The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Northern Texas Panhandle Field Scouting School will be held April 13 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 6500 Amarillo Blvd. West, Amarillo.
Registration will begin at 8 a.m., with the program following at 8:30 a.m. Lunch is on your own.
“This program aims to equip new field scouters, early career professionals, producers, county agents, students in biological science majors and anyone interested in the essential concepts about field scouting corn, sorghum and cotton,” said José Santiago-González, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist, Amarillo.
The program is free, thanks to the sponsors, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Texas Pest Management Association, Syngenta, Gowan and BASF.
Three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units – one general and two integrated pest management – are available. The number of certified crop adviser continuing education units is pending.
“Our speakers will present detailed information to show participants how to recognize physiological stages of the crops, identification of common pests and how to distinguish them from other beneficial arthropods, the identification of plant-diseases and weed species affecting our crops in the High Plains region,” Santiago-González said. “It is a 101-type course to help participants become more comfortable collecting valuable data to make important crop management decisions.”
On the agenda
The morning session will include:
— Cotton: Scouting, Agronomy, Plant Mapping and Pest ID – Jourdan Bell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist, Amarillo, and Blayne Reed, AgriLife Extension integrated pest management, IPM, agent, Hale County.
— Sorghum and Corn: Scouting, Agronomy and Pest ID – Bell, Reed and John Thobe, AgriLife Extension IPM agent for Bailey, Castro and Parmer counties.
— Beneficial Arthropod ID – Santiago-González.
The afternoon session will include:
— Scouting for Plant Diseases in the Texas Panhandle – Ken Obasa, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension plant pathologist, Amarillo.
— Common Weeds on the Texas High Plains and Identification of Herbicide Injury in Crops – Kevin Heflin, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomy program specialist, Amarillo.
For more information, contact Santiago-Gonzalez at 806-677-5618 or j.santiagogonzalez@ag.tamu.edu.
