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Today: Current:94	Friday: 92/74	Saturday: 88/73
Complete Forecast for  Aug 07 2008

February seems to be the month when the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and some of our partnering organizations around East Texas decide to kick off the new year with a new set of programs.

So, if the Super Bowl game is a blowout, go online (between commercials) and get more information on the activities taking place in the next few weeks.

Wednesday - The Smith County Farm Bureau will celebrate "Food Check-Out Week" with a "Farmer's Share" breakfast at Dwayne's Country Cafe, 2202 E. Fifth St. The first 100 customers who dine on the Texas Farm Bureau's Farmer's Share special breakfast between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. will receive their meal for $1 (drink and gratuity not included). This special price represents the 22 cents on the food dollar that American farmers receive for producing the food that we consume in our daily lives.

According to the American Farm Bureau, while typical Americans only work 35 days a year to pay for their annual food supply, they must work 77 days a year to pay their federal taxes. For more information on Food Check-Out Week, visit http://www.fb.org or call the Smith County Farm Bureau at 903-596-0690.

Thursday - The annual East Texas Turfgrass Conference will be conducted at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the program concludes around 3 p.m. Cost is $25, which includes a catered catfish lunch.

The conference is tailored to homeowners, athletic field managers, commercial lawn care operators and parks and recreation personnel who want to learn the latest information on turf/lawn management. Attendees with Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide licenses will be eligible to receive five continuing education credits at the conference's conclusion. For a conference agenda, visit http://tceblogs.tamu.edu/mt/smith/ or call the Smith County Extension office at 903-590-2980.

Thursday - A Timber Income Tax seminar will be conducted at the Fredonia Hotel and Conference Center in Nacogdoches. It is sponsored by Stephen F. Austin State University's Arthur Temple College of Forestry and the Texas Forestry Association.

The seminar begins at 8 a.m. and concludes at 4:30 p.m. Cost is $75 per person, which includes materials and lunch. For more information, visit http://www2.sfasu.edu/forestry/ or call 936-468-3301.

Feb. 16 - Home gardening enthusiasts should plan now to attend the East Texas Spring Landscape and Garden Conference at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. The conference, sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension office in Smith County, begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes around 3:30 p.m. Cost is $15 per person, which includes lunch. For a list of topics, visit http://smith-tx.tamu.edu and click on "Events" or call 903-590-2980.

Feb. 19 - The East Texas Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Conference will run 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. The conference, sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Build East Texas, is designed for commercial producers of fruit and vegetable crops in the East Texas region, but very large 'semi-pro' gardeners might find an interest in the day's topics as well.

Registration will start at 8 a.m. Cost is $20 per person, which includes lunch. Attendees with Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide licenses will receive three hours of continuing education credit. This year the conference has added a third concurrent afternoon session on growing wine grapes in East Texas. For a conference agenda, visit http://tceblogs.tamu.edu/mt/smith/ or call 903-590-2980.

The folks at the USDA Farm Service Agency in Tyler remind that if you suffered a loss on eligible livestock because of the natural disasters that took place in our area between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28, 2007, you are encouraged to call them and sign up for the Livestock Compensation Program.

Eligible livestock under LCP are dairy or beef cattle, buffalo, beefalo, equine, poultry, elk, reindeer, sheep, goats, swine or deer that were physically located in an eligible county on the beginning date of the applicable disaster period. Call the Tyler FSA office at 903-561-2050 for more information.

Brian Triplett is the Smith County Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. He can be reached at 903-590-2980 or via e-mail at b-triplett@tamu.edu.