PLAINVIEW, Texas (KCBD) – “At the end of the day, if we want agriculture to continue across the High Plains, we need to focus on conserving our remaining water and soil resources.”
Katie Lewis is with the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Service in Lubbock, and some of that research was on display in progress at Plainview’s Climate-Smart Cotton Field Day.
Lewis said the region faces frequent dust storms and general water scarcity, so researchers are implementing efforts to help conserve soil and water.
The highlands are semi-arid, receiving between 10 and 20 inches of rain per year. While this rainfall is better than places like the desert, it also brings many challenges for farmers, despite its benefits.
“This is a great place to grow cotton because we have many frost-free days and a dry climate with few pests and insects,” Lewis said. “Dust storms and water shortages make it very difficult to grow, so we’re becoming more and more reliant on practices to keep the soil in good condition.”
New practices are being implemented to conserve and maintain soil health, including rotating crops that do well in the region, using winter cover crops and reducing cross-field tillage.
However, implementing these measures is not easy for farmers.
“They want to try new things and they want to implement practices that will lead to environmental improvements, but the risks are great,” Lewis said. “If you talk to our economists and risk assessment analysts, they’ll tell you that any time you implement something new on a farm, there’s a risk of loss.”
That’s why researchers from Texas Tech University and Texas A&M AgriLife are visiting different regions of the plateau and addressing different environmental parameters to make this process successful.
While the process may take years to produce full results, Lewis says the effort will not only provide economic benefits to farmers, but also be an overall positive for the environment.
“This project is a great example of industry and academia working together,” Lewis said, “because people from all walks of life really want what’s best for cotton production in this region and across the U.S. We all want what’s best for America’s farmers.”
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