Weather, favorable or not, can’t tell the difference in one side of the Red River or the other. Chances are, when it’s dry in Altus, Oklahoma, it’s also dry in Childress, Texas. A scattered shower in Vernon, Texas or Lone Wolf, Okla., may create a more favorable growing season at times, but overall conditions will pretty much be mirror images from side of the state line to the other.

That’s why leaders from both banks of the Red River decided a joint crops conference would benefit growers who have a lot more in common than they have differences.

The first Red River Crops Conference, addressing issues specific to southwest Oklahoma and the Texas Rolling Plains, is scheduled Jan. 28-29 in Altus, Okla. The two-day conference will be held at the Southwest Technology Center, 711 W. Tamarack.

Randy Boman, research director and cottonExtension program leader at the Oklahoma State University Southwest Research and Extension Center in Altus, says the joint effort will be similar to the popular Cattle Trails Wheat and Stocker Conference, another joint program between Texas and Oklahoma.

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“The first day of the conference we plan on featuring cotton,” Boman said. “The second day will be devoted to other crops. The first meeting will be here in Altus and we hope to make it one of the most important crop production meetings in the area. Farmers across the area face similar problems.

“Also, the Vernon Research and Extension Center and the OSU Center in Altus are only 30 miles apart.”

Stan Bevers, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural economist at the Vernon Center, says the goal of the conference is to provide agricultural producers with relevant management information applicable to this production area that will create and enhance the profitability of farm and ranch enterprises.

Common challenges, he said, include water and land resources, and weather extremes such as hot and dry summers and bitterly cold winters. Producers manage pastures of introduced and native grass for cattle operations. Crop mixes such as cotton, wheat, and grain and forage sorghum also are common on both sides of the river. Canola, guar and sesame have recently been added to the mix.

Cotton topics will include a market outlook, variety discussions, herbicide options, seed treatments and disease management, irrigation and new technology.

In-season and summer crops will be featured Jan. 29 and will include a market outlook, wheat breeding, pasture management, climate, and canola and other specialty crops. Also, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, is scheduled to speak.

A $25 fee covers both days. To register, print the form from http://agrisk.tamu.edu/. Make checks payable to the Jackson County OSU Extension Office and mail to 2801 N. Main, Suite A, Altus, OK. 73521.

For more information, contact a local Extension office in either Texas or Oklahoma, or call 580-482-0823.

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