Texas Agriculture Today

*USDA is planning a sterile screwworm distribution facility in the Rio Grande Valley.   *Rain has put a big damper on the Texas wheat harvest. *Rain is also slowing cotton planting. *Texas A&M broke ground on a new veterinary hospital. *Nominations are being accepted for local Farm Service Agency committees.      *Rains in the Texas High Plains are impacting ranchers’ decision making.   *Extre...

*The Texas Wheat harvest is at a stand-still.   *The U.S. Department of Labor is hosting a webinar on federal guidelines for agricultural workers.   *Growing cotton will be a losing endeavor for most Texas farmers this year.   *Texas farmers learned about two new sorghum varieties available this year.   *Margins are getting tight for Texas cattle feeders.  *Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins add...

*The Texas Panhandle is getting historical rains.   *Cow herd rebuilding may be getting underway.     *Heavier carcass weights are creating some unique challenges for the beef industry.   *Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins shared what it will take to let Mexican feeder cattle back into the United States.   *Corn prices are low right now, and the outlook isn’t positive.   *Grass is growing in...

*Cattle herd rebuilding may be getting underway.     *Registration is underway for Texas A&M’s Prescribed Burning School.   *Winter wheat harvest has come to a halt due to rain.   *West Texas A&M is helping the beef industry deal with increasing feedlot cattle weights. *U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins gave the House Agriculture Committee and update on her efforts to improve ag...

*Texas cotton acreage is expected to fall this year. *Interest in the Livestock Risk Protection program is increasing. *U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales is pushing for a sterile fly facility in West Texas. *Texas farmers attend a field day on the Upper Gulf Coast. *Study examines the response of the equine herpes vaccine given in the nose and muscle. *Range management for livestock grazing can be challengi...

*The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol continues to grow.   *The United States and China have reported reached a tentative trade agreement.   *Corn planting is wrapping up in Texas.   *In the Texas High Plains, crop insurance claims are coming in after last week’s severe weather. *New news on the fight against New World Screwworms is expected soon.   *A field day in Southeast Texas gave farmers an opport...

*The Texas wheat harvest continues.    *Texas Tech is home to a state-of-the-art machine that will enhance the study of crop traits.    *Texas cotton acreage may be higher than the current USDA estimate of 5.5 million acres.   *Some of the world’s top beef industry minds are in Amarillo this week.   *A U.S. lawmaker from Texas has introduced a bill to prevent foreign ownership of American farmland...

*Texas cotton planting is half done.    *Winter wheat harvest results are coming in.    *Times are pretty good for Texas feedlots right now.     *The future of crop protection products is a concern for Texas farmers.   *Lawmakers are pushing for resources to help Texas fend off New World Screwworms.   *The Texas Beef Council received an update on beef exports.   *The Texas Rolling Plains is gettin...

*Feedlots have been making money, but that may not last.    *Times are tough for Texas High Plains farmers.   *USDA is making payments to livestock producers under the Emergency Livestock Relief Program.   *International trade adds a lot of value to U.S. cattle.   *Extreme South Texas is hot and dry.  *Orphan wildlife are commonly found by humans.  

*Will Brazil continue to take cotton customers away from the US?   *TFB President Russell Boening testified in front of a House Ag subcommittee Thursday on farm bill conservation programs.   *The economic situation has influenced how farmers are dividing their acres this year.   *Texas legislative session good for Texas agriculture.    *Grain is filling out in Coastal Bend.   *The disease anaplasm...

*The Texas Cattle Feeders Association is working with other sectors of the livestock industry in Texas to prepare for New World Screwworms.   *A bill that would expand students’ milk options at school has cleared a key hurdle.    *What does sustainability really look like in the cattle business?   *Grazing conditions in Central Texas have been good for sheep.    *CBD is being used on many differen...

*The Texas Supreme Court recently issued an important ruling that clarifies who owns the pore space beneath land. *Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar expresses concern with reductions-in-staff at USDA and proposed SNAP cuts. *Despite tariff uncertainty, red meat exports are on-par with last year. *It was a rainy spring in the Texas Panhandle. What’s the forecast for this summer? *Sum...

*Cattle markets have been setting new records over the past couple of weeks.   *The farm bill’s conservation title was the focus of a recent Senate Ag hearing.   *It was a marvelously wet spring for the Texas Panhandle.   *US meat exporters are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to tariffs.    *Hand walking, icing, stretches and stall rest are all important parts of the rehabilitation an...

*Cotton futures continue to trade at unprofitable levels in the mid to high sixties. What’s keeping them in that range?   *Changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Orders went into effect Sunday.    *Texas is expected to see above-average temperatures and barely average rainfall in June.    *The Beef Improvement Federation research symposium and convention is coming up in Amarillo.    *Recovery and r...

*Texas sorghum is looking very good this year. *There’s a possibility the U.S. could lift restrictions on livestock imports from Mexico later this year.  *Texas farmers’ input helped shape a bill addressing the MAHA movement.  *Grain sorghum farmers should consider the benefits and cost of leaving residue in the field after harvest.  *New duties on 2,4-D imports have been set.  *Veterinarians are...

*Texas pasture and range conditions are better than last year.   *New tariffs on products from the European Union have been delayed.   *USDA is investing $21 million to retrofit a facility in Mexico to produce sterile screwworm flies. *Analysis of last year’s Texas Panhandle wildfires is continuing.   *An active hurricane season is ahead of us.   *USDA issued a series of proposals intended to supp...

*A bill to protect farmers from city government overreach is on the governor’s desk.    *The state’s largest farm organization is accepting applications for the first-ever Ag Influencer of the Year contest.   *There’s a big variation in crop development in the Coastal Bend.     *The devastating wildfires that scorched over a million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle last year continue to receiv...

*There were no surprises in the latest Cattle on Feed report.    *Texas farmers impacted by a lack of irrigation water in the Rio Grande Valley have more time to apply for financial help.   *The CME Group has reset daily price limits for live and feeder cattle futures contracts.   *Wheat streak mosaic virus showed up in the Texas Panhandle late in the season.  *The “Make America Healthy Again” rep...

*There’s a big variation in crop conditions in the Coastal Bend.   *Registration is underway for the largest beef cattle educational event in the world.   *Is cow herd rebuilding underway?   *Wheat streak mosaic virus has struck a number of wheat fields in the northern Panhandle.   *The “One Big Beautiful Bill” has cleared a key hurdle in Washington.   *Rural landowner should take advantage of mod...

*Wheat disease pressure was light this year.   *The Farm Service Agency is now accepting applications for general and continuous CRP.   *Texas cotton gins saw a lot more business last year compared to the previous two years.   *The Texas legislature is once again strengthening the right to farm and ranch.   *Texas Panhandle wheat suffered from a lack of moisture early in the spring.   *The Natural...

*The U.S. Meat Export Federation is meeting in Ft. Worth.   *Efforts to bring high speed internet to farmers and ranchers continue.    *May is mental health awareness month.     *Texas Panhandle crops are showing the benefit of early spring rains.   *A report from the Make American Healthy Again commission could target pesticides.   *The latest Texas Crop Progress report shows varied amounts of ra...

*Cotton planting is running behind both here in Texas and nationwide.  *A new facility in Texas will help livestock researchers better understand livestock reproduction issues.   *A potential screwworm infestation could have big effect on the Texas deer population.   *Cattle feeders are getting the best prices they’ve ever received.   *EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says farmer input was taken into...

*The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee defended farm safety net spending.   *Drought conditions are improving across parts of Texas.   *Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz is asking the U.S. Trade Representative to include the 1944 water treaty in the USMCA.   *Memorial Day will kick off the summer grilling season.   *Cattle feeders in Texas are enjoying a period of economic strength.   *EPA...

*We set record highs in the cattle market last week.   *U.S. lawmakers from Texas have reintroduced a bill to help ranchers recover from natural disasters like the panhandle wildfires.   *The results of the Hard Red Winter Wheat Tour are in.   *A dream has become reality for the Texas Tech Vet School.   *A Texan went to Washington D.C. to discuss the importance of Farm Bill conservation programs....

*The condition of the Texas winter wheat crop is improving.   *A new bill to help fight screwworms has been introduced in Congress.    *There is a very high likelihood of screwworms reentering Texas in the coming months.   *Texas state legislators are addressing foreign ownership of agricultural land.   *The House Agriculture Committee has passed its part of the budget reconciliation package.   *I...