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There is a lot of money moving into organic and organic transition now that has not been there before. First, we are in the process of beginning the Transition to Organic Partnership Program or what I call Texas TOPP. We are announcing the hiring of a Texas TOPP Program Coordinator and we are about to roll out an Organic Mentor program to help those who want to transition to organic certification. Second, NRCS is announcing the assistance program for transitioning organic farmers. You can read more about that here and be sure to click on some of the links in the website to learn even more! ($75 Million Organic Assistance Program) Third, there is the TOGA program which provides crop insurance assistance for Transitioning to Organic farmers. (TOGA Program Highlights) Fourth, there is and will be assistance to help with your organic certification costs coming later. I am not an expert in these programs but I do know people who are, call if I can help!

Here are the dates of upcoming programs and most have some presentation that will include organic. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call or email because things do change!

Tuesday, June 27 – Eagle Lake Rice Field Day (depending on water availability for rice research) held at the Rice Research Center with meal and program following the field day at Eagle Lake Community Center.

Thursday, July 13 – Beaumont Rice Field Day held at the Rice Research Center near Beaumont.

Sunday-Tuesday, August 6-8 – Southern Family Farmers & Food Systems Conference annual event jointly hosted by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Small Producers Initiative at Texas State University, and Council for Healthy Food Systems. Click here for more information

Thursday, August 31 – South Plains Organic Cotton/Peanut Field Day near Seminole.

Tuesday, October 17 – Wednesday, October 18 – 2023 Organic Conference, Georgetown, Texas. All things growing organic or becoming organic! Contact: Kate Hajda, County Extension Horticulturist

Thursday, January 11, 2024 – Friday, January 12, 2024 – Organic Growers Conference, Dallas Research and Extension Center. Contact: Dr. Joe Masabni, Extension Horticulturist

Organic rice producers were able to attend two meetings in March about LockDown Liquid use in organic rice, one in Nada and one in Beaumont.  A big thanks to Greg Devillier, Douget’s Rice Mill and Vivian Spanihel, American Rice Growers for arranging the meetings. 

LockDown Liquid is sold by Agricultural Research Initiatives and Kelly Cartwright.  Kelly was able to make the meetings and discuss both how LockDown works and how it should be applied in 2023 to control Northern Jointvetch and possibly other weeds as well.  It’s great to have affordable organic weed control when things get bad! (read a previous post about weed control)

If you are interested in purchasing LockDown Liquid for use on your organic rice acres then we do need to get the orders in soon.  We are shooting for a June application, but this will require an order to be made soon (April 15-May 1).  Cost is $15 per acre and orders require the number of acres to be sprayed (3 liters per acre). 

You can call Greg, Vivian, or myself to place an order and since this is a live organism once ordered it is yours! No returns….just dead weeds!

The form below will make it easy if you want to order LockDown Liquid! Fill it out and click the button and I will get your message. Bob Whitney

Texas has a rapidly growing organic dairy industry, and from 2019 to 2021 saw a large growth of organic dairy herds (+4 herds), peak cow numbers (+8,752 cows), milk volume (+193.4 million pounds), and sales value (+$59.2 million) (USDA NASS, 2022).

Texas holds the top rank for the volume of marketed organic milk (1 billion pounds of milk) with a value of $320.5 million in 2021 and ranks second to California for having the most cows producing certified organic milk (51,444).

Texas also ranks as the top state in three areas; milk sales by volume (1,015,247,902 lbs of milk); average cows per herd at peak (3,430); and milk sold per cow (19,735 lbs), making it an important state for research and extension efforts in organic dairy production.

Where are Texas organic dairies? We have 4 organic dairies in the Central Texas area near Stephenville and the rest are located from Muleshoe to Stratford in far north and west Texas. Organic dairies are required to provide access to grazing a minimum of 120 days during the year and only be fed organically produced feeds. What you may not know is that during the summer most of the grazing is done at night when possible. The cows love the cooler temperatures and so do the dairymen!

Also, did you know that cows need to lay down 12 out of 24 hours. This resting time is for chewing their cud and normal metabolic function. Their daily schedule is:

Any other time is devoted to milking and any herd health checkups.

Typically, a cow can be milked in 7 minutes and will be in the parlor area no more than 15 minutes from entering to leaving. Most organic dairies will try to limit pasture distance to less than a mile to help the cow and because of time. Remember there are only 24 hours in a day and every minute counts!!

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the San Saba County Pecan Growers Association will host the annual Pecan Field Day on Monday May 1^st at the San Saba Civic Center, 1190 Thomas Stewart Drive.

Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with the program beginning at 9 o’clock. There will be a $40.00 registration for those who Pre-register and $60.00 at the door. Lunch is included in the registration and will be grilled pork loin, boiled red potatoes and green beans prepared by the District 7 County Extension Agents.

Speakers for this year’s program: Tom Guthrie, Mills County Extension Agent, Sunlight Management in Pecan Orchards; Monte Nesbitt, Extension Horticulture Specialist, College Station will discuss Pecan Integrated Pest Management; Monte will also present Pecan Pathology. Bob Whitney, Extension Organic Specialist, will discuss Pecan Laws & Regs.

Six Continuing Education Units have been approved by Texas Department of Agriculture. These are for those of you with Private, Non-Commercial, or Commercial Applicator License. (3 General, 1 IPM, 2 L&R) This annual Field Day has been well attended for many years. Plan to attend and invite someone interested in the Pecan Industry. Please call to pre-register by noon Friday April 21st. This will enable Michael Palmer to better prepare for lunch. Call or come by the San Saba County Extension office to register or if you have questions. We are on the first floor of the Courthouse east side. (325) 372-5416