Texas A&M AgriLife Research has released a new white clover, named Neches after the Texas river, that promises higher yields and much earlier flowering and seed production than any heretofore variety adapted to East Texas and the southeastern U.S.

Imagine, if you will, a tractor pulling a fertilizer wagon travelling at 8 to 9 mph along a field of thousands of sorghum test plants.

The presence of a new Bermuda grass pest has been confirmed in Van Zandt County, Texas, and producers are advised to be on the lookout, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts. Unlike other insects that attack plants from the outside, the Bermuda grass stem maggot damages them from inside, according to Dr. Vanessa Corriher-Olson, AgriLife Extension forage specialist, Overton. “Basically, they consume material inside the stem, unlike armyworms or grasshoppers, where the damage is external,” she said.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research (A&M) recently released Blackhawk, a new arrowleaf clover promising high forage production with improved disease resistance. Dr. Gerald Smith, A&M forage breeder, said he developed it from lines with natural resistance to the fungal soil pathogen Pythium ultimum and for tolerance to bean yellow mosaic virus.

More rain came to most of Texas, improving drought-damaged pastures and rangeland, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.

The rains greatly improved the agricultural situation, according to weekly reports, but many ranchers were still feeding hay, though the green-up allowed them to cut back. The warmer-than-normal weather and moisture also brought on weed growth in pastures, particularly those pastures damaged by last year’s drought.

What do weeds, grasshoppers, armyworms and feral hogs have in common? The answer is that all are pests that disrupt pasture production. And the control of all will be covered at the upcoming Dallas County Pasture Management program on March 30, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m., according to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service experts conducting the program. The program will offer five continuing education units to holders of Texas Department of Agriculture private applicators licenses, three in the general category, one in integrated pest management and one in laws and regulations, said Dr. Vanessa Corriher, AgriLife Extension forage specialist and one of the program speakers.

After a year of drought, East Texas hay stocks remain low, making production efficiency ever more important, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert. On April 27, AgriLife Extension will offer a full day of training on hay production and purchasing that producers are not going to find anywhere else, said Dr. Vanessa Corriher, AgriLife Extension forage specialist. Held at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton, registration for the training is $60 and includes lunch, break refreshments and program materials.

“Rain or shine, wet or dry, do you want to make more money from your cows next year?” asks a Texas AgriLife Research forage scientist.

With cotton production down and the need for supplemental feeds high, cottonseed prices are nearly double that of an average year, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel. Despite rains, the entire state remained in one stage of drought or another, with more than 70 percent under severe to exceptional drought conditions, according the U.S. Drought Monitor.