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DRY WEATHER PROMOTES EARLY STRESS ON CORN Seems like we are either too wet or too dry, and I know you have heard that old saying, “we just can’t buy a rain,” and that sums up our current situation....

Over My Shoulder

published: April 15th 2011 by: J.D. Sartwelle, Jr.

March started out as a rehash of the previous month; ie, dry with limited moisture, turmoil in the middle east, and then punctuated with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and their devastating consequences on a large number of the Japanese people....

Just Your Standard Bull

published: April 1st 2011 by: Michael Sturgess

A very good friend of mine from the great state of Alabama asked me a question this past fall that still bears asking today. We were sitting around one afternoon waiting on a sale to begin—solving all the world’s problems—that’s when most of the world’s problems are solved right? He proceeded to ask me the question, given the opportunity, where would you rather invest in today’s market—in cattle or in gold? If you study the charts for the past year, they both look very favorable....

Texas Tales

published: April 1st 2011 by: Mike Cox

No matter the old cowpoke’s backstory, in his dotage he could round up words on paper just about as well as he once rode down and roped strays. For a while in the 1920s, an organization called the State Association of Texas Pioneers published a monthly magazine in San Antonio, The Texas Pioneer....

"AgriLife Tips"

published: April 1st 2011 source: Agri-Life Extension Service

FIRE ANTS ARE BACK As winter has come to an end and temperatures have warmed the pesky fire ant has returned, which brings up numerous questions about best management practices to deal with this pest....

Executive Director’s Report...

published: April 1st 2011 by: Bill Hyman source: ICA of Texas

It is difficult to report how things are going in Austin because about the time you think you have everything figured out, it all changes. Bills are filed, then rewritten, then a-mended. The House has a version as does the Senate....

President’s Address

published: April 1st 2011 by: Rosalee Coleman source: iCA of Texas

Spring is here, and it is my favorite time of year. The colors are sharper, new life abounds in the plant world as well as the animal world, and people seem more optimistic as they restart their yards, spray and fertilize their pastures, and plant their crops....

Chapter Happenings Around The Lone Star State

published: April 1st 2011 source: ICA of Texas

Colorado Valley ICA By Les Mallory The deadline for the Colorado Valley Chapter of the Independent Cattlemen’s Association (CVICA) scholarships has been set for graduating seniors in Colorado, Fay-ette and Lee counties....

The Texas Side Of Things

published: March 18th 2011 by: Jim Banner

Did you know that National Agriculture Day was this past Tuesday, March 15? Probably not since you didn’t know it existed until now and I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t seen something about it on Facebook....

AgriLIfe Tips

published: March 18th 2011 source: AgriLife Extension Service

PLANTING HAS BEGUN As soils have warmed, planting in the Coastal Bend has begun with hopes for a year that farmers can take advantage of some excellent commodity prices. Corn is being planted now and soils should be warm enough for good germination of corn seed....

Just Your Standard Bull

published: March 4th 2011 by: Michael Sturgess

It’s about 3:30 on Monday afternoon. Every other week is what we call newspaper week, in that we have an issue to produce and get to the printer by noon on Wednesday. And once each month, or every other issue, I have the opportunity to share with you my thoughts in this column “Just Your Standard Bull....

Texas Tales

published: March 4th 2011 by: Mike Cox

Way too high for anyone to reach, the hilt of a rusty sword protruded from the tree trunk near Walnut Creek in northern Travis County. “I saw it when I was in the 7th or 8th grade,” says an Austin man now in his 70s who used to play along the creek in the late 1940s....

Over My Shoulder

published: March 4th 2011 by: J.D. Sartwelle, Jr.

February as usual didn’t take long to come and go. Continued horrid weather over most of the country hung on the first days of the month before becoming only a memory at month’s end as moderating temperatures took over to end the month over a large part of the country....

Executive Director’s Report...

published: March 4th 2011 by: Bill Hyman source: ICA of Texas

The battle cry in Austin is “Cut the Budget”. Many of the state agency leaders are panicking when faced with decreased revenue. As ranchers, we understand what this means. When faced with lower cattle prices, drought or rising feed expenses, we have “cut the budget” for many years....

President’s Address

published: March 4th 2011 by: Rosalee Coleman source: ICA of Texas

My column this month is all about my trip to the National Agriculture Sta-tistics Service (NASS) Advisory Board meeting. I was selected as a member of the Advisory Board in 2008, and my term will be over in 2013....

The Texas Side Of Things

published: February 18th 2011 by: Jim Banner

The 2011 San Antonio All Breeds Bull & Commercial Female Sale is now in the history books and what a wonderful 20th Anniversary sale we had indeed! Although we had to contend with a rather frigid cold front that moved through San Antonio early Wednesday morning, the quality of our sale offering more than made up for the chilly temperatures felt outside....

Over My Shoulder

published: February 18th 2011 by: J.D. Sartwelle, Jr.

What an eventful month the first month of the new year turned out to be!!! Our weather, world weather, and markets, and a new congress, our troubles, world troubles all made for an eventful month that was hard to keep up with....

Texas Side Of Things...

published: January 21st 2011 by: Jim Banner

My favorite time of year is finally here…it’s time for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo! What a wonderful way for us to show case our products and at the same time educate the general public about agriculture....

Texas Tales

published: January 21st 2011 by: Mike Cox

In the summer of 1908 an article with a Fort Worth dateline published in a Sunday edition of the New York Herald caught the eye of President Theodore Roosevelt as he sat in his home at Oyster Bay, NY. The four-paragraph dispatch, which dealt with an incident reported as having occurred in then five-year-old South Plains town of Brownfield, struck the president as bully news, something he wanted to share with his friend Sen....

Cattlemen’s Capitol Concerns

published: January 21st 2011 source: NCBA

Sustainability Sums Up NCBA's 2011 Priorities Last year went down in the books as a year full of challenges for the U.S. beef industry. In addition to dealing with the inherent challenges of weather extremes and ongoing efforts of animal-rights extremists to end animal agriculture as we know it, cattle ranchers also battled regulatory and legislative proposals void of science that could further complicate their livelihoods....