AgriCurrents, Feb. 3, 2006

				Return to TFB Main Page Return to Current Edition Texas Agriculture Archive February 3, 2006 Conservation programs signup due Feb. 17

				The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas has announced that farmers and ranchers wishing to be considered for 2006 funding in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the EQIP Ground and Surface Water Conservation Program (EQIP-GSWC), and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) have until the close of business Friday, Feb. 17, 2006, to sign applications. "The $77.55 million allocated for these programs in Texas will help farmers and ranchers improve the natural resources on private working lands in Texas," said Dr. Larry Butler, NRCS Texas State Conservationist. "The funds will be used to solve locally identified resource problems in each county and will also fund special statewide concerns recommended by the Texas State Technical Committee, such as water quantity, water and air quality, wildlife habitat, and treatment of invasive species. Each program offers cost share and incentive payments to producers applying approved conservation measures." Immediately following the end of the signup period, all applications will be ranked. For those approved, a NRCS conservation planner will develop a contract and conservation plan. Producers with approved contracts can then begin implementing the approved conservation practices next spring. Local NRCS field offices have complete details for their county and the applicable state concerns. For more information, call the USDA-NRCS office in your county. The information, including ranking criteria, eligible practices, and cost share rates, is also on the Texas NRCS Web Site at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/.
				USDA authorizes CRP emergency haying, grazing
				The USDA is permitting emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land established in permanent grasses across Texas. This action is in response to the continuing drought and recent devastating wildfires throughout the state. Emergency haying is authorized until May 1, and emergency grazing is authorized until June 1, 2006. CRP participants in every county in Texas are eligible to take part in emergency haying and grazing, but they must visit their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) to get approval. They must also visit the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office to obtain a modified conservation plan which will list specific requirements. This modified conservation plan will help landowners determine proper grazing heights and the proper design of haying strips needed to meet the emergency haying or grazing requirements. NRCS has offices in USDA Service Centers in nearly every county in Texas and offers its services free of charge. For more information, call the USDA-NRCS office in your county, listed under "USDA" in the phone book or on the Texas NRCS website at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/.
				Ethanol trends disturb some
				Economists for decades have tried to predict world food supplies and prices based on population changes, farm policies and various other factors—but not the volume of crops being used to produce ethanol. That has all changed in the last couple years as more and more crops such as corn are going for ethanol production. U.S. farmers are optimistic that increasing demand for corn will continue to push corn prices higher. "I do not just expect somewhat higher food prices, but new instability as well," said Joachim von Braun, director of the International Food Policy Research Institute. "In the future, instability of energy prices will be translated into instability in food prices," von Braun is quoted in a New York Times article. Other economists are quoted as seeing the potential for planting more acres in corn for ethanol and soybeans for biodiesel without cutting the world food supply or pushing food prices dramatically higher.
				LRGV 'Blue Book' now available
				Considered by many in the industry as the area's cotton production bible, the 2005 Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) Cotton, Grain Sorghum, and Corn Blue Book is now available. Free copies are available at local cotton gins or at any area Texas Cooperative Extension office. The Blue Book is a comprehensive report on cotton, grain sorghum and corn production in the LRGV in 2005. Included are historical data, variety tests, demonstration results, results of insecticide, defoliant and fertility tests, and a crop budget. The report has been compiled annually since 1989 by the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco. This year's 89-page report was compiled by Manda Cattaneo, a cotton integrated pest management entomologist. "The Blue Book covers both dryland and irrigated farming," Cattaneo said. "In addition to providing results of research conducted so that growers can make informed production decisions, this report describes how the various crops performed in 2005." According to the report, total acres of cotton planted in the four-county Valley area were approximately 183,816, down from the 207,000 acres planted in 2004. The total number of 500-pound bales harvested were 154,369, compared to 328,500 in 2004. Overall yields averaged 425 pounds per acre, based on acres planted in 2005.
				Notable Quotables
				"We're going to do more than double the business with Corpus Christi this year. Eventually we hope to triple, then quadruple, business."
				—Pedro Alvarez, head of Cuba's food import company, promising to double the amount of Cuba-bound cargo coming through the port of Corpus Christi by year's end after signing an agreement with port officials. Some 50,000 metric tons of wheat and 20,000 metric tons of beans were shipped through the Corpus Christi port to Cuba last year.