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Bell discusses seed quality and vigor along with the importance of soil testing.

Shelley E. Huguley, Editor

September 22, 2020

Drought persists in portions of the Texas Plains as producers prepare to plant their fall wheat crop. Farm Press visited with Agronomist Jourdan Bell, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, in the sorghum field trial in Bushland about wheatlage production, optimizing profitability and field trials underway.

With increasing interest in wheatlage production, Bell says they are expanding their field trial locations. "I've received more calls about wheat silage this year than in previous years," she says.

See, September cold front causes premature defoliation in dryland cotton

For the last three years, Bell and her staff have evaluated wheat for silage in trials near Dalhart. This year, trials will also be conducted at the Bushland location to provide more regional data to producers south of Amarillo,

"As we look at the silage need across this region, and the expansion of dairies, we have a gap. We need to be filling that silage gap with something and our winter forages make a good option." 

Watch this video to learn more about wheat streak mosaic virus along with the importance of seed selection and soil testing. 

See, Sorghum growers encouraged to scout fields up to harvest

Next: Bell discusses the early cold spell and the premature defoliation of dryland crops as a result. 

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.

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