June June2017 2017——Issue Issue11
Fired up! To apply or not to apply? The right timing for controlled burns PAGE 12
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*$0 down, 0% A.P.R. financing for up to 60 months on purchases of new Kubota ZP, BX, B (excluding B26), L (excluding L39/L45/ L47), M, MH (M7), MX, M-SU, M6060/M7060, M4, M5 (excluding M5N/M5L), RB, DMC, DM, RA, TE Series equipment is available to qualified purchasers from participating dealers’ in-stock inventory through 5/31/2017. Example: A 60-month monthly installment repayment term at 0% A.P.R. requires 60 payments of $16.67 per $1,000 financed. 0% A.P.R. interest is available to customers if no dealer documentation preparation fee is charged. Dealer charge for document preparation fee shall be in accordance with state laws. Inclusion of ineligible equipment may result in a higher blended A.P.R. 0% A.P.R. and low-rate financing may not be available with customer instant rebate offers. Financing is available through Kubota Credit Corporation, U.S.A., 1000 Kubota Drive, Grapevine, TX 76051; subject to credit approval. Some exceptions apply. Offer expires 5/31/2017. See us for details on these and other low-rate options or go to www.kubota.com for more information. **Customer instant rebates $600 are available on cash or standard rate finance purchases of new Kubota L2501/3301/3901/4701 equipment from participating dealers’ stock. Rebate not available with 0% A.P.R., low-rate financing offers or after completed sale. Dealer subtracts rebate from dealer’s pre-rebate selling price on qualifying purchases. Some exceptions apply. Offer expires 5/31/2017. ***Customer instant rebates of $1,000 are available on cash or standard rate finance purchases of new Kubota M62TLB, MX4800/5200/5800, M5660SUH/SUHD, M6060/7060 ROPS, M6060/7060 Cab, M8560/9960 (excluding M9960HDL) ROPS, M8560/9960 Cab equipment from participating dealers’ stock. Rebate is not available with 0% A.P.R., low-rate financing offers or after completed sale. Dealer subtracts rebate from dealer’s pre-rebate selling price on qualifying purchases. Some exceptions apply. Offer expires 5/31/2017. ****Customer instant rebates of $1,000 are available on purchases of new Kubota BX (BX25/BX25D/BX25D-1, BX23S*), B, L, MX, M5660SU, M6060 and M7060 equipment with two new qualifying implements from participating dealers’ stock. 1st implement $300, 2nd implement $700 Dealer subtracts rebate from dealer’s pre-rebate selling price on qualifying purchases. Rebate not available after completed sale. Some exceptions apply. Offer expires 5/31/2017. * BX25/BX25D/BX25D-1
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June 2017 — Issue 1
The Land & Livestock Post
News
B
From the General Manager
y the time you are reading this, it will pretty much be summer. If you recall, I faced quite the obstacle last summer when I tried to purchase a wading pool in the middle of summer: They don’t exist anymore at that point. If you don’t have a pool by the middle of June, you might as well start buying school supplies and just wait for fall. This year, I planned ahead and went to purchase a pool a month ago. Now I have a whole new set of issues. It used to be you could get an inflatable pool for about $20. Your options were round or rectangle. Now every pool comes equipped with an inflatable lagoon and a slide and a wet bar. It’s ridiculous. I’ve already accepted that the lawn I spend hours upon hours mowing, edging, weeding, fertil-
izing and landscaping now will have a round or rectangular dead patch in the middle of it. The patch forms from the first time we put the pool up and it is almost healed about 51 weeks later, and then the process repeats itself. But now it’s not enough to just have a dead-spot-creating pool. Now you have to JESSE WRIGHT have one with accessories that require the hose be on, your yard to get flooded, and your water bill to go through the roof. I went to two different stores and finally settled on a regular rectangle pool that cost $10 more because it has 3-D fish
printed on the sides. It was the pool with the least frills, and it has 3-D fish on it. Oh, and one pair of 3-D goggles. I have two kids. I foresee a lot of fights, or each kid having a 3-D underwater monocle. But, in the end, I won’t have any regrets. Nothing wears a kid out like a pool, and watching kids play in an 18-inch wading pool is the type of parenting you can do and drink beer at the same time. I guess I could burn the whole back yard after swimming season, and that would cure the dead spot, but my home owners association may have an issue with that method. But, if you use prescribed burning on your pastures, you may wonder how often you should burn to get the best re-
sults. In our cover story, we take a look at prescribed burning and how often it should be applied to achieve your goals. We also have news and information from around the ag industry about upcoming events and sales. Hope you enjoy it and, as always, thanks for reading. ’Til next time,
• For more information about content or advertising, contact Jesse Wright at jesse. wright@theeagle.com.
Advanced Grape Grower Workshop to be June 19-20 By Paul SchattenBerg Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
FREDERICKSBURG — The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present an Advanced Grape Grower Workshop June 19-20 at the Hill Country University Center, 2818 E. U.S. 290 in Fredericksburg. The workshop will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 19 and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 20. “This conference is designed to offer seasoned growers detailed information on a variety of topics critical to the operation of commercial vineyards in Texas,” said Jim Kamas, AgriLife Extension fruit specialist in Fredericksburg. Kamas said as the Texas grape industry matures, managing vineyards efficiently and profitably becomes more complex. “This conference will address topics ranging from disease control to advanced vineyard management techniques and optimizing fruit quality,” he said. “These topics will be presented by AgriLife Extension special-
ists uniquely qualified to address them.” The cost for the two-day workshop is $150. Register online at agriliferegister.tamu.edu/productListingDetails/2307 or by phone at 979845-2604. Seating is limited to 65 attendees, and there will be no sameday on-site registration, so attendees must register early to ensure a spot. Registration closes June 12. Five Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units in integrated pest management will be available. Topics and presenters for the first day will be: • Controlling Fungal Diseases of Fruit and Foliage — Kamas. • Sustainable Vineyard Floor Management — Justin Scheiner, AgriLife Extension specialist for viticulture in College Station. • Managing Acidity in the Vineyard and Winery — Andrea Botezatu, AgriLife Extension specialist for enology in College Station.
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• Nitrogen Fertilization: Materials, Rates and Timing — Larry Stein, AgriLife Extension horticulturist in Uvalde. • Strategies in Frost Protection — Monte Nesbitt, AgriLife Extension program specialist for horticultural sciences in College Station. The day will conclude with an evening meal at a local winery. Topics and presenters for the second day will be: • Mechanization of Vineyard Tasks — Scheiner. • Post-Harvest Handling for Optimal Fruit Quality — Botezatu. • Managing Grapevine Fungal Trunk Diseases — Dave Appel, Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant pathologist in College Station. • Making Sense of the Glyphosate Controversy — Nesbitt. • Dealing with Sodic Water and Soil — Stein. • Virus Status of the Texas Grape Industry — Sheila McBride, AgriLife Extension specialist for plant pathology and microbiology in College Station.
June 2017 — Issue 1
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo
Texas wine grapes will be the subject of the Advances Grape Grower Workshop, set for June 19 and June 20 in Fredericksburg. • Variety Performance in Texas — grower panel. • Integrated Canopy Management — Kamas. Presentations will be followed
by a final question-and-answer period and program wrap-up. For more information, contact Laura Nelson at 830-990-4046 or l.nelson@tamu.edu.
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News Seeking to increase fertilizer positives, reduce its negatives By Steve ByrnS Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
LUBBOCK — Katie Lewis is going for the triple-whammy against negative soil fertility issues on the Texas High Plains. When it comes to applying fertilizer, Lewis, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research soil scientist in Lubbock, is seeking to optimize its positive aspects while easing the sometimes negative effects on farmers’ wallets and the environment. “As a soil fertility program, we are constantly evaluating new fertilizer formulations in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, but there is also a strong environmental aspect to our research,” Lewis said. “It is really quite amazing to me the amount of new technology that’s becoming available. I think in coming years we are going to see much improvement in fertilizer-use efficiency, not just based on the source we are using, but also through associated management tools.” With cover crops becoming more of a common practice, Lewis said it’s important to learn how to fertilize appropriately in those systems, so she is involved in looking at nitrogen management within a no till system. “Being a farmer’s wife, I know all too well that budgets are tight when it comes to crop production; fertilizer can be a major input cost,” she said. “If we can better manage the fertilizer we are applying, we may be able to cut our input costs, and also limit nutrient runoff situations or leaching of nitrogen through our soil profile, which can lead to serious environmental issues. “Nitrates entering our groundwater can be a major concern, especially here on the High Plains where we are dependent on groundwater as our primary drinking water source. Luckily, in our area this isn’t as common a problem as it is in other parts of the U.S.” Lewis concedes the Texas High
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Texas A&M AgriLife Communications photo by Steve Byrns
Katie Lewis, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research soil scientist in Lubbock, is looking into boosting the positive aspects of fertizing while eliminating some of the negative factors. Plains is a long way from the Gulf of Mexico, but surface runoff entering a river eventually may wind up in a larger body of water, possibly leading to eutrophication. Eutrophication, she said, is when excessive nutrients in a body of water such as the Gulf, cause a dense growth of aquatic plant life, which kills fish and other animals by limiting oxygen in the water. “High levels of nitrates in groundwater and algal blooms in surface water are negative effects of over fertilization and poor management,” Lewis said. “One of the goals of our program is to reduce the amount of fertilizer we’re applying by increasing the efficiency of that fertilizer. Increased efficiency may come from using new formulations and/or adding stabilizer products to the fertilizer, but most importantly, it will come from proper management practices. “Proper management may mean just managing what we are currently doing a bit better. Rather than putting all of your nitrogen out in one application, we are looking at multiple smaller applications over several months in cotton following wheat
cover compared to nitrogen fertilizer with an added stabilizer product, which may allow the crop to better use the product, resulting in less potential loss from the system. “With an ammonium-containing fertilizer, something like UAN 32-0-0 for example, bacteria in the soil oxidize ammonium to form nitrites and nitrates through the nitrification process,” she said. “Nitrate is one of the forms of plant available nitrogen but it is also the most mobile and reactive form of nitrogen in the soil, thus has the greatest loss potential. A large rainfall event can leach the nitrate away from the plant’s root zone and saturated soil can lead to gaseous losses of nitrogen via denitrification. But with these new products, we can temporarily inhibit the nitrification step,
meaning N fertilizer stays in the form of ammonium longer for the plants to absorb.” Plants can take up ammonium just as they can nitrates and use less energy in the process, Lewis said, so the product is not reducing the amount of plant-available nitrogen, but rather keeping it in the ammonium form, which has less potential for loss. The stabilizing product will raise the cost some, she said, but could balance out costs since less fertilizer should be needed and the product’s stabilizing properties, coupled with less product, could reduce the potential negative environmental aspect. So the take-home message Lewis has for farmers wanting the most bang for their buck is the same one Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county
agents have touted for years: Take a soil sample and get it tested. “Go out, sample your fields, know what residual nutrients you have in your soil,” Lewis said. “That’s a key way to reduce the amount of fertilizer you apply. Producers may be surprised at how much nitrogen and phosphorous they may already have in their soil. That simple soil test can cut costs. “I think probably the most important thing I can do is encourage growers to get soil samples analyzed before they buy or apply fertilizer. So remember, the old saying that’s still true today, ‘a penny saved is a penny earned.’” For more information, contact Lewis at 806-746-6101, Katie. Lewis@ag.tamu.edu.
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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News Registration open for Statewide Quail Symposium Aug. 16-18 By Steve ByrnS Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Photo courtesy of Becky Ruzicka, Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation
The Statewide Quail Symposium will address frequently asked questions and debate topics concerning Texas quail populations.
ABILENE — The Statewide Quail Symposium is set for Aug. 16-18 in Abilene and registration now is open, organizers said. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service symposium will be at the MCM Elegante Hotel, 4250 Ridgemont Drive. “This major event gathers experts in quail management, research and conservation together to address topical questions being asked by quail enthusiasts on all levels,” said Dale Rollins of San Angelo. Rollins is a symposium planner and AgriLife Extension’s statewide coordinator for the Reversing the Quail Decline Initiative. He’s also director of the Rolling Plains Quail Research
Ranch at Roby. The event will open at 1:30
p.m. Aug. 16 with a field tour of the Hailey Ranch, he said. Participants will view quail management strategies in action and learn how to evaluate quail habitat. Directions and GPS coordinates to the The Hailey Ranch —
See QUAIL, Page 7
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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Quail, from Page 5 Pavilion Gate entrance are 13542 County Road 301, Abilene 79601, Link: Hailey Ranch — Pavilion Gate Entrance. “Mr. Hailey, a landowner and dedicated quail enthusiast, will be leading us on a personal tour and describing his management strategies,” Rollins said. “We’ll also be demonstrating habitat evaluation tools and plant identification techniques.” The Aug. 17 program slated from 8:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. and Aug. 18 from 8 a.m. until adjournment at noon will take place at the hotel. Rollins said both days will be devoted to seminars led by a host of specialists ranging from expert field biologists to land managers and Texas Quail Index census volunteers. “We’ll tackle some controversial issues in point/counterpoint sessions to encourage debate,” Rollins said. “Topics will in-
clude the self-regulating nature of quail hunting, invasive plants and quail, and translocation as a method for restoring wild populations. We’ll also hear the latest from quail researchers and meet the graduating class of QuailMasters 2017. “The past two years have seen booming quail populations throughout Texas,” he said. “To that end, some of the major points of discussion will be from experts addressing ways to insulate these healthy quail populations while offering ways to address issues still threatening quail numbers with an eye to the future in terms of quail conservation and management.” Early individual registration by Aug. 7 is $50 and $20 for students. Registration at the door will be $75 and $50 for students. For more information and to register, go to statewidequailsymposium.com/.
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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News Management key to recovering from lost equity and wildfires By Kay LedBetter Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
CANADIAN — Whether it was the loss of equity in the ranching business during 2016 or ranchland conditions after recent wildfires, national experts at the third annual Beef Cattle Conference and Ag Tour discussed how ranchers might work to “right the ship.” The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Hemphill County hosted the event, which attracted 277 people representing 11 states and 19 Texas counties, said Andy Holloway, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Hemphill County. “Those attending left with a lot of take-home messages from our speakers, and the timeliness of the tour was so appropriate with all the forbs and weeds coming back on this burned-out country,” Holloway said, referencing the thousands of acres burned in March wildfires. Their first message, he said, came from Doug Steele, AgriLife Extension director from College Station, who said producers must get engaged to provide more literacy to the public about agricultural production. “We as producers are going to be the necessary step to make consumers aware of the value of our products to their health,” Holloway said. “We have to realize and utilize the power of the ‘pasture to the plate’ message.” Troy Applehans, with CattleFax in Denver, Colorado, reviewed statistical facts from 2015 to the lows of 2016 cattle market and where markets are now, as well as glanced into the crystal ball, estimating what future markets might look like. “It was very sobering,” Holloway said. “A 550-pound weaned calf lost 46 percent of his value from April 2016 to mid-October. People need to pay attention to those figures — it was not very
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encouraging. “Our markets had gotten too high over a period of a couple years prior to that based on the depletion of the cow herd during the drought in 2011,” he said. “Producers were aggressively buying cattle nationwide and the price just got too high. Some people bought $3,000 replacement cows and now they are worth $1,500, and the calves off those cows are worth about $750.” Salem Abraham, with Abraham Trading in Canadian, said the price drop was almost a 50-year event. Not since 1973 has there been that much drain on equity in the cattle industry, and it resulted in bankruptcies and cattle losses back then. “The take-home message was that these younger ranchers have time to recover; that’s in their favor,” Holloway said. “But unfortunately for some of the older ranchers who are upside-down now, they may not have enough time to recover.” All was not doom and gloom, however, Holloway said. Stan Bevers, KPI System owner and former AgriLife Extension economist in Vernon, outlined key producer indicators that can help a rancher find solid footing once again. “We’re under water with what we are getting for our calves versus what it is costing to produce that calf,” Holloway said. “Stan said the only way we can get back into the black is to lower our input costs. There are some you can’t change, but there are some you can do something with.” Bevers said depreciation is something many ranchers don’t consider, but they should, because a cow does depreciate and that needs to be factored into the management plan. Ranchers also have to develop an efficient, low-cost program, Bevers said, adding that’s the only way to make it in this volatile business.
See RECOVER, Page 16
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News Behavior patterns often are indicators of onset of illness By Kay LedBetter Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
VERNON — Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists are developing an early warning system for pen riders or animal care providers to identify and treat cattle for bovine respiratory disease more efficiently. Bill Pinchak in Vernon and Gordon Carstens in College Station, both AgriLife Research animal nutritionists, have been evaluating the relationships of animal behavior in confined animal feeding operations to the onset of sickness. Along with Texas A&M University students Will Kayser and Kirby Jackson, they recently summarized the results of more than four years of research in a paper, “Evaluation of statistical process control procedures to monitor feeding behavior patterns and detect onset of bovine respiratory disease in growing bulls.” Respiratory disease causes 60-90 percent of the morbidity or sickness in feedlot cattle, Pinchak said. Diagnosis is a challenge and currently relies primarily on visual appraisal to determine illness, which can vary by degrees of individual experience in diagnosing. “Typically, the accuracy is
about 60 percent,” he said. “So there are a lot of animals that are not diagnosed and end up being poor performers — or die. “Our goal is to develop and implement technologies that provide earlier and more accurate detection of this illness in cattle,” Pinchak said. “By employing a combination of radio frequency identification tags and receivers with integrated statistical analysis and modeling, we have been able to detect morbidity based on changes in feeding behavior of cattle anywhere from two to four days earlier than visual clinical diagnosis.” He said they use a combination of statistical process control modeling and multivariate analysis for various behavioral traits such as when each animal goes to the feed bunk, how frequently and the amount of time spent there. “We’ve been able to detect or predict accurately and repeatedly two to four days prior to clinical analysis,” Pinchak said. “By utilizing a combination of sensor technology and modeling, our goal would be to decrease the duration of the illness in the cattle and the number of animals not responding to treatment or relapse rate. “We expect this could lead to
Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter
Bill Pinchak, Texas A&M AgriLife Research animal nutritionist in Vernon, discusses a new early warning system for bovine respiratory disease. decreasing the overall use of antibiotics and expenses, improving overall animal health and welfare, and improving feed efficiency and overall economic and environmental sustainability of commercial feeding operations,” he said. This diagnosis system would require a dashboard at the feed
Scam being run against individuals who have hay for sale Texas Department of Agriculture
The Texas Department of Agriculture has received alerts from Johnson and Karnes counties about scammers contacting hay sellers. The supposed hay buyer will send the seller a check in excess of the amount the hay is being sold for and then ask the seller to wire the extra money somewhere else. The scammers explain the overpayment by saying they need to cover taxes or shipping costs; however, then the check bounces and the scammer already has the money wired to them. The hay seller is then left to
pay the money back to the bank. The department recommends always reaching out to your local law enforcement agency if something seems fishy about a transaction or purchase.
Remember
The Texas Department of Agriculture does not verify the prices listed in the ads on the Hay Hotline. The department is not responsible for inquiry responses you receive from the Hay Hotline. The department advises all
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of its hay suppliers to practice sound business dealings when responding to inquiries for the sale of their hay. If you feel you have been the victim of fraud, contact your local law enforcement.
File a Complaint
If you have believe that you have been a victim of fraud, or you have been contacted about an attempted scam, please file a complaint with the Texas Office of the Attorney General, and the Federal Trade Commission.
June 2017 — Issue 1
yard and radio-frequency identification tags. And while Pinchak said neither is prevalent in feed yards yet, if the economics are there, they could be. “We need to develop next generation technology that improves bovine respiratory disease management based on individual animal diagnosis through a combination of radio frequency identification technology and statistical modeling integrated into a robust, user-friendly analytic platform,” he said. “We’ve completed the first
pass, now we need to follow up with the experiments where animals will be challenged with bovine respiratory disease pathogens and their behavior responses measured to determine the robustness of this integrated sensor modeling approach.” The next step, Pinchak said, will be to use the system with high risk cattle coming into a commercial feed yard and testing in that environment before developing a commercially viable system within the next two to five years.
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News
Toxicants for feral hogs: Silver bullet or short fuse? hog control.
By Josh Gaskamp The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
During the past 30 years, new techniques and modifications to existing ones have continued in an effort to find a silver bullet to control feral hogs. Many landowners who repeatedly incur costly damage due to feral hogs question when a toxicant will become available. Some landowners believe a toxicant will be the silver bullet. Currently, there are no approved poisons or toxicants legal for use on feral hogs in Texas or Oklahoma. State and federal agencies and the private sector, however, are working persistently to change this. Why don’t we have a toxicant yet? There are significant challenges with getting a new toxicant registered and approved. Lots of research and testing must be conducted to ensure there are minimal impacts to other animals, human health and the environment.
Challenges of developing toxicants
One big challenge in the development of a toxicant in the U.S. is making it species-specific. Efforts to reduce exposure to nontarget animals are important to ensure the toxicant reaches feral hogs but not native wildlife, livestock, pets or humans. Researchers are testing feeders with weighted doors, even some with animal recognition software, to keep black bears and raccoons out. Having this type of species-specific delivery system presents another challenge. Hogs are smart and often wary of man-made objects. If a weighted door must be lifted to remove the toxicant, a training period will be necessary to habituate hogs to the feeder, much like the habituation period that should take place when trapping with cage and corral traps.
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Other control methods
Photo courtesy of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
Toxicants will not be the silver bullet landowners are looking for, but will be another tool in the war on hogs. Another challenge is bait aversion. Toxic baits may be tasteless, odorless, or have an undesirable taste or odor. In any case, hogs may not eat the bait if it is not masked by a desirable product. Additionally, if a hog gets a sublethal dose of the toxin, it may learn from the negative experience it had with the bait (i.e., getting sick). One of the largest public concerns with using toxicants is the risk of secondary poisoning. Rats and mice are poisoned regularly but are not typically considered table fare like feral hogs. In addition, it takes much longer for a hog carcass to decompose than a rat, allowing more opportunity for scavenging animals to contact and consume poisoned animals. Most toxicants also are detrimental to fish.
Toxicants under consideration
Two toxicants that previously have been used in Australia to poison feral hogs are being considered for use in the U.S. The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is working with researchers to register and approve sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is used in hog poison in Australia and is used as a food preservative in the U.S. (ironically in bacon). It
causes methemoglobinemia in hogs, resulting in rapid depletion of oxygen to the brain and vital organs. Death occurs within 1.5 hours in feral hogs (Cowled et al. 2008a). Kaput is a warfarin-based bait that eventually was banned in Australia. Warfarin is a blood thinner that hogs are very susceptible to, dying within a few days of receiving a lethal dose. Texas Department of Agriculture in collaboration with Scimetrics Ltd. Corporation worked to develop Kaput. Kaput has an Enviromental Protection Agency-approved label and is currently being considered for approval in several states. Immediately following Texas Department of Agriculture approval of Kaput for restricted use in the state of Texas, legal action followed citing concerns to human health. Kaput’s producers say they will have a commercial product available in May-June 2017 if its use is legal in any states. Toxicants will not be the silver bullet landowners are looking for, but they will be another tool in the war on hogs. The Kaput label has very specific protocols for habituating hogs with a mandatory feeder, disposing of carcasses, grazing restrictions and reporting of non-target kills. It will be extremely important for applicators of toxic baits to adhere to all requirements in any
label approved by the EPA as well as any special restrictions imposed by a state. Misuse of any approved toxicant can result in damage to natural resources and result in the loss of a new tool for
June 2017 — Issue 1
Research suggests that suspended traps are one of the most effective and efficient techniques for capturing feral hogs. Corral traps are one of the most popular techniques for capturing feral hogs. Most landowners can build their own trap. Allowing feral hogs to become familiar with the trap over several days or weeks before trapping, however, is important to be successful. Hunting does not eliminate enough animals to control feral hog populations. But integrating hunting for hogs left behind after initial trapping efforts can contribute to population control.
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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News
Photos courtesy of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
Above, the most common reasons property owners use prescribed fire are brush management, wildlife habitat management and forage improvement for livestock. On the cover, property owners need to continually evaluate how often they should apply prescribed fire to accomplish or maintain their land use goals.
Burning issues
How often should you conduct prescribed burns? By Russell stevens The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
P
rescribed burns are an important way to manage the land. There are many reasons why property owners use prescribed fire. The most common reasons are brush management, wildlife habitat management and forage improvement for livestock. Since the effects of prescribed fire are temporary, property owners need continually to evaluate how often they should apply prescribed fire to accomplish or maintain their land use goals.
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Frequency vs. return interval It is important for land owners to know the difference between fire frequency anad fire return interval. The difference between fire frequency and fire return interval often is misunderstood. Fire frequency refers to the recurrence of fire in a given area over time and often is stated as the number of fires per unit time in a designated area. Fire return interval is the time between fires in a designated area. Where present, tree scars are the most
common indicator of fire frequency and return interval in a particular area, assuming the sampled trees were scarred during each fire event. For example, if tree scars indicate a particular location burned 10 out of 30 years, then the fire frequency would be once every three years. Counting growth rings between tree scars provides estimates of fire return intervals. If, in our example, the 10 fire events occurred in years 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 21, 24, 28 and 29, fire return intervals would be 6, 1, 6, 1, 1, 4, 3, 4 and 1 years, respectively.
June 2017 — Issue 1
ď‚Ť
Fire return interval guidelines
Based on prescribed fire research in the Southern Great Plains, Oklahoma State University developed a rule of thumb that says prescribed fire applied once every three years maintains brush abundance. To reduce brush, burn more often. More specifically, depending on precipitation and site productivity, OSU recommends a two- to five-year return interval to manage resprouting shrubs and trees and a five- to 15-year return interval to reduce fire sensitive species
See FIRE, Page 13
The Land & Livestock Post
News Fire, from Page 12 such as eastern red cedar. For grasslands, time since fire is the most important variPhoto courtesy of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
Even during years of less rainfall, there are situations where fire return intervals can remain close together as long as the desired plant community is maintained or being created.
able to monitor. These are all good guidelines to follow, but closer evaluation of the results of applying prescribed fire at specific locations is always more helpful.
Monitor rainfall to predict growth
Many factors influence
See BURN, Page 14
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News Burns, from Page 13 whether prescribed fire achieves particular land management goals. Weather conditions such as relative humidity, temperature and the amount of fuel during the burn probably are the biggest factors. Rainfall and grazing affect the amount of fuel, fuel moisture and fire return interval. Season of burn also influences the outcome of prescribed fire. All of these factors affect prescribed fire intensity, which in turn affects our decision regarding the proper fire return interval necessary to achieve the desired goal(s). Therefore, it is vital that prescribed fire practitioners monitor annual rainfall to predict forage growth, and manage their grazing to ensure adequate fuel loading in order to optimize the outcome of their prescribed burning efforts.
Don’t worry about the calendar year
It is not necessary to be preoccupied with planning prescribed burning events based on the calendar. Rather than planning to burn in 2017 and again three years later in 2020, use an adaptive grazing management plan and/ or monitor plant growth to burn when plant growth, not a calendar date, indicates that it’s time, based on the goals for the property.
Photo courtesy of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
Comparing current plant structure and diversity to what is desired for the property should always be the guiding factor in determining when to apply fire. Rainfall is the driver of plant growth. In a 1980 study, “Fire ecology and prescribed burning in the Great Plains: a research review,” Henry Wright stated that five- to eight-year return intervals were appropriate in a 20-inch rainfall zone while return intervals could be as often as one to three years in a 30- to 40-inch rainfall zone. Excepting recent droughts, that statement holds true today. The key is to be willing and prepared to take advantage of burning more often during good rainfall years. Woody plants certainly take advantage of good rainfall years. Even during years of less rainfall, there are situations in which fire return intervals can remain close together as long as the desired plant community is maintained or being created. A couple of examples include properties not being grazed and oak-dominated uplands. Drought can extend fire return intervals on properties even when not being grazed. When leaf litter is the fuel source, however, oak-dominated uplands often can be burned annually regardless of yearly rainfall.
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June 2017 — Issue 1
The Land & Livestock Post
News As June approaches, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is promoting early hurricane preparation owners of for livestock and horses By Paul SchattenBerg Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts have produced videos and publications to help ranchers and other horse and/or livestock owners prepare for a hurricane. Andy Vestal, AgriLife Extension specialist for emergency management in College Station, said one way people can prepare for a disaster is to be informed by reading and following the advice in preparedness publications available through the Texas EDEN website at texashelp.tamu. edu, as well as the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Bookstore at www.agrilifebookstore.org/. Vestal said hurricane season begins around June 1 and lasts through Nov. 30. “Even with modern technology, it’s almost impossible to know any earlier than about a week out if a hurricane is heading your way,” he said. “That’s why it’s especially important for people who live in
coastal areas and own livestock to start making preparations well in advance.” Vestal said those who own horses and other livestock will benefit from videos made by AgriLife Extension experts and available on YouTube. The first is “Evacuating Horses,” which features former AgriLife Extension horse specialist Brett Scott. This video can be found at bit.ly/2r3TnhV. Two additional YouTube videos feature Jason Cleere, AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist in College Station. “Hurricane Preparedness for Livestock Owners: Video 1” can be found at bit.ly/2q6PLy7. “Hurricane Preparedness for Livestock Owners: Video 2” can be found at bit. ly/2pBkQqq. Vestal said the AgriLife Extension publication “Hurricane Preparedness for Livestock Producers” by Joe Paschal, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist in Corpus Christi, also is available on the Texas EDEN and bookstore sites.
Manage, from Page 14
Consider eastern red cedar
Eastern red cedar provides another example of using plant growth to establish fire return intervals. Depending on the amount of annual rainfall over time and soil productivity, in most situations Eastern red cedar will not become too large in three years or less to control with fire. I personally have property of marginal-to-average productivity in Love County, Oklahoma, that I have not burned in six years. The Eastern red cedar trees are not yet too large to control with prescribed fire. It is time for another fire, however, when considering the maturing structure of other woody plants, the reduced amount of herbaceous plants, continued Eastern red cedar growth, and the fact that I want the plant community in this burn unit to provide habitat for white-tailed deer and turkey. Comparing current plant structure and diversity to what is desired for the property always should be the guiding factor in determining when
The Land & Livestock Post
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo
Information on how to prepare livestock for a hurricane can be found inTexasA&MAgriLife Extension Service videos and publications. “This guide shows how to help protect livestock from in-
to apply fire. Rainfall is the driver. More rainfall provides the opportunity to burn more frequently and vice versa. Decisions based on these factors always will be more effective than planning by the calendar. And, as John Weir, my esteemed prescribed fire colleague at Oklahoma State University always says, be opportunistic with your burn planning!
jury should a hurricane occur and briefly covers vaccinations, barn preparation, livestock evacuations, feed and hay, and water storage,” he said. Vestal said additional AgriLife Extension hurricane-related resources can be found on Texas EDEN at bit.ly/2q8Lp8c. “Texas EDEN and bookstore websites have additional information on disaster preparation
and recovery, most available free of charge,” Vestal said. “There are also e-book format downloads for mobile devices for these publications. “These materials contain useful information provided by the agency and other Texas A&M University System experts, as well as experts from state and federal agencies and the national land-grant university Extension system.”
The difference between frequency and return interval
Fire frequency Fire frequency refers to the recurrence of fire in a given area over time and often is stated as the number of fires per unit time in a designated area. Fire return interval Fire return interval is the time between fires in a designated area. • Russell Stevens is strategic consultation manager for The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
June 2017 — Issue 1
Scott Milligan - Manager 39606 FM 1736 West • Hempstead, TX 77445 806.683.6435 • scottm@rioranchtx.com
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News LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORT Brazos Valley
Results of the Brazos Valley Livestock Commission’s May 9 sale. (updated) Head: 900 Steers: 200-300 lbs., $185$227; 300-400 lbs., $165-$213; 400-500 lbs., $150-$175; 500600 lbs., $140-$163; 600-700 lbs., $130-$152; 700-800 lbs., $131-$140 Heifers: 200-300 lbs., $164$192; 300-400 lbs., $147-$175; 400-500 lbs., $140-$158; 500600 lbs., $130-$148; 600-700 lbs., $120-$136; 700-800 lbs., $120-$126 Slaughter bulls: $65-$87 Slaughter cows: $50-$72 Bred cows: $850-$1, 400 Cow/calf pairs: $1, 150-$1, 800
Buffalo
Results of the Buffalo Livestock Commission’s May 6 sale. Head: 1429 Steers: 150-200 lbs., $160$235; 200-300 lbs., $160-$215;
Recover, from Page 8 “With the average cost higher than the market value, if you are not cognizant of that, you are going to lose money fast,” Holloway said. Another message from Bevers was to make sure fertility is enhanced. Fertility is the No. 1 input cost. If the analysis doesn’t include the number of cows exposed to the number bred to the calves weaned, it is not an accurate picture. Other suggestions from Bevers include controlling spending — don’t buy a $50,000 feed wagon, when a $10,000 pickup that can be bounced around the pasture will get the job done. Make sure the cattle are utilizing the pasture efficiently — make them eat all the forage instead of just the plants they like. The second day tour focused on weed and brush control, and grass grazing and animal man-
16
300-400 lbs., $155-$200; 400500 lbs., $150-180; 500-600 lbs., $145-$175; 600-700 lbs., $125$162; 700-800 lbs., $110-$140 Heifers: 150-200 lbs., $150$207; 200-300 lbs., $140-$200; 300-400 lbs., $130-$200; 400-500 lbs., $120-$190; 500600 lbs., $115-$172; 600-700 lbs.,$105-$150; 700-800 lbs., $100 -$127 Slaughter bulls: $70-$103 Slaughter cows: $45-$82 Bred cows: $800-$1,425 Cow/calf pairs: $850-$1, 785
Caldwell Results of the Caldwell Livestock Commission’s May 10 sale. (updated) Head: 802 Steers: 200-300 lbs., $185$275; 300-400 lbs., $170-$200; 400-500 lbs., $160-$167; 500600 lbs., $145-$160; 600-700 lbs., $135-$150; 700-800 lbs., $125-$135 Heifers: 200-300 lbs., $177-
agement, Holloway said. “The weed and brush control information will factor into the burned-out country that is now regrowing with lots of weeds and forbs and brushy plants on these sandhills,” he said. “There’s some grass, but it will have a lot of competition and grass development can be enhanced with good weed and brush control methods.” Tim Steffens, AgriLife Extension and West Texas A&M University range specialist in Canyon, said well-managed ranches could be ready for some grazing after the first frost if timely rains continue through the summer. But on ranches not as well managed, the grass may not be ready for grazing for several years. Holloway said anyone who would like to hear more of the speakers’ messages can go to the Hemphill County Texas A&M AgriLife Beef Cattle Conference YouTube channel at bit. ly/2r4rIOc.
$217; 300-400 lbs., $160-$195; 400-500 lbs., $150-$170; 500600 lbs., $135-$150; 600-700 lbs., $125-$145; 700-800 lbs., $115-$121 Slaughter bulls: $75-$88 Slaughter cows: $55-$75 Bred cows: $650-$1, 300 Cow/calf pairs: $800-$2, 000
Groesbeck
Results of the Groesbeck Auction and Livestock Company’s May 4 sale. Head: 380 Steers: 300-400 lbs., $185$215; 400-500 lbs., $197-$183; 500-600 lbs., $135-$172; 600700 lbs., $125-$157 Heifers: 300-400 lbs., $150$185; 400-500 lbs., $132-$165; 500-600 lbs., $115-$155; 600700 lbs., $112-$150 Slaughter bulls: $84-$95
Slaughter cows: $55-$78 Bred cows: $750-$1, 500 Cow/calf pairs: $1, 200-$1,800
Jordan
Results of the Jordan Cattle Auction’s May 11 sale. Head: 6, 417 Steers: Under 200 lbs., $185$240; 200-300 lbs., $175-$220; 300-400 lbs., $165-$212.5; 400500 lbs., $150-$185; 500-600 lbs., $145-$161; 600-700 lbs., $140-$155; 700-800 lbs., $128$139.5 Heifers: Under 200lbs., $170$230; 200-300 lbs., $160-$195; 300-400 lbs., $145-$157.5; 400500 lbs., $135-$155; 500-600 lbs., $130-$148; 600-700 lbs., $125-$156; 700-800 lbs., $115$136 Slaughter bulls: $74-$93 Slaughter cows: $54-$77 Bred cows: $900-$1, 800
Cow/calf pairs: $1, 000-$2, 550
Navasota Results of the Navasota Livestock Commission’s May 6 sale. (updated) Head: 1, 443 Steers: 150-300 lbs., $115$235; 300-400 lbs., $115-$205; 400-500 lbs., $115-$177.5; 500600 lbs., $110-$165; 600-700 lbs., $110-$151 Heifers: 150-300 lbs., $115$220; 300-400 lbs., $115-$185; 400-500 lbs., $115-$160; 500600 lbs., $110-$155; 600-700 lbs., $105-$145 Slaughter bulls: $65-$95 Slaughter cows: $40-$74 Bred cows: $700-$1,200 Cow/calf pairs: $800-$1, 850 — Special to The Post
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The Land & Livestock Post
News Pilgrim’s Pride to replace aging A&M poultry feed mill By AdAm Russell Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University’s department of animal science poultry feed mill in College Station provides tens of thousands of chickens with nourishment each day, but is more than half a century old and showing its age. Amid a layer of cobwebs, corn dust, soybean flakes and other ingredients that make up tons of feed produced for dozens of the university’s poultry science research projects each week lies archaic machinery that is holding back scientific progress and giving the staff headaches and daily worries. A $1 million gift from Pilgrim’s Pride, however, is expected to improve capacity and reliability by replacing the 54-year-old system. Jason Lee, assistant professor for poultry nutrition in College Station, said the goal of the department and studies conducted through Texas A&M AgriLife Research is to grow better chickens while being more efficient, and the new feed mill will help scientists in that endeavor. “Our research focuses on nutrient densities,” said Lee. “So how much energy, protein and minerals are in the feed, and we
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Adam Russell
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research poultry feed mill in College Station will receive an upgrade after Pilgrim’s Pride announced a $1 million gift to create the Department of Poultry Science Feed Mill,Industry Education and Outreach Support fund. observe how that affects growth performance.” The current feed mill is a 1963 California Pellet Mill system refurbished and installed for the poultry department in 1986, said Russell Rhoden, assistant facility manager. When it was put in, it could churn out 2 tons of feed per hour, but now it can operate only at half-speed, producing a ton per hour for the department’s 20,000 to 25,000 laying and broiler chickens. The feed mill is the epitome of inefficiency. According to Rhoden, unloading 53,000 pounds of corn takes an hour and a half, when it could take minutes with the new system. Corn is dumped into a small unloading auger that is swung under the grand trailer manually by staff. Micro-ingredients, such as phosphorous, vitamins and minerals for specific research experiments are added into the
See POULTRY, Page 18
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The Land & Livestock Post
June 2017 — Issue 1
17
News Poultry, from Page 17 mixer manually. Steam, which binds the ingredients, is adjusted by hand based on “sights and sounds” of the machine. The levels of steam must be precise to avoid clogs or poor pellet binding. “You know when it’s happy, and you know when you might have a long day ahead of you,” Rhoden said. Researchers are forced to order 100 more pounds of feed than necessary for each treatment to account for spillage from rusted–out holes in the system that often have been covered by foil and duct tape. Rhoden and other mill operators stay until feed is produced on schedule for projects. Researchers are cognizant of their time because some staff are full-time students, but the feed mill staff also are aware of their responsibility to the department and the animals. As a result, they often work 50- to 60-hour weeks and sometimes around the clock to meet schedules. “Not having enough feed is not an option,” Rhoden said. “We’ve never lost a bird because of a breakdown, but you never know how long you might be from one day to the next to keep the mill going.” Because the machine is so old, parts must be fabricated by CPM, the original feed mill system company, so breakdowns of the machine can mean several days before feed turnout begins again, according to Micah Osburn, associate facility manager. Monthly maintenance and cleaning schedules sometimes need to be pushed due to feeding schedules. “We’d love to be able to do proactive maintenance on the equipment, but that is rarely an option because we can’t afford the down time,” Osburn said. The new system will increase
the mill’s capacity to 4-5 tons per hour. Osburn said the increased capacity means the system won’t have to run every day and new machinery means the staff won’t be crossing their fingers and hoping for the best when they arrive each day. David Caldwell, department head, said he was grateful to Pilgrim’s Pride for its generous support and establishment of the Department of Poultry Science Feed Mill, Industry Education and Outreach Support fund. Caldwell said he believes the expansion of the faculty-led research programs, student education opportunities and outreach programs with the commercial poultry industry have been suppressed by the current feed manufacturing capacity. “This gift comes at an exciting and critical time in our department’s growth,” Caldwell said. “This timely gift from Pilgrim’s Pride will allow us to modernize our feed mill with commercial industry-relevant equipment and boost our feed manufacturing capacity. That added capacity will also feed expanded research in poultry sciences over the next several decades.”
Olive Oil conference to be in San Antonio By Kathleen PhilliPs Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
SAN ANTONIO — The annual conference of the Texas Association of Olive Oil will be June 16 at Freeman Coliseum, 3201 E. Houston St. in San Antonio. Registration begins at 8 a.m. The program, which includes lunch, will be from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Members may register for $50, and non-members for $150 at bit.ly/Texasoliveoilmeet. The conference is sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Department of Agriculture. The session will open with a review of climate constraints on olive growing in Texas by Monte Nesbitt, AgriLife Extension horticulturist in College Station. Adam Englehardt, president of U.S. operations for Boundary Bend Olives in Woodward, California, will talk about orchard establishment considerations. Jim Kamas, AgriLife Extension fruit specialist in Fredericksburg, will talk about pres-
Olive orchards are increasingly popular in Texas, and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is helping growers determine the best management practices. ent and future control of cotton
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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Monte Nesbitt
root rot in olive orchards. Brian Mori, grower relations manager for California Olive Ranch, will present “Super High Density Olives — Management Keys to Success.” Following lunch, the topic for David Garci-Aguirre, vice president of operations and master miller for Corto Olive Co. in California, will be pre- and postharvest keys to producing extra virgin olive oil in Texas. Also on the agenda for the afternoon are presentations on development of a sound olive orchard nutrition program by Jake Mowrer, AgriLife Extension soil and crop specialist in College Station; prevention and control of olive knot disease by Sheila McBride, diagnostician, Texas A&M AgriLife Plant Disease Clinic in College Station For more information, go to txaoo.org/.
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News Olive trees may bounce back from devastating January freeze By Kathleen PhilliPs Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Brittle limbs, dropped leaves and dead trees are the telltale marks of three days in January when much of the Texas olive producing area experienced temperatures as low as 12 degrees. It’s a setback for the state’s fledgling olive oil industry, according to Monte Nesbitt, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist in College Station. But the good news is that olive trees often recover. “The freeze Jan. 6-8 was broad across the southern part of the state, with temperatures ranging from about 12 to 19 degrees,” Nesbitt said. “It covered a large area, and for olives it was fairly damaging. “One of the problems is we don’t get consistent weather in Texas,” Nesbitt added. “We get intermittent cold weather mixed with the warm. The trees go through an acclimation, deacclimation process, which isn’t good for them. “When an olive tree freezes
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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Monte Nesbitt
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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News
Turning plant waste into quality carbon fiber By Kathleen PhilliPs Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Waste material from the paper and pulp industry soon could be made into anything from tennis rackets to cars. “We have overcome one of the industry’s most challenging issues by discovering how to make good quality carbon fiber from waste,” said Joshua Yuan, Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist and associate professor of plant pathology and microbiology in College Station. T he research was published recently in Green Chemistry, the peer-reviewed journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. “People have been thinking about using lignin to make carbon fiber for many years, but achieving good quality has been an issue,” Yuan said.
Carbon fiber
About 50 million tons of lignin — or structural part of a plant — piles up each year as waste from the U.S. paper and pulping industry, he said. Additional lignin could come from biorefineries that use plants to produce ethanol, yielding another 100 million to 200 million tons of lignin waste each year. Yet only about 2 percent of the lignin waste is currently recycled into new products, Yuan said. “Lignin is considered as one of the most abundant biopolymers in the world,” he said. “All this waste accumulates, and
it will be great to use it for something.” Yuan’s research team has had several successes in making fuel and bioproducts from lignin. But even the biofuel making process leaves a large stockpile of waste. That led them to consider the possibility of making carbon fiber material. Carbon fiber is not a new concept. It has been toyed with since 1860 — mostly for light bulbs originally — and is known for high strength, low weight and heat tolerance. But it has been expensive to produce by traditional means. “If you cannot produce quality carbon material, it’s really not useful,” Yuan said. So the team examined lignin more closely. “What we found i s that lignin is a mixture of many molecules of many sizes and different chemical properties. Through fractionation, we separated lignin into different parts, and then we found that certain parts of lignin are very good for high quality carbon fiber manufacturing,” he said. The researcher noted that lignin is a complex molecule, but when the high-density, high molecular weight portion is separated from the rest, it has a uniform structure that allows the formation of high quality carbon fiber. “We are still improving and fine-tuning the quality, but eventually this carbon fiber could
See CARBON, Page 23
The Land & Livestock Post
Photo courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists are looking at ways to make carbon fiber economically from plant waste from the paper and pulp indistries.
June 2017 — Issue 1
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June 2017 — Issue 1
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News Carbon, from Page 21 be used for windmills, sport materials and even bicycles and cars,” he said. “Carbon fiber is much lighter but has the same mechanical strength as other materials used for those products now. This material can be used for a lot of different applications. “The beauty of this technology is that it allows us to use lignin completely. “Basically what we do is fractionate lignin so that the high molecular weight fraction can be used for carbon fiber and the low molecular weight fraction can be used use for bioplastics and products like asphalt binder modifier used on roads.” Yuan envisions a multi-stream integrated biorefinery in which lignin is separated in one location so that a variety of materials — the high density carbon fibers and the low density bioplastics, along with biofuels from plant feedstock like grasses — could
be made at one facility. “When we are able to use the same biomass to produce different things, that allows the best economic return by being sustainable,” he said. “Eventually that would lead to increasing jobs and enhancing rural economic growth. “And the entire supply chain is in the United States, which means the jobs would be here. The biomass is grown, harvested
and transported here. It would be difficult to ever ship that much waste to another country for production. It all stays here,” Yuan said. “It would put agriculture production and industry together in a bioeconomy making renewable products.” His research is supported with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technology Office.
Photo courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Joshua Yuan, Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist and associate professor of plant pathology and microbiology in College Station,is researching wys to turn waste material from the paper and pulp industry into anything from tennis rackets to cars.
The Land & Livestock Post
June 2017 — Issue 1
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June 2017 — Issue 1
The Land & Livestock Post