Texas Farm Research Articles

Covert politics of competing leadership: Antonio Orendain, Cesar Chavez, and union politics in the Rio Grande Valley, 1965-1982

ABSTRACT This life history account illustrates the covert politics of sabotage, purging, and the defeat of defecting and rival factions that occurred within the United Farm Workers in Texas. I draw on Robert Michels’ framework of competing leadership to illustrate the mechanisms established leadership can use to sabotage, purge, and the eliminate rival leaders, in particular maverick and threatening leaders. This case study draws on the history of the Texas Farm Workers Union, led by Antonio Orendain in the 1970s, and its conflict with the United Farm Workers led by Cesar Chavez. I argue that Orendain’s maverick leadership and independent union activity led the UFW leadership to 1) actively block resources such as money and supplies to Orendain, 2) leverage political connections to blacklist Orendain’s campaign for collective bargaining, and 3) write Orendain out of the UFW narrative and memory in Texas. These moments provide an opportunity to reveal the covert and complex politics of controlling the direction, resources, and objectives of labour movements. Moreover, this paper also seeks to document the organizing career of one of the founders of the UFW who earned the moniker ‘The Cesar Chavez of Texas’.

SMALL FARMS AND FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES IN TEXAS

Food safety means knowing how to buy, prepare, and store food to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses, like Salmonella and E. coli. This review aimed to assess current food safety gaps among small farms in Texas to identify key areas of focus for potential education and training materials for these stakeholders. Small growers earn ≤$25,000 in annual sales over a 3-year period and have an average food sale of less than $500,000. The information in this review will help in the design of targeted and specific food safety training materials for small farms.

Cover crops may exacerbate moisture limitations on South Texas dryland farms

Cover crops are a sustainable management tool for mediating weed pressure, reducing soil erosion, and enhancing soil organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) levels. Yet, adoption rates across water-limited farms in Texas remain low, especially among producers without irrigation access, due to concerns that cover crop use of soil moisture will negatively impact subsequent cash crop yields. This three-year cover crop trial in a rain-fed sorghum (<i>Sorghum bicolor</i> L.) farm in Lyford, Texas, trialed different cover crop mixes and seeding rates and confirmed that cover cropping leads to significant soil moisture deficits and cash crop failure when rainfall is low between cover crop termination and cash crop planting (&lt;30 mm). In seasons one and three, moisture deficits contributed to significantly lower germination of post–cover crop sorghum compared to fallow control plots. In season two, increased precipitation during a longer moisture recharge period between cover crop termination and cash crop planting helped avoid sorghum yield drops. Length of recharge period, amount of rainfall, species selection, planting density, and termination method are major determinants of subsequent cash crop outcomes. Careful management can minimize some of the risks cover cropping poses to soil moisture, but without reliable rainfall at key points in the cropping cycle, cover cropping remains risky for farmers without irrigation access.

Coast-to-Coast Empire: Manifest Destiny and the New Mexico Borderlands by William S. Kiser

Reviewed by: Coast-to-Coast Empire: Manifest Destiny and the New Mexico Borderlands by William S. Kiser Jerry Thompson Coast-to-Coast Empire: Manifest Destiny and the New Mexico Borderlands. William S. Kiser. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-8061-6026-9. 288 pp., cloth, $32.95. William S. Kiser, assistant professor of history at Texas A&M University–San Antonio, is emerging as one of the leading scholars on the nineteenth century history of the American Southwest, particularly New Mexico. Fresh on the heels of his thought-provoking and widely acclaimed Borderlands of Slavery: The Struggle over Captivity and Peonage in the American Southwest, Kiser now gives us an equally significant volume on Manifest Destiny in the New Mexico Borderlands. Using a wide array of impressive primary sources, he has produced a compelling volume that is informative and amounts to a first-rate analysis of a crucial period in the era of American expansionism. Although New Mexico was frequently marginalized in the national consciousness and seen as a distant backwater populated by backward peoples, Kiser points out that the territory played "an important role in the sweeping nineteenth-century transformation of American capitalism and democracy" (284). Kiser has a superb understanding of Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley's New Mexico Campaign and the Confederate's ill-fated attempt to seize the territory in 1861–62 that led to the bloodletting at Valverde and Glorieta. Unlike previous accounts that portray General Sibley and his zealous Texas farm boys as having a real chance [End Page 328] of seizing not only New Mexico but also Colorado's silver mines and even California's gold fields and its warm weather ports, Kiser concludes that the Rebels, laying Sibley's inept leadership aside, had little hope of success from the outset. He is correct. The entire Confederate adventure in New Mexico was little more than suicidal, a badly flawed example of Sibley's and Jefferson Davis's grandiose ideas of a Confederate Manifest Destiny in the Southwest. Had Col. Edward Richard Sprigg Canby's regulars and New Mexico Volunteers been unable to expel the Texans, the Pikes Peakers, as the Texans called the men from Colorado, along with Gen. James Henry Carleton's California Column, who were arriving on the Rio Grande in large numbers, would certainly have done so. In fact, a company of Pikes Peakers had fought at Valverde in February 1862, and a larger force of Coloradoans turned the Rebels back at Glorieta Pass five weeks later. During the brutal and genocidal campaign against the Navajos in the winter of 1864, Carson's New Mexico Volunteers, Kiser writes, flushed "the Indians from the impregnable" Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto (172). Although Carson did indeed deal the Navajos a devastating blow, even destroying their hogans, slaughtering thousands of sheep, and razing 4,150 peach trees, as Kiser aptly points out, many Navajo never capitulated and remained behind in the vast recesses of the twisting sandrock canyons. These Diné escaped the Long Walk and the despicable and deadly concentration camps of the Bosque Redondo, where they were subjected to disease, starvation, and exposure, in what amounted to one of the most disgraceful social experiments in American history. Kiser is also spot-on in his discussion of Carleton's attempt to suppress the Kiowa and Comanche in the Texas Panhandle in 1864. In the largest battle between the US Army and Native Americans in the history of Texas, Col. Kit Carson came close to losing his entire expedition of 335 California cavalrymen and New Mexico Volunteers, alongside 75 Jicarilla Apache and Ute auxiliaries, at Adobe Walls on November 25, 1864, but for two small mountain howitzers. In fact, Adobe Walls came very close to being an early version of Little Big Horn, although Carson never admitted it. In one place, when discussing Gen. Stephen Watts Kearney's conquest of New Mexico and preparations by Governor Manuel Armijo to defend Santa Fe, Kiser refers to Apache Pass when he probably means Apache Canyon (46–47). When detailing the fighting between Texas Confederates and Colorado Pikes Peakers in the same general area in March 1862, he again refers to Apache Pass...

Poo Power: Revisiting Biogas Generation Potential on Dairy Farms in Texas

AbstractBiogas created from anaerobic digestion on dairy farms can be used to generate electricity, produce coproducts, and reduce reliance on off-farm inputs. We incorporate risk into simulation models representing dairy farms in Texas and demonstrate the profitability of new anaerobic digester installation. Based on this market, results indicate projects that have low investment costs, receive grant support for construction, utilize coproducts, or have some combination of these factors have higher net present value at the end of the study period; however, even with generous grant support and high electricity prices, projects with average investment costs remain unprofitable.

Assessing the impact of corn variety and Texas terroir on flavor and alcohol yield in new-make bourbon whiskey

The whiskey industry is dominated by whiskey styles with recipes that contain corn as the primary grain. However, little research has been conducted to investigate whiskey specific distinctions arising from different corn varieties and growing environments (i.e. terroir). Further, no studies have investigated the aroma or flavor impacts of different varieties and terroirs. Here, three different commodity yellow dent hybrid corn varieties were grown on different farms in Texas, spanning from the Texas Panhandle to the Mexico-United States border. Using novel small-batch mashing techniques, a newly developed new-make (i.e. unaged whiskey,immediate by-product of distillation) bourbon sensory lexicon, a trained sensory panel, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry (GC-MS/O), we report for the first time a method for evaluating sample effects on alcohol yield and flavor in new-make bourbon whiskey. We discover that variety, terroir and their interactions, previously ignored, can substantially affect valuable sensory aspects of whiskey, suggesting the importance of scientifically evaluating corn genetics and agronomy for developing better whiskey. Excitingly, our data suggest milled corn with higher levels of benzadehyde, readily measured by GC-MS/O, correlates with improved sensory aspects of distillate, which must be expensively evaluated using a trained human sensory panel.

A two-stage performance assessment of utility-scale wind farms in Texas using data envelopment analysis and Tobit models

Wind power becomes one of the most promising energy sources in the electricity generation sector in Texas over the past decade by declining levelized cost of wind energy. However, recent studies show that the wind farms in Texas are relatively less productive. Hence, this study aims to find out reasons of inefficiencies by constructing a two-stage performance assessment of wind farms in Texas. In the first stage of analysis, comprehensive input- and output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models are applied to evaluate productive efficiencies of the 95 large utility-scale wind farms by using pre-determined three input and two output variables. The sensitivity analysis is provided for the robustness of the DEA models with different combinations of input and output variables of the original model. The slack analysis and projection data are obtained for inefficient wind farms to find out optimal input-output variables. Tobit regression models are conducted for the second stage of the analysis to investigate the reasons of inefficiencies. DEA results indicate that half of the wind farms were operated efficiently in Texas during 2016. 13 wind farms were performed at the most productive scale size, ten wind farms should reduce their operational size to improve production efficiency, and 72 wind farms have the notable potential to increase their production efficiency by expanding operational sizes with modern wind turbine technologies. The sensitivity analysis shows the importance of each input-output variables. Tobit regression models indicate that elevation of the site, rotor diameter, hub height, and brand of the turbine have significant contributions to the relative efficiency scores of the wind farms, and the age of turbine has a negative impact on the productive efficiency of the wind farms.

Life Cycle Environmental Impact of Onshore and Offshore Wind Farms in Texas

The last decade witnessed a quantum increase in wind energy contribution to the U.S. renewable electricity mix. Although the overall environmental impact of wind energy is miniscule in comparison to fossil-fuel energy, the early stages of the wind energy life cycle have potential for a higher environmental impact. This study attempts to quantify the relative contribution of individual stages toward life cycle impacts by conducting a life cycle assessment with SimaPro® and the Impact 2002+ impact assessment method. A comparative analysis of individual stages at three locations, onshore, shallow-water, and deep-water, in Texas and the gulf coast indicates that material extraction/processing would be the dominant stage with an average impact contribution of 72% for onshore, 58% for shallow-water, and 82% for deep-water across the 15 midpoint impact categories. The payback times for CO2 and energy consumption range from 6 to 14 and 6 to 17 months, respectively, with onshore farms having shorter payback times. The greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) were in the range of 5–7 gCO2eq/kWh for the onshore location, 6–9 CO2eq/kWh for the shallow-water location, and 6–8 CO2eq/kWh for the deep-water location. A sensitivity analysis of the material extraction/processing stage to the electricity sourcing stage indicates that replacement of lignite coal with natural gas or wind would lead to marginal improvements in midpoint impact categories.

A Two-Stage Performance Assessment of Utility-Scale Wind Farms in Texas Using Data Envelopment Analysis and Tobit Models

Wind power becomes one of the most promising energy sources in the electricity generation sector in Texas over the past decade by declining levelized cost of wind energy. However, recent studies show that the wind farms in Texas are relatively less productive. Hence, this study aims to find out reasons of inefficiencies by constructing a two-stage performance assessment of wind farms in Texas. In the first stage of analysis, comprehensive input- and output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models are applied to evaluate productive efficiencies of the 95 large utility-scale wind farms by using pre-determined three input and two output variables. The sensitivity analysis is provided for the robustness of the DEA models with different combinations of input and output variables of the original model. The slack analysis and projection data are obtained for inefficient wind farms to find out optimal input-output variables. Tobit regression models are conducted for the second stage of the analysis to investigate the reasons of inefficiencies. DEA results indicate that half of the wind farms were operated efficiently in Texas during 2016. 13 wind farms were performed at the most productive scale size, ten wind farms should reduce their operational size to improve production efficiency, and 72 wind farms have the notable potential to increase their production efficiency by expanding operational sizes with modern wind turbine technologies. The sensitivity analysis shows the importance of each input-output variables. Tobit regression models indicate that elevation of the site, rotor diameter, hub height, and brand of the turbine have significant contributions to the relative efficiency scores of the wind farms, and the age of turbine has a negative impact on the productive efficiency of the wind farms.arms, and the age of turbine has a negative impact on the productive efficiency of the wind farms.

From South Texas to the Nation: The Exploitation of Mexican Labor in the Twentieth Century by John Weber

During the first half of the twentieth century, South Texas went from being a geographically and economically isolated area to becoming a model for the rest of the nation on agrarian relations and economic development. Historian John Weber examines this change in his absorbing book, From South Texas to the Nation. He demonstrates how growers in South Texas encouraged migration from Mexico and then sought to immo-bilize workers there in order to be able to pay them exploitative low wages. In part as a result of this unparalleled system of labor control, South Texas became one of the most lucrative farming areas in the United States and a paradigm for growers elsewhere.The book moves along chronologically, tracing the sweeping changes that occurred in migration-dependent farms in Texas. Weber focuses primarily on the first fifty years of the twentieth century but contextualizes his analysis in an even broader scope that explains how development looked in South Texas during the late nineteenth century through the end of the bracero program in 1964. A short and powerful epilogue then documents the continuities of agricultural practices that remain alive today but that already existed in the early twentieth century.Equally impressive is Weber’s geographic scope. Although the book centers on South Texas, it links developments there to ones that extend all the way from northern Mexico to Michigan. It thus pushes the boundaries of community studies, which have traditionally focused on local events, to also include national and transnational dynamics. The massive economic upheavals and violence in revolutionary Mexico led to the displacement of millions of people. Many of those migrants ended up in South Texas, providing growers with access to a cheap and abundant labor force. As such, they helped to convert South Texas into one of the wealthiest farming regions in the United States. Soon enough, agricultural and industrial employers in other parts of the nation took notice and tried to partake of the profits enjoyed by farmers in South Texas by expanding their labor pool. By 1912, Arizona cotton growers were actively trying to recruit workers in South Texas, and by the 1920s they were joined by growers in the Mississippi Delta and in the Upper Midwest.Weber does not restrict his analysis to one of oppression and exploitation but also documents instances of resistance. These range from a protest in the Bexar County Jail by inmates who had been trying to improve working conditions in the pecan shelling industry in 1938, to the CIO’s unionization efforts in the South during the late 1930s, to the struggles of Emma Tenayuca and other leaders of the Workers Alliance demanding increased employment and an end to wage discrimination against Mexican Americans in San Antonio’s public works projects. Weber’s wide-ranging account of ethnic Mexican activism in Texas in the early twentieth century is in dialogue with previous works on Chicana/o history (including Neil Foley, The White Scourge; Cynthia Orozco, No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed; Zaragosa Vargas, Labor Rights Are Civil Rights; Emilio Zamora, The World of the Mexican Worker in Texas; and others).In its analysis of resistance, From South Texas to the Nation juxtaposes various meanings of the term revolution. The parts of the book are organized around this concept. The author first explores the term through the lens of the Mexican Revolution, arguing that violence and economic chaos promoted migration. He then echoes David Montejano’s argument in Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas that the succession from a ranch society to an agricultural one in Texas also constituted a revolution. Weber brings together the Mexican Revolution with the economic revolution in Texas by holding that the workers who migrated from Mexico as a result of the revolution “helped launch a second, economic revolution in Texas through their labor power” (14).Finally, From South Texas to the Nation powerfully explores ideas of geographic mobility. Weber skillfully demonstrates the contradictions inherent in the movement of Mexican workers. Growers encouraged Mexicans to head to Texas and feared laws that would restrict their migration to the United States. But they then also attempted to constrict their mobility to other parts of the country. Weber’s analysis of the social structures that restricted and encouraged movement is the strongest part of the book. It opens up questions for future researchers about how Mexican workers themselves experienced the multifaceted forces surrounding their mobility. An enjoyable and important work that can be assigned to both upper undergraduate and graduate students, this book provides a significant contribution to migration studies as well as to Chicana/o, Texan, US, and Mexican history.

Modeling response to heat stress in pigs from nucleus and commercial farms in different locations in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of seasonal losses due to heat stress in different environments and genetic group combinations. Data were available for 2 different swine populations: purebred Duroc animals raised in nucleus farms in Texas and North Carolina and crosses of Duroc and F females (Landrace × Large White) raised in commercial farms in Missouri and North Carolina; pedigrees provided links between animals from different states. Traits included BW at harvest age for purebred animals and HCW for crossbred animals. Weather data were collected at airports located close to the farms. Heat stress was quantified by a heat load function, defined by the units of temperature-humidity of temperature-humidity index (THI) greater than a certain threshold for 30 to 70 d before phenotype collection. Heat stress responses were quantified by a linear regression of phenotype on heat load. The greatest coefficient of determination occurred with a length of 30 d before phenotype measurements for all states and genetic groups. In the crossbreed data, THI thresholds were 67 in Missouri and 72 in North Carolina. For pure breeds, heat load had the best fit for THI thresholds greater than 70 in North Carolina, although differences in coefficient of determinations were negligible. On the other hand, no optimal THI threshold existed in Texas. In this study, heat stress had a greater impact in commercial farms than in nucleus farms and the effect of heat stress on weight varied by year and state.

White-tailed Deer Semen Auction Data: A Hedonic Analysis

In 2008, the cervid (i.e., deer) production and hunting industry had an economic impact of $318.4 million in Texas and $3 billion in the US. Antlers of whitetail bucks are prized trophies for hunters. Hence, breeders make great investments to manage genetic potential for antler growth in their herds. Sire selection accounts for up to 90% of genetic changes in managed livestock herds. Therefore, researchers have investigated the value of sire characteristics using hedonic analysis of auction data for race horses, beef cattle, and dairy bull semen. Similar hedonic analyses have evaluated attributes of hunting leases and permits. However, no hedonic studies have been conducted on auction data for semen originating from confined white-tailed deer farms in Texas. Publicly available data on semen prices, buck antler scores, and whether the buck was considered typical or non-typical were collected from the Texas Deer Association. Auction prices ranged from $120/straw to $20,500/straw of semen with a mean of $2499/straw. Modeling price as a function of white-tailed deer characteristics and breeding location indicates significant premiums for higher antler scores (p<0.01), Texas genetics (p<0.01), and deceased bucks (p<0.05). Therefore, breeders may consider these important characteristics in breeding program development.

Stochastic Dynamic Optimal Power Flow Integrated with Wind Energy Using Generalized Dynamic Factor Model

Abstract: Integrating large wind power to power grid complicates the system operation due to the intermittency of wind. To address the challenges associated with wind power this paper formulates a stochastic dynamic optimal power flow to consider the uncertainty of wind power forecast in the power system operation. The goal of the system operation is to minimize the expected operational cost. The uncertainty of wind power forecast can be represented by a set of scenarios. For accurate forecasting, the generalized dynamic factor model (GDFM) is proposed to synthesize the forecasted wind power outputs while it preserves the correlation structure among wind power outputs from closely located wind farms under similar weather condition. In this paper, the GDFM was developed by the raw data of 94 wind farms in Texas and we use the model to predict hourly wind power outputs for 24 hours. This work also emphasizes on AC optimal power flow and is solved by a novel heuristic method, artificial bee colony (ABC). Such method is chosen because of its effective nature of handling hard constraints. Case studies are conducted on modified IEEE-30 system.

Multifactorial effects of ambient temperature, precipitation, farm management, and environmental factors determine the level of generic Escherichia coli contamination on preharvested spinach.

A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted to identify farm management, environment, weather, and landscape factors that predict the count of generic Escherichia coli on spinach at the preharvest level. E. coli was enumerated for 955 spinach samples collected on 12 farms in Texas and Colorado between 2010 and 2012. Farm management and environmental characteristics were surveyed using a questionnaire. Weather and landscape data were obtained from National Resources Information databases. A two-part mixed-effect negative binomial hurdle model, consisting of a logistic and zero-truncated negative binomial part with farm and date as random effects, was used to identify factors affecting E. coli counts on spinach. Results indicated that the odds of a contamination event (non-zero versus zero counts) vary by state (odds ratio [OR] = 108.1). Odds of contamination decreased with implementation of hygiene practices (OR = 0.06) and increased with an increasing average precipitation amount (mm) in the past 29 days (OR = 3.5) and the application of manure (OR = 52.2). On contaminated spinach, E. coli counts increased with the average precipitation amount over the past 29 days. The relationship between E. coli count and the average maximum daily temperature over the 9 days prior to sampling followed a quadratic function with the highest bacterial count at around 24°C. These findings indicate that the odds of a contamination event in spinach are determined by farm management, environment, and weather factors. However, once the contamination event has occurred, the count of E. coli on spinach is determined by weather only.

Toxoplasma gondii abortion storm in sheep on a Texas farm and isolation of mouse virulent atypical genotype T. gondii from an aborted lamb from a chronically infected ewe

Sheep are commonly infected with the protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. Infection may cause early embryonic death and resorption, fetal death and mummification, abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death. Most sheep acquire T. gondii infection after birth. Recent studies reported that congenital ovine transmission of T. gondii may be more common than previously believed, but these findings are solely based on PCR data and require confirmation using other techniques to verify the findings. In the present study, during the lambing season of 2005 a toxoplasmosis abortion storm occurred in a flock of purebred Suffolk ewes on a farm in Texas. Only 14 healthy lambs were born, and 38 abortuses, mummies and weak or stillborn lambs were delivered. Another 15 fetuses identified by ultrasound were presumably resorbed or were aborted undetected. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 37 (94.8%) of the 39 ewes and 30 of them had high titers (1:3200 or higher) when tested in the modified agglutination test (MAT). In the 2006 lambing season, two (both with MAT titers of ≥3200 in 2005) of 26 ewes delivered T. gondii infected lambs. T. gondii tissue cysts were found histologically in lesions of encephalitis in a lamb from one ewe and viable T. gondii (designated TgShUs55) was isolated from the brain and heart of a lamb from the second ewe. TheTgShUs55 had an atypical genotype using 10 PCR-RFLP markers, and was 100% lethal for Swiss Webster mice, irrespective of the dose or the stage of the parasite inoculated. In subsequent seasons, the ewes lambed normally. The results of the present study support the hypothesis that most sheep that have aborted due to T. gondii develop protection against future toxoplasmosis induced abortion, but the protection is not absolute.

Comparison Between First‐timers and Repeaters for Relationship Marketing Implications

ABSTRACTThis research note examines how different relationships affect visitors' tourism experiences at agritourism encounters, recognizing the differences between repeaters and first‐timers from a relationship marketing perspective. Results from a survey of 431 visitors to farms in Texas found that most of relationships with service providers, other customers and companions were important but differently related to satisfaction. By examining the differences and similarities between first‐timers and repeaters, this study suggests that visitors' relationships not only with service providers but also with other customers and companions should be embraced into the components of relationship marketing models in tourism. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

82nd State Legislature Regular Session: Summaries of water-related legislative action

Editor’s Note: September 1 of every odd-numbered year is the date that new legislation from the Texas Legislature session that ended the previous spring typically goes into effect. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited five organizations that work closely with the Texas Legislature to provide their take on the changes to Texas water policy and law that were made during the 2011 session. The opinions expressed in these summaries are the opinions of the individual organizations and not the opinion of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute. Organizations: • Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter • Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts • Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association • Texas Farm Bureau • Texas Water Conservation Association Citation: K Kramer, SA Steinbach, J Skaggs, B Howe, D Robbins. 2011.Commentary: 82nd State Legislature Regular Session: Summaries of water-related legislative action. Texas Water Journal. 2(1):23-38. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v2i1.5886.

Walter Isle: 1933-2010

Walter and I met in Houston, Texas, as chairs of our cross-town English Departments. Governance quickly took a back seat, however, to talking about the contemporary literature that we each taught. Later, I tried what Scott Slovic had once done with me. “Might he,” I asked, “be interested in a new organization focused on nature literature?” Walter's smile answered that question even as it forecast how thoroughly he would later serve ASLE. Nature literature and ASLE ruled from then onward. This shared enthusiasm for all things ASLE launched many years of friendship, built on Houston lunches and ASLE conferences. Our bi-weekly conversations constituted a long-lasting, highly enjoyable, jointly led continuing-education seminar. Sometimes, we met at our homes or occasionally outdoors at Pam and Walter's central Texas farm, a green refuge complete with country music on the porch, a huge garden out back, and a stock pond in walking distance. In 1995, Walter drove to the memorable first ASLE gathering in Fort Collins, Colorado, in his old red pick-up truck. Back home in Houston, we celebrated both the chance to talk environmental literature with like-minded souls and the realization that the field now had a place in English departments. Years of good papers and panels followed from Walter at every ASLE meeting until 2007, when family business kept him away.

Characterization of a Taura syndrome virus isolate originating from the 2004 Texas epizootic in cultured shrimp

A comprehensive investigation of the Taura syndrome virus (TSV) isolate that caused epizootics in shrimp farms in Texas in 2004 (Texas isolate) revealed that this virus was more virulent in laboratory bioassays than the TSV reference isolate, Hawaii 1994, causing severe symptom development and rapid mortality. Histopathology of moribund animals demonstrated epithelial necrosis within the stomach, appendages, general body cuticle and gills, and the surviving animals demonstrated moderate to numerous lymphoid organ spheroids. Purified virions showed icosahedral morphology, with a diameter of 31 nm. Comparative genome analysis showed that the Texas isolate is more closely related to TSV isolates from Thailand and China than to the Hawaii isolate. The predicted tertiary structures of the inhibition of apoptosis protein (IAP) and protease domains of the Texas isolate are very similar to those of the Hawaii isolate. However, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of the Texas isolate has significant structural differences from the Hawaii isolate due to point mutation(s) in the RdRp gene. Changes in the RdRp tertiary structure might contribute to the replication fidelity, virulence and ecological adaptability of the Texas isolate.

Evaluation of live oocyst vaccination or salinomycin for control of field-strain Eimeria challenge in broilers on two different feeding programs

Live oocyst vaccination as a method for coccidiosis control in broiler production is currently receiving heightened interest from producers and integrators, who have historically relied heavily on anticoccidial use to control infection. Reasons for this elevated level of interest include increased emergence of drug-resistant field strains of Eimeria , bans in the European Union on the use of continuously fed antimicrobials, and consumer pressure within the United States to remove antimicrobial feed additives from poultry diets. This pen study was designed to compare the live oocyst coccidiosis vaccine Coccivac-B with the ionophore salinomycin (Bio-Cox) for controlling field-strain Eimeria in broilers reared on 2 different dietary rations varying mostly in protein concentration. Broilers were reared to 50 d on a 4-phase feeding program. Both experimental diets evaluated in this study were formulated to simulate the diets of a local commercial integrator by season. The dietary protein profile for diet A was 21.5% (starter), 20% (grower), 16.5% (finisher), and 15.75% (withdrawal), whereas diet B had a profile of 22% (starter), 19.6% (grower), 17.8% (finisher), and 17.5% (withdrawal). On d 14 of grow out, field-strain Eimeria oocysts collected from commercial broiler farms in Texas were spray-applied to the litter in all pens. Significant differences in final BW were not observed with regard to diet or anticoccidial control method. Broilers fed diet B had improved ( P < 0.05) mortality-corrected FCR during the starter and finisher phases of rearing. Broilers fed salinomycin had lower ( P < 0.05) mortality-corrected FCR for the starter and grower phases, whereas vaccinated broilers had lower ( P < 0.05) mortality-corrected FCR during the withdrawal period. Cumulative FCR for the entire grow-out period were similar ( P > 0.05) for all groups. These results suggest that feeding an appropriately formulated diet while vaccinating broilers as an alternative to the use of an ionophore can result in at least equivalent performance in the presence of a field-strain Eimeria challenge during grow out.