Free AgriLife publications give buzz on mosquitoes, mosquito control
To help educate people in hurricane-affected areas about mosquitoes and mosquito control, AgriLife Extension has provided fact sheets and other publications to AgriLife Extension offices in Aransas, Bexar, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Victoria and Willacy counties. They are also available for for free download at the Agricultural and Environmental Safety Web site. more
 

USMEF research program tailors cuts to Japanese cuisine
The challenges facing the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) are how to rebuild as much of the Japan export volume as possible and maximize the value of beef exports while utilizing a much smaller fraction of the cattle herd. Understanding that the bulk of U.S. beef exports to Japan before December 2003 consisted of 12 cuts of meat, USMEF devised an innovative strategy and research program to develop 17 unique new beef cuts that would appeal to Japanese consumers and help increase volume sales. more
 

Researchers to herd headset-wearing cows from afar
It's Old West cattle herding with a 21st century twist—part of a project involving the USDA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the government's Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico. "It has the potential to give farmers a much finer control of pastures, finer management of where animals are and a better use of the land…" more
 

Texas crop, weather, 8-6-08
Many South Texas counties had already been granted drought relief earlier from Hurricane Dolly, saturating soils and greening up pastures, according to reports from Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel. But by early morning of Aug. 6, Edouard was in Central Texas near Waco and moving to the northwest, dropping rain as it went, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. more