abundant, safe
and affordable food and fi ber
that we, as Americans, have
come to expect.
So, when it’s the bottom
of the ninth, Mother
Nature steps up to the plate
with bases loaded and she
knocks one out of the park,
make sure disaster assistance
legislation is in place to
level the playing fi eld. And,
never forget, USDA’s Farm
Service Agency is always on
your team.
AGRICULTURE FORECAST
REGIONAL SUMMARY
Winds gusting past 50 mph Sunday; mostly
sunny. Winds south-southwest 30-40 mph.
Expect more than 10 hours of sunshine with
average relative humidity 25% and excellent
drying conditions. Monday: partly sunny, windy
and not as hot. Winds southwest 30-40 mph.
Expect 6-10 hours of sunshine with relative
humidity 55% early, 25% in the afternoon and
excellent drying conditions. Tuesday: breezy
with a strong thunderstorm possible.
Winds gusting past 50 mph Sunday; mostly
sunny. Very warm toward the New Mexico
border. Partly sunny and windy Monday; not
as hot near Plainview. Chance for a strong
thunderstorm Tuesday. Partly sunny and
breezy Wednesday; very warm in eastern
parts of the area and toward Amarillo.
Thursday: sunny to partly cloudy and
seasonably warm. Friday: sunshine. Saturday: a full day of sunshine. Not as
hot; very warm toward Amarillo and Lubbock.
REGIONAL ALMANAC
Temperatures are the averages
for the week of 5/21 - 5/27.
Precipication values are totals for
the week.
City Hi Lo Prcp
Abilene 89 66 0.55
Amarillo 84 58 0.54
Austin 88 69 0.81
Clovis, NM 87 54 0.40
Corpus Christi 88 72 0.65
Dallas 88 68 0.72
Denver, CO 77 49 0.30
El Paso 93 66 0.10
Ft. Worth 87 65 0.79
Hobbs, NM 91 60 0.40
Houston 89 70 0.95
Lubbock 87 61 0.49
Midland 91 64 0.30
Oklahoma City 84 63 0.90
Red River, NM 76 43 0.19
Ruidoso, NM 70 40 0.25
San Antonio 89 70 0.85
Santa Fe, NM 79 43 0.15
Tulsa, OK 84 64 0.85
Wichita Falls 88 65 0.15
®
Page 8A
Sunday, May 29, 2011
MyPlainview.com/agriculture
Courtesy Photo
The Junior I Grass ID team took fi rst place at the 4-H District Roundup.
Team members are Cord Brown (left), fi rst high individual; Simon
Adair, second high individual; Cortney James, third high individual;
and Blaise White.
Most of the state still is
suffering from drought
By ROBERT BURNS
Texas AgriLife Extension
COLLEGE STATION
— Many areas recently
received rain, but in most
of the state the agricultural
situation remains extremely
dire, according to reports
from Texas AgriLife Extension
Service personnel.
Most everywhere, soil
moisture remain short,
except in North Texas,
where despite good rains,
they were reported as
merely adequate. In most
areas, wheat grown for
grain has been lost or yields
severely reduced, according
to reports from AgriLife
Extension county agents.
Cotton planting continued
in areas where the
planting window is later,
such as the South Plains
and Rolling Plains, but the
situation in those regions
doesn’t look promising
either, said Dr. Mark Kelley,
AgriLife Extension
regional specialist based in
Lubbock.
In an average year, the
South Plains grows about
4 million acres of cotton,
approximately 60 percent
or more of the state’s total
acreage. Cotton has largely
failed in South Texas, and
the plantings are at risk in
Central Texas.
Because the planting
window is later in the
South Plains, there was
hope the drought conditions
would lift in time for
cotton, Kelley said.
“We’ve been in the planting
window for a while
now,” he said.
“It’s just we’re having
issues keeping the ground
wet enough, even under
irrigated situations, to get a
good stand.
“For the dryland guys,
the moisture is non-existent.
We’ve got some that
are trying to trickle seed in
to the dry dirt and just hope
for rain,” he said.
Meanwhile, the opportunities
for planting to
produce a viable crop and
to meet crop insurance
deadlines are fast approaching.
The outlook in the Rolling
Plains is about the same
as the South Plains, Kelley
said.
“They may have enough
moisture to get cotton up,
but to keep it going they’re
going to have to have
more,” he said. “They’re
going to have to have a lot
more.”
From a national standpoint,
Texas is a “minor
player” in feed grains, said
Dr. Travis Miller, AgriLife
Extension program leader
and associate department
head of the soil and crop
sciences department, College
Station.
But Texas typically
plants about half the cotton
acreage in the U.S., so a
large-scale crop failure here
could have a large impact
on prices nationally.
LOCAL ALMANAC
Statistics for the week ending May 27 for:
Temperature Amarillo Lubbock
High for the week 94° 101°
Low for the week 45° 47°
Normal high 81° 85°
Normal low 58° 58°
Average temp. 69.7° 74.2°
Normal average temp. 67.7° 71.6°
Temp. departure
Precipitation
+2.0° +2.6°
Total for the week 0.00” 0.00”
Total for the month 0.08” 0.26”
Total for the year 0.68” 1.10”
Normal for the month 2.10” 1.95”
% of normal this month 4% 13%
% of normal this year 12% 21%
Growing Degree Days
Yesterday 27 33
Month to date 410 517
Season to date 848 1202
ReelFeel Temperature®
8 a.m. Sunday 69° 70°
12 p.m. 87° 92°
4 p.m. 89° 95°
8 p.m. 74° 79°
The patented AccuWeather.com RealFeel
Temperature is an exclusive index of the
effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine
intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, pressure
and elevation on the human body.
Forecast and graphics provided by AccuWeather.com ©2011
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