Dryland Workshop

Clay Robinson (car@wtamu-math1.wtamu.edu)
Wed, 15 Jan 1997 01:31:30 CST

Training Workshop on Sustainable Agroecosystems
and Environmental Issues

June 13-26, 1997

West Texas A&M Uviversity
Canyon, Texas

The Workshop is designed to present information on
sustainable agricultural systems and environmental issues,
and to visit research facilities and farmers fields in the
southern and central United States Great Plains. The region
is one of the largest dryland agriculture regions in the
world. Development of the Great Plains has had both positive
and negative impacts on crop production and the environment.
Soil degradation was very pronounced during early
development of the area and led to very severe wind erosion.
Technologies have been developed that arrest most soil
degradation, conserve limited precipitation, and increase
crop production. Experiences of the region are a valuable
resource base for scientists, technology transfer personnel,
planners and policy makers for other semiarid regions of the
world.
The Great Plains is also a major irrigated region but the
water resource is being depleted, particularly in the
southern Great Plains. Although the workshop does not
emphasize irrigation, attention will be given to
technologies and practices designed to use limited water
supplies in dryland regions. The conjunctive use of limited
water supplies and precipitation is extremely important in
semiarid regions and a wealth of information and experience
has been obtained in the area.
The headquarters for the Workshop will be the West Texas
A&M University campus in Canyon, Texas, 25 km south of
Amarillo.

Workshop Program

Participants will assemble on the Campus of West Texas A&M
University where they will meet and reside during the days
they are not on tours. The first day of the Workshop, June
13, will be used to present background information about the
Southern Great Plains as a means of preparing the
participants for the extensive tours that follow. The
presentations will focus on the soil and water resources of
the Great Plains and the history of agricultural development
in the region. Both positive and negative impacts of the
agricultural development on the environment will be
emphasized.
West Texas A&M University cooperates closely with other
major agricultural programs in the immediate area. The
Cooperative Research, Education and Extension Triangle of
Amarillo, Bushland, and Canyon involves West Texas A&M
University, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas
Agricultural Extension Service, Texas Veterinary Medical
Diagnostic Laboratory, and the Conservation and Production
Research Laboratory of the USDA Agricultural Research
Service. Representatives of these programs will participate
in providing background information to the participants.
Visits to some of the laboratories and field facilities will
be key parts of the workshop. The USDA Conservation and
Research Laboratory is one of the most important research
locations for dryland and irrigation studies in the United
States and has an extremely well equipped evapotranspiration
facility with several large weighing lysimeters. The Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station conducts extensive research
on wheat, grain sorghum, corn and sugar beet with a strong
focus on cropping systems for grain production;
crop/livestock systems; insect and disease control; and
wheat breeding. The Texas Agricultural Extension Service is
responsible for technology transfer.

Emphasis of Workshop Is Seeing Agroecosystems in the Field

The Workshop objectives are to present basic principles and
specific technologies for resource management for a range of
agroecosystems, and to see the technologies being used under
field conditions. The annual precipitation for the
different agroecosystems will range from 400 mm to 800 mm,
and the major enterprises will include livestock, grain
production, cotton production, and integrated crop-livestock
systems under both dryland and irrigated conditions. The
focus is always on the basic principles because these can be
applied anywhere in the world where conditions are similar
while specific technologies may not be transferrable because
of economic or social constraints. To accomplish the
objectives, participants will visit a major research
facility in each ecoregion where scientists will present the
principles and show current research and new technologies.
Then, the participants will see the practices currently used
and visit directly with technology transfer personnel,
farmers, and other producers. Sites and facilities of the
Workshop include:

 Temple, Texas, where both the USDA Agricultural Research
Service and Texas A&M University have major research
programs. Several crop growth and soil productivity
computer simulation models including EPIC, SORGF, and
ALMANAC have been developed at this location.
 San Angelo, Texas, where Texas A&M has a Research and
Extension Center located in a major sheep and goat
production area.
 Big Spring, Texas, where the Conservation Systems
Research Laboratory of the USDA Agricultural Research
Service is located. This laboratory is the primary USDA
facility for conducting field research on wind erosion.
 Lamesa, Texas, located in a major cotton production area
where both irrigated and dryland practices are common and
where there is a technology transfer farm. The farm is a
cooperative effort between the Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station, Texas Agricultural Extension Service,
and the Lamesa Cotton Growers.
 Lubbock, Texas, a major city in an area where 25% of all
U.S. cotton is grown and a major center for agriculture
research. Texas A&M, Texas Tech University, and the USDA
Agricultural Research Service have major programs in the
area.
 Akron and Sterling, Colorado, where the USDA Central
Great Plains Research Station and Colorado State
University conduct extensive research on developing
wheat-based cropping systems for efficiently using water
in an area with only 400 mm annual precipitation.
 Tribune and Garden City, Kansas, located in a major wheat
producing area. Kansas is the leading wheat producing
state in the U.S. The Kansas Agricultural Experiment
Station has facilities at these locations conducting
research on sustainable agroecosystems.
 Woodward, Oklahoma, where the USDA Southern Great Plains
Research Station conducts research on the utilization of
native range land by livestock in conjunction with
grazing complementary forages grown on small areas of
cropland within the range sites.
 Bushland and Amarillo, Texas, where the USDA Conservation
and Production Research Laboratory and the Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station have extensive research
programs in the area where more than 25% of all U.S.
cattle fattened for slaughter are fed in large
concentrated feeding operations.

There will be numerous stops at farms, ranches, grain
handling facilities, soil testing laboratories, and other
points of interests as the participants travel between the
locations listed above. Also, a short stay in the beautiful
Rocky Mountains of Colorado will be included.

Presentations by Participants

All participants are asked to make either an oral
presentation or poster presentation about soil and water
resources and cropping systems in their countries. Poster
boards will be available at the University as well as slide
projectors, overhead projectors, and computer projection
equipment. These presentations will be beneficial in giving
the participants a broad overview of worldwide
agroecosystems and an opportunity to present some of their
personal endeavors.
Informal discussion sessions will be held each evening of
the tour for further identification of application of basic
principles and specific technologies. Particular emphasis
will be given to applications in the participant's country.

Workshop Directors/Tour Escorts

Dr. B.A. Stewart is Director of the Dryland Agriculture
Institute and Distinguished Professor of soil science at
West Texas A&M University. He was formerly director of the
USDA Conservation and Production Research Laboratory,
Bushland, TX; past president of the Soil Science Society of
America; and a member of the 1990-93 Committee on Long Range
Soil and Water Policy, National Research Council, National
Academy of Sciences. Dr. Clay Robinson is assistant
professor of soil and crop sciences, Division of
Agriculture, West Texas A&M University. He did his graduate
work at Iowa State University and as Assistant Professor of
soil and plant sciences at Eastern New Mexico University
prior to joining West Texas A&M University in 1994. He is
Chair-elect of a Sub-Division of the Resident Education
Division of the American Society of Agronomy.

Cost

Cost of the Workshop, including tours that travel more than
5,500 km through portions of five states is $1,350 U.S. and
includes lodging, transportation, supplies and registration.
Cost is based on double-occupancy housing. Single-occupancy
requests can be accommodated at an additional cost of $300.
Food cost is not included but should not exceed $12-$20 per
day. Participants will be picked up at the Amarillo
International Airport, Amarillo, Texas, on June 11 or 12,
and returned to the airport on June 27. Travel costs
between the participant's home country and Amarillo, Texas,
are not included, and all travel arrangements should be made
by the participant. Health insurance is required for all
participants. If desired, the Workshop organizers can
arrange insurance coverage at time of arrival for $50 to
$100, depending on age. Participants should change foreign
currency into U.S. dollars before arriving. Foreign
exchange is not immediately available in Amarillo and
Canyon, Texas.

For More Information

Telephone (806)656-2299, Fax (806)656-2938, E-mail:
BSTEWART@WTAMU.edu or write:
Dryland Agriculture Institute, West Texas A&M University,
WTAMU Box 278, Canyon, Texas
79016-0001.
Clay A. Robinson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Plant Science
West Texas A&M University
Canyon, TX 79016-0001
806/656-2553, f656-2938
car@wtamu.edu
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