July 2015 - High Plains Ag Magazine

High Plains Ag

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FARMING ON THE HIGH PLAINS OF TEXAS • JULY 2015 • ISSUE 9, VOLUME 1 HIGHPLAINSAG.COM

Farming

Deep Roots

The Stones

GARDENS ARE GROWING IT’S A YES FOR SORGHUM PEANUT BUTTER HELPS VICTIMS THE GRAPE CAPITAL OF TEXAS

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INSIDE: HIGH PLAINS AG MAGAZINE

WHEN IT COMES TO TRAILERS

Page

Farming Deep Roots

Gardening

Peanuts

Grapes

Sorghum

Cotton

6

JOHN ROLEY

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12

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ABOUT HIGH PLAINS AG MAGAZINE High Plains Ag Magazine, based in Lubbock, Texas, is proud to feature local articles about farming and ranching on the High Plains of Texas. For more information, please contact one of the representatives below:

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Rowdy Bolen - Publisher, 806-687-4814, rowdy@texasautoguide.com Anthony Maye - Sales, 806-687-4814, anthony@highplainsag.com Elaine Witherspoon - Sales, 806-687-4814, elaine@texasautoguide.com High Plains Ag Magazine Po Box 16381 Lubbock, Texas 79490 http://www.HighPlainsAg.com

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COTTON

OPTIMISM ABOUT YIELD POTIENTIAL FOR COTTON The final planting dates for most of the Plains Cotton Growers service area have come and gone, and most would agree that even though the crop is a bit late, the potential for this year’s crop is the best in the past several years.

Abundant spring rainfall caused significant planting delays for growers, but most were able to finish by their respective deadlines. As always, there are exceptions, as standing water forced some farmers to take the crop insurance program’s prevented planting option or choose an alternative crop, if possible for them to do so. However, some opted to simply continue planting into their seven-day late planting period, accepting a slight reduction in crop insurance coverage of one percent per day, to stay with cotton.

“We know there will be a decrease in cotton acreage here on the High Plains from previous years, but we can’t yet quantify exactly how much,” PCG Executive Vice President Steve Verett said.

“Besides, less acreage doesn’t necessarily mean less production overall, especially considering the improved growing conditions we have now as compared to the past several years.”

Precipitation over the past several months, especially in May, lifted most of the state and the Plains Cotton Growers service area out of drought conditions. Growers are attacking weeds early, although wind limited spraying activity in some areas. Fortunately, insect pressure has been relatively low so far. Although the crop is late overall, warm weather will help accelerate development, and

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producers also can employ a variety of management techniques to help mature the crop more quickly.

“We will need some additional rainfall and warm temperatures to help maximize the yield potential for this year’s crop, and we certainly don’t need severe weather,” Verett said, noting that some acreage already has been lost to hail and high winds. “These next few months between now and harvest will be critical, especially given our late start.”

Many producers with irrigated acreage did not have to use their wells in the early part of the season, saving water and money. Rainfall over the winter replenished the soil, making pre-plant irrigation unnecessary, and additional rainfall has boosted the moisture profile significantly. Future precipitation events will determine if this will continue to be the case, especially as cotton approaches the bloom stage, but growers are encouraged by favorable growing conditions so far.

“We’re optimistic about yield potential,” Verett said. “We’re still facing a lot of challenges, price being one of them, but this year our crop started out in good shape and farmers will just continue to keep a very close eye on their inputs. We’ll all pray for good weather.” _________________________________________________

Mary Jane Buerkle, Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. 806-792-4904 - maryjane@plainscotton.org Lubbock, Texas

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www.HighPlainsAg.com / December

2014 / Page 7

Photos by: Belinda Maye

Farming

Deep Roots

The Stones

Young kids spending quality time with their parents outdoors, learning the family business, is a common site for this West Texas family.

Davy and Kassidi Stone of Tahoka, Texas both grew up farming and knew they wanted to have a farm of their own oneday. Some of the land they farm today has been in the family for generations and they hope it continues to be for generations to come. They are constantly growing, but currently farm about 2,000 acres of cotton and raise commercial goats.

Davy started farming on his own in 2004 and married Kassidi in 2005. They have since had three kids, Halle (9), Marlee (6) and Remington (5). The farm is a family affair, they all cherish the time spent together around the farm. Kassidi said she could not see her husband doing anything different.

“He has been at it since he was a little boy, we couldn’t see him doing anything else,” Kassidi said. “He has a passion for it and loves it. He could not sit in an office and love that, like he loves this.”

Kassidi is a teacher full-time, but still has a big role in the family business. She helps keep all the finances in order, and runs part orders in the summer. Although the Stones have their own operation, they work closely with Davy’s dad and brother.

Between all of them, they have approximately 6,000 acres of farmland.

Page 8 \ July 2015 \ www.HighPlainsAg.com

In many ways they strive to reach maximum yields and higher profits. Davy said they do all of their irrigation work on their wells and repair most equipment problems on their own. This helps them cut cost and increase their bottom-line.

There are many challenging times for producers, but Davy said they have been blessed this year. The increased rainfall is setting the Stones and other producers up for a bumper crop.

A significant amount of dollars is usually spent each summer to run irrigation pivots and Davy said they have not turned their wells on since last September. Things are looking positive for many growers in the area.

The Stones hope they can pass this business on to their children one day. Their three kids already take a huge interest in the farm.

In fact, Halle and Marlee have been riding the tractor with Davy from a very early age and the youngest, Remington, took his interest to a new level. He chose to quit going to daycare to spend time with his dad on the farm every day. Davy said he would spend every moment out there if he could. Kassidi said getting Remington to leave the farm to go to Pre-K wasn’t an easy task.

“As far as our kids, we want them to grow up with an understanding of hard work,” Kassidi said. “We like to see them out there, on the tractor.”

As the years go on, they hope their children continue this interest and take over the farm one day. Stating that they want them to take pride in ownership of the land and make it better than it will ever be in their lifetime.

In the meantime, Davy said he hopes to continue expanding their operation. Through hard work and dedication, the family hopes to continue to increase yields, profits and acres.

He said he would recommend the same to newer growers establishing their own operations. Davy and Kassidi both said to start small and ask more experienced producers for help, a little humility will go a very long way.

It is an exciting time for the agriculture industry as a whole.

Davy said the outlook for this year and years to come are increasingly better and he predicts a bright future ahead.

_____________________________________________ Kayla M. Wilkins, Agricultural Communications Student Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

Davy and Kassidi love the interest their children take in the farm now and hope they will learn all the valuable lessons this lifestyle has to offer them.

www.HighPlainsAg.com / July 2015 / Page 9

GARDENING

Isaack’s garden in Hockley County

RECENT RAINS HELP LOCAL GARDENS GROW

It truly has been a great year so far for local High Plains gardeners. The early spring rains, moderate winds and now hot summer is ideal for growing sun loving plants like tomatoes and peppers.

Some other changes this year were the widening of the rows. He mentioned, “by having our garden on 36 inch rows we are able to get through the garden a little easier and harvest easier.” Also, Doug mentioned that he has staggered his corn so that he has an extended harvest.

A Levelland native, Doug Isaacks is growing just such a garden in Hockley County. This year Doug is growing tomatoes, sweet corn, okra, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, peppers, sweet potatoes, strawberries, onions, cucumbers, black eye peas, green beans, cantaloupe and watermelon. Quite a garden!

Gardens on the high plains continue to be a source of great nutrition and personal enjoyment here on the High Plains.

Doug and his family are already harvesting squash and beans from the garden and says he will enjoy sharing with friends and neighbors this summer. ________________________________________________ ______________________________

The labor of a great High Plains garden usually starts in the early spring. Doug started by tilling in dry fertilizer of 11-52 and tilled it into the soil with peanut hulls to add moisture holding mulch to the soil. After planting he has also added ammonium sulfate 21-0-0-5 to the garden that the rains have helped soak into the soil.

Anthony Maye, High Plains Ag Magazine

Doug is in his third year of having a large garden and we asked him about some of the changes from last year to this year. “First, I changed my underground drip from 4 inches deep last year, to this year where it is 10 inches deep. Last year we had some standing water that caused some mold and made it hard to harvest. This year with the deeper drip system the water comes up to the plant about 3 – 4 inches deep,” Doug said.

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TRUE OR FALSE IN GARDENING!

WATERING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY WILL HARM PLANTS? False, although you may lose water due to evaporation, the leaves do not get sunburned through droplets.

ADDING SUGAR TO THE SOIL WILL MAKE YOUR TOMATOES TASTE SWEETER? False, Sweetness is determined by type of tomato and plant photosynthesis.

NOTHING GROWS UNDER A WALNUT TREE? True, the black walnut produces chemicals that destroy or deter plants from competing with the tree for nutrients in the soil.

THE MORE FERTILIZER YOU USE THE BETTER THE PLANT WILL GROW? False, Many people make this mistake. Once the plant has reached its nutritional needs, the extra nutrients and or nitrogen actually slows the plant down.

BURY NAILS, HAIRPINS AND OTHER METALS NEAR PLANTS TO HELP THEM? True, As metal rusts it releases elements of iron into the soil. Hydrangea flowers will turn blue if nails in the soil near it. In West Texas, it has been known that plum trees that do not put on fruit, could have rusty nails driven into its base, and the next year put on branch-breaking fruit.

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PEANUTS

San Antonio Food Bank worker getting over 10,000 jars of peanut butter ready to distribute to families for consumption

Employee of the Capital Area Food Bank getting ready to distribute jar of peanut butter for families affected by the floods.

PEANUT BUTTER DONATIONS FOR FLOOD RELIEF Peanut Butter is a highly appreciated and loved snack across the country. Whether it is included in popular candy pieces or paired with jelly in a sandwich, peanut butter is a staple in 94 percent of American homes.

With the recent flooding that has occurred in Texas, food banks have been working overtime to try to provide for displaced community members in addition to the folks who were already in need. One way Texas Peanut Producers Board helped in the emergency relief areas was teaming up with Peanut Proud to donate peanut butter to the region’s food banks.

“When a natural disaster strikes the U.S. or surrounding countries,” TPPB Executive Director Shelly Nutt says, “The whole peanut industry comes together to donate peanut butter. Peanut butter has over 30 enriching nutrients that can provide multiple healthy meals for a family in need.”

TPPB and Peanut Proud donated peanut butter to three different Texas food banks in areas impacted by recent floods: Capital Area Food Bank in Austin, San Antonio Food Bank, and the Houston Food Bank.

San Antonio and Houston Food Banks received 7 pallets while Austin received 6 pallets of peanut butter. Each pallet contains 1,440 jars of peanut butter, bringing the total donation to 28,800 jars of peanut butter. These jars can make approximately 362,880 peanut butter sandwiches for those in

the disaster area.

Peanut Proud is an organization working to unite the peanut community through humanitarian efforts and recognition of excellence. The organization is affiliated with a variety of commodity groups and organizations across the country.

These sizeable donations were made possible by a couple of organizations donating time and money to the cause. One organization was Tara Foods, an affiliate of Kroger, who provided peanut butter at a $1 per jar discount. Another organization was Southern Ag Carriers, who donated all shipping of the pallets.

“It is great to see a whole industry come together to help those in need,” Nutt says. “Texas Peanut Producers Board is thankful to Peanut Proud and the other companies that helped with this initiative.”

To find out more about the initiatives supported by TPPB and Peanut Proud, check out the organizations’ websites. TPPB can be found at www.TexasPeanutBoard.com. Peanut Proud can be found at www.PeanutProud.com. _______________________________________________ Submitted by Jessica Corder, Communications Clerk, Texas Corn Producers Board • Corn Producers Association of Texas

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1681 FM 403 Brownfield, TX 806-637-0568 www.HighPlainsAg.com / July 2015 / Page 11

WINE GRAPES

TERRY COUNTY BECOMES THE GRAPE CAPITAL OF TEXAS On Wednesday, June 17th, Governor Greg Abbot officially proclaimed that Terry County as the “Grape Capital of Texas.”

It’s an undeniable fact, that Terry County is the largest grape growing county in all of Texas. With over 3000 acres of wine grapes in the ground and a goal of 10,000 in the next ten years, winegrapes have become a major agriculture producer in Terry County.

The High Plains region grows 80% of Texas’ winegrapes while the majority of those winegrapes are crushed and bottled into wine and sold in Texas Hill Country wineries on Highway 290 between Fredericksburg and Johnson City.

Growers in Terry County have been actively planting and adding more grape vines to their vineyards the last ten years. They’ve been adding traditional stalwarts like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Muscat and Cabernet Franc and experimenting with non-traditional varieties like Montepluciano, Vermentino, Tempranillo, Aglianico, Viognier and Rousanne.

The hard work and new plantings have really taken off and we are seeing many fantastic award winning wines made with non-traditonal wine grape varieties. From 1984-2010, Texas wines won around 30 medals per year at out-of-state wine competitions. In 2011 the number of medals per year quickly began to rise, with the highest yearly total of 164 medals in 2014, with the majority of those grapes coming from Terry County and High Plains fruit.

At the 2013 Pacific Rim Wine competition in San Bernadino, California, McPherson Cellars won Grand Champion Wine with their 2012 Albarino, made with a white Italian wine grape, grown by Castano Prado Vineyards in Terry County. Of the 2000 international wines entered into the competition, the McPherson Albarino was designated the highest award of all.

The designation of “Grape Capital of Texas” has been something the Brownfield Chamber of Commerce has been pushing for since the beginning of 2015. Terry County will hold the “Wine Grape Capital” distinction for the next 10 years.

Page 12 \ July 2015 \ www.HighPlainsAg.com

WHAT ARE GRAPE GROWERS DOING IN JULY? 1. Spraying Fungicides. July will likely see us spraying fungicide for a final time before verasion and harvest. Some fungicides hold a 30-45 day no spray designation before harvest so we have to be picky about what we spray, when and pre-harvest knowledge.

2. Hedging vines. Some growers like to hedge the vines to allow the air flow through the canopy. Allowing the air to flow through reduces mildew and the need to spray fungicides.

3. Foliar and chemigation applications of fertilizer. One last shot of nutrients will be applied to the grapes to prepare them for fruit maturation. We want them to be happy and healthy when ripening the fruit and we want healthy fruit at harvest.

4. Weed control. Spraying Liberty “like” herbicides to remove weeds under the wires and controlling weeds down row centers is good for the vineyard. It reduces pests like caterpillars and grape flea beatles which can damage the plant.

5. Leaf and petiole samples at verasion. That is, when the plant begins to mature fruit. This is a good indicator of the nutrient status of the plant and what it will need at the beginning of the next growing season.

GROWER FIELD DAY If you want to learn more about growing winegrapes, come to our grower field day on July 10th. We’ll visit about Crop Estimation, tools to determine the maturity of fruit, demo of a fungicide sprayer and more! Details on the location will be provided on the highplainswinegrowers.org website as well as the HPW Facebook page. __________________________________________________ Rowdy Bolen is Publisher of High Plains Ag magazine and grows wine grapes in Smyer. He is also on the board of the High Plains Winegrowers association. Visit www.highplainswinegrowers.org to learn more about growing wine grapes

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www.HighPlainsAg.com / July 2015 / Page 13

SORGHUM

PRODUCERS SAY YES TO SORGHUM CHECKOFF

The past seven years of the Sorghum Checkoff have proven to be successful, and overwhelming results in the 2015 referendum solidify grower support.

The referendum, hosted by USDA-AMS, on the continuation of the Sorghum Checkoff passed by an overwhelming 96.5 percent, a 22 percent increase in valid ballots cast favoring the checkoff compared to the previous referendum.

“Results from the referendum indicate sorghum farmers across the nation believe in the work the Sorghum Checkoff is doing,” said Sorghum Checkoff Chairman Dale Murden.

“This was a very important vote and signals the Checkoff is providing results and advancing the industry in a way that leads to farmer profitability.”

The Sorghum Checkoff referendum was held by producer vote March 23 through April 21, 2015, and yielded 1,160 votes in favor and 42 votes against. Votes were received from 18 states with Texas and Kansas producing the largest voter turnout.

“The sorghum industry is at a turning point,” said Tim Lust, Sorghum Checkoff and National Sorghum Producers CEO,

Page 14 \ July 2015 \ www.HighPlainsAg.com

“and we’re pleased to see we have vast support from sorghum farmers who are the foundation of our industry.”

Joe Jack Connell, a sorghum farmer from Abernathy, Texas, said he and his family believe in the Sorghum Checkoff.

“The investments made by the Checkoff in research, educational tools and in developing marketplaces over the past few years has had quite the impact on our farm,” Connell said. “I believe the Checkoff will continue doing great things to help advance the industry forward, and they have my support.”

Lust said the Sorghum Checkoff and National Sorghum Producers will continue working hard for the American farmer and the sorghum industry.

“These results reaffirm positive momentum in the industry and signal we are on the track to do great things on behalf of sorghum farmers in the future,” Lust said. __________________________________________________ National Sorghum Producers Staff United Sorghum Checkoff Program, Lubbock, Texas

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