Texas A&M AgriLife reopened several upgraded facilities in Vernon, including office, laboratory and storage spaces, which sustained damage from a tornado in May 2022.
Texas A&M AgriLife reopens research and extension facilities at Vernon
Author: Lileen Coulloudon
Texas A&M AgriLife releases cover crop grazing guidance
Producers in the Southern Great Plains looking to boost soil health on their lands while earning added income from livestock grazing can now access new guidance from Texas A&M AgriLife experts.
Professional society names Ale Texas Agricultural Engineer of the Year
Srinivasulu Ale, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research agrohydrologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Vernon, has been named the 2024 Agricultural Engineer of the Year by the Texas section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, ASABE.
Texas A&M AgriLife to develop market for high-oil peanuts
The growing market for peanuts isn’t in candy bars or sports stadiums but in cooking oil and renewable fuel. A Texas A&M AgriLife team is exploring avenues to help develop this new pipeline for producing high-oil peanuts.
Crossing a new frontier in hardy hibiscus breeding
Novel coral-flowering hibiscus hybrid developed by Texas A&M AgriLife Research breeder
After the breakthrough achievements of creating blue and maroon flower colors in hardy hibiscus, Texas A&M AgriLife plant physiologist and breeder Dariusz Malinowski, Ph.D., has now developed the first-ever coral-colored hibiscus.
The coral-colored hibiscus is the latest creation from what started as a hobby for Malinowski in 2005 and has grown to the point that Vernon is now considered the Hibiscus Capitol of Texas.
Texas A&M AgriLife’s public breeding program releases new wheat, triticale varieties
Increase in seed production from Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed to potentially reach farmers in 2024
Two new wheat varieties and a new triticale variety are headed to farmers in the fall of 2024, according to an announcement by Texas A&M AgriLife and the Texas A&M Wheat Improvement Program.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research wheat breeders Jackie Rudd, Ph.D., in Amarillo and Amir Ibrahim, Ph.D., in Bryan-College Station, both within the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, made the announcement at the recent small grains field day at the research plots near Bushland.
The wheat breeders put their experimental lines through observation trials and 20 elite line breeder trials before planting them in uniform variety trials at 30 locations across the state to test the genetics by environment.
Repairing tornado damage takes time, but research, outreach continue
Texas A&M AgriLife ensures facilities at Vernon are operational, serving stakeholders
Advancing the newest peanut varieties may take an extra year and this year’s peanut crop may not run through the new peanut sheller. But the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center and Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed at Vernon continue to serve their clients after a May 4 tornado.
Tornado hits Texas A&M AgriLife facilities at Vernon
Cleanup underway through outpouring of community support
Following a May 4 tornado, the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon and Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed are finding comfort in community support from Vernon to Wichita Falls and from the entire Texas A&M AgriLife statewide network.
The Texas A&M AgriLife properties in the community of Lockett, just south of Vernon, took a direct hit from the tornado, severely damaging many buildings and impacting ongoing research. The facilities are home to the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service programs for the Rolling Plains region.
New Tamrun peanut varieties announced
Texas A&M AgriLife breeding program offers earlier-maturing, higher-yielding varieties
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research peanut breeding program has announced the release of two new varieties, Tamrun OL18L and Tamrun OL19, for the West Texas and South Texas production regions.
Both varieties are high-yielding, high-oleic, early maturing, runner-type peanuts, said Mark Burow, Ph.D., AgriLife Research peanut geneticist with a joint appointment at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
The goal was to develop a peanut that allows for earlier harvest than is possible with current cultivars to reduce the potential for off-flavors associated with immaturity at harvest. Additional goals were improving yield, grade and other agronomic characteristics when compared to Tamrun OL12 and Tamnut OL06.
‘Brown-bagging’ crop seed affects producers as well as research advances
Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed increases promotion of certified seed
As producers get back into their fields for a new season, Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed is stepping up its efforts to educate producers on the benefits of using certified seed and the legalities involved when “brown-bagging.”
Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed, located near Vernon, is a nonprofit, stand-alone unit of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The Foundation supports most of the plant material improvement efforts of Texas A&M AgriLife statewide.