[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome back again to another episode of Conservation Stories. Conservation Stories is a podcast brought to you by Sarah, the Sandhill Area Research Association. Sarah, Conservation is interested in all things that have to do with the ecosystem of our region, West Texas and EAs New Mexico and rural America in general. And I am excited today that Todd Belman is with us. Todd is the new director for our Agri Life Extension center that is based close to the airport, north of the Lubbock airport. So Todd, thanks for coming in.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Excited to be here.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: I appreciate it. And you are. You're. You have moved in from Oklahoma and are trying to move in from Oklahoma.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Still trying to move in, actually. Yes.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: I have no hard time getting. Getting your whole family here, but I appreciate what. And can you give us a little bit of your background?
[00:01:05] Speaker A: So I guess just to start out. So I was a fourth generation raised in southwest Oklahoma on both sides of my family. Went. Graduated from a small town Cash High School. Went to Cameron, which was a small community college there at Lawton. Realized I really wanted to pursue an opportunity in agriculture. Transferred to Oklahoma State. Got my bachelor's and master's there in agronomy and weed science.
Had the opportunity to go to Mississippi State to work on my PhD.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: With actually the professor was a fellow Southwest Oklahoma.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Oh my goodness. Wow.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Also.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: So.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: So. And that was really a great opportunity. Of course, a complete different change from everything I've been around growing.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: I can imagine.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: I don't guess I'm not sure I'd ever been in a soybean field.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Oh, I can. I can believe that. Yeah.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Mississippi. So those types of things was really great.
Went to work for industry for about almost two years when I completed my PhD and actually first had an opportunity to come back and work for Texas A and M in the rolling plains. Located housed out of Vernon.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: As the regional agronomist and then was the statewide peanut specialist for part of that.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Really. Okay. So Calvin Trussell.
So. So when were you the statewide peanut.
What year?
[00:02:25] Speaker A: This was probably 2000 to 2011.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Okay. So that's about. We moved north of Highway 70 to grow peanuts. Which everyone was like, you can't grow peanuts north of Highway 70. But we did. And actually there's a lot of good peanut land up there.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Yes, ma'.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Am. Really is so interesting.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I did. I did quite a bit of work around Sudan and north of there for several years while I was working there anyway. And that, and of course that gave me an opportunity to. To get a little more knowledgeable of this area. Because I spent a lot of time during the summer. Oh, I'm sure out here.
Had an opportunity to go back to Oklahoma State. They hired me as a weed scientist there, worked there for 10 years. And then Dr. J. Roy Moore.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Oh yes.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Finally decided to hang it up. Had some people contact me about the center director position there, applied for it and was fortunate enough to. To receive that offer and have been there right at a year now.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: That's amazing. That's great.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Yes. So. And obviously this is just a great area to work in. There's, you know, I told people, you know, of course, asking why and that sort of thing. I said, well, there's very few places in the United States that has the concentration of agriculture, agriculture scientists, commodity groups and industry all in, you know, one central area.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Very true. It is true. I think we're comparable. Probably the only thing I think that's comparable to us is maybe St. Louis.
You know, they have. And they've got a 39 north. Right. That's there and that's a big industry and ag. And they're of course that's the heart of that whole Midwestern. You know, there's a lot of acreage, but within, they say, you know, this much acreage within five hours of them and we look at our acreage within an hour of us and. Right. I totally agree. It is a very under recognized. And so many people don't. Just don't know about it.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: No. And I think definitely, you know, think some people don't recognize, you know, how many commodity groups that we have that are centered out.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: But then also how many of our ag industry have significant investment in this area. You know, not just, you know, not just a research rep or a research rep and a sales rep, but actual, you know, land facilities and that sort of thing. And like I said that that's just a unique opportunity that doesn't come along very often and, and just felt honored to. To even be chosen to, to represent Texas A and M and try to develop our center even more there at Lubbock.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Let's, let's dig in for just a second. We've had a podcast before where we've talked some about extension and, and maybe a little bit of the history and people can go back and listen to that. But let's do just a little bit of how did extension, what is extension? How did it come to be organizations that are based in land grants across the United States.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: So, so the, the land. I mean, I guess it's all. It's kind of interesting and you know, we start thinking about our forefathers.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: You know, even going back to, you know, we use a constitution.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Right.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: Written over 200 years ago. And that there's still principles that we still hold dear. And you know, you start thinking about how, I guess, smart those individuals were and the same thing. So the land grant system, you know, started out in the 1800s.
[00:05:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: And. And you know, is still surviving today. And I would say thriving.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: And so for people, for people that don't know what that is, give us a little history.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: So the land grants were set up with the primary focus to be agriculture and engineering. That's why, like Texas A and M, that's agriculture and Mechanical University.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: Right.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: And so those were set up in each of the states an individual university, that their primary focus was to be established in those two primary areas. Now obviously almost all of those have expanded beyond that, but we still have our, you know, our principles in those areas and especially I would say in agriculture. And so recognizing how important that was, you know, to the development of our.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Country, of the country, you know, was.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: Was definitely some bright individuals with some real forethought in what we needed and where that would take us.
And so those were originally set up as universities with teaching as a primary component of that in those sciences. Then the first was part of that was what is called the Hatch act. That was, you know, well, along with this teaching, we need some additional research to help our producers and our industry and also for these, you know, to help expand the education for these students.
So they started doing research, hybrid corn, soil fertility, you know, cotton varieties.
All of that were based in these universities as part of that. Well then obviously when you develop research then becomes how do we get that to the people that need that information?
And so that's where extension became and what I call the three legged stool of the land grant system.
Teaching research and extension. At Oklahoma State we used to have, and I'm still upset that they got rid of this.
We had what we used to call the triangle that was a representative of especially the division of Agriculture. And that triangle on each side teaching research and extension.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: And so to me that is still a very, very important part of the land grant system that we have all three of those legs.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Well, and it was really valuable back in the day. If you needed absolutely any question, there was someone at extension that would either know the answer or would find the answer for you. I mean, from canning to disease in your crop, to sowing to anything that had to do with just living in general and Now I know you have expanded into. There's health and wellness programs. We had some folks on a couple last month that are mental strag. Mental health. And so there's just a huge organization now. And so in the land grants are funded like I know in Texas we, we granted pieces of land to help fund some of these schools.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And that was part of the, part of that, in that initial bill was that that those states had to provide some land for the initial university. So that was done. And I'm not an expert on this, but some states, including Texas also there's land that has been donated and in all, actually not just to the land grant, but even the University of Texas is a landowner in a state.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Huge mineral owner.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Yes.
And so that money was set up again years ago so that either, you know, of course, originally, I think that was probably for rent for that land use of that land or.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Yes. Right.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Right now, obviously.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Right. They get the income. They were. They were. So it's their respons ability to. To use that to raise the money to fund themselves. And, and now a lot of them depend on the minerals as much as that's where a lot of the money. And it's a lot of money. Yes, it is a lot of money.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: Really. We look at it as. As several, several areas fund our universities now, you know, one of those being the federal government, which is part of the Hatch program and the Moral act and some of those.
The other thing is our state, our state does a significant portion of our funding, then obviously, you know, private companies are a big part of that and working with those. And you know, that's. That's a huge benefit both I would say, to, to the university, but also to our producers because in a lot of cases we, number one, we get to look at that technology in some cases before it's available to the producer. And I would say the biggest benefit is the. That's an independent review of technology.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: And so. So, you know, that, that allows us to make an independent, you know, recommendation on yes, that product works. No, that doesn't. And so that interaction, you know, and if we didn't have that interaction with industry, it would be. We'd be looking at it with the grower. Right. There is. Yeah, we hope it works.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Right.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: We haven't had a chance to look at it yet. And sometimes I think some people don't realize how that bigger benefit that is that we have that working relationship with them.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: What extension has is offices or stations as they're called, all across. They're in every state that they're scattered all across Texas, of course, and ours is right out here north of the airport. So tell us what kind of research is happening out there.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: We have a lot of different programs. Obviously being in this region, cotton is a big part of our, our research program. You know, probably 75% of our research and extension faculty have some project in cotton.
So you know, we have a cotton breeding program.
We have Ken Legay is our cotton specialist that does variety trials and other production management.
A lot of those he does on farm with producers.
[00:11:36] Speaker B: Producers.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: So you know, and that's a big part of what we do.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Yes, that's a great idea.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: Soil fertility programs, soil conservation, plant management. Katie Lewis, Joseph Burke, Wayne Keeling, you know, all work on, on different conservation management. Then of course Katie works on soil fertility as well. And then we have Meg and Suhas, our entomologist Terry Wheeler and we have a new Marina Rondon that's in plant pathology.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: But then also we have a peanut breeding program and then a lot of those like Katie's program and Marina's and Terry's also working in peanuts.
We have a corn breeding program. Winway Zoo is our corn breeder and probably one of the interesting things he's working on what he calls high a corn which is, is a red colored corn. He took some of the native corn, bred that with improved hybrids. And so there's, there looks like there's some potential and we actually, I think we just got a grant approved looking at some of the health benefits oh corn and the benefit of having that increased anthocyn in that and there's some benefit not just from a human health but also from a cattle feeding standpoint. And so we're investigating some of those benefits.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: That's really interesting and you know how that directly relates from research to extension in that, you know, there's a push now on the market side like what are other things that we can look at, benefits that we can look at that will set my crop apart and we'll make it more valuable, you know. And so that's one of the things I've had Damien Mason who's like that's my number one favorite podcast so business of agriculture. And he talks about that a lot about how we've got to figure out how to market in a different way because we were producing so much, you know. And so if you can figure out how to create that niche and, and you know we also have a partnership with NASA on remote sensing. So one of the things that we're talking to them about is they are already doing the research on how can we test the quality of cotton from remote sensing, you know, and, and to be able to put that information in the hands of a farmer is extremely valuable.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And, and I know Ken's got a project going on this year. You were talking about finding those kind of niche, you know, where we can fit. And he's got a project looking at some of the extra long staple varieties.
We've got a. I think you're probably aware we've got a roller gin going into the area that. That can better handle that.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: That is that, that one. I know there's one in Brownfield and.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: One in Maple, I believe.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Okay. Maple.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So. So, you know, so exactly those kind of things. And we're, you know, we're hopefully at the forefront of again, you know, yes, this can work. No, it can't. Or yes, it can work. But here's the thing you need to think about, you know, how, how you're going to, you know, because a lot of those extra long staples, some of those don't have some of the technology. So how are you going to handle your insect pest, how you're going to handle weeds and, you know, and the biggest deal that we always deal with, any of those is making sure you have a market.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: For that advantage.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: Right. Yeah.
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Let's keep Texas water flowing strong for the future. Visit sara-conservation.com Lacey and I travel a lot and go to a lot of places and, and she's spicy girl, so people. She sticks out, you know, not just because she's like 4ft tall and redheaded, but she's pretty fiery and she just got back from a trip with Cotton Incorporated to Asia. And, you know, there's so much interest in, like, the people that are sourcing cotton that are saying, how can I. How can I come to the farmer? Like, I want to come directly to the farmer, and how can I do that? And it's interesting to me that, you know, we've gone from this, like, let's cooperatively do this, and there's a lot of power in that. But in the. In the market is shifting, though, to say, okay, we want to know each one of these people that are in this market.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:02] Speaker B: You know, and how can we know that?
[00:17:04] Speaker A: I would say, you know, especially out in this region, if you go back to when fibermax, you know, first.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: First came out, that's a breed of cotton.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: Yes. And. And, you know, increased our quality that we produced out here. And, you know, and it was definitely an advantage that helped us continue that. And that was kind of, you know, to me, that was definitely, I think when you think about that cooperative as an area.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: You know, we had a lot more producers that were bought into that, gyms that were bought into that and marketing, you know, that advantage that variety gave us and. And, you know, potentially that's the same thing we could see with the ls, you know, now how. How much that will affect that sort of thing. You know, that's something we'll have to learn, but that's the things that we always have to be looking at. And hopefully, you know, at least one of my visions for our center is that hopefully we can help producers. Maybe, you know, there's always learning curves with any development, and hopefully we can either shorten those learning curves or even we definitely, you know, we've done this and you definitely don't want to do that.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: You know, that's. And try to, I guess, limit or minimize the mistakes with that type of technology, you know, and that's the other thing I've told people. You know, I think there probably was a period, you know, maybe. Well, we have all this private industry. Where is the real need for. For the land grant and university systems. And of course, I always. My first number one and still is, is. Yes. But we're an independent resource for you. Yeah, we don't have anything at stake, per se, so we can tell you, yes, this works. Yes, it won't. You know, these are the benefits. These are the warts on that technology and things you need to think about. But I think as we move into some of this thing, like you're Talking about. And then also you know, some of the, you know, carbon credits, production systems cover crops those are not as big an investment for industry, but production things that can help us from a day to day basis. You know, we still are a group that can work on those kind of answers for the producers. And I think those could even get bigger.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: I think so. I mean I think there's, you know, there's so many farmers that are troweling so many different, you know, know we have friends that are in meadow, that dry land cotton on 80 inch rows and bailing half an acre. I mean and everybody's like, they got rain, they didn't get any more rain than anybody else, you know. And so there's everybody's production systems and their organization and how they, their economics are different. So what works for one person may or may not work out economically for another. But I think it's great for people to be trialing and making those things available and people aware, you know, of ideas. So what are you thinking about in terms of two decades from now we've consumed our irrigation water? What are you looking at in the future of, of how to conserve maybe now and then in the future if, if you know, there's just not irrigation left.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: We've done a lot of research on investigating amounts of irrigation. But even like start thinking about, okay, we know we have this much irrigation and instead of trying to say compare, I'll just use these numbers don't really make a lot of sense. But say two inches versus six inches during the year.
Okay, we know we have four inches. How do we best apply that? Four inches?
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:26] Speaker A: And start looking at it more like that than comparison volumes and that sort of thing. So that's one thing that I hope we're going to increase our area of expertise. But the other thing is so interesting enough, we have a project that we're involved with actually with the private funded group looking at produced water, which is the water that comes from oil production.
And so there's some, right now the majority of that is actually injected back into the ground. There's obviously some issues with that. And so we're starting to work with a lot of the companies that handle that produce water. Is there ways we can actually use that for surface irrigation?
[00:21:07] Speaker B: Yeah, that's something that we've looked at. In fact, Lacey speaks a lot at produce water events and because we have spent a lot of time with oil and gas, because we are, we are a conservation organization that believes in the use of fossil fuels, the responsible use of fossil Fuels in mining. We are kind of unique I guess in that sense, you know, but we want to figure out, okay, how do we, how can we help them do the best that they can, you know, while providing this not, it's not a valuable resource. It is, it's an essential resource. And I think people that suffered through Hurricane Yuri will understand probably better what happens when you don't have electricity.
So we, that is kind of how we started getting involved in produced water. And yeah, we've had in fact just yesterday had a couple of meetings with companies, you know, looking at projects and how can we get this onto some land? You know that, and that's been a huge, a huge interest in it. And we actually, just before we recorded you, we recorded a water expert and we're talking some about produced water. And, and just to mention again on sarah-conservation.com our website, if you go under initiatives, there's a produce water page and we put together kind of that economics, you know, because the oil and gas is like, well, we don't know how much water you need and we don't know how much you'll pay for it. And you know, so we, we sat down and did, you know, a deep dive to make sure that we have it accurate and everything. And it's all there for, for companies to look at, to know what to expect.
This is what we need, this is what the economics are on the farm. So if you're thinking that we can help you make a lot of money from that produced water, maybe not, but we can help you prevent some earthquakes.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Yes.
So, and I don't know how many of your viewers are, are familiar, but right now, technically in the state you can only use that produced water on non consumable crops.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: So what falls out of that that people don't think about? Number one, of course everybody thinks cotton and fiber, but we feed, feed that seed. So that is a consumable crop.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Crop.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Any forage that would be grazed by livestock.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Would fall under consumable crop also.
So right now we're just trying to figure out how to best use that water under those constraints.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Right. Well, up until recently you could have grown it on hemp. Yes, like fiber. But pretty sure that that is now unless, unless Greg Abbott decides he's going to save us. I don't know. Yeah, that you can legally. Anyway, that's a whole nother podcast. But that I'm not an expert exactly, but I know I'm friends with one of the researchers that has, has developed some, the system for Cleaning the water. And she's grown it on. On hemp. It's done very well. And the cool thing about produced water is that there's things you could leave in there that farmers would. Might buy for inputs. And it's already, you know, there in that. And so there's some really interesting ideas.
[00:24:05] Speaker A: No. And that. And that's part of this kind of this first.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: I'm so glad you are doing this. Yeah.
[00:24:09] Speaker A: That we're looking at is.
So number one, of course, the water's highly saline.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: First comes out of production. You know, obviously the first question is how much do we have to clean it to where we can use it and either not damage the crop, but even more importantly to me, not damage the land.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: Where you have an excessive buildup.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: And what type of management programs can we develop to do that? Because obviously the less you have to clean it, the cheaper. That is exactly. Water source.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: But exactly what you're saying is we don't want to clean it too much because there's some really beneficial. There are nitrogen, right?
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: That are potentially.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: And for some, you know, for some areas, calcium, you know, that type of thing. So how do. How do we leave the good stuff and take out the bad is part of that process.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Well, I know there's a company that I heard speak last year in New Mexico and they're looking at developing AI and they need, you know, all the water, all the samples that they can possibly get, you know, for developing that. And I think that would really speed things up. You know, we need a way. Because it's coming from all these different. And not every. Not every well that this is coming from has the same constituents or the same amount of constituents. And there is, you know, to your point, a lot that's coming out of this. So the other aspect is how. What do we do with the waste and how can we use it? Because I know estimates that I've heard is if you cleaned it right now, everything that's being produced, you could produce enough salt to fill the AT&T Stadium every two weeks.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: That is probably correct. I don't know that that is.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: I literally an engineer, petroleum engineer. I heard that at the conference and I was just like, oh, yeah, okay. We have to figure that out. And I've heard some really unique things that are happening, you know, on that. So we'll figure it out.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Yes. And. And you know, and I can't. I can't remember the numbers off my top of the head, but how many millions of barrel of Water are being.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: Produced with oil is just literally millions. So Bridget Scanlon said in the earlier podcast three to five, that I've heard more recent estimates are five to seven. So it, you know, if that's that much water per barrel and we're producing, but, you know, I don't know what will happen over. Prices of oil aren't great right now. They're marginal.
And so, you know, as the price rises, then oil companies are more apt to drill and they have technology that they are predicting will produce five times the amount within the next seven years. But unless the prices are high, of course, you know, they're not going to do something that they're going to lose money on.
[00:26:57] Speaker A: And I see the benefit of this actually a couple of ways. Number one is, you know, if we can improve the environmental aspect of this water usage, you know, that's going to carry you through regardless of administration or political wins, which I think is a positive, you know, and we'll have that. You know, not only are we producing oil, we're producing a beneficial.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: Yes. Well, it's a new water source.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: Exactly. Secondly, probably, maybe what's the most exciting for me is if we can learn some lessons through this, we have other water sources that have salinity issues.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: Right.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: And if we can develop the technology to handle this produced water, can we transfer that over to our other water sources? And again, maybe that replaces the issue that we're dealing with with the water source out here.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: Well, and, you know, the, the whole. It always comes down to the economics of, you know, how much is it going to cost? Because there are now literally hundreds of these companies that are, are popping up with different types of technology.
And it's all going to come down to the economics. You know, if I have to pay this much money, X amount to put this next to my pivot, if I'm already losing money on cotton, it's not a choice. I'm not going to do that.
I'm excited about somebody coming to y' all to say, hey, there's this. You have this kind of holistic ability to help us look at this, not just on the research side, but, you know, for crops, but also you have economics, you have, you know, health and human concerns. Like the extension service has all of those things. And now they're not all housed, I don't think, with you.
Right. Because there's different. There's different.
Not stations, but different. We have different headquarters. Right. And even in Lubbock, there's another office.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, we have centers throughout the State. We obviously have the whole university system, A and M at College Station. And of course, you bring up the health. We have a new health institute that's being built in Fort Worth that again, will be able to hopefully address some of these questions for us. But the thing I like to tell people is if we can answer some of the questions on how to best use or handle the water.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: And then the technology that, like you were saying, that we could set up, say, next to a pivot suddenly becomes economical. We already have the answers of how to use it.
[00:29:26] Speaker B: Right.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: So we're not starting over. Okay. Because a lot of times that's how it works, you know.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:29:31] Speaker A: Technology. And then you find. Figure out how to use it.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: Hopefully we'll have the how to use it. And then poof, we have the technology that's making it.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: Yeah. And that is really. That kind of turns it on its head, especially even for investors to go, oh, you already have both things. You have. You have the problem and the solution, you know, and so. And, you know, when you can figure out that end piece that just. That just puts it all together. But, I mean, I do think it's a huge opportunity, and I'm glad to hear that you guys are. Are working on it. So how many. How many people are employed out at the Extension center? Where you do have any idea?
[00:30:08] Speaker A: So we've got about. We've got over 20 faculty members. And, you know, and I didn't mention that. That's a unique thing about the center that we have. So we have faculty members in research, faculty members in extension, and then we have joint appointments with faculty members at Tech.
[00:30:24] Speaker B: I love that. That's one of my favorite things about that station.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: Yes. So they. They basically work both for Texas Tech and for Texas.
So again, it's a unique thing that opens up opportunities. So if you count all of Those, we're over 20 faculty members, and then we probably got another, I don't know, 50 support staff, graduate students, you know, and that's the other thing I've been like, at Vernon, it was much more difficult to work with graduate students.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: Because we were basically three hours from the closest university.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: They just weren't there.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Another great thing here, you know, having that connection with Tech. We have a lot of students that work for A and M professors but get their degree at Tech.
So. So, you know, that's another great thing.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's a. It's. I think it's something we don't see that happen often enough. But that kind of collaboration and that's the thing I like about extension is that it's part of the A and M system, but actually it belongs to really Texans as a whole.
And so you have that almost obligation to be able to engage and responsibility to engage with whoever can bring the most benefit to Texans.
[00:31:30] Speaker A: Oh, 100%. And I know, you know, different individuals like to brag on it, and I think it is definitely a bragging point. You know, we're the only state, I guess, organization that has individuals in every county.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: That. That is something I know people are not aware of that, that, like, if you live anywhere in Texas, you have an extension agent that is there to serve you and more than one. And so if you live in Lubbock and you want to know how to can, by God, call the extension service. I mean, like, if you want to learn how to grow or what's wrong with your peppers or do you want to have your water tested or your soil tested, these people are available to you for these services.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: And in almost 99% of those cases, free.
[00:32:19] Speaker B: Yes, it's free. It's there. It's there. I mean, and that's the. That is that to me, the beauty of what you're saying, like how our forefathers were so not just looking into the future for things in the Constitution, you know what I mean? Like, how. How can we make this last as long as possible, even though some of them were, like, pessimistic that it would.
But what can we do to create something that will stand the test of time?
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And another fun fact, when the Iron Curtain fell, when the wall came down and all of those, you know, Russia fell apart and all the Eastern European countries began to be able to, you know, be their own country again. The United States sent in extension agents and they replicated that system in several of these countries. And I was in Poland a couple of years ago, or actually about a year ago, and got to tour those extension stations and see the same, you know, what. What's available here. And seeing people there in Poland taking advantage of it and Poland has really dug in like and really connected.
There's a lot of connection between Poland and especially the extension and A and M.
And if you look at the economy of Poland compared to the entire eastern, I mean all of those Eastern European countries combined, Poland is, still has a higher GDP than they do.
It's amazing. And I credit that and a lot of people in Poland as well credit that to that influence.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: No. And it was kind of a couple of things you brought up and on that too was in one of the, that that I've told people that I think one of the visions that was good that has kept the extension services strong as it is in Texas is keeping that county level commitment. There's been some other states that's broke away from that and I would argue that their extension services not as strong as the extension service that we have. And that that local commitment I think has kept that support throughout the state for extension and why it has maintained its strength here in the state. The other thing you mentioned about the people. Yeah, you know, I always, even as an extension specialist, you know, I work for you.
[00:35:15] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: I tell people, you know, I, you know, I might, I might drive two hours to look at a grower's field and he'd start apologizing to me. And I said, I said, your taxes are paying my salary. This is what I'm paid to do. I'm here for you.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Well, it's like what we've realized with NASA is that so many people are paying to access data that their tax dollars have paid for and working alongside NASA to say, let's create something that will make this free and accessible to farmers so they can know when to chop silage. I mean, like, because there's so many things remote sensing can do now, you know, so. But it's a matter of making it accessible. And I think that's a cool thing about extension is that your job is to make research accessible to the farmer. Not just to the farmer, to anyone. And so part of, part of extension also is 4H.
And if people aren't familiar with 4H programs, basically, if your kid is interested in literally anything there is, it's like Boy Scouts for everybody on steroids. Yeah.
[00:36:15] Speaker A: And, yeah. And like you said, you know, probably even beyond like the boy Scouts, girl scouts, athletics, there's, there's something for everyone. You know, it's not just that individual program, you know, photo contest, obviously, livestock competitions, archery, archery, cooking time.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: There's nutrition, there's speech and debate, there's legislation, there's Stuff on the, like learning about politics. There's really and truly so much for people. In fact, I'm. I've got scheduled a podcast with a. I would call her the ultimate 4H alumni mom.
She's got two daughters that have gotten, you know, really great scholarships through 4H and one that's just in the middle of it right now. So I'm excited to introduce people that might not be aware of those 4H programs that are available to their kids here in Lubbock. And one of the good things I think about 4H2 is that it's something that the entire family can do because they can participate in different things. And so often, you know, people are just. Their kids are spread out across so many different interests that aren't coming together at the same time. And a lot of the 4H opportunities, you can come together at the same time and do those things. And it's not as, I don't know, it just to me it's such a family friendly opportunity.
[00:37:44] Speaker A: No, I had a really good friend one time, you know, that he talked about that and he was like, you know, this is one of the few things that you can do with your son or daughter from start to finish, you know, even athletics at some point you kind of handle them off.
[00:37:57] Speaker B: Right. Right.
[00:37:58] Speaker A: But this is one.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: Right. You can be engaged as much or as little as you, you know, want. And then that's what those extension agents are there.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: There's.
[00:38:06] Speaker B: There's an agent in every county that's helping to manage and run those programs. And you know, even for kids that want to show animals but don't have the money, there's so much to learn from those opportunities. That industry help those kids, provide the space for those kids to learn. It's a, it's a great, great program.
[00:38:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And you brought up. And I think one thing that I don't know if we do a good enough job. But. And definitely there, there's a, there's a lot of scholarship opportunities out there in 4H that parents want to be aware of. But I would say in general there's a lot of scholarship opportunities in the field of ag that may not be out there in some of the other disciplines. So, you know, if you're thinking about, you know, I need to figure out a way to pay for college. There's, there's a lot of opportunities are there. And then I would say the other thing. There is a lot of good job opportunities.
[00:38:57] Speaker B: Oh my goodness. We do not have enough people going into, into the ag fields and Some.
[00:39:01] Speaker A: Of those pay very well.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Have opportunity for promotion, you know, everything that you would think about. And from all areas, all the way from basic science research to public relations.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: Exactly right, right. A lot of sustainability people that are interested in the environment or environmentalism or I guess that's not really a word anymore, but, you know, that type of thing like these, all of these companies. I mean, I feel like we've always been interested in those things in agriculture, but it's now, you know, that they're really making an effort to make sure people know what they're doing.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:39:37] Speaker B: You know, and so there's, there's so much opportunity for people that are interested in pretty much just anything in agriculture. And of course, we have the Davis College right here at Texas Tech. That is, it's a phenomenal college. And our dean there is as great and has done a great job promoting the school and making those opportunities accessible to kids. And I, you know, super excited about that. So I appreciate you coming today, Todd.
[00:40:03] Speaker A: Oh, excited to be here.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: It's great. Okay, so. And we're going to do it again.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: Yes, ma'. Am.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: And this time we talked about the history and we talked some about produced water. So. But we'll talk some more about, you know, the research that's going on out there at the station and what, what you guys are working on and just keep, keep it going.
[00:40:20] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:40:20] Speaker B: So if people want to learn some more about the station, how can they, how can they do that? You guys, I'm sure, have a website.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: We have a website and unfortunately, we'll.
[00:40:30] Speaker B: Put it in the show notes. We'll put it in the show notes.
[00:40:33] Speaker A: I think it's, it's Tamu Edu Lubbock, but I'm not.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: Right. Probably something like that. You could probably do like Texas A and M extension Center Lubbock.
[00:40:42] Speaker A: You can definitely do Texas A and M Lubbock.
[00:40:45] Speaker B: And it'll come up.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: Come to our website.
Several of our individual faculty members have websites and there's. And then there's also contact numbers and emails there. In a lot of cases, especially if you've got a specific question, contacting them through email.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: A lot of great way to do it and get that first initial contact.
You know, most of us working in this area, you know, we, we like to talk to people. Phone calls. I know for me, it's a lot easier to have that discussion by phone. Yeah. So if you contact me initially by email, I'll get back to you.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: Right.
[00:41:20] Speaker A: And. And that's why I got into this business and why I've stayed in this business is the personal relationships that I've had. I had a grower from Oklahoma call me this morning with a question.
He was like, I hate to be bothering you. And I said, no, you make me feel relevant today, John.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: So that's awesome. Well, and people that live in town have gardens or yard problems or just want to know what's in their water or how to also how to save water. Things like irrigation.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:41:47] Speaker B: You know, I mean, like, literally, there's an expert on everything at the ED Extension that has, that is relevant to your life. And I encourage people to go and, and find somebody to ask and, and if you can't, you can contact me and I'll, I'll hook you up.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: Yes, most definitely.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: Well, thanks, Todd, and thanks, friends, for joining us again for another episode of Conservation Stories. If you enjoyed this, I hope that you'll share and like it on rated, maybe even review. That would be great for us.
And I hope that you'll take the time to learn a little bit more about extension. We'll put all their contacts in the show notes and we hope that you found it helpful.
[00:42:26] Speaker A: Thanks.
