KAUZ-TV: NewsChannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TXFarmers Plowing Through a Tough Economy

Farmers Plowing Through a Tough Economy

You may be used to seeing huge wheels and bright colors on a tractor,  but a GPS system?  This increasingly-popular investment is one of the things on display today at the Wichita Falls Farm and Ranch Expo at the Bridwell Agricultural Center.  The fancy machine does more than just keep farmers from getting lost in their own fields;  It keeps them from wasting fertilizer on places they've already sprayed.  In today's economy farmers and ranchers are having to learn how to stretch their dollars.  Many of them have been making changes to their operations to fight off the effects of tough times.

"You can reduce your overlaps and over-spray, saving money on chemicals, saving money on time in the field, and just do things a lot more efficiently," said Heath Hodges, a John Deere dealer.

The idea fits along with many farmers and ranchers strategy these days -- get more use out of what they already have.

"We do a lot of work looking at ways to stretch that dollar or to stretch the input and get the most benefit out of it that we can," said agronomist Todd Baughman.  For example, researchers recently took a 15-year-old herbicide for corn and combined it with another one meant for wheat.  The result?  A perfect herbicide for Bermuda grass hay crops, which are thriving in north Texas.

One farmer saves money by using less fertilizer on his crops, and he stopped buying hay from other people.

 "I try to grow my own hay.  I have put some of my farming land into different types of Bermuda grass to grow my own hay," said Reuben Schaffner, a local farmer and rancher.

Baughman says some of the ideas are only short-term fixes, but there are plenty of efficient innovations for the long-run, too.  Some Texomans are looking to no-till production.  Others are starting to do their own spraying, instead of hiring out other people to do it.  It's all about being efficient as possible.

"A lot of growers are increasing the number of their acres so they can get the most bang out of their value for the equipment they have and also for the labor force they have in stretching that as far as they can," Baughman said.

Hodges also says lots of farmers are leaning toward leasing expensive farm equipment instead of buying it.  It's just another way they keep moving forward in tough times.

The Farm and Ranch Expo continues through tomorrow.

Spencer Blake.  Newschannel 6.