In February, the annual East Texas Turfgrass Conference will be held on Feb. 5 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Research and Extension Center in Overton.

This conference is geared to those who manage turfgrass including school districts, city parks and recreation, lawn and landscape managers and homeowners.

The Turfgrass Conference, which kicks off with registration at 8 a.m. and ends at about 3 p.m., will provide a wealth of information of turfgrass management. A registration fee of $30 per participant will be charged, payable at the door. The price includes lunch.

Applicators with pesticide licenses may receive five hours of continuing education credits (two general, two integrated pest management (IPM) and one for laws and regulations) for attending from the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Topics include feral hog management and control, pre- and post-emerge weed control, turfgrass disease control, soil fertility including sodic soils and lime quality, pesticide laws and regulations updates and IPM practices for local school districts.

Commercial vendors will be on hand during the morning and lunch breaks as well.

Speakers for this annual turfgrass conference include Dr. Billy Higginbotham, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Wildlife and Fisheries specialist; Dr. Matthew Elmore, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Turfgrass specialist; Dr. Don Renchie, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Program Leader Agriculture and Environmental Safety specialist; Dr. Tony Provin, Texas A&M Soil professor and chemist; and Janet Hurley, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service IPM specialist.

For a complete agenda for this conference, visit the Smith County AgriLife Agriculture Blog on the web at www.agrilife.org/smithcountyagriculture or call 903-590-2980.

Persons with special needs are asked to contact our office at least five working days in advance so necessary arrangements can be made.

For those needing continuing education credits for their pesticide license, be sure to have your Texas Department of Agriculture license on hand as you register at the door of these events.

The Texas Department of Agriculture can be reached at 800-TELLTDA (800-835-5832) or www.texasagriculture.gov if you need assistance with your license number.

No other personal information such as a driver license will be allowed on the recertification form.

For private applicator license holders, 15 continuing education units (CEU’s) are required in the five-year period while your license is current.

Private applicators are required to obtain two CEU’s laws and regulations and two CEU’s integrated pest management prior to license renewal in that five-year period.

Commercial and non-commercial applicators are required to obtain five CEU’s annually. Commercial and non-commercial applicators are required to have at least one CEU laws and regulations and one CEU integrated pest management prior to the license renewal.

The rest of the CEU’s can be obtained as a combination of general, laws and regulations, integrated pest management and/or drift.

 

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.