Farmers trying to do more with less

By JULIET BRISKIN | Staff writer

December 18, 2003 -- The Texas Plant Protection Association's annual conference is an opportunity for anyone involved in crop production to receive the latest information available about the industry. The two-day conference was held in College Station on Dec. 2-3 and attendees included representatives from the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, academia, consultants, agribusiness and farmers from across the state.

One of the conference highlights was a special panel session sponsored by the Texas Association of Agricultural Consultants. The session featured a panel of industry leaders who discussed the changing trends in agriculture and how they will effect the individual farmer, agricultural consultants and the industry as a whole.

Dr. Kyle Smith, of the Texas Cooperative Extension in College Station, provided an update on the state agency and how it relates to other organizations in the agricultural industry.

"One of the common threads throughout the industry is that we are all being asked to do more with less," said Smith. "I don't want to dwell on budget cuts, but without question, 2003 has been tough for us. We experienced approximately a 4 percent cut, which equated to about 110 positions in Extension statewide."

Despite the cuts, Smith stated Texas Cooperative Extension will continue with the same commitment to providing support and educational information as it has always done. He continued by discussing some major changes within Extension that will help improve the overall quality and relevancy of the programs they present.

"Basically what we have done is make some shifts in some of our organizational alignments that will provide more support and a better coordinated effort between our extension specialists and our agents out in the field," explained Smith. "We now have four individuals in the state that we call regional program directors for ag and natural resources. Those individuals are the conduit between our specialists and our agents in the field. We have to have the support of the specialists in order for our agents in the field to be effective and this program will provide that support."

Following Smith's opening statements, Dr. Frank Gilstrap of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Texas A&M University addressed the group. His discussion continued on the subject of providing quality services with less resources.

"Both the public and private sectors are cutting back," he stated. "Changes in agriculture are manifold and we are all being effected by them."

Gilstrap explained his organization is working hard to create programs that will help the experiment stations to continue to provide outstanding services. One such program is the development of statewide

priority plans with five different commodity boards.

"We are working with the corn, wheat, sorghum, peanut and cotton boards to set the priorities for statewide research and education," stated Gilstrap. "The boards are providing common targets for our researchers and extensionists on a statewide level, rather than on a strictly regionalized basis. This is a critical program and will streamline research and funding."

Following the program, Bob Sasser, executive director of the Texas Plant Protection Association, stated "this was the best attended conference in the last 10 years with a 15 percent increase in attendance over last year. In addition, we almost doubled the number of exhibitors and sponsors and I believe this growth is due to an excellent program with great speakers and timely topics that address issues such as water management, new chemistry, mycotoxins, and crop production. This conference has become the premier conference for all involved in crop production in Texas and we expect the attendance for this conference to continue to grow in the future."