The Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center at Stephenville focuses on food, fiber, natural resources, and environmental management systems with a focus the growing urban influence in a traditionally rural setting. Scientists at the Stephenville Center are involved in efforts to mitigate the carbon footprint, expand biofuel feedstock, peanut breeding to develop genetic resistance or tolerance to diseases and insects, and more.
Key Research Areas
- Insect Vectored Plant Diseases
- Peanut Germplasm Collection, Protection and Utilization
- Dairy Phosphorous Management and Surface Water Protection
Research Impacts
- Stephenville center researchers have developed new methods of screening water and soil samples to mitigate bacterial contamination of watersheds.
- Stephenville scientists developed an in-vitro embryo production and transfer system to improve summer fertility in commercial or dairy cows, this advance saves the industry $40 million annually.
- Stephenville center researchers developed strategies to increase waste management efficiency by 45% through on-dairy phosphorus recycling, which saves dairy producers $900 in land purchase or lease costs.
Featured projects
- Peanut variety development and release
- Peanut germplasm collection
- Microbial metagenomics/massively parallel DNA sequencing.
- Using fire ant pathogens as biocontrol measures with existing bait treatments. Contact Researcher
- Overlapping pathogens shared by native bees and honey bees. Contact Researcher
- Plant germplasm characterization/genotyping by sequencing. Contact Researcher
- Environmental impacts of concentrated animal feeding operations. Contact Researcher
- Antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural production systems. Contact Researcher
- Nutrient management from a nutritional and environmental standpoint. Also, using stable isotopes in ruminant animals to determine protein and amino acid requirements. Contact Researcher
- Domestic native herbaceous species for pastures, rangeland rehabilitation, roadside and pipeline revegetation, and grassland restoration. Contact Researcher
- Harnessing legume condensed tannins for ruminant nutrition, health and environmental impact mitigation. Contact Researcher
- Multiple-use legumes for forage, wildlife, bioenergy feedstock, soil fertility and phytoremediation. Contact Researcher
- A river basin approach for addressing multiple bacterial impairments in the Upper Trinity River Basin. Contact Researcher