Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION” 1

TX Watershed Workshop 2

Lone Star Healthy Stream Workshop

2

Crop Marketing Workshop 3

Coastal Bend Beef Cattle Field Day

4

Waters of the United States 5

Inside this issue:

Special points of Interest: Private Applicator Training

Farm Worker Protection

Need a Quick CEU?

Field Crops Symposium

Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION”

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating

PRIVATE APPLICATOR TRAINING

When ……..…1st Tuesday of even months Pre-Registration Required...(361)767-5223

Time …..…………… 8:00 am—11:30 am Where.…….TX A&M AgriLife Ext. Office

710 E. Main, Robstown, TX

Fee: $50.00 (Includes study manuals) A Private Applicator is defined by law as a person who uses or supervises the use of a restrict-ed-use or state-limited use pesticide for the purpose of producing an agricultural commodity.

Volume 7, Issue 6 November, 2014

FARM WORKER PROTECTION SAFETY TRAINING When……Feb. 6, Jun. 5, and Oct. 9, 2015 Time ………..……….9:00 –11:00 am

Where ………………………………………………………… Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office

(Johnny Calderon Building) 710 E. Main, Robstown

Pesticide handlers and workers must be trained every five years unless they are certified appli-

cators. All participants in this training will be issued cards verifying they have successfully

completed the required training.

Remember you can find us on Facebook as Nueces County Agriculture. Don’t forget to

“Like” us and you can follow the goings on of AgriLife Exten-

sion in Nueces County.

Participate in the December 4th webinar, Planting Natives: Using Herbicides to Prepare

Seedbeds and Maintain Native Reseedings in Texas. The webinar will be conducted

during the lunch hour by Extension Range Specialist, Dr. Megan Clayton. There are

many advantages to reseeding your land to native plants, but what tools are available to

get there? Herbicides, if used properly, can be helpful in creating an ideal native seed-

bed as well as maintaining an environment that encourages those seeds to germinate

and grow. Learn which herbicides are most appropriate for the job, licenses needed to

purchase and apply, and the best situations for their use. 1 TDA Pesticide CEU - Inte-

grated Pest Management will be given to those who participate. To participate go to

http://naturalresourcewebinars.tamu.edu/.

MARK YOU CALENDAR FOR JANUARY 30, 2015

FOR FIELD CROPS SYMPOSIUM

Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center

10345 State Hwy 44, Corpus Christi, TX

CEUs offered!

Watch for more information!

Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION” 2

TEXAS WATERSHED STEWARD WORKSHOP—

December 4, 2014

LONE STAR HEALTHY STREAMS WORKSHOP—

January 27, 2015

A Lone Star Healthy Streams Workshop has been planned for January 27th at the Johnny Calderon Building in Robstown. The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams (LSHS) program is the protection of Texas waterways from bacterial contamination originating from livestock operations and feral hogs that may pose a serious health risk to Texas citizens. To achieve this important goal, the program's objective is the education of Texas farmers, ranchers, and landowners about proper grazing, feral hog management, and riparian area protection to reduce the levels of bacterial contamination in streams and rivers. The framework for the LSHS program focus on bacterial runoff management for beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, poultry, and feral hogs. As part of this educational program, current best management practices (BMPs) and novel BMPs are being evaluated to provide important information to citizens regarding BMP ef-fectiveness relative to implementation costs and load reduction. Through enhanced education regarding ripari-an protection and vegetation management on grazing lands, LSHS will further protect Texas waterways from sediment, nutrient, and pesticide runoff with the concomitant loss of water and topsoil. So mark your calendar and plan to attend.

A Texas Watershed Steward Workshop will be held at Del Mar College – Center of Economic Development on December 4th from 1 to 5pm. Pesticide Applicator CEUs, as well as, several other continues education cred-its will be offered at this free workshop. The Texas Watershed Steward (TWS) program is a statewide one-day educational program designed to improve the quality of Texas’ water resources by educating and inform-ing local stakeholders about their watershed, potential impairments, and steps that can be taken to help im-prove and protect water quality in their watershed. The program is sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) and made possible through a Clean Water Act §319(h) nonpoint source grant from the TSSWCB and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The goals of the TWS program include the following: Promote healthy watersheds by increasing citizen awareness, understanding, and knowledge about the na-

ture and function of watersheds, potential impairments, and watershed protection strategies to minimize nonpoint source pollution; Enhance interactive learning opportunities for watershed education across Texas and establish a larger, more well-informed citizen base;

Empower individuals to take leadership roles involving community and watershed-level water resource issues; Facilitate local efforts and activities to implement practices to improve water quality; Increase stakeholder involvement in watershed protection and management efforts including development and im-plementation of Watershed Protection Plans (WPPs) and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) by edu-cating and organizing local citizens.

CEU credits offered during this program include: ◦7 AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) CM hours for certified planners (5.5 CM credits, 1.5 CM Law) ◦7 ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) CEPHs for certified landscape architects ◦7 CCA (Certified Crop Advisor) CEUs in Soil & Water Management ◦7 TBPE (Texas Board of Professional Engineers) CEPs for professional engineers ◦7 SBEC (State Board for Educator Certification) CPEs in Science ◦4 NM (Nutrient Management Certification) CEUs for Nutrient Management Specialists ◦3 TDA ( Texas Department of Agriculture) CEUs for pesticide license holders ◦3 TFMA (Texas Floodplain Management Association) CECs for Certified Floodplain Managers

Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION” 3

Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION” 4

Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION” 5

What you need to know?

While the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 is the

foundation for regulating discharges of pollutants into

the waters of the US and establishing water quality

standards, the CWA does not define “waters of the

United States” (WUS). This has resulted in the United

States Supreme Court having been asked on a number

of occasions to interpret the phrase, “waters of the

United States”.

Therefore, the USEPA has proposed the following

changes related to the CWA of 1972 to:

1) Define WUS.

2) Establish categories for waters that are WUS juris-

dictional and those that are not.

3) Categories to be considered jurisdictional would

include: all waters which are currently used, were in

the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or

foreign commerce, including all interstate waters, in-

cluding interstate wetlands; the territorial seas; all im-

poundments of a traditional navigable water, inter-

state water, the territorial seas or a tributary; all tribu-

taries of a traditional navigable water; interstate wa-

ter, the territorial seas or impoundment; all waters,

including wetlands, adjacent to a traditional navigable

water, interstate water, the territorial seas, impound-

ment or tributary; and other Waters.

4) and, State that these “Other Waters” would only

become jurisdictional upon a case-specific determina-

tion that they have a “significant nexus” (significant

connection) to a traditional navigable water, interstate

water, or territorial sea.

This purported clarification of the WUS to the CWA

of 1972 is not without supporters and opponents and

has invited differing view points. The main concern

may lie with the interpretation of the purposed defini-

tion. In order to get a better understanding of both

points of view, please refer to the following:

1) http://www2.epa.gov/uswaters

2) http://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/

assets/crs/R43455.pdf

3) http://ditchtherule.fb.org/

4) http://farmfutures.com/story-epas-waters-wetlands-

maps-released-under-pressure-house-committee-0-

116934

Public comment is encouraged and required by Feder-

al Law. The public comment period is currently un-

derway and will remain open until Monday, October

20, 2014. After that time; all comments will be re-

viewed and considered prior to any final action taken

by EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Comments may be submitted, identified by Docket ID

No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 by one of the following

methods:

Federal Rulemaking Portal:

http://www.regulations.gov Email: ow-

docket@epa.gov (include docket # in subject line)

Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agen-

cy, Mail Code 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue

NW., Washington DC 20460 (Send original and 3

copies; include Attn. Docket #).

WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES

Nueces Agriculture “IMPROVING FOOD & FIBER PRODUCTION” 6

Jason P. Ott

County Extension Agent

Agriculture/Natural Resources

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service,

Nueces County

Disclaimer - the information herein is for informational purposes only. Ref-

erence to commercial products or trade names is made with the under-

standing that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Tex-

as AgriLife Extension Service is implied. Educational programs of the Tex-

as AgriLife Extension Service are open to all citizens without regard to race,

color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.

Individuals with disabilities who require an auxiliary aid, service, or

accommodation in order to participate in any Extension event are

encouraged to contact their County Extension Office at 361-767-5223

at least one week in advance of the program in order for proper ar-

rangements to be made.

In the event of a name, address or phone number change please contact

the office at:

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

710 E. Main, Suite 1 Attn: Ag/NR

Robstown, Texas 78380

(361) 767-5223

Visit us online!

http://nueces.agrilife.org/

Jason P. Ott

Nueces County Extension Agent

Agriculture/Natural Resources

710 East Main Street, Suite 1

Robstown, TX 78380-3148