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We've had little rain over much of the state (notably still lacking in the High Plains and Central Texas) and a few warm days and spring is on its way. Planting is moving forward, students have returned from spring break and our graduating students are being sought for careers and graduate school.
Winter has been very active for the department as we have conducted interviews for turf specialists and research leadership in soil carbon, biofuels, hemp and all major crops. Those joining our faculty during the winter are getting their programs rolling and it is an exciting time around the state with far more opportunities than hours in the day.
This season we are investing heavily in helping producers tackle issues by enhancing our stewardship education regarding pesticides, working to better understand the potential for carbon credits to impact our farming operations, highlighting the importance of soil testing with rapidly increasing fertilizer costs and guiding those producing turfgrass on managing spring issues.
Thanks to our many donors who support our students and make so much of our work a possibility. It is exciting to have so many former students who support us through everything from memorials, life-estates and gift agreements.
I had the opportunity to participate with the ASA-CSSA-SSSA Congressional visits day. It was extremely timely that they were in the middle of budget negotiations for the 2022 and 2023 budget. Our students did a great job of representing agriculture to Congress. Our commodity groups have been active during the winter, and we have had the opportunity to meet with corn, wheat, turf, cotton, soils, hemp and peanuts. We will have the Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America meeting next week in Dallas. Annual evaluations are progressing rapidly and it is great to read of the successes of our faculty members and discuss their plans. Special thanks to everyone for their efforts to nominate our faculty and staff for various awards.
The Faculty Advisory Committee is under the leadership of Bill Rooney. After some initial delays with the transition in Provost and others, the committee will begin the Academic Program Review process will be starting in April. This will be a great opportunity to envision the future of the department.
Have a great Spring!
Thanks & Gig 'em!
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| David Baltensberger, Ph.D.
Professor and Department Head
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| Top News from Soil and Crop Sciences
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Texas A&M AgriLife Research's
Cobalt St. Augustine ready for production
Cobalt, the latest turfgrass developed by Texas A&M AgriLife researchers in the Turfgrass program, combines technological innovation with consumer demands to produce the most drought-resistant St. Augustine variety on the market. The hybrid was created using embryo-rescue technology to achieve drought and pest resistance from one parent plant, and deep color, cold and shade tolerance from the other.
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Texas to lead drone data processing as part of $15 million national wheat product
A Texas A&M AgriLife team led by Amir Ibrahim, Ph.D., will coordinate with 19 public university wheat breeding programs to create an unmanned aircraft system, or drone, data hub as part of a $15 million U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to help bolster wheat production.
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Cotton harvester donation does more than pick cotton
A family of former students with a legacy in agriculture are helping to make an impact for cotton research and teaching by donating a cotton harvester to the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. The Hlavinka family's donation is helping to improve the future of the department's programs, as well as with other programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
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Extension faculty and students receive awards from National Cotton Council
The department's Emi Kimura, Ph.D., associate professor, agronomist and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state peanut specialist, was among the award recipients, earning the
Dr. J. Tom Cothren Outstanding Research In Cotton Award. Three grad students also received awards during the student poster and oral presentation competitions at the 2022 Beltwide Cotton Conferences held in San Antonio.
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Deep soil testing offers producers opportunity to reduce input costs
A recent Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service team involving associate professor and agronomist Jourdan Bell, Ph.D., looked at how deep soil testing could help producers take advantage of residual nitrogen in the soil and reduce fertilizer use. The team found deep soil testing can translate to a cost-savings from $8-$116 per acre for producers.
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Please help us in welcoming associate research scientist Carolina Brandani, Ph.D., our newest soil scientist that joined us in February. She is currently at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo.
We also had some great accomplishments and awards to celebrate, including:
- Visiting Scientist B.B. Singh's home university honored him by naming an auditorium in his honor for his immense contribution in the field of science and agriculture.
- Doctoral students Andrew Osburn received second place and Ubaldo Vyas Tyagi tied for third place in the Weed Science Society of America poster competition.
- Sam Feagley's, Ph.D., work with the Texas Mining and Reclamation Association's workshops was honored with the 2022 National Education Award in the Public Outreach category by the Interstate Mining Compact Commission.
- Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2022 Soil and Crop Sciences Departmental Awards!
- Master's student Conlan Burbrink was named the SAFE Scholar by the Sports Field Management Association. Burbrink is advised by Chase Straw, Ph.D.
- Four students also won awards during the 59th annual Soil Survey and Land Resource workshop. They include:
- Kathy Quiñonez-Gonzalez – First Place – Oral Presentation.
Kathy is a doctoral student in soil science advised by Peyton Smith, Ph.D. - Harrison Coker – Third Place – Oral Presentation
Harrison is a master’s student in soil science advised by Julie Howe, Ph.D. - Bismark Osei – First place – Poster Presentation
Bismark is a doctoral student in soil science advised by Briana Wyatt, Ph.D. - Kathryn Watkins – Second Place – Poster Presentation
Kathryn is a senior plant and environmental soil science major who is advised by Briana Wyatt, Ph.D.
- Doctoral student Jose Diaz received first place in the agriculture category of the Graduate and Professional Student Poster session at this year's Student Research Week. Diaz is co-advised by Ben Wherley, Ph.D., and Chase Straw, Ph.D.
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April 7-9: Students of Agronomy, Soils, and Environmental Sciences (SASES) Annual Meeting
April 8-9: Ring Day
April 8-10: Texas A&M University Family Weekend
April 12 at 6 p.m.: Soil and Crop Sciences Annual Undergraduate Awards Banquet
May 4: Turfgrass Student and Staff Golf Outing
May 12 at 10 a.m.: Graduation
Don't miss out on upcoming events across our department, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Texas A&M AgriLife.
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About the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences
The Department of Soil and Crop Sciences is one of the largest such departments in the nation and is preeminent throughout the world. Through our undergraduate and graduate programs, we're training future leaders, poised to advance soil and crop sciences to solve global issues in human, economic and environmental health. Our world-famous faculty have a presence in every county in Texas. Working in partnership with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, their goal is to conduct soil and crop sciences research through trials and experimentation and then transfer that new knowledge to the public.
aglifesciences.tamu.edu | soilcrop.tamu.edu
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