Business

Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management webinar Feb. 3 The first 2022 webinar in the ongoing Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Unit stewardship series will take place online from noon to 1 pm next Thursday, Feb.

A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Master Marketer program returns to Amarillo in 2022 with in-person and virtual-attendance options. The program will be from Jan. 25 to March 10 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at 6500 Amarillo Boulevard West.

AUSTIN—The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) issued a total of 842 original drilling permits in December 2021 compared to 468 in December 2020. The December 2021 total includes 756 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, six to re-enter plugged wellbores, and 77 for recompletions of existing wellbores. The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in December 2021 is 179 oil, 65 gas, 552 oil or gas, 38 injection, and eight other permits. In December 2021, RRC staff processed 605 oil, 99 gas, and 211 injection completions for new drills, re-entries, and recompletions, compared to 493 oil, 77 gas, and 116 injection completions in December 2020. In the Panhandle during December, the Commission issued eight permits to drill new oil or gas holes, and processed reports of seven new oil completions and one new gas completion. Total well completions processed for 2021 year-to-date for new drills, re-entries, and recompletions are 9,269 compared to 14,140 recorded during the same period in 2020.

Wildfire preparedness is topic of Jan. 31 meeting A wildfire preparedness meeting is planned for Monday, Jan.

A wildfire preparedness meeting is planned for Monday, Jan. 31, at the Hemphill County Exhibition Center in Canadian. This multi-county sponsored AgriLife Extension event includes Hemphill, Ochiltree, Lipscomb, Roberts and Wheeler counties. Its purpose is to assist with educational information preparation for stakeholders in the event of a wildfire situation, similar to the one in March of 2017.

Farmers asked to fill out farm producer study by Jan. 18 The Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is asking farmers and producers to participate in the 2021 Farm Producer Study to help governments and other organizations better understand and support farm country.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved LPC Conservation LLC’s habitat conservation plan (HCP) and associated incidental take permit. The HCP is designed to minimize and offset impacts to the lesser prairiechicken from renewable energy development in the Great Plains.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is now accepting applications for fiscal year 2022 agricultural water-conservation grants. Applications are due to the TWDB no later than Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 2 pm.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced last week that he would send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $936 million in local sales tax allocations for December, 18.4 percent more than in December 2020. These allocations are based on sales made in October by businesses that report tax monthly.

USDA NRCS sets Agricultural Conservation Easement Program funding date TEMPLE—USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Texas is accepting applications for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). While NRCS accepts easement applications on a continuous basis, applications for the next funding consideration must be submitted by Dec.