Texas Extension AgriLife media specialists this week remind producers of an important insurance deadline, offer updates on the cattle market and seek consumers’ help in battling a serious citrus disease.

Nov. 16 deadline for Pasture, Range and Forage Insurance sign-up

Kay Ledbetter, Amarillo, reminds livestock operators that the deadline for the 2015 perennial Pasture, Range and Forage Insurance sign-up, designed to protect livestock and hay producers against production losses, is Nov. 16.

The 2015 sign-up and acreage reporting deadline for this U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency program is Nov. 16, and notices of premiums due will be sent by July 1, 2016, said DeDe Jones, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service risk management specialist in Amarillo.

“Although most of Texas has ample moisture right now, long-term weather projections are showing a weakening El Nino in the spring and a relatively dry summer,” she said. “Therefore, since producers can choose which months to insure, they might want to consider taking out coverage for later in the 2016 grazing season.”

Learn more about this program.

Cattle prices softening due to U.S. herd expansion

Blair Fannin, in the weekly crop and weather report, writes about the expanding U.S. cattle herd and the effect that expansion is having on cattle prices. “Record-high cattle prices have likely seen a top,” he writes.

Recent rainfall has improved the outlook for pasture and winter forage, which will benefit stocker cattle operators.

Read more about U.S. cattle numbers.

Texans asked to help keep citrus canker in check

Finally, Rod Santa Ana, who covers south Texas, reports on a potentially devastating citrus disease, citrus canker identified in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. “Experts want the public to know the facts of the disease because they can play a big role in limiting its damage,” Santa Ana writes.

Dr. Olufemi Alabi, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist in Weslaco, said the first thing the public should know is fruit from a tree with citrus canker is safe to eat.

Read the complete story.