The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation will welcome agriculture producers, consultants, and industry leaders on Jan. 21 for its 12th annual Water College, a daylong forum aimed at helping producers navigate the state’s evolving water and agricultural challenges.
The event, free to the public, will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Lubbock Civic Center. Lunch will be provided, and Certified Crop Advisor continuing-education credits will be available. Additionally, four Crop Consultant CEUs will be offered. No registration is required.
Organizers say the gathering is designed to bridge the gap between research institutions and growers confronting increasingly strained water resources. The program will feature presentations on federal conservation programs, crop‐insurance trends, advances in water technology, and the economic pressures facing producers across the High Plains.
The morning sessions begin at 8:15 with an overview of Cost of Fat in Beef Cattle presented by Cargill Endowed Professor Dale Woerner. A discussion on what producers should know about the ‘Cattle Market – How We Got Here and Where We’re Going,’ led Brady Miller, Director of Market at the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
Midmorning, Shawn Wade, Assistant Director of the Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute will examine crop insurance updates and options for 2026. At 10:45, Ashley Morgan, Director at Texas Water Development Board, will provide a Texas Water Development Board Update, followed by Tom Sell, Founder of Combest, Sell & Associate with an agricultural policy update.
The afternoon agenda will pivot to water concerns. At 1 p.m., Eric Bernard, Director of Planning at KDC Associates, will discuss advancements in polished produced water in agriculture. Krishna Jagadish, Interim Plant & Soil Science Department, will speak at 1:45 on Advancements in Water Research at Texas Tech. This will be followed by Professor of Water Law Amy Hardberger presentation on what landowners need to keep in mind.
The program concludes with two sessions: a 3:15 p.m. commodity outlook panel with Kody Bessent, CEO Plains Cotton Growers and Andrew Wright, assistant professor and extension specialist for Texas AgriLife Extension in Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M. The session is followed by a 3:45 p.m. weather outlook from KLBK News’s Chief Meteorologist Jacob Riley.
The Water College is part of a broader effort by the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, a consortium based at Texas Tech and supported by the Texas Water Development Board. The alliance brings together producers, researchers, technology firms and government agencies committed to extending the life of the Ogallala Aquifer, the vast underground reservoir that supports agriculture from the Texas Panhandle to Nebraska.
The project relies on more than 20 participating producers who make all production decisions on demonstration sites totaling roughly 6,000 acres across Castro, Crosby, Deaf Smith, Floyd, Hale, Lamb, Lubbock, Parmer and Swisher Counties. The sites reflect the variety of agricultural practices in the region – including monoculture and rotational cropping systems, varying tillage techniques, manure application and integrated crop-livestock operations – providing real-world comparisons of how different management strategies affect both profitability and water use.
CONTACT: Samantha Borgstedt, Director, Texas Alliance for Water Conservation Project, Texas Tech University at (806) 789-4177 or samantha.borgstedt@ttu.edu
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