Comparing possible profits from South Plains' Texas crops for the 2012 season will be the focus of a Texas AgriLife Extension Service workshop for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 20 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 1102 East Farm-to-Market 1294 in Lubbock, Texas.
"Each year, we offer producers the tools, data, and skills they'll need to find the potential profitability of alternative crops here on the South Plains," says Dr. Jackie Smith, AgriLife Extension economist at Lubbock.
He says only one workshop will be offered this year, and he urges producers to take advantage of it. The workshop will offer a printed proceeding for attendees, crop budgets, a CD of Excel crop budgets, breakeven tables, reference files, and Internet links for participants.
SEE POTENTIAL. Producers can look at different crop potentials March 20 in Lubbock.
"Workshop attendees will essentially be getting instruction on everything they'll need to make sound crop decisions before the tractor ever enters the field," Smith says. "We have designed the support material so producers can easily use the spreadsheet on their own computers. The Excel spreadsheet will also let users examine the impact of different crop-share rental or cash-lease arrangements on the landlord's and renter's net income."
Other topics will include input price trends and projections for 2012 along with basis, cash contracts and forwarding pricing using futures and options. The workshop is funded through a grant from the Texas State Cotton Support Committee. Smith said the grant enables the workshop team to develop a crop-budget protection tool, conduct the training workshop, keep updated data, and make the information readily available to producers.
Individual registration for the workshop is $20 at the door. The fee includes lunch and refreshments. To help them plan for the workshop attendance, you can RSVP to Jackie Smith or Viki Bartlett at 806-746-6101 or also call that number for more information.