Lifescapes Fall 2004

Texas A&M

Lifescapes life sciences

Vol. 4 No. 3 Fall 2004

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agriculture

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natural resources

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communities

Making Texas Wine Rice Growers Diversify Building Better Racehorses Cancer-Fighting Vegetables

The Agriculture Program • The Texas A&M University System

Looking Over the Horizon

New Beginnings, New Opportunities We are excited to begin the 2004–2005 academic year by implementing two new initiatives that have been in the works for some time.

Last April, Texas A&M University was selected as the lead institution for the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, a crucial component of the Department of Homeland Security. The six universities in the consortium led by Texas A&M will share an $18 million allocation over the next three years. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the College of Veterinary Medicine are working in partnership on this effort. Under Dr. Neville Clarke’s leadership, the center has been launched, with scientists’ work plans completed and projects under way. This vital effort to protect the nation from disease threats to both animals and humans is a tremendous opportunity and responsibility for the Agriculture Program.

This school year also marks the beginning of a new department. In September, we received final approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish the Department of Nutrition and Food Science within the college. We will be forming the department over the coming months, seeking to build on current strengths while creating opportunities for additional faculty, enhanced funding, and a broader range of classes and specialization areas for students.

This issue of Lifescapes illustrates some of our ongoing work in nutrition and food science. For example, you will find a story about research to make cancer-treating derivatives of a natural compound found in certain vegetables. We also highlight a decades-long program to improve sorghum and develop new food uses for this versatile crop. Other stories demonstrate Extension efforts to help low-income families with nutrition education and to develop value-added food enterprises, in this case a winery.

In the coming months, the Agriculture Program will have new leadership. Ed Hiler retired in August as vice chancellor for agriculture and life sciences, dean of the college, and director of the Experiment Station, although he is continuing to fulfill administrative duties until a successor is in place. The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents is considering candidates recommended for the position.

This August, we said farewell to Chester Fehlis, director of Texas Cooperative Extension, who retired after more than 35 years of service to the organization. This issue contains an interview with Chester that underscores his visionary leadership and dedication to the Extension mission.

Although in a time of administrative transition, the Agriculture Program continues to look forward. We anticipate new opportunities and challenges in the months ahead as we seek to best serve the people of Texas and the world through our teaching, research, and extension programs.

Lifescapes (ISSN 1539-1817) is published three times a year by The Texas A&M University System Agriculture Program.

Edward A. Hiler Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Life Sciences Prairie View A&M University Tarleton State University Texas A&M University Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Kingsville West Texas A&M University Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Texas Cooperative Extension Texas Forest Service Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory Published by Agricultural Communications Ellen Ritter, Head, Agricultural Communications Dave Mayes, Associate Head, Agricultural Communications Helen White, Editor Ann Shurgin, Editor Jon Mondrik, Art Director Send comments, questions or subscription requests to Lifescapes Editor, Agricultural Communications, Texas A&M University, 2112 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2112. Or call (979) 845-2211, fax (979) 845-2414 or e-mail agprogram@tamu.edu.

Visit our Web site at http://agprogram.tamu.edu for more information about our academic, research, extension and service programs and to sign up for our monthly e-letter What’s New? All programs and related activities of The Texas A&M University System Agriculture Program are open to all persons, regardless of race, color, age, sex, handicap, religion or national origin.

Copyright 2004 by The Texas A&M University System Agriculture Program. Written material may be reprinted provided no endorsement of a commercial product is stated or implied. Please credit Lifescapes, The Texas A&M University System Agriculture Program.

ON THE COVER Grape harvest at the Wales Manor Vineyard and Winery in McKinney Photo by Jim Lyle

16,500 copies printed Robert E. Whitson Deputy Director, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Associate Vice Chancellor and Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Lifescapes

is not printed at state expense.

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C O N T E N T S Vo l . 4 N o . 3 , Fall 2004 • T h e Te x a s A & M A g r i c u l t u r e P r o g r a m

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FEATURES Against the Odds 2

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Texas vintner bottles bountiful harvest

Getting Your Goat 6 Volunteer guides two generations of 4-H’ers

Land, Sky and Water 8 Texas rice growers good stewards of economy and environment

Insights & Highlights 12

Jerrold Summerlin

An interview with recently retired Extension director, Dr. Chester Fehlis

Healthier Horses 14 Diet balance prevents injuries and increases energy

Sensational Sorghum 18 From brownies to tortillas to breads—a healthy new look at a familiar grain

Biological Control 22 Tiny creatures yield big results in battling invasive plants

Compounds in some vegetables have potential for preventing and treating cancer

Less Is More 28 Research partnership produces safer pest control chemicals

Jerrold Summerlin

Eat Your Vegetables 26

Feeding the Heart and Soul 32 DEPARTMENTS Nutrition program celebrates 35 years of helping families

A Natural Bridge to Success 34 Jay Cockrell

Wuest family contributes to future of Texas tourism

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Trailblazers 11 Site Seeing 17 Frontiers of Discovery 21 State Gems 25 Giving Matters 36

Against the Odds Texas vintner bottles bountiful harvest

by Jennifer Paul

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Photos: Jim Lyle

t started as a dream: a dream to grow grapes in the Dallas area—something no one thought possible, because it hadn’t been done since before Prohibition, which began in 1920.

But because of one man’s vision and the help of a diverse team from Texas Cooperative Extension, Wales Manor Vineyard and Winery in McKinney is now a reality.

On once-vacant land are rows of grapevines in a striking 3-acre vineyard. A brick house nestles behind the neatly aligned rows. A rock-surfaced drive leads from the house to a building framed with native trees and buffalo grass. Inside, shiny steel fermentation tanks line one wall and old French oak aging barrels grace another, with a sterilizing and bottling assembly line situated across the room. In the middle of the floor, a steel ladder leads down into the dark, cool cellar where wine will age.

This is all part of John Wales’ dream. An international pilot for American Airlines, Wales saw a way to turn his passion into a business pursuit and at the same time preserve some agricultural land in a county that is rapidly urbanizing.

“The Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex is the 10th-largest in the wine consumption market,” he says. “Of the wines consumed, 93 percent are imported from outside the borders of Texas. If we can offer a Texas product and we can equal the quality and price, people will buy Texas.”

Wales’ dream did not come true easily.

Since he had no previous farming experience, Wales turned to the local Extension office in Collin County with his idea.

OPPOSITE: John Wales credits Extension for the success of his five-year-old Wales Manor Vineyard and Winery.

ABOVE: Fred Williams, winery employee, loads buckets of grapes for Wales’ mother, Carole, to drive to the winery for crushing.

Fall 2004

“John came into the office—I’d never seen him before,” says Eddie Baggs, then the Extension agent for agriculture in Collin County (Baggs now holds the same position in Denton County). “He said, ‘I want to grow grapes, and I’ll do it with or without your help.’ He was adamant. He said we could learn together.”

So Baggs agreed to look at Wales’ land. “There was nothing but rocks,” he says. “I told him, ‘You can’t grow grass, let alone grapes.’ He said, ‘We are going to grow grapes.’

“I agreed to help him, with the understanding that we would set it up as a result demonstration and all research data collected would be used for educational purposes.”

So the work began.

“His first challenge was his soil, which was acidic,” recalls now-retired Extension horticulturist Dr. George Ray McEachern. “Furthermore, the soil type would cause problems

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Now the nation’s fifth-largest producer of wine by volume, Texas has a viticulture and wine-making history that spans more than 300 years.

However, the best regions for growing wine grapes in Texas are well north of the Dallas area, in the southern High Plains, where insect and disease pressures are fewer than in more-southerly parts of the state.

2003 Economic Impact of the Texas Wine Industry

Total economic impact—$170 million Total acres of vineyards in Texas—3,200 Number of growers—250 Number of wineries—60, with several pending Employment—1,610 jobs

Sources: Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association; Texas Wine Marketing Research Institute at Texas Tech University

with iron absorption, which would cause the leaves to turn yellow. To help John, we had his vines grafted onto native rootstocks that would provide good growth and tolerate acidic soil.”

“Maybe George Ray felt pity for me because he knew I was going to do it anyway,” Wales says. “He helped me pick the variety—Cabernet Sauvignon, the rootstock—and he designed my trellis system. I call it the Aggie Flop, because the vines flop over the top.”

“We decided to go with a trellis system that would be higher off the ground, which gives us a better control of the vigor, since vigor management is a major problem with Cabernet Sauvignon,” McEachern says. “We also developed the higher trellis in steps to provide good distribution of the shoots.”

After the plants were in the ground, Baggs called in Extension economist Dr. Blake Bennett to gather data and run Extension’s Financial and Risk Management Assistance (FARM Assistance) program, a computerized farm decision support system.

“The FARM Assistance program showed that John could have a profitable enterprise as long as the grapes didn’t get wiped out by disease and he was able to meet his estimated production levels and get the going rate,” Bennett says.

Bennett and McEachern worked together to outline the economic challenges of the operation. They calculated that the cost would be approximately $18,000 an acre to plant and carry the vineyard to first harvest. This included an annual cost for the investment in equipment.

“I started from scratch; I didn’t have a pickup truck, tractor—nothing,” Wales says. “I’ve got close to a million dollars invested in my vineyard and winery.”

To further their knowledge, Baggs and Bennett took a viticulture class taught by McEachern. The class taught basic proABOVE: (From left) Billi Gray, local college student, harvests grapes. Fred Williams fills buckets ready for the winery. Luscious Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are ripe for picking. Winery employee Jesus Rivera loads grapes into the crushing machine. Grape juice leaves the crusher on its way to stainless steel vats.

Wales (far left) conducts a tour of the wine storage area.

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Texas A&M Lifescapes

duction practices, the cost analysis of growing grapes, and proBennett says. “We try and stress to agricultural producers that duction risks caused by plant diseases and insects. the closer they can get to the consumer, the more potential Some issues Wales and other growers in the northern profit there is. John has taken it all the way from the plant in Dallas–Red River region wrestle with are fungal diseases durthe ground to bottled wine.” ing periods of rainfall and Pierce’s disease, which can be deadly to vineyards.

Extension entomologist Dr. Allan Knutson was called on to give his advice on the disease aspect of viticulture.

“We worked with Mr. Wales to implement a pest monitoring program,” Knutson says.

“This program uses traps to detect small —John Wales, vintner, Wales Manor Vineyard and Winery insects called leafhoppers, which are potential vectors of Pierce’s disease. The integrated pest management plan is designed to protect the investment in the “I’m going to make probably $20,000 an acre per year, vineyard while minimizing pesticide use.” because I’m taking it from grapes to the bottle,” Wales says.

Baggs, who worked side by side with Wales in nearly every “Our land is being broken up into smaller plots, but people stage, started a demonstration on the property for other interstill want to connect back to the land,” Baggs says. “This is an ested farmers and vintners. avenue for people to do this. This is a way for them to really “John [Wales] has been very cooperative on anything we’ve contribute to the agricultural community in a positive way.” needed as far as education,” Baggs says. “He’s shared what it “It’s [starting a vineyard and winery] not for everyone,” takes to start, maintain and run his property. We really got Bennett warns. “It has several production risks, and it does some good background information we can use for education require a substantial amount of money and time. It takes a lot on building a vineyard and winery.” of effort and dedication to make it work.”

“I opened up my vineyard so the next person who comes “I had a dream of growing grapes; everyone said it couldn’t through and wants to open up a winery won’t have to reinbe done, but Extension helped make that dream come true— vent the wheel,” Wales says. against the odds,” Wales says.

“While he was building his winery, I performed a cost basis Wales’ 2003 harvest of five tons of grapes is expected to inventory of all equipment, the building and other inputs that make 5,000 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon reserve this fall. he would have to buy to make wine and helped determine a The winery will produce another 44,000 bottles with grapes break-even price for his wine,” Bennett says. from other areas of Texas.

In May, Wales opened a tasting room. He and partners Ron “Extension has helped me to avoid all the risks that have led Ross, of the Triple “R” Ranch Winery in Dexter, and businessto the decline of other wineries in Texas through a methodical man Gary Konke opened Lone Star Wine Cellars on the approach,” Wales says. “I could not have done this without McKinney town square. Wines produced at Wales Manor and Extension. I simply couldn’t have done it.”

Triple “R” Ranch can be sampled and are sold at prices ranging from $12 to $40 a bottle.

“John is vertically integrated all the way to the consumer,”

“I had a dream of growing grapes; everyone said it couldn’t be done, but Extension helped make that dream come true—against the odds.”

Fall 2004

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Getting Your Goat Volunteer guides two generations of 4-H’ers

Photos: Jerrold Summerlin

T

by Steve Byrns

exas Cooperative Extension’s 4-H youth development program depends heavily on a strong volunteer foundation.

“Quite frankly, we could not do our jobs without volunteers,” says Tommy Antilley, Texas Cooperative Extension’s agriculture agent in Coke County.

Antilley and Jan Yanez, Coke County family and consumer sciences agent, share the plight of Extension agents in many rural Texas counties. Extension programs, especially 4-H, are a traditional way of life in small-town Texas. Their popularity dictates major time commitments for agents with no local backup other than their volunteers.

Luckily, the 4-H program has a rich tradition of volunteerism.

“With good volunteers you can get a lot more done,” says Antilley.

“Ernest Ybarra is one of the best I’ve had the privilege of working with over my 25-year career. Ernest first came to my rescue back when the San Angelo Stock Show came on the heels of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We agents would still be in Houston when we needed to be helping parents and kids fit and haul their livestock projects to San Angelo. We had to depend on Ernest and others to get the kids and their animals ready. Without Ernest, a lot of these kids would have never made it.

“The great thing about Ernest is he’s remained heavily involved even though he no longer has a child in 4-H and hasn’t for a while. He’s the only guy I’ve seen who will voluntarily take a week’s vacation to put on a county stock show. He checks in at the office every Monday morning to see what needs to be done and who needs help. No matter what the circumstances, we can always depend on Ernest.”

Yanez agrees. “He’s the one person we can call on and say, ‘I need help . . . NOW!’ Whether it’s ‘the goat’s sick, the pig’s down,’ I know all I have to do is call Ernest, no matter how simple or tough the assignment. He’s truly an outstanding volunteer. He’s every agent’s dream.”

OPPOSITE: Ernest Ybarra helps Robert Lee 4-H’ers Briana and Dawson Brisbin select Boer goats to raise for projects.

ABOVE: Ybarra shows Dawson Brisbin traits to look for in a potential prize-winning goat.

Fall 2004

Ybarra, a Robert Lee native, has made his living the past 22 years as a truck driver hauling crude oil for Sunoco. He grew up around ranches and tagged along as a boy with his grandfather and his uncle, who had shearing crews.

Though never a 4-H’er himself, Ybarra got involved as a “4-H daddy” when his daughter joined a decade ago. “We just started with a 4-H project and stuck with it,” he says. “As we became more involved in 4-H, it didn’t take long to see needs. A stock show, for example, takes a lot of work. You’ve really got to get with the program, so that’s what I did. I got involved, just doing what I could do.”

Ybarra says 4-H livestock projects helped his daughter learn responsibility. Having to manage and care for goats “just as stubborn as she was” helped her develop a more patient attitude and “a better view of things.”

Ybarra says, “One thing I’ve noticed about 4-H is it just gets bigger and better as we go. There’s more and better competition now, which I think is good. The more competition, the more effort the kids put into it.”

Another plus is that the Coke County 4-H group has members from a variety of backgrounds.

“They’re all mixed together here,” he says. “They can all learn something from each other.

“You know how it is these days,” Ybarra continues. “We’ve got a lot of working parents who just don’t have the time or know-how to deal with a 4-H project. I’ve got a good job where I’m off or can get off, which makes it easier for me to help these kids. I try to do whatever it takes to get kids involved and help them stay involved.”

Ybarra says he hopes to have grandchildren involved in 4-H someday.

“But whether I do or don’t, that’s not the point,” he says.

“The object is helping the kids. A lot of them need help out here. The parents are there, but they work long hours, so somebody’s got to help these kids. They can’t do it alone.

That’s what I do. I’m here to fill in the gaps, you might say.”

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AUSTIN

WALLER

Texas Rice Belt HARRIS COLORADO

FORT BEND

HARDIN LIBERTY

ORANGE

JEFFERSON CHAMBERS

GALVESTON

LAVACA WHARTON JACKSON VICTORIA CALHOUN

MATAGORDA

BRAZORIA

East West

Land, Sky and Water Texas rice growers good stewards of economy and environment

by Jay Cockrell

Jay Cockrell

Jerrold Summerlin

I

t was a clear, chilly morning—so early that a host of stars still glittered in the sky. The three hunters quietly began placing decoys about the spread, rising adrenaline levels providing insulation from the cold. Just as they finished and settled beneath camouflage cover, the eastern horizon changed from purple . . . to red . . . and then to pink.

The noise started faintly but soon became deafening, the cries of a thousand geese as they rose from their nighttime roost ponds in search of food. As the sky brightened, you could see the outline of a rice combine and auger cart parked next to the field where the hunters waited. Then came the geese—snows and specs and blues—in great columns, to feed on rice the farmer had left behind.

This is a common scene, played out hundreds of times during the winter months throughout the Texas Rice Belt, which comprises 18 counties in the Upper Gulf Coast region. Located in the heart of the central flyway for migratory birds, Texas rice farms play a vital role in maintaining winter feeding grounds for migratory birds that flock to escape Canada’s harsh winters. Yet, depending on one’s perspective, providing wildlife habitats and enhancing water quality may be considered a lagniappe, or extra benefit, as the Texas rice industry contributes nearly $1 billion to the state economy every year.

Roughly half, or $500 million, is directly related to the value of the rice crop. This

OPPOSITE: A field of Carolina Gold, the first rice commercially produced in the United States, is one of several varieties grown at the Beaumont center.

INSETS: (Left to right) In addition to bringing in $500 million in rice production, the Texas Rice Belt is home to more than half of Texas’ 650 bird species.

Many rice producers generate added income by offering outdoor activities such as bird-watching and hunting.

Fall 2004

includes the farm-gate price and processing and distribution revenues. Much of the economic infrastructure of the rural Upper Gulf Coast depends on rice production.

The other half of the $1 billion figure can be attributed to the revenue from such outdoor activities as bird-watching and hunting. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, revenue from wildlife watching in Texas tops $1.2 billion annually. Considering that roughly half of these enthusiasts are in pursuit of migratory birds and waterfowl, a good portion of that $1.2 billion is spent along the Gulf Coast.

This is not surprising when you consider that Texas has nearly 650 different bird species, according to the Texas Ornithological Society, and more than half of those can be found in the Texas Rice Belt. In the prestigious Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, Matagorda County’s Mad Island Marsh ranked in first place for the sixth year in a row. Last Christmas, 243 species were identified, making the county home to the most diverse population of bird species in the nation. Not by coincidence, Matagorda County is also one of Texas’ top rice-producing counties, with more than 18,000 acres in 2003.

So how do rice farmers preserve and enhance the environment while ensuring their crop will bring in a profit?

A major contributor is the farmers’ use of the Integrated Pest Management system supported by Texas A&M University scientists and Texas Cooperative Extension agents. IPM focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques that rely on diligent crop monitoring. These techniques include biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties. Pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates a need, and they are selected and applied in a manner that minimizes risk to human health, beneficial and nontarget organisms, and the environment.

In Jefferson County, the Rice IPM program is coordinated and implemented by Extension agent Kelby Boldt, with input and training from Texas Agricultural Experiment Station scientists who specialize in rice research. According to Boldt, adequate training for IPM field scouts is critical to the success of the program.

“To try and keep the costs down for the farmers, we often rely on college students to fill the scout position,” says Boldt.

“That means they may come to us with very little knowledge of rice production practices, so we have to invest several

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weeks at the beginning of the year to train them properly.”

This involves time spent at the research station with scientists who specialize in rice physiology and morphology, soil and plant nutrition, and pathology, as well as weed and insect control.

“By the time they complete their training at the center and we begin to walk the fields together, these guys are very knowledgeable in rice production,” says Boldt.

A producer may enroll any portion of land in the program, for roughly $10 an acre, and a scout will make weekly evaluations for pests—including weeds, diseases, insects and nutrient deficiencies. They fill out an evaluation form for each field, and that information is passed along to the farmer.

Jefferson County rice farmer Herbert Clubb has participated in the program since it began in 1998 and is quite satisfied with the results.

“I am a third-generation rice farmer in my 59th year of rice production,” says Clubb, “so I know the importance of keeping a close watch on my fields. At my age, though, the problem is actually getting out there to cover 300 acres of flooded rice fields. When all the tallies are in, I think the benefits of the program are well worth the cost.”

Clubb has enrolled all of his acreage in the program, but Boldt says many farmers enroll only a small portion of their land and use the scouting reports as an indicator of what to look for in their other fields. Now in its seventh year, the Jefferson County Rice IPM program has been successful in making marginal fields profitable, as well as reducing unnecessary use of pesticides and fertilizers.

To document the impact and savings associated with IPM practices, Dr. Mo Way, entomologist at The Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Beaumont, has conducted three years of testing that compares IPM and conventional rice production techniques.

According to Way’s research, the IPM plots consistently showed a higher economic return—$20 to $50 more per acre— than the plots that followed a conventional spray program.

The issue of protecting water quality is especially critical in rice production. Along the Texas Gulf Coast, freshwater inflow is one of the most important factors affecting the health and productivity of the bay system. Here, freshwater from the land combines with salt water from the Gulf of Mexico, producing brackish water that is the key to estuarine productivity.

But as greater demand from industry and residential areas decreases freshwater reaching the bays, high saline conditions threaten habitats that support a multitude of species, including the prized redfish, speckled trout and flounder that fuel the state’s recreational fishing industry.

How do rice farmers help alleviate this problem? In midAugust, when residential and commercial demand for water peaks, rice farmers release thousands of acre-feet of floodwater in preparation for harvesting their first crop. This inflow of freshwater comes at a critical time for the bays and estuaries, making up for the water tied up in municipal use.

And, according to a study conducted by Experiment Station scientist Dr. Garry McCauley, the water that leaves a rice field is often cleaner than the water that comes in. McCauley looked at 50 rice fields over a two-year period and measured

LEFT TO RIGHT: Jefferson County agent Kelby Boldt and IPM Program field scout Aaron Jones examine a rice panicle for insects. A combine harvests a research plot at the Beaumont Center. Dr. Mo Way checks rice specimens in his lab.

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Texas A&M Lifescapes

Dr. Brent Auvermann, an associate professor in biological and agricultural engineering who holds a joint appointment with Texas Cooperative Extension and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, received the 2004 Nolan Mitchell Young Extension Worker Award, presented by the American Society of Agricultural Engineering. Auvermann is based at The Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Amarillo. He was honored at the ASAE’s annual meeting in Ontario, Canada, for his research, Extension education, and technology transfer efforts in animal waste management and air and water quality protection. He specializes in environmental systems engineering as it relates to livestock and poultry.

Dr. Frank Craddock, Extension sheep and goat specialist, received the Fred T. Earwood Memorial Award, given by the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers’ Association at the organization’s 89th annual convention in Kerrville. Past president George Sultemeier praised Craddock for conducting hundreds of successful educational programs in support of the sheep and goat industry and called him “one of the most approachable, well-liked men in Extension today.” Established in 1969 by the family and friends of the late Fred T. Earwood of Sonora, the prestigious award honors persons “whose loyalty and dedication to the sheep and goat industry, its people, its values and its reverence for the land and livestock exemplify the late Mr. Earwood.”

Photos: Jerrold Summerlin

Fall 2004

Trailblazers

the major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in water coming into the field and water leaving the field just prior to harvest.

McCauley found that in all cases where the water was “held” for the proper time, nutrient content was less when the water flowed out than it was when the fields were first flooded. This was true even though rice farmers made several fertilizer applications throughout the growing season, because the last application typically comes well ahead of harvest and the draining of the fields.

“There is no economic incentive for farmers to apply fertilizer then let it escape the field,” says McCauley. “It just doesn’t make sense. They want to get the most for every dollar they invest in the crop.”

McCauley also looked at sediment levels and found that water released from the first crop had lower amounts of sediment than water that entered the field. And because of the natural biological activity that occurs in rice fields, oxygen levels were higher in water leaving the fields, which is also important for the continued health of bay and estuary systems.

“What it comes down to is that our research has shown that best management practices (BMPs) for rice farming do work,” says McCauley. “The fields of farmers using BMPs are vibrant wildlife habitats, and the water released from these fields enhances the streams, marshes, bays and estuaries.”

Dr. Jose Amador, a plant pathologist and center director of The Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, was presented Texas Citrus Mutual’s Special Award at the 2004 Texas Produce Convention, held in San Antonio in August. Extension horticulturist Dr. Frank J. Dainello was given the Texas Vegetable Association’s President’s Award at the same convention.

Amador, a native of Cuba who has spent his professional career in South Texas, will retire next year. He was an Extension plant pathologist from 1965 until 1991, when he was appointed center director at Weslaco. Amador was honored for the cooperation he has fostered among the state and federal agricultural research entities in South Texas and for his role in restructuring the Texas A&M–Kingsville Citrus Center at Weslaco.

Dainello began his professional career in Kansas as a research horticulturist and moved to Uvalde in 1976 to work for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. He has served as Extension horticulturist in College Station since 1990. Dainello was praised for his contributions to the Uvalde spinach industry, including variety and disease-resistance studies, marketing initiatives, mechanical harvesting investigations, and organization of the National Spinach Conference for 2004.

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Insights

&

Highlights An interview with recently retired Extension director, Dr. Chester Fehlis

by Dave Mayes Dr. Chester Fehlis retired Aug. 31 after serving 35 years with Texas Cooperative Extension, the last six providing primary leadership for the agency. In a recent interview, he looked back on how Extension has changed during his tenure and discussed the challenges the agency faces today.

Q. You spent the first third of your career as a county agent.

How has that job changed?

A. I started as an assistant county agent, a position that we no longer have. The pay was $7,104 a year. You feel like you’ve been successful if you’ve graduated from a university that may not admit you now, and if you’ve worked for an agency for so long that you may not qualify as a new hire. (Laughs) County agricultural agents were hired in 1969 using much different criteria than today. In those days, if you didn’t come from a production agriculture background, if you couldn’t groom 4-H animals for stock shows, then you didn’t have much of a chance.

Today, we no longer hire people only with degrees in agriculture or family and consumer sciences. We seek candidates who can look at the broad agenda that both agriculture and families face today. These are individuals who can easily interact with a variety of clientele, who feel comfortable mixing with diverse audiences—and those audiences feel comfortable working with them. How much you know is important, but if you can’t communicate with those you are working with, then you’re not going to be effective.

Q. How have the roles changed for agents working in family and consumer sciences and 4-H? A. There’s been a tremendous transformation for our family 12

Dr. Chester Fehlis and his wife, Jan, relax in their backyard in College Station.

and consumer sciences agents. Early in my career, things like food preservation and canning were still big topics. But now our agents are engaged in the much broader family issues of nutrition and health, child development, and finances. We’ve emerged from focusing mainly on rural families to addressing needs in all families, regardless of where they live and what they earn. This wider focus has opened up almost limitless opportunities for Extension to partner with others through grants and contracts. The only limitation is our ability to extend our staff beyond what they are already doing.

We’re also positioning our 4-H agents to be the best source of knowledge about youth issues in a county. One of my goals has been to increase the number of professionals devoted to 4-H. When I first came into Extension, all new hires were assistant county agents, and we all had primary 4-H responsibilities. Only six people were considered 4-H professionals, and they were primarily in the urban counties. Today we have more than 80 4-H professionals, scattered across the state. If we are going to be leaders in youth development, we must have professionals devoting their careers to it. This transition in 4-H may be as significant as any that we have had in Extension over the past 10 to 15 years.

Q. How significant to the agency was Extension’s urban initiative in the 1990s?

A. I became an Extension district director in 1982, and one of my counties was Travis. Our philosophy then was to promote successful rural agents into urban environments. But we ended up with an agenda of rural programs conducted in the urban

Texas A&M Lifescapes

ing processes and developing strong programs, especially at counties. We can’t blame the agents for that; it was the agency the local and regional levels. We’ve tried to position the philosophy. In 1988, I convinced [former director] Dr. [Zerle] agency to be successful in a future of rapidly changing demoCarpenter that we should study Extension’s presence in urban graphics, expanded communications, new science and technolcounties and decide whether we were going to remain there. ogy. As an agency, we must be looking more globally at issues At that time we were getting a lot of pressure from ag comand addressing them on a broader scale. Issues don’t stop at modity groups to take our resources out of the urban counties county or district lines, or even state and focus only in the rural areas. lines.

The outcome was an Urban Initiative that recommended Extension remain in urban areas and that we hire, train and • Native of Beeville; earned three degrees from Concerning Extension’s future, Texas A&M University, culminating in a doctorate in support people committed to urban what has kept you awake at night? issues. agricultural education in 1987.

After 14 years, there’s no question The biggest concern is funding.

• Rose through agency ranks, starting as assistant that we made the right decision, and That’s probably one of the most disagricultural agent in Jackson County in 1969, and today we are recognized nationally as a tressing things about this position— then served as agricultural agent in Willacy County leader in addressing urban issues. In knowing that you’ve got a tremendous and later in Victoria County. District director based in product to deliver, you’ve got a very recent years, the ag commodity groups have come to recognize the importance Bryan for five years until 1988, when he moved to dedicated and competent faculty and of educating urban clientele about agri- state Extension headquarters at Texas A&M. Named staff to deliver it, you’ve got proven culture. If we hadn’t made the change, associate vice chancellor for the Agriculture Program results on impacts, and yet you can’t get the future of the agency would have the funding you need. We’re in a very in 1998. Promoted to director of Extension in 2002. been jeopardized. competitive market; the people we hire • Streamlined agency to emphasize educational pro- are the kind that a lot of others want. gram development at local and regional levels.

What other changes have been Over the last three to four years, we as important? have begun to lose our competitive edge • Led changing of agency’s name, development of Extension programs in urban areas, and expansion of with salaries to hold onto those employThe name change of the agency ees. What we have going for us is our 4-H and youth programs. Led creation of Texas [from Texas Agricultural Extension good reputation and the fact that people Service to Texas Cooperative Extension] Community Futures Forums, grassroots citizen meet- like doing the work that Extension peowas very significant. We had to decide ings to help identify community education needs. ple do. How much longer that’s going to how we were going to be perceived by carry us, I don’t know. I’m really dis• Improved performance appraisal, promotion and the public. The reality was that the tressed at the fact that the people who professional development systems for Extension “agricultural” reference in our name, fund us have not given us the resources agents and increased base salaries. which had brought us great things in needed to really serve them and the • Served on national Extension Committee on our first 75 years, was becoming less people of this state. That, by far, is the descriptive of our agency and was even Organization and Policy since 1998; chair in 2002-03. thing that I worry most about. The rest creating barriers for reaching some is minor compared to that.

• Top awards include Distinguished Achievement audiences.

Award, given in 2003 by Texas A&M’s Association of The question kept coming up, particu. . . And what makes you feel Former Students; national Diversity Award, given to larly in such places as Houston and optimistic? the agency by the USDA in 2001; national Visionary Dallas, why do we need an agriculture agency here? And so we spent all our Leadership Award, given in 2000 by Epsilon Sigma Never in our history has there been time trying to explain that we’re a lot Phi; and the Extension fraternity’s highest honor, the a greater need for Extension than today. more than that. That name change will Ruby Award, given in 2004.

Extension is about people, and there are have long-lasting impacts. We already more people every day for us to serve. see grants and contracts coming from We deliver educational programs based on new research groups that previously didn’t want to work with us because aimed at helping people improve their lives. I don’t think what they were doing had nothing to do with agriculture. there’s ever been a time when we’ve seen more advancements Changing our name didn’t change what we were doing; it’s in science and technology and opportunities for people to just changed some perceptions of what we do. learn new things.

Change can be a feared thing, but it presents the greatest opportunity for Extension. We have to help people work How is the agency reorganization, which began last through these changes. We will determine our own destiny by year, proceeding? how we adjust our programs to their needs. If we do not change, then our destiny probably is not going to be favorable.

Organizational Excellence is our plan to better position But if we open our vision to see how the world is changing Extension for success in the 21st century. We knew when we and how Extension can help people improve their lives, and if put the plan together that it wasn’t going to be perfect. A we’re willing to take some risks, and to continue to implement number of people are learning new roles, and that sometimes programs that deal with issues that impact people—then I is difficult. But the concepts are sound; we’ve flattened the think we are going to be around for many years to come. agency’s administrative structure and refocused on streamlin-

Career Highlights

Jim Lyle

Q. A.

Q. A.

Q. A.

Q. A.

Fall 2004

13

Healthier Horses Diet balance prevents injuries and increases energy

by Edith Chenault

I

t’s a long way from Grass Burr Road to Churchill Downs.

But if horse owner and trainer Hank Bird of Bryan has his way, one of the Thoroughbreds from his Steephollow Farms will be racing in the Kentucky Derby one day.

He considers the equine research involving the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Texas A&M University a firm foundation for any of the horses raised on his farm— whether they’re “running for the roses” or not.

“A great racehorse is only as good as the weakest link in his upbringing,” Bird says.

“We’ve adapted a lot of things learned while we were doing research with Texas A&M,” he says. When he sells yearlings at auction, they “consistently have faster times and are very profitable to us.”

Thanks to this research, he is using additional fat in his horses’ rations to increase endurance.

He has re-examined the minerals in their diet and fine-tuned quantities. The research has also shown that it is imperative to strengthen bones to reduce the rate of injury, and to do that, Bird has changed training regimens for young horses.

About 75 percent of young racehorses in training are injured at some point, says Dr. Gary Potter, professor in the Department of Animal Science and a researcher with the Experiment Station.

“There’s more to the injury problem than just bone injuries—horses get all kinds of injuries—but the one thing we didn’t know enough about concerned how nutritional requirements or management systems related to bone growth and development,” Potter says.

His first equine studies at Texas A&M more than 30 years ago dealt with stamina. “We started trying to focus on how we could feed, train and prepare horses to delay the onset of acute fatigue,” Potter says.

Horses exercise and work hard; then, when they get into a race—particularly Thoroughbreds—they become acutely fatigued, he explains.

Acute fatigue is expressed in several ways, one of which is poor performance, which can lead to more injuries, he says.

Potter and his graduate students experimented to see how horses physiologically respond to exercise. That led to the discovery that giving horses a fat-supplemented diet helped delay the onset of acute fatigue.

“It has essentially led to the feed industry following all of this; every feed company that I know about has actually developed a line of fat-supplemented feeds specifically designed for racehorses,” he says.

Photos: Jerrold Summerlin

“A great racehorse is only as good as the weakest link in his upbringing.”

OPPOSITE: Jockey Tom Lane walks Love Cartel back to the stables after her daily workout.

RIGHT: Lane runs Love Cartel on Hank Bird’s training track, to help acclimate her to running on a real track.

Fall 2004

—Hank Bird, horse trainer Potter’s group has also done significant research on bone injury problems in young racehorses.

“People in veterinary circles were, and still are, studying factors related to joint and other kinds of injuries,” Potter says.

“Instead of focusing on the joint injuries, we wanted to look at abnormalities in bone growth and development and the factors that influence the change in the function of the bone.

“Bone is an interesting tissue to study,” Potter says, “because it responds to the stress and strain placed on it in a manner to strengthen itself where it perceives a need.”

The long, or cannon, bone in a horse’s leg actually vibrates and bends from front to back as the horse runs. A physiological process called Wolff’s Law, which defines how a bone responds to strain, signals the bone when it is weak and needs to become stronger. In a similar example, a pole with a large flag will bend in the wind. To stop it from bending, either a bigger or a stiffer pole must be used.

In the same way, the body calls for more calcium in the modeling and remodeling process to strengthen bone, Potter says. Modeling and remodeling is a continuous process in which the body creates or re-creates bone.

“Too many of the catastrophic injuries that young horses in training get are related to failure of the bone,” he says.

“We wanted to develop a regimen that would improve bone growth and development.”

Potter’s studies of bone and mineral requirements found that at least two things influence bone growth and development in horses: exercise regimen and diet.

One of the observations he made in earlier research was that 2-year-olds or long yearlings (those that are 20 months old) that come through their racing training with bigger, denser bones are able to go through the modeling and remodeling process with fewer injuries.

15

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Hank Bird and Tom Lane (on Love Cartel) talk over the day’s workout schedule.

Two Altazano, one of the horses who participated in the equine nutrition program at Steephollow Farms, won more than $750,000 in the early 1990s. She is now a brood mare in Kentucky.

Bird and Lane return to the stables after a routine workout.

A brood mare and her foal share a bucket of feed and nutritious supplements in the early morning sunlight.

“If they start with more bone, the remodeling phase is faster; they acquire more bone faster,” he says.

Because the bone modeling and remodeling process takes place during training, the horse’s bone is most fragile at the time it is being introduced to speed work.

“That’s really helpful to know, because the people we have made aware of this have changed the training regimens of their horses so they stay away from speed work at the time the bone is most fragile,” Potter says.

Potter’s group also conducted several experiments to study changes in requirements for calcium, phosphorus and magnesium—the three integral minerals involved in the formation of new bone. The researchers found that to maintain the calcium balance when a horse’s bone is being remodeled, calcium had to be increased by 60 percent over the current recommendations by the National Research Council.

Potter and his group then became curious about how to “drive” the osteoblastic phases where new bone is formed.

Although the exact process is not known, silicon is involved in calcium sequestration in the bone. What is known is that most of the sources of silicon, such as beach sand, are inert and will go “right through” the digestive system of a horse if added to its diet, Potter says.

However, the researchers found a company in Louisiana that manufactured a synthetic zeolite. The zeolite contains sodium aluminum silicate, which, when fed to horses, breaks down in the gastrointestinal tract into a form of silicon that can be

absorbed. The Texas A&M researchers tested it in trials and found that it worked. It reduced the frequency of bone injuries in young racehorses. The product, called EquiSci, is now manufactured by a Canadian company and is commercially available in the United States.

“We wanted to develop a regimen that would improve bone growth and development.”

Potter’s group also tested another product, called EquiGen, and found that it increased bone size in experiments. That product is not yet commercially available to racehorse owners in the United States, but it is available in Australia.

Potter believes the horse research has implications for human medicine. “It contributes to a better understanding of bone physiology, the knowledge about how bone forms, and the effects of exercise on bone,” he says.

Bird appreciates the research as well. Much of it was conducted at his ranch, so he saw the results firsthand. The research benefits all horses, he says.

“A lot of the findings that were developed here are used industrywide,” says Bird. “What we thought were the optimal requirements for minerals in horses has changed dramatically from research done here.”

Texas Community Futures Forum

Protected Plants

This site includes general information on cotton production concerns such as weeds, fertility, insects, nematodes and disease. In addition, visitors have access to reports compiled by The Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Lubbock. http://lubbock.tamu.edu/cotton/

Texas Cooperative Extension has created the Texas Community Futures Forum as an online “suggestion box” that allows Texans to offer suggestions, comments or concerns important to their county and state. http://futuresforum.tamu.edu/

This site, maintained by the Plant Variety Protection Office of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, provides a database for users to search for protected plants. Simply enter the variety name or the owner to find out whether a plant variety is protected by law. The site also has a link to search for expired certificates. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/ pvplist.pl

If you're interested in gaining new knowledge and helping your community, visit this site to learn more about how to become a volunteer with Texas Cooperative Extension. http://texasextension.tamu.edu/volun.html

Rural Business Central Managing a business can be difficult, especially if that business is located in a rural area. Rural Business Central has tips on rural agribusiness, financial management, small and family business management resources, and much more. http://ruralbusiness.tamu.edu

Fall 2004

Rice Development Advisory Attention rice farmers!

Visit this site to use the online Rice Development Advisory, which can predict rice growth stages, provide recommendations for rice management and production, provide access to weather data, forecast the growth of multiple varieties or planting dates, graphically display the results for multiple field profiles, and much more. http://beaumont.tamu.edu/RiceDevA/

Managing Prescription Drug Costs With the recent changes made to Medicare, getting medication using a discount prescription drug card can be confusing. Thanks to this site, managing your Medicare-covered prescriptions just got easier. The Texas Cares Web site is designed to help older Texans and people with disabilities get information about resources to help them obtain their prescription drugs. The site also includes a link to help Medicare users avoid fraudulent activity and drug discount card scams. http://www.txcares.org/

17

Site Seeing

High Plains Cotton

Be an Extension Volunteer Photos: Jerrold Summerlin and Sam Houston Race Track

—Dr. Gary Potter, Experiment Station researcher

Most Americans think of sorghum, or “milo,” as feed for chickens, hogs, cattle or other livestock—and they’re right. Most of the more than 10 million acres of sorghum grown in the United States goes into livestock feed troughs. In the rest of the world, however, sorghum is grown and valued as a staple of both animal and human diets. It has the “juice” to tolerate a wide array of climates, soil conditions and environmental stress and still yield well, where other grains might fail.

Sensational Sorghum From brownies to tortillas to breads— a healthy new look at a familiar grain

by Tim McAlavy

Photos: Jerrold Summerlin

C

an you pass the chocolate brownie taste test?

You’re in the Cereal Quality Laboratory on the west campus of Texas A&M University. One of the lab technicians produces two square pans of chocolate brownies.

“Taste one from each pan, and tell me what you think,” she says.

Okay.

Hmmm. . . . The first is light brown and has a pleasant chocolate taste and a moist, cakelike texture. Possibly made from scratch. Definitely not from a prepackaged mix.

Ahhh. . . . The second is a darker, Hershey color. Moist and gooey, with a richer chocolate taste and a fudgy texture. More like Grandma’s homemade brownies. Both are delicious.

“That’s just one example of the foods we can produce today from improved sorghums,” says Dr. Lloyd Rooney, professor of food science and technology in Texas A&M’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. “The darker fudge brownie contains bran from black sorghum, which enhances the chocolate color and taste. But both were made from sorghum flour—it’s not a ‘pick our product’ taste test. I’m very proud of our sorghum research, especially the progress we’ve made with food-grade sorghums during the last four or five years. We have helped to define and set standards for sorghum improvement around the world.”

OPPOSITE: Dr. Lloyd Rooney, researcher with Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, has dedicated his career to improving sorghum varieties.

ABOVE: Lindsey Wortham-Hines, graduate research assistant, tests recipes using sorghum flour.

Fall 2004

A display case near the Cereal Quality Laboratory holds a wide variety of foods made from sorghum: pudding, biscuits, cake, cookies, crepes, tortillas, bread, snack foods—even beer.

The day-to-day work in this lab focuses on the technology of food processing and ways to improve the nutritive value and shelf life of foods made from such cereal grains as wheat, sorghum and corn. Tan sorghums that produce white grain are one of the best food-grade sorghums identified so far.

“Tan/whites yield just as well as traditional red sorghums, and they impart excellent milling and baking properties,” says Rooney.

“Improved black and brown sorghums [like those in the brownies] are high in dietary fiber and antioxidants. Some are richer in antioxidants than blue fruits such as plums and blueberries. They have significant potential as ingredients in nutraceuticals and functional foods.”

Antioxidants combat “free radicals,” carcinogenic oxygen-heavy molecules that cause cell damage and can accelerate age-related diseases. Nutraceuticals are fortified foods or dietary supplements that offer medical benefits, including prevention or treatment of disease.

Scientists around the world have been working to improve sorghum and find new uses for this versatile crop for more than 40 years. The scope of sorghum research broadened in 1979, when the U.S. Agency for International Development funded the International Sorghum and Millet (INTSORMIL) research program. This long-term effort involves scientists from many disciplines, including food science, agronomy, chemistry, plant breeding, entomology and plant pathology.

19

“One of our goals is to encourage the food industry to develProducing a consistent supply of quality food-grade op more products from sorghum,” Rooney says. “For that, you sorghums for food processors is the key to getting sorghum need quality standards.” foods into American pantries.

He and other scientists have developed near-infrared analy“It’s been a chicken-egg scenario,” says Tim Snyder, marketsis to pinpoint such qualities as protein, moisture, fat and ing director for the National Grain Sorghum Producers starch content in sorghum. This tells manufacturers exactly Association, which initiated a certified sorghum program for how grain will perform during processing. farmers in February 2004.

Rooney has shared these standards with food processors “What comes first: consumer taste and demand, or the supthrough international marketing and ply of food-grade sorghum that procesprocessing seminars in the United sors must cultivate to satisfy that States and abroad. Japanese processors, demand? Sorghum itself has a very for example, now use white sorghums bland taste, but it is quite synergistic in more than 20 traditional foods and with other ingredients. It can boost the several new snack foods. flavor of key ingredients in many “We proved to them that white, foodfoods. We are just now filling a big grade sorghums are comparable to rice yield gap with food-grade sorghums. in milling quality and in taste,” he We simply haven’t had the volume says. “We have also developed necessary to supply food processors sorghum snack foods right here in the who want to develop new products or lab. Bongos, for example, are baked, enhance existing ones.” extruded sorghum snacks similar to The association helps farmers follow Cheetos. Whole grains extruded from a growing plan that allows them to white sorghums have excellent potenmarket their sorghum as certified food tial for use in low-carb snacks. sorghum, specialty sorghum, sorghum Extruded whole grains from brown feed, or pet food sorghum; it is considsorghums are even more nutritious, ering expanding into other markets as with the added benefit of high antioxiwell, Snyder says. dant levels.”

“Improved sorghums have many Students in the lab recently develother uses beyond food products,” oped a bread machine mix containing Rooney says. They are also well suited flaxseed, brown sorghum bran and barfor ethanol production. Regardless of ley flour. The mix produces a low-carthe end use or market, farmers may bohydrate, dark bread rich in omega-3 one day realize a premium market fatty acids, soluble and insoluble price by targeting their sorghum to spedietary fiber, and antioxidants. cialty markets.”

Foods made from improved Field nurseries in Texas, Kansas, sorghums also reach consumers with Nebraska and several countries abroad special needs, such as those who are are the proving ground for improved intolerant of gluten, a protein found in sorghums. wheat and other grains.

“We have several nurseries in Texas, “We developed a bread using from Weslaco to Lubbock,” says Dr. sorghum flour and gum for people Gary Peterson, a sorghum breeder at with celiac disease, or gluten intolerThe Texas A&M University System ance,” Rooney says. “The bread has a Research and Extension Center at Linda Dykes, graduate research assistant, gathers sorghum cakelike texture and is easily made Lubbock. “The range of growing seasamples from Texas A&M’s research plots located in the from a bread machine mix. Several sons lets us produce two generations Brazos River bottom. companies market bread and other per year instead of just one. This geomixes that contain sorghum and white sorghum flour especialgraphical reach has enabled us to release 20 to 25 improved ly for people with celiac disease.” tan and white sorghums in the past several years.”

Specialty foods made from improved sorghums may also More than 100 graduate students have acquired master’s or find their way into space. Astronauts are constantly bombarddoctoral degrees in food science and other disciplines by ed by cosmic radiation during prolonged space flight. This studying under Rooney and his research peers. Many now radiation can damage human DNA, increasing an astronaut’s work in research and development of sorghum-based foods in susceptibility to cancer. their home countries.

“Research has shown that raw sorghum bran is not struc“Their studies here help them understand food products and turally changed by exposure to this type of radiation,” Rooney processing in a new light,” says Rooney. “They get to see the says. “Tortillas and healthy extruded snacks made from full spectrum of product development, from before the grain is improved sorghums could serve as a nutritional countermeaplanted all the way to the consumer’s plate.” sure due to their high antioxidant levels.”

20

Texas A&M Lifescapes

David Briske and forest ecologist Dr. Mark Tjoelker are co-investigators on the project, which is funded by the National Institute for Global Environmental Change. They are assisted

by Dr. Astrid Volder, Experiment Station forest research associate.

A&M Scientists Study Effects of Global Climate Change

A&M Grad Student Tracks West Nile Virus Texas A&M University entomology graduate student and research assistant Catherine Zindler (above) has developed a computer-generated map that is helping Bryan and College Station track and control mosquitoes that might be carrying West Nile virus. Zindler discovered that the highest concentration of dead birds—an indication of the presence of the virus—overlapped with the location of manhole covers over city sewer lines, where mosquitoes breed in septic water, both above and below ground. The Southern house mosquito is the primary carrier of the virus in southern and southeastern Texas, according to Dr. Jim Olson, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station entomologist.

Brazos County reported five cases of West Nile virus in humans last summer.

Each was found in a high-risk or very high-risk area on Zindler’s map. The risk map allows the county health department to plan its spraying program, concentrating on sewers. It also gives local residents a heads-up that they might be at risk for contracting West Nile virus, so they can take precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Zindler overlaid computerized maps of flood plains, creeks and the location of manhole covers with last summer’s data on dead birds provided by the Brazos County Health Department. She then added remote-sensing maps of vegetation most likely to provide nesting areas for cardinals, blue jays and other birds. Last summer she tracked weekly dead-bird reports to follow the progression of the virus.

The Department of Entomology has continued her project this summer by

Fall 2004

Three Texas Agricultural Experiment Station scientists are studying 100 plots of juniper, post oak and little bluestem grass to determine the effects of global climate change on vegetation in the 7.4 million-acre post oak savannah region from south central Texas through eastern Oklahoma. Eight thick, white, plastic canopies stretched over 14-foot-tall galvanized steel arches at the test site near College Station each shelter 10 6-footsquare study plots. The canopies allow natural air flow but not rainfall. A sprinkler system provides water with trace minerals equaling those of the area’s natural rainwater. But the amount of “rainfall” over the test plots is controlled by the scientists, as is the temperature under the shelters, via heat lamps. An additional 20 plots are planted without the canopies and will be allowed to grow under current temperatures and rainfall for comparison.

The researchers, now in their second year of a three-year study, will test four combinations of weather: current rainfall, current rainfall plus warming, wet spring with a dry summer, and wet spring with a dry summer plus warming.

Tests will raise temperatures 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit over the year and create summers that are up to 40 percent drier than normal, even though total annual rainfall will remain about the same.

By May, the scientists had seen a greater-than-expected increase in the growth of juniper under the wet spring conditions. The study is expected to show which plant species are likely to overtake others in the region under global climate change. This will provide insight into ways to manage land use and help scientists determine the types of wildlife most likely to survive.

Experiment Station plant ecologist Dr.

E-beam Center Will Partner with NASA on Space Missions A $900,000 grant from NASA will help Texas A&M University’s National Center for Electron Beam Food Research contribute to future Mars missions by investigating how electron beam technology can be used to sterilize spacecraft components.

“Deep space missions must be properly sterilized to distinguish between organisms brought from Earth and those that may be indigenous to other planetary bodies,” says Dr. Suresh Pillai, director of the E-beam Center. Electron beam irradiation is a better technique for accomplishing this than the dry-heat sterilization now used by NASA. Dry-heat sterilization involves heating components at 110 degrees centigrade for at least 40 hours. But many components—such as certain adhesives, printed circuit boards, and polymers used in making lander balloons—are heat sensitive and deteriorate under these conditions. Adding E-beam sterilization will not only expand NASA’s currently limited planetary-protection tools but will also advance E-beam technology in the scientific world.

The grant was awarded to Dr. Pillai and to Dr. Lee Braby, a research professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering. They will work with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the sterilization project.

Frontiers of Discovery

collecting and testing mosquitoes from the areas targeted as high risk. Zindler’s project is being emulated by the Harris County Mosquito Control District, although Houston’s size makes mapping manhole covers a daunting task.

21

Biological Control Tiny creatures yield big results in battling invasive plants

by Pam Dillard

O

chiltree County wheat farmer June

Garner has a new weapon to fight field bindweed, one of the toughest weed pests in the country. A tiny mite with a big appetite

Photos: Jerry Michels and Pam Dillard

for bindweed is her new best friend.

This microscopic gall mite, Aceria malherbae Nuzzaci, is also an old friend to Dr. Jerry Michels, entomologist and biological control researcher with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Bushland.

Michels has worked with the mite, originally found in “Unfortunately, the weed will outdistance the natural, microGreece, for 10 years. Shortly after the U.S. Department of scopic predator every time,” Laurialt says. “Regardless, this is Agriculture approved its release in the United States, he one of the best examples of biological control research in place teamed with Dr. Paul Boldt, a USDA Agricultural Research today.”

Service scientist at Temple, to establish mite colonies around Bushland, in the Texas Panhandle. Texas Cooperative Extension agents also helped establish mites in farmers’ fields, along roadways, and in landscapes around homes and businesses.

“The mite has proven its mettle in controlling a noxious perennial that competes with desired plants for water and nutrients,” Michels says.

—Dr. Jerry Michels, Experiment Station entomologist The twining vine gives farmers fits. Anyone with a patch of ground where bindweed lodges will face a formidable foe. It is particularly troublesome in such agricultural “Over time, we learn how fast the biocontrol agents reduce crops as corn, soybeans and cereals weed populations,” Michels says. and is a problem for ornamentals “Sometimes the ‘results’ come out of and in orchards and vineyards. the blue, as with the bindweed Because growers largely rely on mite.” chemicals to knock back the wily Word about Michels’ work with weed, the mite and Michels’ mites and other insects has spread research offer additional options. He almost as rapidly as bindweed. and a growing group of scientists are Government agencies that manage seeking alternatives to costlier, public lands in other states have chemical means of control. sought his help. As a result, Michels The mites, after all, are free. Once has broadened his biological control established, they keep reproducing work to include more plant pests and as long as their favorite food source diverse locations. With each project, is close by. his goals are to control weeds, reduce Extension agent Scott Strawn of herbicide use, and lessen economic Ochiltree County has helped Garner and environmental costs of infestaand other producers in the Perryton tions. His efforts have involved helparea understand how to use biologiing federal agencies and sites comply cal versus chemical controls. For the with directives to reduce herbicide obvious economic—and environmenuse by nearly 50 percent. tal—reasons, Garner wanted to limit “We began with Fort Carson, chemical use, but she says she wishsouthwest of Colorado Springs es the mite moved a little faster.

[Colorado], which, like most other “With some 2,000 acres to worry government facilities, already had over, I let the mite take the field’s weed control programs in place. But outer limits and kept any chemical little or no biological control was control to the middle,” Garner says. being used,” he says.

Mowing bindweed helps disperse Today, Michels’ “to do” list with the mite more rapidly. “We pretty these new collaborators includes well gave up on the mite as an effecusing insects to tackle such target tive control agent, because it moved weeds as spotted knapweed, Canada so slowly,” Michels says. “But when thistle, musk thistle, yellow toadflax, our plots were accidentally mowed OPPOSITE: (Top) Ready for its close-up, the tiny bindweed gall mite is Dalmatian toadflax, leafy spurge and on a local government research site, seen under an electron microscope. (Bottom) A mature saltcedar bindweed. we discovered the mites survived on beetle feeds on a target plant.

“With each cooperator, we advoclippings and could be moved about ABOVE: (Top) Damage by the tiny gall mite Aceria malherbae Nuzzaci cate the standard nine-year biologimore rapidly. So often, it is the cal control program with three phasto field paloduro bindweed, its only food source. (Bottom) D. C. Dowdy, biological control technician in Dr. Jerry Michels’ Bushland- es in three-year terms each,” Michels unexpected and unplanned that based research program, releases gall mites at their Colorado test explains. “The first three years target leads to usable results.” location.

A collaborator, Dr. Leonard establishment of the control insects; Laurialt with New Mexico Cooperative Extension, helped verithe next three involve redistribution of the insect populations, fy this finding while working with alfalfa growers near with the last three devoted to evaluation and analysis.”

Tucumcari. Bindweed in this crop is a real problem. But alfalfa The success of biological control is measured incrementally, must be mowed several times in a season, and if the mite is Michels says. His work at Fort Carson began in 1997. Today, established, it gets spread around the field. spotted knapweed is under control, with a number of sites

“The mite has proven its mettle in controlling a noxious perennial that competes with desired plants for water and nutrients.”

Fall 2004

23

Photos: Pam Dillard

showing a more than 90 percent control will not only help with herreduction in weeds. Large areas also bicide reductions, but will reduce or have been cleared of musk thistle. eliminate noxious weeds from rare Controls have not worked as well on and endangered plant habitats.”

Canada thistle, but Michels says he Michels has his eye on another thinks they will eventually take tiny beetle, Diorhabda elongata, also hold. from Greece, which holds promise “We use primarily insects,” that biological control will provide a Michels explains. “The program uses better way to manage the spread of insects and mites that are already saltcedar (tamarisk) in Texas. The approved for release by the USDA. insect must gorge exclusively on We are not involved in finding new saltcedar to survive. insects or importing them into the Dr. Debra Eberts, a botanist and United States. We also implement project leader with the U.S. Bureau biocontrol in areas where endanof Reclamation, met Michels and his gered animal and plant species don’t technicians in late April to establish allow herbicide use, such as Preble’s a study site along the Canadian meadow jumping mouse and the River, where 150 of these “Greek Colorado butterfly plant at Warren warriors” were released under tight[Air Force Base] in Wyoming,” he ly controlled conditions. Right now, says. hundreds of slender, inch-long For the Air Force Academy in worms—D. elongata larvae—are Colorado Springs and at the munching away on their host. Adult USDA–Department of the Interior beetles, which also feed on saltcedar Fire Center in Monument, foliage, are on the wing to mate and Colorado, plant densities are dropproduce another generation of hatchping for spotted knapweed and lings that soon will be doing their musk thistle, Michels says. Leafy own munching.

TOP: Tiny saltcedar beetle offspring are set for release inside a spurge control is a major success, Michels says that damage inflicted research tent. BOTTOM: Dr. Jerry Michels (center), his technicians, with more than 90 percent of it erad- and Bureau of Reclamation personnel ready a research site for tent by the beetle would be limited to installation. icated in some sites. about an acre of saltcedar this year.

“We’ve had the same problems with Canada thistle as at Scientists expect to see significant defoliation in two or three Fort Carson, but work is progressing,” Michels explains. years, however, as insect populations build at the rate of three “Insect releases on Dalmatian toadflax have begun. These to four generations per year. areas are havens for Preble’s mouse, and herbicides are So are saltcedar stands a perfect environment for biological restricted in such habitats. At the Warren Air Base, biological control to succeed? “Why not?” says Michels, with a grin.

Bindweed Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) has dark green tendrils and pretty white or pink flowers. Despite appearances, this relentless invader is bad news for gardens, lawns and croplands, taking up prime real estate any time, any place. Once established, its seeds may lie dormant for decades. The plant’s roots can descend 20 to 30 feet into the soil—a fantastic defense against almost any eradication attempt, including herbicides. Its deep root structure ultimately forms additional plants. At or near the top of the major pest list of insects, pathogens and other weeds, bindweed burdens the American pocketbook with control costs estimated in the billions of dollars each year.

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Saltcedar Native to southern Eurasia, saltcedar, or tamarisk, was introduced into the United States in 1823. The treelike shrub with small pink-and-white flowers was planted near streambeds to reduce erosion.

Bad idea. Saltcedar spreads very rapidly. Salt drips from its leaves and collects in the soil, killing vulnerable vegetation.

Near waterways, the invasive shrub’s deep roots can consume up to 200 gallons of water per day. Saltcedar growing near an aquifer can consume 3 to 4 acre-feet of precious water every year.

Texas A&M Lifescapes

The 580-acre Animal Science Teaching, Research and Extension Center at Texas A&M University has been named for Dr. O. D. Butler Jr., who died in 1998. The Texas A&M Board of Regents approved the proposal at its July 22 meeting. Butler served as instructor, professor and department head, vice president for agriculture and renewable resources, and associate deputy chancellor for agriculture during his tenure with the university, beginning in 1947 and ending with his retirement in 1986.

Instrumental in the building of many of the animal science facilities and agricultural research and extension centers being used today, Butler was also a key player in efforts to eradicate brucellosis in the state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, foreign governments, Texas governors and senators, and former president Lyndon Johnson consulted him for his expertise.

Former Director of National Park Service Leads Diversity Initiative Texas A&M’s Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Sciences has begun a leadership and diversity initiative led by the former director of the National Park Service, Robert Stanton, who served as director from 1996 to 2001. Stanton is in residence at Texas A&M this fall leading an initiative that focuses on minority and underrepresented communities and their relationship to resource conservation and recreational activities, including national parks and preserves. The initiative also addresses youth and how park services can promote their involvement in conservation and historic preservation.

Leading field experts and scholars specializing in parks and tourism and race and ethnicity will visit the university throughout the fall semester. Stanton

Fall 2004

Texas Forester to Serve on National Research Panel Dr. Tat Smith, head of the Department of Forest Sciences, has been named to the Forest Research Advisory Council. The research group advises the U.S. secretary of agriculture about the agency’s forestry research. Smith is one of 19 advisory council members from the forest industry, academia, nonprofits and public agencies across the nation. The advisory council will study issues related to how to maintain healthy U.S. forests with sustainable management, especially in production, the environment and forest operations. The group also looks at consumer demand, rural economic development, manufacturing and energy production, and product delivery logistics.

Moreira Heads Center for Food Processing and Engineering Dr. Rosana Moreira has been named director of the Center for Food Processing and Engineering at Texas A&M University. She also serves as associate professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

Her research focuses on the engineering aspects of foods and food processing and on developing control strategies for food extrusion processes, continuous fryers and flow grain dryers. Moreira plans to develop distance learning as a way to link the center with other universities and increase faculty participation in the center from diverse areas within the university.

New Department of Nutrition and Food Science Given Green Light The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved the new Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Texas A&M University. The goal of the department is to advance and integrate nutrition and food science, creating a broader curriculum and range of research to better prepare students entering the changing fields of nutrition and food science. Research projects will focus on studies such as food structure and function, metabolism and nutrient utilization, food product development for health and function, and product availability and consumption. Students will earn a bachelor of science degree in nutritional sciences or food science and technology. The department plans to hire at least 10 new faculty members over the next four years. Currently, food science studies are a part of the animal science curriculum.

State Gems

Animal Science Center Named in Honor of O. D. Butler

will teach a graduate course on the national parks system and will work with faculty and graduate and undergraduate students interested in research on urban parks and minority communities. The initiative will feature a variety of activities, including departmental seminars that focus on urban parks and park policy, planning, and management.

The university will host speakers from the National Park Service, state parks and nonprofit conservation agencies.

Smith Is Interim Director for Texas Cooperative Extension Dr. Ed Smith became interim director for Texas Cooperative Extension on September 1, succeeding Dr. Chester Fehlis, who retired August 31 (see related story on p. 12).

Smith, who has served as associate director for agriculture and natural resource sciences for the past three years, has been with Extension for 29 years, joining as Gaines County assistant agent in 1975. He was the Extension agent for Terry County from 1977 to 1980, an Extension associate from 1980 to 1981, and grain marketing and policy specialist from 1982 to 1987.

As an Extension economist, farm policy and its impact on American agriculture is Smith’s specialty. He and a team of colleagues from Texas A&M’s Department of Agricultural Economics are well known for developing economic models to evaluate the impact of proposed policy changes on the agricultural economy, farmers, agribusinesses, consumers and taxpayers.

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Eat Your Vegetables Compounds in some vegetables have potential for preventing and treating cancer

by Kathleen Phillips

Kathleen Phillips

Jim Lyle

B

roccoli. Few of us have “where were you when” stories about the day our perception of broccoli changed from “dreaded vegetable” to “delectable side dish.”

“Oh yes, I was sitting at a corner café on Oct. 5, 1955, when the fresh green smell of broccoli wafted by. I was immediately and forever in love with it.”

We’ll never hear it.

Dr. Steve Safe’s decade of cancer research has resulted in a patent for making cancer-treating derivatives of a compound found in broccoli and other vegetables.

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Texas A&M Lifescapes

Yet developing a taste for the rarely celebrated vegetable— and its close relatives cabbage, turnips and mustard greens— could be lifesaving, and that’s worth remembering.

Medical researchers have long said a daily dose of broccoli, cabbage, turnips and mustard greens keeps most cancers away.

But for those who do develop cancer, the same vegetables may ultimately produce the cure. Research by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station chemist Dr. Steve Safe has been patented for use in making cancer-treating derivatives of diindolylmethane (DIM), a natural compound found in certain vegetables.

“We took advantage of a natural chemical that research has shown will prevent cancer and developed several more analogs,” says Safe, who has been studying cancer for about 10 years.

Safe’s patent has been bought by College Station biotech company Plantacor, which intends to file an Investigative New Drug application with the Food and Drug Administration and enter Phase I and II clinical trials in 2005, according to the company’s Web site, www.plantacor.com.

DIM is already commercially available as a natural supplement for cancer prevention and for treating estrogen-related health issues.

“DIM is a potent substance,” Safe says. “But we made it even more potent against various tumors.”

The first development in this research using chemically altered DIM from broccoli came when the growth of breast cancer cells was inhibited in laboratory studies. Subsequent research showed these compounds also inhibited growth of pancreatic, colon, bladder and ovarian cancer cells in culture, Safe says. Limited trials on lab mice and rats have produced similar results.

The research began when Safe considered compounds that protect a person from developing cancer. Stacked on his expansive desk are journal articles in which other researchers extol cruciferous vegetables for their scientifically proven cancer-preventing properties. His team wondered whether similar compounds could be developed for cancer treatment.

They looked at the mechanism—how the compounds block cancer cell growth—and found that they target PPAR gamma, a protein that is highly active in fat cells. This same PPAR gamma is overactive in many tumors and tumor cells and is a potential target for new drugs. Safe’s lab chemically modified natural DIM to produce a series of compounds that target PPAR gamma and stop the growth of cancer cells.

“One of the best parts is that this treatment appears to have minimal or no side effects in the mice trials; it just stops tumor growth,” he says. “The hope now is that the patented chemicals can be developed into useful drugs for clinical trials and then be used for cancer treatment. It [the research] looks promising in cancer cells and animals at this time. We need future studies in humans to see if it is beneficial with people as well.”

Fall 2004

Grow Your Own Take the plunge this fall—with cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower transplants—and you’ll serve a healthy harvest of these cancer-preventing vegetables within two to three months.

“These vegetables will survive most winters and then be ready to harvest in February through March,” says Dr. Doug Welsh, Texas Cooperative Extension horticulture specialist and state Master Gardener program coordinator. Gardeners in most places in Texas can plant these cole crops until December, but Panhandle-area gardeners should wait until mid-February to plant for harvest in early May. Use a sunny location and rich, well-drained soil. All are hardy annuals that will tolerate evening temperatures ranging from 40 to 70 degrees, so gardeners should watch weather reports and cover plants during occasional freezing spells expected to last 24 hours or longer.

Even if a large gardening space is not available, Welsh points out, one can easily plant these vegetables in existing flower beds around the home.

Here are some other facts to consider when raising cole crops at home:

Cabbage A 10-foot row produces 10 to 18 pounds. Plan to raise 15 pounds per person. Allow 65 to 100 days from transplanting to maturity.

Broccoli A 10-foot row yields about 10 to 20 pounds. For each person, raise about 8 to 10 pounds, depending on how much that person likes it, Welsh says. Broccoli requires 65 to 110 days from planting to maturity.

Multiple harvests can be made from each plant.

Cauliflower A 10-foot row makes 15 to 20 pounds, and gardeners should allot 8 to 10 pounds per person. From planting to maturity, count on 65 to 90 days.

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Less Is More Research partnership produces safer pest control chemicals

by Rod Santa Ana III

C

Photos: Jerrold Summerlin

Pests—whether insects, diseases or weeds— currently destroy some 30 percent of U.S. crops each year, at a cost of about $20 billion. Crop protection products, therefore, increase the value of food crops by making them safer, increasing their shelf life and making them more appealing to consumers.

OPPOSITE: IR-4 research field director Lori Gregg clocks the application of a pesticide so that research conditions can be precisely duplicated if necessary.

hances are most Americans have never heard of an obscure government program called IR-4 (Interregional Research Project No. 4). Yet over the past 40 years it has played a major role in improving the way American agriculture produces and protects the nation’s food supplies.

Thanks to IR-4, the quantities of pesticides used on farms to control insects, diseases and weeds are a fraction of what they used to be. In many cases, chemicals that were once applied by the pound per acre are now applied in ounces. And the products used today to help grow crops are much safer.

Chemical companies have significant financial incentives to research new pest control products for use on the world’s major crops. Sales of a successful product will more than pay for the research required for Environmental Protection Agency approval. Without it, such products cannot be sold or used in the United States.

But research incentives are lacking when it comes to products for use on high-value, low-acreage crops—commonly called specialty, or minor, crops—grown on less than 300,000 acres. Even a successful product for such crops will probably not recoup a company’s expenses. The IR-4 Project was established in 1963 to increase pest control options for these minor crops.

Minor crops grown in this country are anything but “minor,” however. They include most vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs, spices, nursery plants and flowers. Nor is the value of minor crops minor. They account for more than $40 billion—roughly 40 percent—of annual sales of U.S. agricultural crops. Minor crops are big business, facilitated by the pest control tools growers need to effectively manage pests—tools made available to them through IR-4 testing.

“IR-4 now has 50 percent of EPA’s workload for registered products for new uses in minor crops,” says IR-4 Executive Director Bob Holm, of Rutgers University, in North Brunswick, N.J., where IR-4 is headquartered. Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the work of IR-4 involves a unique partnership of government agencies, growers, industry, and land-grant universities, including The Texas A&M University System.

The IR-4 program became even more critical for food crops with the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). It required safer pest control chemicals that had a low impact on human health, low toxicity to wildlife, low potential for groundwater and soil contamination, lower use rates, low potential for pest resistance, and compatibility for use in integrated pest management programs.

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“The FQPA changed the paradigm of chemical production and government approval of those products in this country,” Holm says. “We went from finding new uses for old chemicals to developing a new generation of chemicals that are more pest-specific and safer for the environment, wildlife and humans because they have fewer residual effects.”

Many more of the agricultural chemicals used today to protect fruits and vegetables from pests are “short residual,” meaning they break down or dissipate long before the food product is consumed, most even before it is harvested.

Mark Matocha, newly appointed IR-4 liaison for Texas, says IR-4 is especially important for the Lone Star State and its economy.

“Over 100 minor crops are grown in Texas,” he explains, “and the IR-4 program plays a necessary and major role in identifying and securing needed pest control products for growers across the state.”

Before EPA registers a product for use on a particular crop, the product undergoes years of risk assessment testing, including reviewing data on pesticide residues generated

by IR-4 testing at land-grant universities and USDA facilities throughout the country.

Pesticide residue tests on small research field plots are exacting. Properly conducted tests, under EPA’s strict guidelines and scrutiny, require adherence to highly detailed protocols, seemingly endless recordkeeping, and teamwork worthy of an Olympic synchronized swim team.

Lori Gregg, research field director of an award-winning IR-4 research team at The Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, says the IR-4 testing process begins at the local level.

“Anybody, whether it be a grower, a commodity group, an Extension agent, can submit what’s called a PCR, or product clearance request,” she says. “PCRs basically state the need for a pesticide on a particular crop. We take all our PCRs to the IR-4’s annual Food Use Workshop, and we compete with other entities for a high-priority rank that usually assures that a product we have a need for in our area will be tested for that use.

“But the real fun starts when we get a list of products we’ll be testing that year,” Gregg says. “Every step of the way has to be documented; everything has to be carefully planned. The goal is to send off plant samples to the residue testing labs without making mistakes that would force us to repeat the test. IR-4 doesn’t pay twice for the same test.”

The IR-4 Project has been so successful that other countries, including Canada and Japan, are working to duplicate it.

Cooperation with Canada, IR-4 officials say, has allowed U.S. farmers to more easily export food crops to that country.

OPPOSITE: Lori Gregg and her Weslaco center supervisor, John Drawe, maintain cucumbers in a controlled greenhouse environment to study optimum growing conditions.

John Drawe, farm research services manager at the Weslaco center, says Gregg’s expertise, experience and dedication to IR-4 testing are pushed to the limit, from the time assignments come from the Southern Regional IR-4 office at the University of Florida in Gainesville until crop samples are sent off to residue testing labs at various locations in the United States.

“Everything has to be perfectly timed, perfectly executed and precisely documented,” says Drawe. “The spray nozzles have to be carefully calibrated, the speed of the tractor precise, weather conditions just right, the rate of application consistent. If not, if something mechanical fails or we mess up somehow, it could ruin all our efforts.”

“The IR-4 testing adheres to very high and uniform standards so that, if necessary, someone’s test could be duplicated, based on their documentation and standard operating procedures,” Holm says.

Drawe comments, “Turnover of research field directors is very high because of the details and documentation and scrutiny by IR-4 and EPA. Lori [Gregg] has been doing a tremendous job here for years, and she just has total dedication and focus to get the job done right. But sometimes, even her patience wears thin.”

Gregg and the Weslaco center’s Special Projects unit, including its director, Robert “Dusty” McGee, were recognized for their superior work at the IR-4 Southern Region’s annual meeting in 2003.

Dr. Charles Meister, the IR-4 field research coordinator for the 15-state Southern Region, determines IR-4 testing assignments for his region and awards competitive bid grants to researchers, who test and generate efficacy data of potential products for IR-4 testing. Weslaco center entomologist Dr. T-X Liu and Texas Cooperative Extension vegetable specialist Dr. Juan Anciso are frequent recipients of these grants.

“Participating in the IR-4 Project not only generates research funds for us, it also keeps me current on new products being developed by companies all over the world,” Anciso says. “IR-4 also brings producers together, maybe who are competitors, but at IR-4 they work together toward a common goal.”

Ray Prewett, president of the Texas Vegetable Association, says IR-4 work done at the Weslaco center and at the Kika de la Garza USDA Agricultural Research Service facilities in Weslaco has been especially beneficial to local producers, having “a major impact on vegetable production over the past 10 years.”

Holm credits Dr. Jose Amador, director of the Weslaco center, for his determination to launch and maintain a successful IR-4 program, saying, “Dr. Amador’s tenacity played a key role in establishing the success of Weslaco’s IR-4 program, and his leadership is of great benefit to the agriculture of the entire state.”

Prewett says that IR-4 benefits everyone: “Consumers get safe and affordable food products, farmers get the tools they need to produce food products, research centers get funds to operate, the chemical companies and consultants are better able to provide safe and effective products, and safer products promote a better stewardship of the environment.

That’s a lot of good for a lot of people.”

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Feeding the Heart and Soul

Nutrition program celebrates 35 years of helping families

ENP

e Archiv

Hidalgo

ENP Arc hive

by Linda Anderson

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J

ohn David Franz has a story he likes to tell about his grandmother, Concepcion “Conchita” Franz. More than 30 years ago, she was offered a job as one of the first program assistants for Texas Cooperative Extension’s Expanded Nutrition Program (ENP) in Hidalgo, a small town on the Rio Grande, at the southern tip of Texas. The job was her first, but she didn’t let a little inexperience stop her. She got a driver’s license, bought a car and went to work.

She was trained to go out into the community and teach lowincome families about good nutrition.

Years later, Franz, her grandson, was asked to run for mayor of Hidalgo against a candidate with many years of experience.

He agreed to run, although he was the underdog and didn’t expect to win.

But Franz had underestimated his grandmother’s influence in the community. Over the many years spent helping others learn to better their lives through good nutrition, she had earned enormous respect and credibility.

Much to Franz’s surprise, he won the election, thanks in part to the goodwill his grandmother had cultivated. Since that election in 1990, he has been serving as mayor of Hidalgo and, in addition, is a successful attorney.

Earlier this year, Franz was presented an award for his involvement with ENP as a teenager, at the national program’s 35th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C. The national program is called the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Franz told the story about his grandmother at the awards presentation.

Another winner was Eligio “Kika” de la Garza, who won in the champion category. A retired congressman from the Lower Rio Grande Valley, de la Garza spent 32 years in public office. During those years he supported EFNEP in every way he could, often referring to it as “the best federal program.”

It certainly is one of the best, economically speaking, says Dr. Debra Reed, former Texas Cooperative Extension nutrition specialist and state coordinator for ENP. Reed recently became a professor in the Department of Nutrition, Hospitality and Retailing at Texas Tech University. “For every dollar put into the program (through federal funds), $10 in health care costs are saved,” she says.

But more important are the lives the program touches.

EFNEP has been teaching nutrition education to low-income

Texas A&M Lifescapes

Jerrold

Summ

erlin

Ta

NP Ar unty E o C t n rra

chive

families throughout the United States since 1968. In Texas, ENP reaches 27,000 adults and 35,000 young participants each year, Reed says. Most of that work is done by program assistants and volunteers, called paraprofessionals in Texas.

In Tarrant County, Jearlean Sims worked as a paraprofessional with ENP for almost 17 years, until 1987. She has nothing but fond memories of those days. “I remember when we would have all our homemakers come together and have a program,” she says. “We’d talk about the [ENP information] that was changing their lives for the better.”

Throughout those years with ENP, Sims shared her time and dedication with hundreds of individuals and families. She even learned gardening through Extension so she could teach her clients how to enjoy the fruits of their labor by planting and harvesting their own vegetables.

Sims encourages anyone who is interested in becoming an ENP paraprofessional to do so. “You won’t make a mistake,” she says. “I enjoyed it all those years. That’s why so many of us stayed so long. You get involved. I loved the people I worked for, the people I worked with, and the families I went out to visit.”

“Our program assistants and volunteers are the heart of the program, because they go out and do the teaching in their communities,” Reed says. “When the program first started, they would go door-to-door. But as more and more women started working outside their homes, we had to work with people in groups. So now we partner with schools and other agencies to reach more people.”

These partners include after-school programs; workforce programs; Head Start; and the federal Women, Infants and Children program. ENP attendees learn basic nutrition, food budgeting, food safety and food preparation.

But that’s not all they learn, Reed says. Some participants have reported life changes that go above and beyond healthy eating. “It’s all about self-esteem,” she says. “It’s very empowering. [Participants learn] you can make positive changes in your family; you have the power to make changes to benefit the family’s health.”

Participants have reported tapping into that self-esteem and finding motivation to reach other life goals, including completing a GED, getting a job and saving money to buy a car. “It’s OPPOSITE: (Top) The late Conchita Franz served more than 30 years with the ENP program in Hidalgo County. (Bottom) ENP volunteers in the early 1970s prepare for a demonstration.

ABOVE: (Top and Bottom) Then and now: Kim Timms as a child helps with food preparation for a group meeting conducted at the public housing community where she and her family lived. Timms continues to serve her community today as owner and director of the Oasis Neighborhood Network Center in Fort Worth.

Fall 2004

pretty amazing if you think about it,” Reed says.

Administered by Extension, Texas ENP is located in nine counties, which include the cities of Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Harlingen and Edinburg. Participants are low-income parents, as well as children—most ages 6 to 12—who attend ENP classes at school or in after-school programs.

The adults in the program are usually, but not always, mothers. The program is also open to fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles—in essence “whoever has the responsibility for purchasing and preparing food for the family,” Reed says.

Over the past 35 years, ENP has also had a financial impact on families’ lives. One national study shows that for each dollar spent in implementing the program, clients save $2.48 on food expenses.

Typically, participants save food dollars by learning to plan meals by the week; shop with a grocery list and a full stomach; buy less meat and poultry and use vegetables and pastas to make meals go further; buy less cooking oil; buy fewer sugars and sodas and more frozen juices and fruit; store leftovers properly; use powdered milk for cooking (and sometimes drinking); and serve healthier and cheaper breakfast cereals, such as oatmeal.

How does the younger generation feel about these changes?

Although not usually in charge of buying and preparing foods for their families, children have an ENP program designed just for them. “Kids have a tremendous impact on their parents,” Reed says. “A lot of them are latchkey kids who need to know about food sanitation and food preparation and how to make good decisions,” especially when it comes to snacking.

ENP is really designed to be a family affair, Reed says. “If we reach an individual, we have reached one person, but if we reach an individual with three kids, we’ve reached four.”

Or sometimes more—a lot more.

Kim Timms, a lifelong resident of Fort Worth, has been an ENP participant since she was a child. She is also director and owner of Oasis Neighborhood Network Center, a communitybased agency that serves about 3,680 people. People come to the center to take GED classes, search for employment, leave their children in day care and participate in ENP. “I do ENP for adults and kids,” Timms says. “I make sure the kids learn about good nutrition.”

Timms’ mother was an ENP volunteer who taught nutrition education classes to Girl Scouts twice a week. When Timms was 13, she became a volunteer herself and spent the next five years teaching children about healthy snacks, the basic food groups and other nutrition information.

Now she is a mother of four, and, in addition to spreading the ENP word through her volunteer and professional work, she has made the program part of her own family’s life.

“I love the program,” she says. “It works.”

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A Natural Bridge to Success Photos: Natural Bridge Caverns

Wuest family contributes to future of Texas tourism

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by Paul Schattenberg

Texas A&M Lifescapes

T

here is a glint of pride in Joye Wuest’s eyes as she describes one of the many times her sons, Brad and Travis, helped out as youngsters in the family business, Natural Bridge Caverns, located in the Texas Hill Country, between San Antonio and New Braunfels.

“Our staff wasn’t always out of school when we needed them,” says Joye, “so for a few days the boys operated the snack bar all by themselves.” Travis, the younger brother, had to stand on a wooden step to reach the cash register.

“We’re from a ranching family,” says Travis Wuest, now 28.

“So my brother and I were used to pitching in as soon as we were able. From the time we were able to push a broom or wipe off a table, we worked at the caverns.”

Through the years, the brothers performed a number of support positions; they took on supervisory and managerial roles as they grew older.

“We worked our way up the ladder,” says Travis. “Brad and I grew up appreciating the caverns, the natural environment and our family legacy.”

Today, the brothers still help out. They are the third generation to own and operate Texas’ largest cavern system open to the public and one of its best-known tourist attractions.

Natural Bridge Caverns has more than two and one-half miles of mapped cavern area, including the Hall of the Mountain King, which is more than 350 feet long.

Brad Wuest, 32, now serves as president and chief executive officer of Natural Bridge Caverns Inc., a position he assumed in 1998 after the death of his father, Reggie Wuest.

Travis is the corporation’s vice president and director of marketing and public relations. Their mother, Joye, who remembers carrying Brad on her back as she gave cavern tours shortly after the attraction first opened, is the chief financial officer and director of human resources.

“Natural Bridge Caverns has always been about family,” says Brad.

“That means our family and those families we have the privilege of hosting.”

About 250,000 people visit the attraction each year, and the Wuest family welcomed their seven-millionth guest to Natural Bridge Caverns this summer.

The Wuests’ emphasis on family has remained unchanged over the years, but the family business has undergone several changes.

“Over time, we’ve added many new attractions, tours and facilities for our guests,” says Travis. “We’re always looking for new ways to make Natural Bridge Caverns more appealing and to draw in more tourists.”

Additions to the attraction include Texas’ largest mining sluice, where visitors sift for gems and minerals, and one of the state’s largest climbing walls, the Watchtower Challenge, which includes two 350-foot zip lines to give climbers the sensation of flying. Another addition is the Adventure Tour, in which guests explore an undeveloped section of the cavern by walking, climbing, crawling and rappelling.

OPPOSITE: The Wuest family, owners of Natural Bridge Caverns, walk through the Castle of the White Giant.

ABOVE: Nellie Connally, former first lady of Texas (center), celebrates the 40th anniversary of Natural Bridge Caverns with the Wuest family (left to right), Travis, Joye, young Ashley and Brad.

Fall 2004

“We’ve worked with various staff members of Texas A&M’s Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences and have discussed many aspects of the business with them,” says Joye Wuest. “The family has had a close relationship with the department for several years, and we continue to work with them to this day.”

“The Wuests have a terrific vision for the future of Texas tourism,” says Dr. Joseph O’Leary, department head. “We’ve enjoyed working with them and hope we can help them realize that vision.”

In 2000, Travis Wuest received his bachelor’s degree in recreation, park and tourism sciences from the university, with a minor in business management.

“I enjoyed the whole undergraduate program,” he says. “It allowed me to pick and choose the courses I thought would be beneficial to me and that I could put to use when I returned to the family business.”

When Natural Bridge Caverns held its grand opening, on July 3, 1964, then Texas governor John Connally attended, pronouncing the caverns “a jewel in the crown of Texas’ attractions” and signing a plaque memorializing the event.

This July the family business marked its 40th anniversary.

The Wuests held a celebration at the caverns, with former Texas first lady Nellie Connally as their honored guest.

Connally signed a plaque similar to the one signed by her husband 40 years earlier. Today, the plaques are displayed side by side at the Natural Bridge Caverns Visitors’ Center.

So that others might share in the history—and future—of Natural Bridge Caverns, the Wuest family established two

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undergraduate scholarships at Texas A&M: the Clara Wuest Heidemann Scholarship and the Heidemann-Wuest Scholarship.

The Clara Wuest Heidemann Scholarship, funded annually for a student pursuing a tourism career, was named in honor of the family’s matriarch and first president and CEO of Natural Bridge Caverns Inc.

“We want to help attract and keep people who can teach those who will become the future leaders in Texas tourism.”

—Joye Wuest, Natural Bridge Caverns CFO

Giving Matters

Clara Wuest Heidemann was a Texas tourism pioneer and advocate for natural resource conservation. She was the first woman president of the National Caves Association and the first woman to serve as director and chair of the Comal County Farm Bureau. Heidemann was also a director of the Discover Texas Association, a precursor to the Texas Travel Industry Association, as well as an inductee into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame.

“We named the scholarship in honor of my mother-in-law, who was a tiny woman who had to overcome her shyness and learn about the tourism business on her own,” says Joye. “Her dedication and determination made her into a real force in Texas tourism.”

Travis adds that the family hopes this scholarship—along

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The College of Agriculture Development Council is a volunteer organization that supports the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences by attracting financial resources to enhance the educational programs of the college. Each of the following scholarships was set up with a donation matched with funds from the COADC.

Ellisons Establish Horticulture Scholarships Ellen and Jim Ellison recently honored each other with surprise gifts funding two endowed scholarships. Ellen established the COADC–Jim Ellison Endowed Scholarship in Horticulture as a gift to him in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. He returned the favor with the COADC–Ellen Ellison Endowed Scholarship in Horticulture as a birthday gift to her. Both scholarships will be

with the Heidemann-Wuest Scholarship, which will help support students preparing for leadership roles in tourism—will produce visionaries like his grandmother through tourism-specific education.

“So many students I’ve met don’t have a vision for Texas tourism,” he says. “We want to help produce the type of person we need in order to work here and in other areas of tourism in Texas. We want to keep the best and brightest here.

“Unfortunately, only a few universities offer a tourism-specific degree, making it difficult for people who want a career in tourism to get the preparation they need,” he adds.

“We hope these scholarships will help promote a better understanding of the travel and tourism industry,” says Brad.

“Right now there’s very little in the way of travel and tourism at any educational level, from elementary school to college.”

To help increase this understanding, the Wuests are examining the possibility of bringing together like-minded members of the industry to fund an academic chair.

“We want to help attract and keep people who can teach those who will become the future leaders in Texas tourism,” says Joye Wuest. “Having a chair in travel and tourism would help ensure there’s a pipeline of people who are better prepared for a career in the industry.”

One of those future leaders may well be Brad’s 2-year-old daughter, Ashley. This fourth-generation Wuest is already involved in the family business: Her photo appears on several billboards, on the Natural Bridge Caverns Web site, and in marketing brochures.

Web site http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com

awarded to students pursuing a degree in horticulture at Texas A&M with an interest in floriculture and greenhouse crops.

The Ellisons, founders of Ellison’s Greenhouses Inc. in Brenham, have been avid supporters of horticultural sciences at Texas A&M.

Keehans Endow Scholarship to Help with College Journeys John and Grace Keehan of College Station have created the COADC–Aggie II Endowed Scholarship for students pursuing a degree in agriculture. Retired from the petroleum business, John Keehan became involved with the Agriculture Program at Texas A&M when he was invited to serve on the College of Agriculture Development Council. “I became enamored with all the excellent work they’re doing and wanted to make the journey through college a little easier

for students who need financial help,” says Keehan.

“Dr. Joe” Honors “Dr. Chris” with Endowed Scholarship As a surprise gift to his wife, Dr. Joe Townsend, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has established the COADC–Dr. Chris Townsend Endowed Leadership Scholarship to be given to a student leader in agricultural education. Chris Townsend is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Education. Joe Townsend, Class of 1967, says he established the scholarship to honor “Dr. Chris” for her outstanding teaching and to say thank you for her positive influence in leadership education, continued dedication to students, and excellence in the classroom.

Texas A&M Lifescapes

Bright

IDEAS. Bright FUTURES. You Make a Difference at A&M! Dr. Chris Townsend knows firsthand how generous giving can promote academic excellence. As a professor she has seen the leadership program in the Department of Agricultural Education blossom, thanks to the College of Agriculture Development Council–Charles B. and Jean G. Smith Endowed Fund for Excellence in Agricultural Leadership Education created by Charlie and Jean Smith of Sugar Land. For the past five years, the endowment has helped support guest speakers and expenses for student travel and events in the agricultural development major.

“Agricultural development is a leadership major that emphasizes the people part of agriculture,” Townsend says. “Students learn leadership and communications skills that translate research to practitioners. We have, without a doubt, the best undergraduate leadership program in the country.”

A&M’s status in leadership development is evidenced by the numerous national awards presented to the program and

to individual students and by the number of students who have served as yell leaders, as student senate members and as student body president. Graduates pursue diverse career paths, including law, pharmaceutical sales, Extension work, agricultural consulting and public relations.

“Our reward is the students’ achievement,” Charlie Smith says. Jean Smith adds, “We’re fortunate to be a part of this premier educational experience at A&M.” For information on One Spirit One Vision giving opportunities in agriculture and life sciences, please contact the Agriculture Program Development Office at (979) 847-9314 or by e-mail at apdo@ag.tamu.edu.

Agriculture Program Development Office 2142 TAMU College Station, Texas 77843-2142 http://giving.tamu.edu

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Inside this issue . . .

A bounteous hay crop divides red fields of ripe sorghum near Hare, in the blacklands of Williamson County.

They are a reminder of how good the earth is and of our responsibilities as stewards of the land. Texas A&M’s Agriculture Program plays important roles in that stewardship, and this issue of Lifescapes touches on some of them: the value of rice farming to migratory birds (page 8), ways to reduce uses of pesticides through biological controls on unwanted plants (page 22), efforts to make agricultural chemicals safer through rigorous testing (page 28), and research that improves the nutritional value of sorghums worldwide (page 18).