Mission and Overview
PANHANDLE AGRIPARTNERS PROGRAM
Dr. Bob Robinson, retired Regional Program Director Agriculture and Natural Resources E-Mail: r-robinson3@tamu.edu
Ordie R. Jones, Panhandle AgriPartners Coordinator E-Mail: orjones@ag.tamu.edu

The Panhandle AgriPartners Program was initiated as a means of providing technical support to university Research, Extension, and Industry applied research and demonstration activities. Farm Demonstration Assistants based in five Extension offices operate under the supervision of county Extension Agents-Agriculture and are available to take samples, gather data, conduct surveys and perform routine activities associated with demonstrations, surveys, and applied research projects. The projects and demonstrations are managed by Texas AgriLife Research Scientists and Engineers or Extension specialists in cooperation with agricultural producers, commodity groups, industry technical and sales representatives, crop consultants, and water districts.

The objectives of the AgriPartners Program are to assist in:

1. Providing NOW current and up-to-date information on water use, crop development and growth, and pest status to farmers and consultants to assist in making decisions regarding agricultural operations.
2. Conduct irrigation and cropping demonstrations on cooperators farms to demonstrate and test improved farming and irrigation practices, genetics, and new technologies.
3. Providing accurate and current databases for developing and calibrating crop, water use, pest, and economic models used in the Texas High Plains Evapotranspiration (TXHPET) and other Production Agriculture modeling and prediction efforts.

These on-site farm-based projects also serve as building blocks to advance the TAMU System initiatives in soil and water conservation, improved production agriculture, and other University programs.

One of the most important facets of the AgriPartner program is that it uses the local county Extension Agent network to conduct on-site demonstrations and applied research in producer fields. This cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of numerous producers in the Texas Panhandle.

We thank all thirty-two of our producer-partners for their participation and valued advice, counsel and input into these projects.

Farm Demonstration Assistants are located in Moore, Ochiltree, Randall, Gray, and Collingsworth counties. The assistants also help with demonstrations and surveys in surrounding counties; thus the entire Panhandle is covered. In 2005 AgriPartners assisted in conducting 8 small grain and 34 summer cropping and irrigation demonstrations with wheat, corn, sorghum, cotton, soybean silage, and peanuts, involving more than 4,000 acres. Most demonstrations were irrigated with center pivot irrigation systems. Dryland demonstrations with sorghum and wheat were also conducted. All demonstrations are tied in to the Texas High Plains Evapotranspiration (TXHPET) research program, aimed at providing real-time current information to the producer so that problems can be addressed as they occur, not next year. Irrigation and water use data are also used to update the Senate Bills 1 and 2 mandated Regional Water Plan for the Panhandle.

Pest trapping/survey results are published weekly to provide up-to-date regional information on pest outbreaks and buildups as they occur. Information is also used in verifying pest development models. Insect surveys are carried out for most major pests, including corn earworm, greenbug, western corn rootworm, European and southwestern corn borer, mites, sunflower moth, beet armyworm, and many others. Disease surveys include wheat and soybean viruses, cotton seedling diseases, corn smut, and aflatoxin, among others.

Since 1998, Panhandle AgriPartners has conducted 540 on-farm irrigated and dryland cropping demonstrations involving nearly 58,000 acres and over 400 producers. Panhandle AgriPartners also is or has been actively involved in a number of cooperative special projects including:

1. Distribution of bindweed mites to producers to establish at least one bindweed mite nursery in every county
2. Panhandle-wide wheat virus sampling (5-years)
3. Food Security Act survey for wheat rust
4. Potential for cotton seedling disease
5. Sampling for corn smut and aflatoxin studies
6. Greenbug insecticide resistance survey
7. Water-meter project with water districts
8. Precision Ag and PROFIT initiatives

AgriPartners is up and running, working to build partnerships that strongly support and benefit Panhandle Agriculture. For more information about AgriPartners, contact Ordie R. (Reggie) Jones, Panhandle AgriPartners Coordinator at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Amarillo (806-677-5600), your local County Extension Agent, or visit the AgriPartners website at:
http://amarillo.tamu.edu/agripartners