December 2002 AgNews Links

December 31, 2002
Find Out About Venomous Animals In Extension Booklet  
COLLEGE STATION --Can you identify the most dangerous terrestrial animal in Texas?

December 30, 2002
Active Fathering Means Participation In Child's Life  
COLLEGE STATION – A generation or two ago, fathers weren't expected to participate much in their children's upbringing, except to bring home the paycheck.

December 28, 2002
B.I.G. Forage Session To Focus On Fertilization, Year-Round Pasture Systems  
WACO - The forage session of the 41st Blackland Income Growth Conference will be a don't-miss opportunity for both novice and weekend ranchers wanting to learn more about fertilization methods, herbicide use and year-round grazing systems.

December 26, 2002
Cloned Pigs Behave Just Like, Well, Pigs  
COLLEGE STATION – They behaved just like pigs. Or at least, that's what a study of cloned pigs found at Texas A&M University.

December 26, 2002
Earth-Kind Environmental Soil Testing And Consultation Program Being Offered Around Texas  
DALLAS -- Home gardeners plagued by soils that are very difficult to manage could find answers to many of their questions through the new EarthKind Environmental Soil Testing and Consultation Program offered for a limited time in January by the Texas A&M University Agriculture Program.

December 25, 2002
Academy For Ranch Management Forms Advisory Group  
COLLEGE STATION - After attending one of the Academy for Ranch Management's basic rangeland workshops, Mandy Dealey quickly realized her leased ranch was severely overgrazed.

December 25, 2002
Keep New Year's Healthy Resolutions  
COLLEGE STATION – It's that time again.

December 24, 2002
New Extension Agent Named For Howard County  
BIG SPRING - Thomas Lee Yeater will become Howard County's new Texas Cooperative Extension agriculture agent effective Jan. 6, according to a joint announcement made by Howard County Judge Ben Lockhart and Extension district director Brenda Rue of Fort Stockton.

December 24, 2002
Mold Control In Schools Should Be Cheap, Easy  
WESLACO -- Dr. Mani Skaria cringes when he reads newspaper accounts of school districts involved in mold-related lawsuits. He believes mold and the litigation that follows can be easily prevented with a little know-how. He also believes some "professionals" hired to detect mold are wasting valuable time and money.

December 23, 2002
Bexar County Jr. Livestock Show Set For Dec. 31-Jan. 4  
SAN ANTONIO - The 40th annual Bexar County Junior Livestock Show will be held Dec. 31-Jan. 4 on the grounds of the Freeman Coliseum, 3201 E. Houston. More than 1,000 area 4-H and FFA members age 8-18 will enter livestock in hopes of receiving a placing ribbon and selling their projects at the auction.

December 23, 2002
Extension Agent In Abilene Honored With Texas A&M System's Highest Award  
ABILENE - Gary Bomar, Texas Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture in Taylor County, was named a Regents Fellow recently by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

December 20, 2002
Programs Of The Month To Be Offered In DFW Metroplex  
DALLAS - Texas Cooperative Extension in Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties will host Programs of the Month as a part of the Wellness in the City efforts beginning in January. Wellness in the City is a new educational campaign that encourages families to make healthy choices to improve their quality of life.

December 19, 2002
Smallpox Virus Biologic Characteristics Made Earlier Eradication Possible  
COLLEGE STATION – You've probably seen and read a lot about smallpox in the news lately. But, little is known outside the medical community about how it was eradicated in this country, and the world.

December 19, 2002
Smallpox Vaccination Plans Raise Questions  
COLLEGE STATION – Smallpox, a highly contagious disease which was part of human history for thousands of years, hasn't been a fact of life for about 25 years. But now the threat of smallpox as a weapon of bioterrorism is in the news, and people are concerned. And with good reason.

December 19, 2002
New Pipeline In South America Delaying Search For Wild Peanut Species  
COLLEGE STATION - A new natural gas pipeline running through Bolivia to southeast Brazil has prevented a group of scientists from having the opportunity to discover one of the most sought-after wild peanut species - one that could contain the genes to develop a peanut that is high-yielding, has early maturity, and/or boasts superior taste.

December 18, 2002
Afghan Ag Minister Visits Texas A&M  
COLLEGE STATION - The agriculture minister of Afghanistan said Tuesday technology used to produce food in Texas can be easily transferred to his country because of the similarity in climate.

December 18, 2002
Surface Treatments Could Make Ready-To-Eat Products Safer  
COLLEGE STATION – A new product called acidified calcium sulfate is showing promise as a way to kill Listeria monocytogenes and keep lunch meats and frankfurters safer for consumers.

December 18, 2002
Research Can Lead To Longer Shelf Life For Dairy Products  
COLLEGE STATION – Research done by Texas A&M University graduate student Alexander Lin today may improve many dairy industry consumer products of tomorrow.

December 17, 2002
Texas Crop, Weather Report  
COLLEGE STATION - Wheat is off to a good start, and growers' primary worries at this time are monitoring the crop and securing a contract price at which to sell, Texas Cooperative Extension reports.

December 17, 2002
High Plains Vegetable Conference Debuts Jan. 14  
LUBBOCK - A perennial favorite of vegetable growers in West Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado will return with new vigor Jan. 14. That's the date for the High Plains Vegetable Conference at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.

December 17, 2002
Whole Cottonseed Feed Has Adverse Effects On Fallow Deer  
OVERTON - Feeding whole cottonseed to both free-ranging and ranched deer is a common practice this time of year.

December 16, 2002
Saucy Entrepreneurs Add Spice To Food Technologist's Job  
COLLEGE STATION - Like a mail-order house at Christmas, boxes and cartons cover a table, filled with condiments of every conceivable ingredient.

December 16, 2002
Panhandle Agri-Partners To Be Honored Dec. 19  
AMARILLO - Seven farm demonstration assistants will be honored for the significant difference they are making in agriculture in the Texas Panhandle in award ceremonies recognizing participants in the Agri-Partners Program Dec. 19.

December 13, 2002
Media Advisory: Afghan Agriculture Minister To Visit Texas A&M University  
COLLEGE STATION - Sayed Hussain Anwari, the Afghan minister of agriculture and livestock, will visit the Texas A&M University campus on Tuesday as part of a national effort to rebuild Afghanistan's agricultural industry.

December 13, 2002
Kiss Mistletoe Goodbye This Season For Better Tree Health  
COLLEGE STATION - Take mistletoe. Please.

December 12, 2002
Slosser Receives Regents Fellow Award  
VERNON - Jeffrey E. Slosser, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station entomologist, was one of seven faculty receiving the Texas A&M University System Regents Fellow Service Award recently in College Station.

December 12, 2002
Researchers Working To Devise Plan For Palo Alto Battlefield Restoration  
COLLEGE STATION - It's typical research for a group of Texas Agricultural Experiment Station rangeland specialists, but the project itself is far from typical considering its historical implications.

December 11, 2002
John Jackman Wins Entomological Society Award  
COLLEGE STATION – Dr. John Jackman of College Station, entomologist with Texas Cooperative Extension, won the 2002 Entomological Society of American Distinguished Achievement Award for Extension. The award was presented recently at the society's annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

December 11, 2002
What's Your Bug I.Q.: Texas A&M Wins Linnaean Games  
COLLEGE STATION – What is an ommatidia, a spiracle, a tarsus, a scape, a hypopharangeal gland, the Bed Bug Act, or orisonal control, and how can a cricket tell us the temperature?

December 10, 2002
Texas Crop, Weather Report  
COLLEGE STATION – Despite a summer drought followed by extensive rainfall, most of Texas' cotton producers are finishing up a roller-coaster year unscathed, Texas Cooperative Extension reports.

December 10, 2002
Lack Of Water Blamed For Low South Texas Cotton Yields  
WESLACO -- The lack of timely rains and adequate irrigation water seriously damaged the Lower Rio Grande Valley's 2002 cotton crop, according to preliminary figures of this year's harvest.

December 10, 2002
Texas A&M Entomology Professor Receives National Leadership Award 
COLLEGE STATION - Dr. Roger Gold, professor and endowed chair holder for the Center for Urban and Structural Entomology at Texas A&M University, received one of 10 leadership awards given jointly by Pest Control Technology Magazine and Syngenta Corp.

December 09, 2002
Annual AmeriCorps Recruitment Drive Under Way In Rio Grande Valley  
WESLACO -- The opportunity to earn money, go to college, gain work experience and help the local community is being offered to high school graduates who want to join AmeriCorps.

December 09, 2002
Is Your Child's Brain "wired" Correctly?  
LUBBOCK – The boundless energy that children possess and display often makes adults wonder if they can get any more "wired."

December 09, 2002
Aged Polish Forest Plots Teach New Ecosystem Lessons  
COLLEGE STATION -- A little-known acreage of trees in Poland planted in the late- 1960s has become a new teaching ground on biodiversity for a team of U.S. researchers.

December 06, 2002
Texas A&M's Kubena To Lead National Academic Program Committee  
COLLEGE STATION – Dr. Karen Kubena was elected chair of the Academics Program Committee on Organization and Policy recently in Chicago at the annual meeting of National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.

December 06, 2002
Square Peg In A Round Hole: Parenting A Child With Special Needs  
LUBBOCK – Cara Speer has earned multiple degrees in social work – a bachelor's degree from Abilene Christian University and a master's degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. She currently is the director of social work at Lubbock Christian University, where she puts all that education to work.

December 05, 2002
4-H'er Heads Veterans' Memorial Project  
FLOYDADA – The newly-dedicated Floyd County Veterans Memorial was established because of a trip to the lake.

December 05, 2002
Extension To Offer Foodservice Manager Certification Courses In Panhandle  
AMARILLO – New state rules require Texas restaurants to have certified food managers, and Texas Cooperative Extension is helping to provide such training in the Panhandle.

December 05, 2002
Single Parenting: Ups, Downs And Arounds  
LUBBOCK – As an educator and counselor with Lubbock Independent School District, Sara D. Wilson spends a lot of time working with children and families. Not only is she a lead teacher with LISD's Safe and Drug Free Schools organization, but she also serves as a parent educator with Family Connections, also part of the school district. In her professional capacity, she teaches others about substance abuse, violence prevention and life skills, and trains other parent educators.

December 04, 2002
The Seven Wonders Of Being A Teenager  
LUBBOCK – Being a teenager isn't easy – being the parent of one is even harder.

December 04, 2002
McGee Elected President Of National Epsilon Sigma Phi  
COLLEGE STATION -- Dr. Bonnie McGee was elected national Epsilon Sigma Phi president recently at the group's meeting in Lexington, Ky.

December 03, 2002
Texas Crop, Weather Report  
COLLEGE STATION – It's time to get your Christmas tree, and there are plenty of big, healthy ones to choose from, Texas Cooperative Extension reports.

December 03, 2002
Grandparenting Today: A Valuable Place In The Family Structure  
LUBBOCK – "Webster's says ‘grand' is ‘large and impressive in size and scope,' ... ‘dignified or noble in appearance or effect' ... ‘wonderful or very pleasing'," said Betty Dotts.

December 03, 2002
Texas A&M Wins National Livestock Judging Contest  
COLLEGE STATION– Members of the livestock judging team from Texas A&M University are now national champions. Texas A&M won the collegiate national championship at the 2002 North American Livestock Judging contest in Louisville, Ky.

December 02, 2002
Study Finds Seasonal Differences Affect Brahman Bull Sexual Maturity  
OVERTON – Fall-born Brahman bulls require more than a month longer to reach sexual maturity than Brahman bulls born in the spring, according to recent research by an internationally recognized authority on the reproductive physiology of Brahman cattle.

December 02, 2002
Parenting Conference Draws A Crowd In Lubbock  
LUBBOCK – No prospective employee would ever consider accepting a for-pay position that requires 24-hour shifts, seven days a week, with absolutely no vacation time.