Special-crop symposium planned at Lewis-Arriola
A specialty-crop symposium for current and aspiring growers is scheduled March 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center, 1 mile west of Highway 491 in Arriola.
The hosts will be Fort Lewis College, the Colorado State College Extension and the New Mexico State Extension.
Speakers will discuss common pests of fruits and vegetables, herbicides, mushrooms for soil remediation, specialty-berry production and growing grain fodder.
Information is available from Darrin Parmenter at (970) 382-6464.
Small-business course offered Feb. 28
Attend the Leading Edge Business Management and Planning Course offered by the Small Business Development Center.
Master essential skills needed for starting, managing or growing your business wisely. Businesses of all types, including agriculture are welcome. Excellent for beginning and experienced business owners and managers.
Starts Saturday, Feb. 28, and runs through Saturday, April 25, (every other Saturday, five days total) 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Cortez Welcome Center.
To register, call Mary Shepard with SBDC at 247-7009. For more details on the course, call instructors Cindy Dvergsten or Mike Rich at 882-4222.
Oil and gas commission has earthquake plan
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission now has a plan for future earthquakes after two small quakes rattled an area in Weld County that officials later determined were likely caused by a nearby injection well.
The commission said NGL Water Solutions was not in violation of its state permit or rules at the time of the earthquakes May 31 and June 23.
Immediately after the second quake, the commission asked the company to shut down the operation. The solution was a system to monitor wells for seismic activity.
Under the new system, underground injections wells receive a green light if the seismic activity is a magnitude 1 to 2 on the Richter scale.
La Plata County drilling applications jump in ’14
Natural-gas and oil companies filed 87 applications to drill in La Plata County in 2014, more than doubling the previous year’s activity.
That doesn’t mean there’s about to be a rush of drilling unless natural-gas prices rebound, said Christi Zeller, executive director of the La Plata County Energy Council.
Drillers filed 32 applications to drill in 2013.
Natural-gas prices plunged in January after rebounding in December. The price for San Juan Basin natural gas fell to $3.03 in January after averaging about $4.25 per one million British thermal units in December.
Zeller’s comments came at a meeting of the La Plata County Cattlemen’s Association. Drillers have dramatically pulled back on activity in the San Juan Basin in recent years in reaction to lower prices.
Natural-gas production fell 9 percent to 358 billion cubic feet in La Plata County in 2013, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Data from 2014 are incomplete.
Cortez journal & Associated Press
