Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome back to another episode of Conservation Stories. Conservation Stories is a podcast brought to you by the Sand Hill Area Research association or Sarah and I am Tillery Timmins Sims, your host. And I have with me today Samantha Borkstead.
So Samantha and I have been trying to connect for a while because she's doing very important work and I want people to know about what you're doing and who you work for. But let's start with a little bit about Sam.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Okay, well, fantastic. Well, yes. So part of the reason we haven't been able to connect since January is my kids show steers and so my family raises show cattle and we have been on the road no non stop since January.
So we went to the Sand Hills Hereford show in Odessa and then from there we went to our county show, Fort Worth, San Angelo, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, all of them. So whoa. Yeah, we got that wrapped up and here we are. So it's kind of nice to take a breather and a break and if there are any breaks in the agriculture world, especially with kids and everything else. So. But here we are. But yeah, so I grew up on a farm and ranch in Tarzan, Texas.
Moved to, was very active in 4H all through that, was on State Council and went to Texas Tech. Enjoyed my time there. Got an agricultural communications degree with a minor in education and got my. So it was pretty much Ag. Com aged at the same time and then got my master's in Ag. Com at Texas Tech.
While I was getting my master's I worked for the Ag Eco department at Tech and they hired me on for the International.
I honestly, I don't even remember the full name of it, but it was International Cotton something something, something.
And so I enjoyed my time working that and then that kind of phased into.
And, and when I was doing that, I worked for SAMAHANTY and then Dr. Hudson, Darren Hudson took that job. So I worked for Dr. Darren Hudson, who's still there. I'm sure a lot of your audience knows him. He's very, very smart and famous is what I like to call him.
So Dr. Hudson, I was working with him and then I got asked to be the communications director for the Texas alliance for Water Conservation.
So I have been working for the TAWC for short, for the past, I don't even know, I'm going to say 15 years.
And so recently Rick Kellison, who is the project director for the tawc, he, he retired and I was asked to be the project director. So now I'm the project director for the TWC and Work with lots of different branches of the ag water sector at the Davis College of Agriculture at Texas Tech. So, still. So. So in all that, in all that time, I went from living in Lubbock to getting to move home back to Tarzan, and I got married, we moved back to Tarzan, and we helped my parents farm and ranch. And then I commute to Lubbock occasionally.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Occasionally.
That's been a nice thing. Probably has. That kind of.
Has become more normal, you know, and it should be normal around here where everything's so far, we're so far away. If you want to get good people, gotta let people stay farm.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: And it's funny because we work real close with the Texas Water Development Board, and of course, they're based in Austin. So whenever they come and visit, I'll tell them that I. I don't actually live in Lubbock, I live in Tarzan, but drive to Lubbock, oh, once or twice a week, and they're like, oh, my goodness, how far is that? I'll say, well, you know, it's 120 miles or 110 miles, something like that.
And it takes me a little over an hour and a half. And they'll be like, oh, well, it takes me longer than that to get to work every morning, you know, so just to get across Austin. So it's. It's all in perspective.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: It's true. And it's way less stressful. You get to.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Listen to podcasts or talk to people and get caught up. Yeah.
[00:04:49] Speaker A: Yes, that's exactly. I actually enjoy my drive because I get to do either one of those things.
I listen to the Texas Farm Bureau podcast.
I like your podcast. I love Tiffany Lashman.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
Ag law in the field.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: That's a great one.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: So.
But anyway, so. So our TWC project has been in the works for 20 years.
We were originally funded by a large grant from the Texas Water Development Board, and it was the brainchild of Senator Robert Duncan. When he was the senator in the area, he very much was aware of the agriculture community. He was a huge supporter of the agriculture community, and he saw the irrigation situation that was going on and he saw the future of it as well. So he really was very supportive of this project. Senator Robert Duncan, when he was the senator of the area, he really was a huge supporter of agriculture, aware of the agricultural issues going on in his area, and saw that the irrigation water availability was depleting and knew that it was going to continue to do so in the future. So he thought a project like this was Very much needed.
They formed a fantastic team at the time. Vivian Allen was at Tech, and of course they got Rick Kellison, who had really strong, good connections in the area with producers, and they started it right, which I think is a testament to the longevity of the project.
And when I say they started it right, they asked the producers to be involved and to head the project.
We like to say our project is led by producers for producers.
We have a producer board, and they started that in the very beginning. They.
They had a big meeting at the center in between Lockney and Floyd Data, and they had a big grower meeting, told them what it's all about and the need for it, told them that we are not at all a regulatory agency, that we're there to help, and we want the producers to be the voice of the project.
And so from there, they elected a producer board that night, got producers to cooperate, and they offered their fields for the project to be. To be real field research studies. And so we continue that method. Even today, we use real fields. Real farmers, they can manage those fields however they see fit for their operation.
And then at the end of every growing season, or through the growing season, they turn in their field record records to us, and then we are able to use that data set to see a water savings report the end of every year, kind of put a economic component to every inch of irrigation that they apply.
And so what. What we've really learned through the season is irrigating slower is sometimes the best method. Some farmers just want to turn it on and let it spin and go, but if you really slow down that pivot and let it soak in, then that crop utilizes that water better.
Also, sometimes you don't need that last irrigation at the end of August or September, depending on what your water bank is and your soil profile.
So a lot of guys drive by their field, of course, the top looks pretty dry, and they think, oh man, I need to water one more time, finish out this crop.
Well, if they look at a soil moisture probe, at the data that that's sending them, they might see that, that, that cotton root has rooted down far enough that there's plenty of soil, that moisture down in the soil to where that root zone is, that they can actually finish out that year and save that last irrigation, which is in turn going to save on the. The electricity cost and the wear and tear on the pivot and everything else associated with that.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. Yeah, that's interesting, slowing it down, because probably it's not.
We don't have as as fast of infiltration, you think that's what that's saying.
So there's not good infiltration.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: So on your rotation, like if you had sorghum on there and now you have cotton on there, then you have that stubble.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: You got that residue there.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: Yes, you have that residue there.
You know, a lot of that's going to depend on wind and heat and all that. But, but we do have quite a few studies that really back that up. That's neat. And the other thing is, don't water too early and don't water too much too early because you really need to stress that crop a little bit at the beginning so that it will actually root down.
You definitely don't want to baby that at the beginning and it short root itself. And then all of a sudden in July, it's hot and dry and you can't keep your irrigation up to, to keep up with the crop. And it hasn't rooted down far enough to really reach for that soil, that moisture that's down in that soil. So stress that crop a little bit to where it really roots down and reaches for that soil moisture on it.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Moisture.
So. And that it's interesting because, you know, we, we have ongoing projects, conversations with NASA and their ag folks and that's, you know, they can tell you two weeks in advance before you can see stress in a crop.
And so they released the beta of an app that they've been working on that we've been trying to figure out, like what information, you know, what all information do farmers want accessible in that app? And that would be a great one for them to be able to see. At what point does cotton reach the level of stress where I should go ahead and water and to be able to see that just from your phone.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Yes.
And some of the. We, we use a lot of autonomous pivots in our project.
We have 20 right now. We're hoping to gain the access to 20 more this growing season. So we'll have 40 fields with autonomous pivot on them.
And so that takes a whole circle reading. It's, it's installed on the pivot. It moves with the pivot. And so where a soil moisture probe is installed in one particular part, it's just stationary. This actually moves with the pivot and, and it shows stress of that crop as it's going around.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: It's really neat.
It's a pretty cool technology that we're really liking and our growers seem to really like it.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: And I knew that they were, that they were reading like they can read moisture right, from those autonomous pivots, right?
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Yes. Not quite as deep as some of the soil moisture probes. 18 inches, I believe, is what those read.
But they do, they do take a depth reading.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Yeah. That's really neat. That's amazing. How much technology. So are you guys. Are you. Do you have meters at the well? Are you counting at the well or just at the pivot?
[00:12:46] Speaker A: A lot of our growers have meters and.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: And so they keep track with that. Yeah, a couple of our wells were drilled in the 20s and 40s, and a few of them are.
Were test wells for the High Plains Water District. So you can see. And if you haven't looked at Wells from the 20s or 40s and then see the water level compared to today, it's mind blowing. And it is. And so it is.
Lloyd Arthur from Rawls, Texas is one of our very.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: Yeah, he is.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: He's fantastic. He's been a cooperating producer for years. We. And we have field days out at his farm in his barn. And one of those wells I'm talking about is, is his family well been on their farm for years and years. And so he'll show that the. What it. Where it was when his grandparents drilled it to where it is today. And it still has water. He still irrigates with it, but it's nothing like it was. And his county is actually one of the more stable counties in the area as far as water level goes.
But we have had. And. And since we've been doing this for 20 years, it's been really neat to see the, the change in those water wells, the change in the irrigation, the change in the cropping systems. We've had generational changes in our farmers and so that's been kind of neat to see.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: And then the way that they.
The way the first generation thought about technology and used technology compared to current day, whether it be their son or their grandson that's now taken over the farm, how they use and utilize technology and communication methods and everything else. So that's been a really interesting dynamic to see happen.
We have fields that whenever we first started the project, full circles, irrigating full circles of cotton with just pretty much full capacity to. Now they have taken down the pivots and that's a dry land field.
And so some of those fields went from a full circle to cotton of cotton to half dry land, whatever, whether it be sorghum or whatever, and irrigate the cotton. And then, yeah, now it's dry land completely.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: Some I've seen some places where it's even a third, you know, and you might have a third of it in cotton and then 2/3 of it and something like a third and sorghum. And then set the other half aside.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Follow it and.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Yes. And then we have a lot of shared pivots where they'll water this pivot one year, lay it fallow, water the other pivot one year. We have a couple of those in the project as well.
[00:15:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Just in that 20 years. But, you know, I'm not surprised. So let me ask you this. In the 90s, I heard people say we have 50 years of, of water left.
And Robert May said last year probably looking at 20.
So we're pretty much on, on target, aren't we?
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Well, I don't, I don't know. I mean, I hope not. I guess it's just, I think, I think more farmers are aware nowadays and adapting to it, changing there. So back when I first started, of course you always heard we're gonna do it this way because that's the way granddaddy did it or that's the way daddy did it. And I was told that, you know, this is, that's just how farmers think. I don't think they necessarily think that way anymore. Yeah, I think they are more innovative, more willing to change. And I think a lot of that is just the economic situation we're all in right now.
They just kind of have to be.
They have to look for alternative crops and alternative irrigation methods and.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Well, it's a good time, you know, for new ideas and new approaches and another time of pioneering. Pioneering. Pioneer.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: Sorry, can't say that word.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: And it's. I, it's.
I feel like. And I attend so many water meetings and grower means. I feel like it's doom and gloom all the time, you know, whenever you go. But it's really not. There's so many things coming out.
There's so many different ways of learning. Your podcast, for instance, another podcast. And there's just so much YouTube educational wise. There's direct market. Beef is so big right now and the. All. Everything with the cattle industry, if you can afford to get into it, if you're not into it or be innovative with it. If you do have cows, be innovative with your marketing and your cropping and what you, what you think, think you should grow. And I know a lot of that. I mean there's a lot that goes into that because I have to explain to one of my roles at Tech is just connecting the producer side of things to the academic side of things and kind of being the middleman there.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: And translating. You can't just go from being a straight cotton farmer to a grain sorghum farmer. You, you don't just have a combine all of a sudden or, you know, a lot of it depends on the equipment you have and what your operation is geared for. And I'm not saying that that's not doable. There's just a lot of things that you really have to think about whenever you change your cropping system and.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: And there's a lot of money involved.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Well, and there's landlords involved. And landlords, I mean, make more money on cotton than other things.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: You know, and so you, you're really also at their mercy. Like what, what, you know, if, if it's a family that's, you know, had the land for a long time and they're attached to it and they want to conserve what water there is, then you, you know, got something to go with, you know. But if it's a family that maybe they need the money, you know.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Those, a lot of those folks, you have a, you get a big job. When you think, I don't need to just like, recruit the farmer and talk to the farmer about this, like, we need to educate also these landowners.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, you're absolutely right.
I know. And where I live, we have so many absentee landowners and some of them have never even seen the farm that they own, you know, so I think that education of the landlord is very, very important.
Yes.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Yeah. And I, I know we worked with a really, really precious staff from, from the other side of the state and he, and none of his family had like, put fit on this land in 50 years.
So. Yeah, it's a, you know, you can go a long time without seeing it.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And how many of them are not even aware of what the, the cut market is or cost to see? Well, I mean, I guess they may be aware cost to see, depending on if they pay their portion.
Yeah, but I think, I think, of course, I think the future of agriculture in our area is still very, very strong, even for all crops and everything. And I think the generation coming into the farming scene now is very aware of the water issue and having to change and look for different ways of managing their soil and, and irrigating. And there's lots of different irrigation methods out there now that can be as efficient as possible when irrigating. And so I, I do think that our, our agriculture Future is still very strong for this area. It's. And I, I'm very proud of all the farmers and ranchers that are adapting to the changes and looking for new ways to, to do things and be conservative whenever they do those.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Yes, exactly, exactly. And I think that's such a good point because, you know, what we did maybe in the first two decades of hearing that is not what we've done in, you know, this last decade, that third decade and going into the next two decades, you know, taking the, what we have from this third decade of conservation and bringing that in can only help.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Yes, yes. And I, I live south of La Mesa, so it's not quite as much ag as Lubbock north, but even where I live, which is primarily dry land, I've seen more and more fields going into some sort of no till or rotation cropping or something to where whenever we have a 60 mile an hour March day of wind, you don't see near the dirt in there that, that we did, you know, five or six years ago. And a lot of that thanks to NRCS programs that these young Gu have really utilized.
[00:22:13] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: And, and there's a lot of people in my area that are in the NRCF's office a lot seeing what can I do.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: Right.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: You know, for one, for funding different, different avenue of that and then just to be a little bit more conservative of their soil because it's, I think everybody got tired of seeing the dirt blow all the time. I mean, you plow and plow and sometimes you need plow to get rid of weeds and other issues. But I think more and more people are seeing the benefits of having some sort of residue out there.
[00:22:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I think so. You know, we, we supported a project through NASA to begin cover crop mapping in this region.
So it was a 10 week project that was kind of, it got a little interfered with by the government shutdown, but they were able to complete it. And so we are looking at, you know, potentially trying to move into the next phase of that because I was surprised how much data they collected, you know, and so just to be able to have all that mapped and be able to see, you know, really what is the science behind that? What is it showing us?
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Yes, yeah, yes, there's, there's lots of very unique and helpful data sets out there, whether it be satellite images.
So the soil moisture probes that we've utilized, the most recent is Aquaspa was one that we used a lot of.
We now use arables with a project with National Sorghum producers.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: These autonomous pivots I mentioned before, goannas are a really good one and so all of these can be really helpful to growers to see their crop stress levels, when to water, when not to water, what your soil moisture profile is showing you. And honestly from what speaking to our growers and we've had over probably 60 growers in, in the past, the main thing they want to see from those soil moisture probes is they want to look at their phone and goanna, for instance, the app will show you if it's green you're good. If it's yellow you need to start thinking of variegating and if it's red you need to be sure that pivot's running.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: And so honestly it can be as simple as that for these guys, but.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:46] Speaker A: And they use it.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. There's, we've been in conversations with a company called Ndrip and they have a new probe that has some type of liner and it takes up the plant data as well. So the roots grow into the liner and so it's actually telling you what the plant is uptake, uptaking as well.
So.
Yeah. And they actually just FYI have these to give away.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: Oh wow.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: For 10 years. And so it's no obligation, it's just a 10 year project that they have a grant for, for some water conservation ideas. And so yeah, if you know some folks that want to get connected on that, she's gonna. Katie, who is the representative is going to come on the radio show Carafee at noon. This is the.
What is today the 14th, April 14th or something like that. I don't remember. Yes, it is. And so if you're watching this and it's three weeks ago, go back to April 14th radio show and you will get to hear Katie.
But she'll, she'll talk about what they have and how many they have, but they're, they want to get them in the ground in the next couple of weeks before people start planting, you know.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: Oh, before planting?
[00:26:01] Speaker B: Yes, because those, they will, you know, they'll put that liner in.
[00:26:06] Speaker A: Okay, interesting.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Yeah, so I mean they can put them in after but they would really like to catch some data before.
So yeah, if you've got, got some folks I can send you some information. You can pass it on to them and yeah, and get them all squared up. It'd be, it'd be good to, to kind of get some of that, you know, in your guys fields too. So y' all can see.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Yes, that'd be fantastic. I Like to learn more about that.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: Yeah, there's. So when you really, you. You say, we started this project, so really what you.
[00:26:37] Speaker A: You didn't.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: What you did not do was start another organization.
You started a very specific project that this organization does.
And so I think it's interesting that you call it the project instead of the organization. And I think that is really. I think that's such a unique thing because a lot of times, you know, we start these organizations and it's like.
And I understand, because I'm part of one of those groups, you know, that's like, you can lose sight of the mission.
You know, if it. You. You guys have this really clear, here's what we do.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: That's what y' all have kept doing. I've just kept on doing what you do.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: Yep. Yep. So our. Our mission of our project, to keep it short, is to learn from real producers and teach real producers how to be conservative with their water and soil, but continue to be profitable. And we always keep an economic component in mind in with what we do, because if.
So. We had a panel one time, and one of our fantastic growers, Eddie Teeter, he since retired, but wise. Wise and kind man. And he.
They asked him whenever he was on this panel, what does sustainability mean to you? And he said, staying in business.
And I think that just hit me hard because that is. I mean, to any grower, that is what sustainability is. And
[00:28:18] Speaker B: that really actually is the definition.
So it was. Came from. It came from an economist out of England that created. It's called the triple bottom lines. Think of Venn diagram, people, planet, profits, and where those things overlap in positivity, that creates sustainability.
[00:28:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:40] Speaker B: And so we. That's what we say all the time is like, that's. You have to look at those three things, you know.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Yes. So. So we always make sure that.
And. And Lloyd Arthur, going back to him, he always tells us, if it doesn't make me money or save me money, I don't need it in my operation. So whenever. And we've tested a lot of irrigation, different things, soil moisture probes and irrigation nozzles and stuff on here.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: And that's always what it comes down to, is if it doesn't make me money or save me money, then, yeah, I don't need it.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: I can't keep doing it. Right.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And so that's. That's something that's really important in our project, is it's not always about what works. It's also about what doesn't work. And that's that's as important for us to learn is what doesn't work. So if we put something out on a pivot and it doesn't get good readings or it's always not connecting to the sidelights or something and then if, if we weren't paying for that and the grower was paying for that, then they lost a whole year, you know, for whatever that subscription price and installation price and everything was. So that's really important to know if certain nozzles aren't, you know, doing what they need to be doing, putting out that water as efficiently as it needs to be. That's as important for us to know as the ones that are, you know, 99 efficient at putting out that water.
So, so that, like I said, that's very important. Our, the other huge part of our project is education and outreach, which is I think huge with any project organization right now. So I have taught to fourth graders up to, you know, 70 year olds throughout my time at TWC and year after year just on water conservation to very specific irrigation management.
And so getting, getting our producers to also talk at all of our meetings is very important as well. I think it's really important to know your audience. And so if we're having a grower meeting, they're going to listen and accept information from a fellow producer that actually has money in the game, more so than just somebody that sits in an office and analyzes data all day. And so it's very important for us to have our cooperating producers speak, give presentations, be on panels. And so rarely will you see me at a meeting talking. You're probably going to see one of our producers doing the talking and the educating.
[00:31:28] Speaker B: Brilliant. I mean it really is, it really is.
I think you can just see, you know, as you're explaining what your, your goals and how you do things. This is why it lasted.
This is why you're still, this is why you say you're, you're still providing value.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I, I, I, I really think that using real fields, real producers, having them be the voice of our project and not every producer wants data hand over their economics and hand over exactly what they sprayed and what they put out.
[00:32:01] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: And so finding those, those producers willing to work with us and do that was very important.
It continues to be. That's something that we continue to look for.
Some producers are fantastic at, at farming, they're not fantastic at giving a presentation or talking. And so no knowing where they fit in our project well is, is a great, the great thing. And then Just the network that we've been able to.
We've been able to meet so many great people nationwide and it's. That's been fun. But just to spread the word that Texas Tech is doing amazing things in water research and why shouldn't we? We are in like, why do you really want to listen to water research in an area that has plenty of water? We have. We are the heart of where the problem is. And so, so it's very important for Texas Tech to have this focus on water and to really studying it at the level that we are. And so I know that you've attended a lot of the produced water, polished produced water, whatever is the.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: The right way to talk about it. But that's something that's very exciting at Texas Tech right now. And yeah, that's. They're. They're focusing some on agriculture and I think that's very exciting avenue. And so I, I do think that Texas Tech is stepping up and knows. Knows that water in all.
[00:33:40] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: Rural, urban farming, municipality, it's important so much for Texas right now.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: Yes, it really is. Yeah. And I think people don't even urban people live like in. We call urban Lubbock don't even realize the impact of the region around us and the, the economics that it brings into Lubbock. And if this out here is impacted, this in here is going to be impacted because people aren't going to be coming in to go to the doctor and they're not going to go to restaurants and they're not going to shop at he. And there's going to be a lot of stuff that won't happen. So it impacts the people that live here by like, oh, my favorite restaurant has closed.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: Yeah, you're absolutely right.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: So it's something I think that everyone needs to be aware of. It is water.
Water conservation in our area has got to be a ongoing and consistent topic that we can't, we can't let it. Let the ball drop.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: No, no. And I think, I think we have some very strong leaders in our region that are not going to let it drop. And, and very smart people, much smarter than me that are analyzing the issue.
[00:34:56] Speaker B: They're looking at it. So how many farmers are in the program now?
[00:35:01] Speaker A: So right now we have 35 producers and that's going to grow some this next year. We got a new grant through. Yes. We SDA. So we're looking at adding 55 more field sites. We're gonna duplicate. We're gonna roll some of our existing producers into that project as well, and that's my husband going in and out of the house, so I can't. I could not hear a door opening and close.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: We did not.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: So.
But we're gonna roll most of our existing producers into that project, but then we're going to add probably 20 more producers.
[00:35:37] Speaker B: Oh, that's great.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: Well, so that's great. And. And most of the ones we're adding seem to be in their 30s, and so that's going to be kind of fun to work with those guys for a while.
And so our main.
Main projects right now are the autonomous pivots, the Sorghum Producers project. That's. That was part of the Climate Smart Commodity grant. Yes.
And then this new one, which is part of the Advanced Marketing Grant.
And so we're really excited to get some new technologies out and get some new data in and.
[00:36:15] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, I appreciate what y' all do. And. And if farmers want to get involved, we'll put all of your information, Sam, and those things in the show notes. Okay. So that they can.
So that they can do that, so they can contact you and learn more about how they can get involved.
[00:36:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they're more than welcome to reach out to me. And if we have any available technology, what we usually do is we install the technology on their field and then in return, we ask for their field records. We collect those online. We have an online, kind of like a jot form that we can collect their records from.
And so it's. It's pretty simple. We stay out of your hair after we install the probe, and you can manage your farm however you see fit.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: Yeah, that's really cool. Really cool. Do you guys have contracts around that data?
That's like protecting that data. Who owns this data? Who owns this?
[00:37:16] Speaker A: Yeah, so all of our data is tied to a grower's name.
It's all TWC field site 37. We try to keep everything very confidential.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Yeah.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: The data is very confidential within our group. And then whenever it gets put into a report, whether it be to Texas Water Development Board or whoever, it's going to be all grouped together and never tied to a certain person's field or field site or anything like that.
There's no GPS coordinates that go out from.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: Right.
[00:37:53] Speaker A: Internal.
[00:37:54] Speaker B: Well, that's good to know. That's that. And that. That helps farmers, too, to feel more secure about, you know, about their data, because their debt is something I think everybody's concerned about these days.
[00:38:05] Speaker A: Yes, yes. Well, and when we started the project, obviously that was a huge Concern was the sharing of the data.
But I feel like to. From 20 years to present.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: Right.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: It's not quite as much of a concern. Of course, it still is, but I
[00:38:25] Speaker B: feel like everybody now understands the benefit.
[00:38:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Understands the benefit. And knows that most everything we do is seen by somebody other than us anyway.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: Yes, exactly. That's.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:38:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: So, exactly.
[00:38:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:45] Speaker A: And a lot of them, you know, keep their records, whether it's in the John Deere software or whoever their company is. They. They use some sort of online software for all of that and then they download it into PDF and shares it with us. So it's kind of all in the cloud for some of them anyway.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: Yeah, right, yep.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: But. But it is a concern and we, we definitely keep that in mind and keep everything as confidential as we can.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: Whenever we're doing our reporting.
[00:39:17] Speaker B: That's nice.
[00:39:18] Speaker A: And some of them are completely open.
Lloyd, for instance, he's completely open about it and he. And, and some of them have the opinion that if I don't tell my story and show what I'm doing, then because I know I'm doing it the right way, I want to show that and, and be a positive story for agriculture rather than just think we're using all the water we can during the growing season and we turn these pivots on in May and we don't turn them off till September, you know, and so if we can have more people share their data and show that they are being conservative in their irrigation and their water management, their soil management, everything else, then that's just a stronger platform for agriculture.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: Because what I always try to tell people, whenever we have visitors from urban areas that really don't know anything about agriculture, they respect agriculture, but they don't know anything about agriculture. I always try to tell them there's no better conservationist than a farmer and rancher because if they aren't a conservationist, then what will they have to farm and ranch five to ten years from now?
They have to be conservationists. And so that's the story we try to tell, is these guys are doing the absolute best job they can managing their soil and water because they will be out of business if they don't do that.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Right. Yeah, exactly. Well, this has been great. I really appreciate you and I'm glad you survived the stock show season so that we could get together.
[00:41:03] Speaker A: Yes, yes. It was fun.
It was fun. We had a good run and I'm glad I finally got to connect with you. Yeah, I hate it wasn't in person but that's okay.
[00:41:13] Speaker B: That's okay. We do a lot of online stuff that I, I really. This is really helpful to me too. Like to just kind of understand the beginning of all of all of that you're doing and the Texas association of Water Conservation for Water Conservation. Correct.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: Texas alliance for Water Alliance. Yes, it's a mouthful.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: It's a mouthful. They all are not as bad as Sant Hillary Research Association.
[00:41:41] Speaker A: So anyway, well, y' all are doing great work too. I'm very well, thank all y' all's outreach that y' all do. It's very neat.
[00:41:48] Speaker B: Thanks. We got lots of, lots of irons in the fire right now. Lots of things that, you know, just are kind of seeds we planted that are just kind of starting to sprout now. So it's pretty exciting about that. Yeah, some things are starting to come about.
[00:42:00] Speaker A: So anyway, the Climate Smart Commodity grant,
[00:42:05] Speaker B: we, we did okay. Actually. We really. It wasn't really a Climate Smart grant, but it was, it was one that was not popular within the new administration.
[00:42:19] Speaker A: I mean that's not uncommon.
[00:42:21] Speaker B: Yep. So it got the ax. So anyway, but, but we survived and here we are.
[00:42:26] Speaker A: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. Yeah. And y' all have some really neat stuff going on. I think everything with NASA is very fascinating and I haven't looked into it and studied it a whole lot.
[00:42:35] Speaker B: It's really exciting and really, really a great.
I know that your boss has looked at in into it and is friends with one of the co directors, Ignacio. And so I know that their techs well aware of what's going on there and but they will be.
We've rescheduled the, the tour. They'll be coming for a tour at Listening Tour, Learning Tour. So they come. The scientists and the leaders at NASA come.
Like we don't know anything about agriculture so we're just here to listen. And so they'll be here in August, the week of August 24th. So they'll be in our area, in our area for about two and a half days before we move into Oklahoma.
So that's going to be really fun. So maybe you can join us. We'll be in Terry county on the 24th. So we.
Great to have you join us.
[00:43:26] Speaker A: That sounds great. I think it's very important that people like that know.
[00:43:32] Speaker B: Yes, yes.
[00:43:35] Speaker A: For instance, we took the Produced Water Society. They came to my parents place and then I took them to other farmers places.
And so these guys are giving all the presentations and going to all the meetings talking about this. They had never been, you know, out.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:53] Speaker A: And so some of them had never even seen saltwater disposal wells and.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's so funny. Yeah. So yeah, that's what Lacey, Lacey or I will speak at their conferences on agriculture. So she, we try to get her to do it when she's, you know, whenever possible. She's great public speaker. So. But yeah, so we've, I, I'm, I hope that that comes about.
So I'm, I mean it's a, it's high time.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:26] Speaker B: Time for that to come about. So. And you know, just for consumers to know that it's like cleaned. It's, it's probably cleaner than your water. You get out of your sink.
[00:44:37] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know if you've done a podcast on that or not, but that is okay.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: Yes.
Yep.
[00:44:43] Speaker A: That's something. I know that they're really trying to educate and communicate the cleanliness.
[00:44:50] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:44:51] Speaker A: And I think if somebody, especially if you get to Midland topic area and you look at that the water samples that they're irrigating with or drinking right now.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:45:04] Speaker A: I, I really think that's what that somebody needs to just publish is.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: See, that's what I've said too.
[00:45:09] Speaker A: 150 of those water samples compared to the polished produce water.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: Exactly. I've said you need like a consumer facing webpage and you just need to have here's, here's X city water. Here's X city water. Here's X city water. Here's produce water.
And just like it's simple as can be. You know what I mean? Like cleaned. It's cleaned up better than, than your water that you are showering in and drinking.
[00:45:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
Amazing. And one of the growers I had on the tour, you know, they said well how much water would you need to irrigate this full circle? And he said, well I would be able to water less and make more with your water because it's so much better than what I'm irrigating with.
[00:45:58] Speaker B: Right. Well, in some cases you'd have to put stuff back in it, you know, or you can leave what's in there and it's less fertilizer. So we have a page on our website that actually like. Because we got asked a lot like how much water, how much water, how much water. So we, we just kind of put up like the numbers so that oil and gas companies can go there and go, oh, this is how much water that we're talking about. Because I think the last time I was at a, I think it was maybe in the spring and of notes in the fall last year, and someone had run the numbers on how much like irrigation was needed and, and still produce waters, like would meet like a quarter of the need or something like that, you know, so there's always obstacles to overcome. But I think where you guys are, you're in a much better, you know, place. You're just right there, you know, you don't have to like, bring it, you know, down south or down, up north. I'm sorry. You know, from where you guys are, you're probably, you know, within popping distance of.
[00:47:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And that, that was one point of the field tour was.
Okay, we're standing at the cattle pens with a pivot, two pivots right beside it. And if you look to your left, there are four multi million barrel water pits and the piping system's already in place. Yes. And if you look to your right, there's a saltwater disposal well. If you look in front of you, there's a saltwater disposal well if you look behind you. And so in Martin county, especially where I live, it is very much just right there. And I think I'm not smart enough to know exactly how to put the technology there, clean it up, store it in this tank.
But I really think it's the, the, the infrastructure is there. It's just figuring out how to cut all the parts.
[00:48:03] Speaker B: Well, and it's getting past the environmental concerns, like that's the biggest hurdle to me. It's like people can do that. And you know, the whole idea that, like, when oil and gas companies aren't making money, they're not going to invest money in research and figuring out what to do unless they have to, you know, and so a lot of times that's kind of how we all are, you know, but hey, now, oil is really high now.
So now's the time to invest. Invest. And then let's get those, you know, get it, get it approved and start using it, get it going, get it going.
[00:48:44] Speaker A: Because I mean, in the Permian Basin, it is AG and oil field, just one after another. Exactly the whole way. So if there's a way to benefit both of those and figure out something.
[00:48:59] Speaker B: Yes.
Well, it's such a way, to me, it's like, it's such a way for, you know, oil and gas companies figure that out.
And, you know, in my world, the right thing would be we're just going to give this water, you know what I mean? But they're like the highest bidder is who's going to get that water. You know, I'M sure that's the way.
[00:49:21] Speaker A: And that will not be.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: That will not be.
[00:49:24] Speaker A: Yeah, we, we, we had a couple growers on some zoom calls with them and they were able, they're very smart guys and good at economics and they were able to just, in just a few seconds, jotting it down, be like, so what you're talking about is going to cost me and I'm just throwing a number, but yes, $1.2 million just to. Just for your water.
To irrigate my cotton crop. Right, yeah, that's not going to work.
[00:49:53] Speaker B: No.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: You know, so exactly.
[00:49:56] Speaker B: That's the other things, like here's the budget, you know, and I'm like, I think, you know, they've asked me how much. I'm like, probably they will charge you the same amount it would cost them to pump water.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
[00:50:08] Speaker B: If it's the same like as their energy bill, that's probably what they would do.
But otherwise, no, probably not. Yeah. And so that's one, one reason I think there's a lot of push to, to, you know, put it in the Pecos because then it can go to where people down stream have more money to pay for it.
So anyway, well, some reason I gave a thumbs up on something.
[00:50:34] Speaker A: I see that. Yeah.
[00:50:35] Speaker B: I don't know how because I did not even touch the camera.
[00:50:37] Speaker A: I didn't know if that was a sign that we're out of town.
[00:50:40] Speaker B: Maybe.
[00:50:40] Speaker A: So we probably.
[00:50:42] Speaker B: Well, thanks so much, Sam, again and thank you friends for joining us today for another episode of the Conservation Stories. And we'll put all this information up for farmers and so that you can also get involved and also find out, kind of get signed up for the newsletter and find out when they're holding their field days and their water college at tech. That's usually early in the year.
So we will look forward to seeing you all again on another episode of Conservation Stories. Thanks.
