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The college basketball conference tournaments are complete and the Selection Committee will be announcing who will make it to the “Big Dance”, that is the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The field of teams will be selected on Sunday, March 17th, with the first four games to be played on March 19th and 20th with the first round of the tournament beginning on the 21st.

Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year have until March 15, 2024 to revise elections and sign contracts. Both safety net programs, delivered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provide vital income support to farmers who experience substantial decline in crop prices or revenues for the 2024 crop year In Texas, producers have completed 24,610 contracts to date, representing 28% of the more than 88,000 expected contracts.

The Plains Cotton Growers conference room was busy on Thursday, March 7, as the Plains Cotton Improvement Committee (PCIC), consisting of growers, warehousers, merchants and researchers came together to discuss 2023 and vote on 2024 research projects. As PCIC Chair Barry Evans stated in his opening remarks, “We’re privileged to have this opportunity to come together and continue this great work.”

A Texas A&M AgriLife animal nutritionist believes precision livestock management — utilizing an extra set of eyes and ears and a little artificial intelligence — can go a long way toward making today’s livestock operations more efficient.

On Tuesday, March 12, Speaker Dade Phelan announced the creation of an Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires. Representative Ken King will serve as the Chair of this committee which will include Representatives Burrows and Hunter, as well as community members Jason Abraham and Ashley Cash.

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