Posted on June 12, 2018 by rhallberg
by Blair Fannin, Texas A&M AgriLife
With ticks posing an ongoing threat to Texas’ cattle industry and mosquitoes causing challenging human health diseases such as Zika virus, a consortium of public health experts met at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco to hear the latest research and offer potential solutions.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston are leading a collaboration to solve threats from the pests as members of the Western Gulf Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: CDC, Center of Excellence, David Ragsdale, mosquitoes, Rio Grande, Texas AgriLife, ticks, vector-borne diseases, Vital Signs, West Nile, Zika | Leave a comment »
Posted on April 9, 2018 by rhallberg
in Southwest Farm Press
The threat of cattle fever ticks spreading northward into the Southwest U.S. is an issue heavy on the minds of South Texas border region livestock producers, who have been operating under inspection, and in some cases quarantine, protocols imposed by federal and state animal health officials.
The protocols were issued as because of an increase in the number of cattle fever ticks discovered on livestock and wildlife outside the permanent tick eradication quarantine zone on the Texas border. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: animal IPM, cattle fever ticks, quarantines, Rio Grande | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 7, 2016 by rhallberg
by Rod Santa Ana, Texas AgriLife Extension
Rio Grande Valley citrus growers will vote this month on whether to pool their resources to battle invasive pests and diseases.
Brad Cowan, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent in Hidalgo County, said growers will vote on setting up a management zone, approving a maximum assessment rate and electing growers to a board that will represent the management zone. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: area-wide IPM, citrus pests, integrated pest management, invasive pests, invasive species, Rio Grande | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 29, 2016 by rhallberg
by Rod Santa Ana, Texas A&M AgriLife
South Texas row crop producers are likely to answer with a smile when asked the age old ice-breaker, “Hot enough for you?”
Plentiful rainfall late last year combined with mostly hot, dry weather since have helped growers produce vigorous crops of cotton, grain sorghum and corn and healthy yields, according to experts with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: Danielle Sekula-Ortiz, Rio Grande, sorghum, sugarcane aphid, Texas AgriLife | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 5, 2016 by rhallberg
It may be hard to spot, but the tiny sugarcane aphid is racking up tens of millions of dollars in losses in just the four South Texas counties evaluated so far, according to a report by an economist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
And the losses would have been much higher had grain sorghum growers not followed the advice of AgriLife Extension experts, according to Dr. Samuel Zapata, who conducted the study from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: Lower Rio Grande Valley, Rio Grande, Samuel Zapata, sorghum, sugarcane aphid, Texas AgriLife | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 4, 2016 by rhallberg
In Southwest Farm Press
by Ron Smith, Southwest Farm Press
Sugarcane aphid populations increased dramatically in South Texas from the last few days of April into the first days of May, and a Texas AgriLife Extension integrated pest management specialist is advising producers to monitor fields closely, every three to four days.
“I’ve received many reports of sorghum fields being treated by air and by ground for sugarcane aphids this week,” says IMP specialist Danielle Ortiz. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: Rio Grande, sorghum, sugarcane aphid, Texas AgriLife | Leave a comment »
