AGGIEagenda

In this issue

Department Head Notes

Sympathy

Congratulations

Dept. News

soilcrop.tamu.edu

Department of Soil and Crop Sciences

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June /July 2014

Soil &

Crop Sciences

T A M U

AGGIEI hope everyone had a great 4th of July. A special thanks to Dr. Travis Miller and all he has committed to the department both as Extension Specialist and Associate Department Head. His efforts are truly appreciated and made a huge difference for the department. We wish him the very best in his new role in Extension Administration as Associate Director for State Operations. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Mark McFarland will serve as acting Associate Department Head until the paperwork is finalized to make it permanent. It is extremely exciting that we are able to continue to fill new positions and refill vacancies. Kudos to the search committees that have wrapped up work to place Dr. Katie Lewis in the soil fertility position at Lubbock, Dr. Haly Neely in the Spatial Soil and Water Science position in College Station, Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan in the weed science position at College Station, Dr. Jourdan Bell in the Extension Agronomy positon in Amarillo, Dr. Xuejun Dong in the Agronomy physiology positon at Uvalde, Dr. Anil Somenahally in the Soil Fertility position at Overton, and the groups that will be working to fill the Extension Agronomist position at Corpus, and Extension Agronomist position at Vernon. We will also be looking to refill Dr. McFarland’s position as he moves into the role of Associate Department Head. A big whoop to all of our recent award recipients, outstanding student presentations, and to Cristine Morgan for leadership in the International Soil Judging Contest in Korea. It is truly exciting to see so many of our faculty, staff and students recognized for the great effort they are putting forward. Congratulations to Dr. Youjun Deng on his successful Clay Mineralogy Conference that he hosted here at Texas A&M. There was great attendance, exciting presentations, opportunity for interaction, and many favorable comments about A&M. A special whoop to Dr. Dixon for being featured in SSSA news.

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This past month we have had the opportunity to work on new research opportunities with DOW and Monsanto, and to explore future opportunities utilizing the rainfall simulator located at the Riverside campus. We had a great Stiles field day, Eagle Lake field day, and tours with companies at our Brazos bottom farm and nearby. The numerous turn-row meetings and events keep us in touch with our clientele and provide input into future research needs. I will visit Washington D.C. with the A-C-S group for agency visits this week. This is a great opportunity to get a feel for where agencies are looking to go in the future that provide significant funding for our scientists. Unfortunately, this conflicts with the Soils Critique. I am anxious to hear a report from the soils group about the future of soils activities in the department upon my return.We are also working on more strategic efforts on endowed giving including efforts for forage, turf, soils research, soil judging, breeding and crop management. To make a contribution to the department visit our web site, contact David Baltensperger or Cara Milligan (979-847-9314) in the Foundation Office. Next week I will be in Nebraska to celebrate the marriage of my youngest daughter, Katie Baltensperger to Matt Thurber. An exciting time for the Baltensperger family. Enjoy the few warm days that remain between now and the start of our school year. Remember that the first day of class this year is Labor Day.

SympathyPlease keep Lauren Thompson, our Communications Specialist in your prayers. Her grandmother Mrs. Dorothy Jordan, passed away in June.

Keith McCree, former member of our faculty, died on May 12. He was living in Eugene, OR. Keith had a profound influence on plant physiology. He was one of the first to bring a rigorous biophysical approach to plant physiology. It was Keith who coined the term “Photosynthetically Active Radiation”, and developed the concept of growth and maintenance respiration in plants. Keith brought his rigorous approach to teaching as well, through his graduate course in Crop Physics. A gifted experimentalist, he embraced computer simulation in the latter part of his career as a tool for understanding plant response to the environment. Keith’s last graduate student was Carlos Fernandez, a member of our department.

Keith had the reputation as someone who could be difficult to deal with, in part because of his high standards, but he was in reality a kind and gentle man. He had a great love of the outdoors, which he exhibited in his retirement years with his many hikes and photography of wildflowers he encountered along the trails.

Welcome to the Department

Please welcome Muthu Bagavathiannan to the department!

Muthu started as an assistant professor in Weed and Crop Ecology in June. His research interests fall within the broader areas of Weed Science and Agronomy, with particular emphases on weed and crop ecology. Herbicides have been the cornerstones of weed management in broad acre farming, but an injudicious use has led to the evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds in several agricultural systems across the world. The increasing incidences of herbicide resistance and loss of effective herbicide options threaten crop production and global food security.

Congratulations!

Dr. Travis Miller, whose expertise in crops and their production systems led him to assist farmers throughout the state for 35 years, has been named the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service interim director for state operations.Miller had been the agency’s associate head and AgriLife Extension program leader for soil and crop sciences, based at Texas A&M University, since 2001. “Dr. Miller is well known and respected throughout the state for his knowledge and ability to work with people both within and beyond the agency,” said Dr. Doug Steele, AgriLife Extension director. “I know his skills will be vital in carrying our agency forward to meet the needs of the people of Texas through the educational resources of our agency.”Miller said his new role is both “challenging and exciting.”“I’ve traveled extensively in most of the state and have had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of

people and commodity folks,” Miller said. “But this role is much broader, so I am visiting withalarge number of groups both internally and externally to begin with. I want to do my best in this role, and this requires that I have to know more about each component.”Central to his position, Miller believes, will be a look at the critical needs in personnel and programming areas to fill any missing parts to help the agency provide the best educational experiences and support for people in Texas.Miller said he has conducted educational programs for farmers in about 75 percent of the state during his career. He joined AgriLife Extension in 1979 as an agronomist based in Weslaco, where he worked with farmers and did programming, primarily with cotton, grains and soybeans in the Rio Grande Valley.In 1982, Miller became the state agronomist for small grains and soybeans, headquartered in College Station, a position he held until 2001.After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in agricultural mechanization from Texas A&M-Kingsville, Miller earned master’s and doctoral degrees in soil science from Texas Tech University.

Miller named AgriLife Extension interim associate director for state operations

sparkly heels

Department News

Novel root scanning technique reveals underground plant traits

Crop scientists can now study roots directly in the field without damaging or uprooting them.

This revolutionary technique will help breed crop varieties with higher yield potential and drought

tolerance.CIAT’s phenotyping platform is using the new tool – called “ground-penetrating radar (GPR

)” – through a partnership with Texas A&M University, USA , and IDS North America Ltd. (Ingegneria Dei Sistemi), an Italian-based firm located in Canada, together with the Center’s Cassava Program. The electromagnetic imaging

technique is commonly used to detect buried objects or hidden structures. Until now, it has

mainly been applied in geology, archaeology, and forensics. Forestry researchers recognized the potential of GPR to estimate tree root biomass.

Studying root characteristics is critical for increasing plant productivity, particularly in

water- and nutrient-scarce environments. The main obstacle has been scientists’ inability to view the position and architecture of the roots in underground field conditions. Incorporating GPR into current phenotyping methodologies

will provide new insights that help enhance crop productivity under current and future climate

conditions.The primary objective of the research, funded by CGIAR Research Program on Rice – also known as the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) – and CGIAR-US Universities Linkage Program, is to define the capability of GPR to phenotype below-ground biomass in cassava and rice. For

the development of high-throughput phenotyping methods, the below-ground biomass will be

determined by both destructive (uprooting the plants from field plots) and non-destructive root sampling methods, and the resulting data will be

analyzed to determine the accuracy of GPR.As GPR (about the size of a vacuum cleaner) is manually pulled through the crop rows, it

sends electromagnetic waves into the ground, which travel through the soil and are recorded

by the receiver within seconds. Based on these signals, a special software is used to display a three-dimensional picture of the below-ground

resources. This method can be used to take field measurements multiple times throughout the

growing season.“We’re in the early stages of adapting the technology; once we’ve figured out all the details, we’ll be ready to go,” said Michael

Gomez Selvaraj, the CIAT crop physiologist who manages the GPR project. “The preliminary

results are very promising for both cassava and rice. This is the first time GPR is being used for cassava; it can later be applied to other root and

tuber crops as well.”

Department News

Farmers throughout Central Texas and the Blacklands region heard the latest tips on weed control, new cotton technology and forage management at the 51st Stiles Farm Field Day held recently at the Stiles Farm Foundation.If you are cutting hay, apply the soil test recommendations,” he said. “A dipstick tells me do I have enough oil in my car, and if I do not have enough, I need to add some. A soil test is the same simple concept and tells me if I don’t have enough certain nutrients, then I need to add some. Fertilizer is so expensive and we want to make sure we apply the correct amounts.”Dr. Paul Baumann, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state weed specialist, College Station, discussed herbicide options, both pre-emergent and post-treatment when dealing with waterhemp, including Treflan. Overall, Baumann said it’s important farmers tackle weeds early and not ignore them. Though it will require spending extra money, Baumann said it will pay for itself in the long run.At the cotton tour stop, Dr. Gaylon Morgan, AgriLife Extension state cotton specialist, College Station, discussed new weed management in cotton technologies, their opportunities and challenges. Minimizing herbicide drift will be critically important to producers as the XtendFlex (Dicamba tolerant) cotton will likely become available in 2015. As the XtendFlex cotton becomes available, there will be spray application requirements to minimize the drift potential to susceptible crops, including non XtendFlex cotton

and soybeans.“Nozzle selection is one of the best ways to reduce drift,” Morgan said.Other application requirements Morgan told the group include a boom height of 20 to 24 inches, wind speeds of 3 to 10 mph, and downwind distance to susceptible crops are still being finalized, but these requirements will be clearly stated on the herbicide labels, Morgan said.Meanwhile, during the noon program, Dr. Doug Steele, AgriLife Extension director, College Station, reminded attendees that AgriLife Extension and Extension across the country is celebrating its centennial and that agency personnel look forward to serving another 100 years.“It’s important we have field days like this to let you come out and see what is going on to make better decisions for your operation,” Steele said. “People think we have everything solved in research. The last time I looked we are doing with less land and resources as our population continues to expand at an incredible pace. I believe we are overlooked and taken for granted. I’m excited for what the next 50 years will bring for the Stiles Farm and the next 100 years for AgriLife Extension. The best is yet to come.”

Stiles FarmField Day

2014