Business

WASHINGTON—Producers signed a record 1.77 million contracts for the USDA’s Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2019 crop year, which is more than 107 percent of the total contracts signed compared with a five-year average. USDA also reminds producers that June 30 is the deadline to enroll in ARC and PLC for the 2020 crop year.

Facing a steep drop in oil demand with much of the world staying home to practice social distancing, more than 55 energy executives, analysts, and critics appeared one after another Tuesday at a video meeting of the Texas agency that regulates the oil and gas industry to weigh in on a request that the state’s oil production be cut.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and its impact on small-business owners, the staff at America’s SBDC at West Texas A&M University are putting in extra work to help small-business owners in the Texas Panhandle continue operations. Small Business Development Centers

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today he will send cities, counties, transit systems, and special-purpose taxing districts $701.8 million in local sales tax allocations for April, 0.5 percent less than in April 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in February by businesses that report tax monthly.

For decades in the tiny Texas Panhandle town of Perryton, John Bozeman has bought oil and gas wells from companies and says he operated them for a lower cost and with better efficiency.

Hemphill County’s 2020 Beef Cattle Conference show will go on—just a few months later than expected. Event organizer and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent Andy Holloway announced this week that the annual event has been rescheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 1-2, at the Jones Pavilion in Canadian.

AMARILLO—Plains Land Bank has good news for its customers. It will distribute a record $8.5 million in cash patronage to its stockholders in April. The rural lending cooperative declared the patronage distribution based on its strong financial results in 2019.

The unemployment rate in Texas is around 9 percent—up from the state’s recent recordlow rate of 3.5 percent in January—as the coronavirus spreads, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Thursday.