South West Farm Press Logo

Texas Plant Protection Association's 2021 theme: "Current and Emerging Trends in Texas Agriculture"

Shelley E. Huguley, Editor

September 27, 2021

2 Min Read
swfp-shelley-huguley-19-tppa-gallery-5.jpg
Attendees will once again fill the halls and meeting rooms of the Brazos Center, Bryan, Texas, for the 33rd Texas Plant Protection Association Conference. Last year, the meeting was virtual-only due to COVID. Both an in-person and online format will be available. Shelley E. Huguley

Plans for the 33rd Texas Plant Protection Association Conference (TPPA) are underway. The theme of the two-day conference, Dec. 7-8, is "Current and Emerging Trends in Texas Agriculture."   

The conference is geared toward farmers and agriculture industry representatives. Hot topics will include the carbon market and soil health.  

"The focus of the General Session on Dec. 7th will be carbon credit/offset programs and the science behind them," says TPPA President Josh McGinty. "In the last few months, I’ve heard more about these programs than ever before, and we thought the conference would be a good opportunity to introduce our attendees to the idea of carbon offsets and how Texas farmers might approach participating in these programs." 

Carbon presentations include: 

  1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Crediting: Opportunities for Texas Producers 

  1. Bayer Carbon Program 

  1. How Cover Crops and Fertilizer help Build Carbon in the Soil 

  1. Measuring Carbon 

  1. Carbon Economics 

The 2021 conference will return to its in-person format in Bryan at the Brazos Center. A virtual option is also available for those who can't attend or prefer to participate online, says Bob Sasser, TPPA executive director.   

“After having a virtual-only conference last year, this year's in-person conference will give attendees the opportunity to interact with conference presenters and each other," Sasser says. "And of course, we will encourage all attendees to take the necessary safety precautions." 

For those attending online, TPPA is striving to make the virtual format as close to an in-person experience as possible. "We are working to make the virtual portion of the meeting just as interactive as if the attendee was in the room at the Brazos Center," McGinty says. 

Sessions 

Throughout the two-day conference, seven sessions will include 15-minute presentations on various related topics. The sessions include: 

  1. Consultants 

  1. Cotton 

  1. Fertility Management 

  1. Grain 

  1. Horticulture/Turf 

  1. Water and Irrigation Management 

  1. Pasture and Rangeland 

CEUs will be available along with presenter abstracts and the poster contest for graduate and doctoral students. At the conclusion of the conference, TPPA will announce its award recipients, including the association's most prestigious award, the Norman Borlaug Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Conference registration and other information is available on the TPPA website: https://bit.ly/3kuI80M. 

 

About the Author(s)

Shelley E. Huguley

Editor, Southwest Farm Press

Shelley Huguley has been involved in agriculture for the last 25 years. She began her career in agricultural communications at the Texas Forest Service West Texas Nursery in Lubbock, where she developed and produced the Windbreak Quarterly, a newspaper about windbreak trees and their benefit to wildlife, production agriculture and livestock operations. While with the Forest Service she also served as an information officer and team leader on fires during the 1998 fire season and later produced the Firebrands newsletter that was distributed quarterly throughout Texas to Volunteer Fire Departments. Her most personal involvement in agriculture also came in 1998, when she married the love of her life and cotton farmer Preston Huguley of Olton, Texas. As a farmwife, she knows first-hand the ups and downs of farming, the endless decisions made each season based on “if” it rains, “if” the drought continues, “if” the market holds. She is the bookkeeper for their family farming operation and cherishes moments on the farm such as taking harvest meals to the field or starting a sprinkler in the summer with the whole family lending a hand. Shelley has also freelanced for agricultural companies such as Olton CO-OP Gin, producing the newsletter Cotton Connections while also designing marketing materials to promote the gin. She has published articles in agricultural publications such as Southwest Farm Press while also volunteering her marketing and writing skills to non-profit organizations such as Refuge Services, an equine-assisted therapy group in Lubbock. She and her husband reside in Olton with their three children Breely, Brennon and HalleeKate.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like