Ag Media Summit 2012

Tech students and faculty at AMS.

Each summer, the agricultural communicators of America—professional and students alike—meet for the Ag Media Summit (AMS).  This is probably my favorite conference.  I learn so much each year, plus I get a chance to socialize with some of my most favorite people in the business.  My students also can network with the pros and make connections that will help them get an internship or job in the future.

This year AMS was in Albuquerque, and I absolutely loved it.  Albuquerque has a lot of fun stuff to see, dozens of great restaurants, and it’s a fairly quick drive from Lubbock.

The welcome party, which is always a blast, was right across the street from the hotel, and was fantastic.  They had lots of great New Mexico food—enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, corn on the cob—it was great!  As always, Boelte Hall had its bull set up for us all to take a picture.  I think this year’s AMS had the largest showing of Tech ag comm alumni I have ever seen.  We tried to get all of us together, but I missed a few.  Still, we were able to get a great shot with most of the Red Raiders that attended.

Tech students and most of the alumni that attended AMS.  I'm so sorry I forgot a few people!

At the welcome party, a few of my students met an internet celebrity. One of the guys from the “I’m Farming and I Grow It” YouTube video was at AMS.  He’s an ag comm student at Kansas State, and my students thought it was pretty cool to have their picture with him.

Adri, Faith, and Trevor with Greg Peterson.

Ok, who am I kidding.  I thought it was pretty cool to have my picture with him too.

Water water water water

  And just in case you haven’t seen the video, here it is.

I must admit how proud I am of our students.  Four undergraduates and one grad student went to AMS, and they did such a wonderful job representing Texas Tech.  One student in particular, Faith Jurek, received one of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association scholarships, and she was a finalist for the Forrest Bassford scholarship, which the Livestock Publications Council presents.  She was also elected secretary of the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.

Faith receiving her AAEA scholarship.

Tech students with TTU ag ed alum Charlie Stenholm.

I can’t say enough nice things about AMS. It was a fantastic conference and I can’t wait for the 2013 meeting in Niagara Falls!

Tech students at AMS awards night.

Summer of Sorghum

I think grain sorghum is one of the prettiest crops grown on the High Plains.  It's even prettier when it's your own crop....well, I should say my husband's crop.

Last summer we did not have a crop, and the wheat that Scott planted late last summer didn't do a darn thing. It was a complete loss, and he didn't even crank up the combine to cut either crop.

So this spring, we were ecstatic when a few showers helped our sorghum pop out of the ground.  And then the rain stopped.

But the crop had a nice stand, and the price of sorghum is through the roof, so it is in our best interest to irrigate this summer.



I must admit, Scott and his dad do 95% of the work on "our" farming operation.  So when he told me that he could use some help, I gladly went with him.

Our field is irrigated with row water.  This means there is a pipe at the higher end of the field, and gravity carries the water to the other end. The pipe runs the entire width of the field, so the end that is closest to the well receives the most water.  We want to make sure the entire field gets water, so we had to go through the half of the field that was closest to the well and plug all of the openings in the pipe.

Water flow out of the pipe into the field.

Scott puts a cap into the pipe.

We put these little caps into the pipe to stop the flow so the
water can get to the end of the field that is furthest away
from the well.

All fixed!

Of course, right as we were about to start the job, my father in law struck fear in me.  "Now one thing you need to be careful about--rattlesnakes like to get right up next to the pipe because it's cool and they can get water.  You really need to watch for them," he said.  I dang near passed out.  I'm deathly afraid of snakes.  So the entire time I was out there I was clapping, singing, and making any kind of noise so that I would hopefully scare them away.  It kind of reminded me of the scene in the original Parent Trap movie when Sharron and Susan convince Vickie that you can scare mountain lions away by slapping two sticks together.  I think this method is effective, because I didn't see any snakes.

We finished the job rather quickly, and our sorghum is looking great.  We shudder to think what the water bill is going to be this summer.

These past two summers have been so hot and dry, it's nice to see any type of green crop growing.  God bless our nation's farmers and ranchers for being so diligent, patient and faithful during this awful drought.