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AP Top News: 3:42 a.m. EDT

DROUGHT AND WILDFIRES DEVASTATING TO AGRICULTURE When it gets dry in the spring, Ag producers in south Texas will remark, we sure need to get that "Cinco De Mayo Rain," and that is certainly an understatement this year....

Over My Shoulder

published: May 13th 2011 by: J.D. Sartwelle, Jr.

April was just one more month that started dry, provided very little moisture, and departed dry; that is, in the southwest, across Texas and to the southeast. In other places the rain didn’t know how to stop....

Just Your Standard Bull

published: April 29th 2011 by: Michael Sturgess

This week marks the reporting of the first interval (Jan/Feb) for the Pasture Rangeland Forage (PRF) drought insurance policies. In case you had forgotten or didn’t know, my partner Jim Banner and I are also licensed agents and have offered this coverage since it begin with the 2007 crop year....

Texas Tales

published: April 29th 2011 by: Mike Cox

A broken piece of sandstone can’t tell a story, but Edna (Snooks) Collett sure can. Collett is curator of the museum in the still-booming old boom town of Iraan, in the middle of the storied Yates Field, which is well past its billionth barrel of oil and still producing....

AgriLife Tips

published: April 29th 2011 source: Texas AgriLife Extension Service

SOUTH TEXAS RANGE MANAGERS SHOULD ALWAYS PLAN FOR DROUGHT The dry conditions of South Texas are becoming far too familiar for us, but you know this unfortunately seems to be the normal for us. Yes, our South Texas climate is recognized as unique, because it is the only subtropical prairie on earth, located downwind of a large water body like the Gulf of Mexico, that has a semiarid climate....

Executive Director’s Report...

published: April 29th 2011 by: Bill Hyman source: ICA of Texas

Well it is almost May and our Texas Legislators are still trying to adopt a budget for 2011-2013. The proposed budget approved by the House called for major cuts for almost all state agencies. However, when the agency chiefs met with the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) they were encouraged to identify new fee income that could supplement the projected lower general revenue estimates....

President’s Address

published: April 29th 2011 by: Rosalee Coleman source: ICA of Texas

Our biennial trip to the Legislature is over for another session, and I am glad I had the privilege of going along. It’s easy to gripe about government, both federal and state, but it is also hard to be in the legislature and try to please your constituency....

The Texas Side Of Things

published: April 15th 2011 by: Jim Banner

I don’t know about you but I just cringe when I see a headline in the newspapers such as the one recently in the San Antonio Express that read: Groceries Taking A Bigger Bite! Now you might ask yourself why would this headline bother me? It’s my opinion but the average reader might see the headline and not read the entire article, he or she might misunderstand and believe the fat cat farmers and ranchers are taking advantage of the consumer and gauging them during this time of economic unrest....

Texas Tales

published: April 15th 2011 by: Mike Cox

Once upon a time, a shower of shiny gold coins fell from the sky over Palo Duro Canyon State Park south of Amarillo. No, really. This isn’t a fairy tale. That actually happened one Saturday in the late spring of 1949, a decade and a half after the scenic and history-rich Panhandle park opened to the public on July 4, 1934....

AgriLife Tips

published: April 15th 2011 source: Texas AgriLife Extension Service

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....