United Family stores will carry winter-hardy plants in July from Dallas to Albuquerque

Rarely are Texas Plains gardeners able to purchase flowers bred specifically for their region. But in July, the United Family chain of stores will offer winter-hardy hibiscus plants bred by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research ornamental breeding program in Vernon.

The United Family has stores from Dallas-Fort Worth to Albuquerque that will participate in this distribution of winter-hardy hibiscus. The distribution will include some Texas A&M AgriLife-bred plants, with particular emphasis on the Vernon and Wichita Falls stores, said Bradley Gaines, business director for floral with the United Family, Lubbock.

The floral departments in about 90 stores will offer the plants, some of which will be from the award-winning Summer Spice Collection by J. Berry Nursery. This specific collection contains winter-hardy hibiscus bred by Dariusz Malinowski, Ph.D., AgriLife Research plant physiologist in the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon.

More than 50 years building extensive germplasm collection

For 54 years, Charles Simpson, Ph.D., has been making a difference in the peanut products America eats – and on July 1, he was honored by the American Peanut Council with the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award at the USA Peanut Congress in New Orleans.

Simpson, peanut germplasm explorer and breeder for Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Stephenville, was recognized “for his tireless efforts in peanut germplasm collection and preservation.”

Simpson, a professor emeritus in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences plant breeding program, retired in 2003 but still maintains an extensive germplasm collection at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Stephenville.

Goal is firm, flavorful, attractive, high-yield tomato with extended shelf life

A proposed project involving the characterization of a new breeding line of tomatoes developed by the Texas A&M AgriLife breeding program at Weslaco could further enhance Texas’ reputation for growing exceptional produce, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists.   

The development of flavorful, nutritious and firm tomatoes with a long shelf life, good appearance and high yield is the “holy grail” of tomato improvement, said Carlos Avila, Ph.D., AgriLife Research vegetable breeder based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco and principal investigator for the project.

Co-principal investigators are Kevin Crosby, Ph.D., AgriLife Research vegetable breeder at Texas A&M University, Bryan-College Station, and Vijay Joshi, Ph.D., AgriLife Research vegetable system physiologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde.

Shared moral values could be key for wildlife, nature conservancy support

Animal rights advocates and hunters may have more in common than they think when it comes to nature conservancy, according to a newly published study by a Texas A&M AgriLife researcher.

The research studied whether an individual’s empathy level toward wildlife predicted their support for conservation efforts. Researchers believe the study can be used to identify individuals and how they view the intrinsic value of nature in ways that can be leveraged to promote wildlife conservation.  

Measuring and understanding people’s commitment to nature conservancy based on personal morals will be key to combatting wildlife losses and ecosystem disruptions in the short- and long-term, said Gerard Kyle, Ph.D., professor and associate department head for academic programs in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management.

Texas A&M study to develop management strategies, stocking density guidelines

Space and exercise could be almost as important as food and water to the successful development of beef heifers raised in drylots, and quantifying that importance is the aim of a planned study by a Texas A&M University Department of Animal Science researcher in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Reproductive development of replacement heifers dictates the overall efficiency of cow-calf operations. In order to maximize efficiency and minimize resource use, beef industry replacement heifers are increasingly being housed in drylots. While the practice is less common in Texas than in other areas of the country, land-use trends suggest it may become more prevalent, said Texas A&M’s Reinaldo Cooke, Ph.D., beef cattle production associate professor.

As an example, Houston, Navasota and College Station will soon become one big metropolitan area,” Cooke said. “We are going to have less grass resources for cattle, competing with urban development and crop production. I don’t believe the whole industry will change to confined operations, but we need to find management systems to make sure we are maintaining or promoting production efficiency and fostering animal welfare.”