Crops, new facility toured in Victoria County

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Farmers endured the heat to learn the latest about soybeans, and other crops, during the Victoria County Crops Tour. Here, they listen to one of the speakers discuss soybean seed varieties. -Staff photo by Taylor

July 7, 2005 - While the weather was up near 100 degrees on June 16 in Victoria County, it certainly didn't keep the crowd from the annual Victoria County Crops Tour.

Sweat was a common feature among the producers as they toured plots of soybeans, sorghum, cotton, and corn; and the new Farmers Co-op of El Campo Port of Victoria Grain Terminal.

"The new Port of Victoria partnered with the Farmers Co-Op of El Campo to create an automated, 50,000 bushels/hour loading system that auto-weighs and samples outbound grain as it is moved from bin to transport," according to literature distributed at the tour. It is expected that the new facility will move about 50,000 tons of grain, this year.

The water connection is about two miles from the new facility, and the Victoria Barge Canal is 35 miles long, and connects the Turning Basin in Victoria to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW). This will allow Texas grains to be linked from the Gulf Coast in Brownsville to Apalachee Bay, Fla., and also the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and every site they connect to. In short, this new venture will allow a network for connecting Texas with important grain sites in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

The new Port of Victoria facility uses an automated 50,000 bushels/hour loading system that auto-weighs and samples outbound grain as it is moved from bin to transport. -- Staff photos by Carolyn Rost -Staff photo by Taylor

The indoor portion of the event, in the Sons of Hermann Hall in Da Costa, treated producers to presentations by several Texas Cooperative Extension experts. Some of the information they shared was later viewed while touring the crops.

Joe Janak, Victoria County Extension agent, explained there needs to be a "war on weeds" going on, right now. He discussed the Smellmelon, Dayflower and Morning glory as herbicide control products for cotton.

Dr. Steve Livingston of Texas A&M University, too, suggested very strongly that weed control needs to be treated very aggressively.

Livingston, an Extension agronomist, also detailed one of the newer crops that has been planted in Southern Texas -- the confectionary Sunflower. He said there are over 47,000 acres of the seed-producing flower in South Texas, and up to 100,000 acres planted within the state. There are only 2 million acres planted in the United States, he added.

The agronomist told producers the sunflowers can be planted in 45-degree soil and harvested in 90 to 95 days, making it a good crop to grow in South Central Texas.

Other crop details shared at the event focused on insect control. Stephen Biles, the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Extension agent for Calhoun, Refugio and Victoria counties, told producers that even if their corn seed is treated, they need to be on the lookout for the sugarcane borer. Similarly, Janak cited, corn rust, late in the season could cause severe problems, so he advised everyone to check the crops, regularly.

Soybeans can be affected by insects and diseases, as well. Janak said Frogeye leaf spot has been detected in some area soybean fields (detected by the circular- to angular-shaped lesions that begin on the upper surface of the leaves). The county Extension agent said it is important to treat the disease to keep it from spread to the entire crop.

Jerry Salley, president and CEO of Vic-Cal Grain Company, told tour-goers that the soybeans in Victoria County were some of the best seen in many years. Salley also pointed out that because commodity prices are strong, producers should hedge at least part of their crop in order to take advantage of today's high prices. Hedging will protect the producer in case prices take a down turn.