Corn Archives - Department of Soil and Crop Sciences

Texas A&M researcher creating better corn yields and quality on less land

22Jun

By: Kay Ledbetter

As the human population booms, we hear the term “sustainable food supply” a great deal. One Texas A&M AgriLife researcher’s efforts to make corn production, whether for human or livestock consumption, more sustainable has earned him national recognition.
Seth Murray, Ph.D., is a Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientist finalist Seth Murray, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder, has been selected as a Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientist finalist for a second time. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder Seth Murray, Ph.D., is the Eugene Butler Endowed Chair in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences in College Station, and he is among the finalists for the prestigious Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists.

Seth Murray, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder, has been selected as a Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientist finalist for a second time. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

Murray determined that individual genes poorly predict corn yield, so he began to evaluate the physical and spectral traits, the “phenome”, of corn instead. Through the innovative use of statistical analysis of images collected from drones, he along with colleagues and students on his team examined the physical traits of corn over time and model traits to predict the highest yielding plants, optimizing breeding and selection.

While innovative breeding strategies have mostly focused on developing higher yielding and more stress and aflatoxin resistant corn, Murray is also in the process of creating perennial varieties of corn that could revolutionize agricultural practices and ensure the sustainability of corn production.

“Dr. Murray is leading the way in crop breeding and the use of advanced technologies that will allow growers to benefit from higher yields and increased stress resistance in corn,” said Patrick J. Stover, Ph.D., vice chancellor of Texas A&M AgriLife, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of AgriLife Research. “His pursuit to contribute to a safer and more secure food supply for our nation epitomizes the spirit of a land-grant university.”
The Blavatnik National Award

The Blavatnik award is presented by the New York Academy of Sciences that recognizes America’s most innovative young scientists and engineers. Thirty-one of the nation’s rising stars in science were announced June 17 as 2020 finalists of the prestigious award, the world’s largest unrestricted prize for early career scientists.

Murray was chosen from 305 nominations from 161 academic and research centers across 41 U.S. states, and is competing to be one of three Blavatnik National Awards Laureates, one in each of the award categories: Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences. Each Laureate will win $250,000. The three 2020 Blavatnik National Awards Laureates will be announced on July 22.

Launched in 2007 by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the awards were created with the New York Academy of Sciences to enhance research funding opportunities and emphasize the work of promising scientists under the age of 42 in three disciplinary categories of science and engineering.
Advancing corn research

Murray focuses his research on solving large-scale problems in crop production through plant breeding and technology, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs or drones, in agricultural decision making.

Murray, a world-renowned expert on crop field phenotyping, co-led a project of 40-plus faculty across disciplines in developing procedures for scaling UAV technology for breeding and precision agriculture. This project led to his program’s focus on crop characteristics and use of high-throughput measurements to select the most promising varieties in a breeding program.

Murray’s research program focuses on both quantitative genetic discovery and applied corn breeding for Texas and the southern U.S. Last year he released five new corn hybrids bred for the southern U.S.’s longer growing season and multiple stresses, characterizing them as “foundational to our future inbred and hybrid production and breeding efforts.”

Breeding trait research in his program includes improved aflatoxin resistance, drought tolerance and nutrient-use efficiency. It also addresses incorporation of novel genetic diversity for perennial, blue and quality protein corn.

“Corn is a tremendously productive crop, and through scientific discoveries farmers have increased yields eight-fold over the last 100 years,” he said. “That means one-eighth of the land is needed to get the same production, freeing up land for recreation, urbanization, wildlife or simply producing additional crops needed to feed a growing population.”

The next generation of UAVs and phenomics research will allow further improving crop yield while also improving the economic and environmental sustainability of growing them, Murray said.

Texas corn off to a good start

9May

By: Adam Russell
Contact: Ronnie Schnell, ronschnell@tamu.edu

The majority of planted Texas corn acres have emerged amid good soil moisture profiles to start the growing season, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.

Dr. Ronnie Schnell, AgriLife Extension agronomist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, said the Texas corn crop started late in parts of the state, but growing conditions have planted fields off to a good start.

“Plantings were behind schedule two to three weeks in the upper Coastal Bend and Central Texas due to wet weather, before drier conditions in late March allowed producers to catch up,” he said. “Cooler temperatures have also delayed planting for some producers.”

Weather conditions delayed planting in some parts of the state, but corn has responded well to the good growing conditions. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Prospective Planting report estimated 2.15 million acres would be planted in Texas this year. The report’s estimate represents a 50,000-acre reduction in corn acres for the state compared to last year.

The USDA reported 70 percent of Texas corn was planted with more than 60 percent of those acres emerged. A majority of those acres are in “good” to “excellent” condition so far.

Planted and emerged acres indicate producers in the High Plains and Panhandle have made progress, Schnell said. The regions typically account for 45 percent of Texas’ corn acres.

Schnell said some producers in wetter areas may have chosen options like cotton for their acres over planting corn late. Others held out and planted corn hoping good moisture and favorable weather would lead to good yield potential.

In-season field operations have been challenging as producers wait for fields to dry, Schnell said. If rains continue, nitrogen applications could be delayed and there are concerns about nitrogen loss reducing fertilizer efficiency.

“That’s the gamble,” he said. “Producers have to balance inputs like nitrogen based on yield potential and decide whether they can be more aggressive and take advantage of good conditions or to be more conservative in the event conditions become unfavorable.”

As always, weather through the rest of the season will determine producers’ outcomes despite the good start, Schnell said. Too much water can be as bad or worse than too dry for corn production.

“Central Texas is pretty wet after the recent line of storms,” he said. “We’re hoping the next round of storms does not produce flooding or saturation for an extended time because those conditions can cause problems.”

Texas A&M corn breeder is taking Texas Whiskey to Capitol Hill

8May

By: Beth Ann Luedeker
Contact: Dr. Seth Murray – sethmurray@tamu.edu

Dr. Seth Murray explains how the different types of whiskey are created during his seminar on Capitol Hill. (Photo by: Darren Sheets)

Dr. Seth Murray recently conducted a whiskey tasting on Capitol Hill to help educate legislators on the importance of public agriculture research.

Murray’s presentation was part of the Hill Lunch-N-Learn seminar series sponsored by the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR).

More than 100 Congressional staff members had the opportunity to taste three Texas whiskeys as Murray, Associate Professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and Butler Chair for Corn Breeding and Genetics at Texas A&M University, discussed research he and his graduate student, Rob Arnold, are doing into the effect corn variety has on the flavor.

Dr. Seth Murray is introduced at the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research Lunch-n-Learn Seminar. (Photo by Darren Sheets)

Arnold is working toward his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding through Texas A&M’s distance program while working as the head distiller at Firestone & Robertson Distillery in Fort Worth.

Staffers had the opportunity to taste F&R’s commercially available “TX” whiskey, and two samples which had been aged for a year and a half in matched oak barrels. One of the matched samples was made from a TAMU experimental hybrid grown in Burleson County and the other from a commercial corn variety produced in Hill County.

“The staffers liked the whiskey, but more importantly they thought the flavors of the two matched samples were very different,” Murray said. “This is great because it shows that different corns do make a difference.”

Staff members on Capitol Hill had the opportunity to compare three types of whiskey, including two matched samples used to demonstrate the different flavor created by different corn varieties. (Photo by Darren Sheets)

Murray also noted that seasoned whiskey drinkers preferred the TAMU corn while the staffers who do not like whiskey preferred that made with commercial corn.

National C-FAR hosts the Lunch-N-Learn presentations to help staffers appreciate the importance of food and agriculture research and to facilitate more informed staff recommendations to members of Congress about food and agriculture research and education funding.

powerpoint slide with pictures of TX whiskey and Seth Murray with whiskey samples

The first slide of Murray’s presentation during the Lunch-n-Learn seminar on Capitol Hill explains his research.

Texas A&M releases new corn lines for use in commercial hybrids

23Apr

By: Kay Ledbetter

Texas corn producers will have hybrids better suited to the state’s longer growing season and multiple stresses in the future after a Texas A&M AgriLife team from across the state released five new lines bred specifically for that purpose.

“These are the first lines tested, selected and released for commercial corn hybrid production in central and south Texas in over 20 years,” said Dr. Seth Murray, Eugene Butler Endowed Chair at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder in College Station. “They will be foundational to our future inbred and hybrid production and breeding efforts.”

AgriLife Research approved the release of these lines in 2017, which means they have been introduced in commercial hybrids and are looking for commercial partners to make them available at scale to producers.

Texas A&M field trials show recently released inbred line Tx777 (left), with commercial inbred line LH195 (right), and the resulting hybrid a farmer would plant (center). Tx777 and the hybrid have excellent adaptation to the field stresses that occur throughout Texas. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Seth Murray)

Murray and other AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service team members discuss the attributes of the five corn inbred lines – Tx741, Tx777, Tx779, Tx780 and Tx782 – in the recently published “Inbred Maize Lines for Yield and Southern United States Stress Adaptation” article in Journal of Plant Registrations, https://tinyurl.com/y6287qp7.

Other current team members are Dr. Wenwei Xu, AgriLife Research corn breeder, Lubbock; Dr. Tom Isakeit, AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist, College Station; and Dr. Gary Odvody, AgriLife Research plant pathologist, Corpus Christi.

Also a part of this ongoing research project over the past 10 years in the Texas A&M department of soil and crop sciences, College Station, were Dr. Javier Betran, former AgriLife Research corn breeder; and Kerry Mayfield and Jacob Pekar, both research associates.

Helping with the photoperiod-sensitive trials were Dr. Patrick Brown in the department of crop and soil sciences, University of Illinois, and Dr. Aaron Lorenz in the department of agronomy, University of Minnesota.

Corn, also known as maize in world agriculture, has gone through modern commercialization with inbreds, or pure parental lines, and hybrids selected from temperate germplasm insufficiently adapted to Texas and other southern U.S. environments, Murray said.

New Texas inbred line Tx777 being increased and used as a parent in an isolation block to make hybrid seed for testing and limited distribution. Its deep orange color is novel in the US and highly desirable in some foreign markets. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Seth Murray)

“These new Texas lines broaden the genetic diversity of U.S. corn,” he said. “They can immediately be used in commercial hybrids and certainly should be useful in breeding new corn lines and hybrids adapted to southern U.S. environment.”

The Texas A&M lines are competitive for yield across the southern U.S. and were selected within Texas stress environments from mostly tropical germplasm previously selected for aflatoxin resistance and have outstanding grain quality.

“We also measured benefits including reduced southern rust, reduced incidence of southern corn leaf blight and lower susceptibility to Lepidopteran insects compared with commercial material currently available,” Murray said.

The lines produce yields comparable to the best commercially available hybrids, he said. The AgriLife Research breeding program crossed with a variety of these commercial testers, and the resulting hybrids were grown at multiple locations over several years.

“Several hybrids from each line produced yields that met or exceeded those of current commercial hybrids,” Murray said. “These lines and their hybrids had additional beneficial traits, including high test weight and reduced susceptibility to diseases such as southern rust and aflatoxin.”

He said using the unique tropical germplasm allowed these inbred lines to be subjected to high day and night temperatures that often cause heat and water stress, and only the best were selected for how they handled those stresses.

However, for these lines to be most useful for seed production, they need to flower early enough in commercial midwestern U.S. seed production areas, Murray said.

Photoperiod sensitivity is one of the major limitations to bringing tropical material into temperate climates, he said. The resulting delay in flowering can cause a number of issues, from seed production to appropriate phenotyping.

growing corn plants with the hybrid line noticably taller than the parents

“It is quite challenging to separate late-flowering hybrids, which need higher growing degree days, from true photoperiod sensitivity,” he said. “We have almost no ability to select for lines with reduced photoperiod sensitivity in College Station because plants flower before the summer solstice, making this one of the few environments to do so in the U.S.”

To attempt to quantify this occurrence, the team grew a larger set of lines in Nebraska and Illinois to identify correspondence in flowering times. Of the lines from the breeding program that had been growing in all three environments – Texas, Nebraska and Illinois – only two had flowering times near what is needed.

Although these lines have some unique shortcomings, notably delayed flowering in Midwestern seed production environments and large seed, which could be expensive to produce as female seed parents, these lines will be foundational to future inbred and hybrid production and breeding efforts.

“The Texas Corn Producers Board and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture have been key supporters of Texas A&M AgriLife to develop these lines and to continue to address the numerous issues Texas corn farmers face,” Murray said.

Seed for Tx741, Tx777, Tx779, Tx780 and Tx782 will be maintained by the Quantitative Genetics and Maize Breeding Program of AgriLife Research at College Station. Seed is available with a Materials Transfer Agreement from the Office of Technology Commercialization, Texas A&M University System, 1700 Research Parkway, Suite 250, College Station, TX 77845-9548.

New chemistries tested for weed control in corn

17Dec

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Jourdan Bell, 806-677-5600, Jourdan.bell@ag.tamu.edu

While producers may find newer corn herbicides on the market, it is important to look herbicide performance under regional environmental conditions before making any large purchases, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist.

There are many good herbicides on the market, but producers often find that some herbicides perform poorly under stressful Texas High Plains conditions, said Dr. Jourdan Bell, AgriLife Extension agronomist in Amarillo.

Bell said there were many good tank-mix options providing very good control, based on results from this year’s corn herbicide trials near Bushland. However, she reminded producers that coverage is a key component. For corn herbicides, treatments were applied at a rate of 15 gallons per acre.

Uncontrolled weeds in corn can use water and nutrients and negatively affect yields. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter)

“In our corn herbicide trials at Bushland, application volume in addition to proper herbicide selection was the key to success,” she said. “If we dropped the label guidelines of 15 gallons per acre; we often dropped success.”

The herbicide resistance seen across the High Plains states in both kochia and pigweed is, in part, due to less than maximum coverage over the years that left behind some weeds that built up the resistance, Bell said.

Another important consideration is the activation requirement of soil-applied herbicides, Bell said. Some chemicals need to be activated with a half-inch rain or irrigation while other herbicides may need up to 1 inch of rain or irrigation; the exact amount of water needed is a function of the herbicide’s water solubility.

“While this is not a problem on irrigated acres, this can be a problem under limited irrigation and on dryland acres if precipitation is not received in a timely manner,” she said.

Palmer amaranth, tumble pigweed, kochia and Russian thistle are some of the weeds evaluated in the study, where multiple products with multiple modes of action are being tested, Bell said.

“Herbicides can be extremely expensive, so it is important that AgriLife Extension has the opportunity to evaluate newer herbicides under our environmental conditions and then be able to share that data with you,” she said.

While herbicides can be a significant production expense, it is important for producers to recognize the economic return on their herbicide investment, Bell said.
“Producers continually hear that weeds are using water and nutrients,” she said. “In our corn herbicide trials, we have evaluated yields between different treatments. We’ve seen up to an 80-bushel-per-acre difference between a plot with well-controlled weeds and an untreated control plot due to the resources being wasted by weeds. That is significant, especially at lower corn prices and in a limited water environment.”

There’s not just one solution for a successful herbicide program in the High Plains, Bell said.

“A successful program generally includes herbicides with residual activities in addition to post-emergence herbicides with several modes of action,” she said. “Having several modes of action along with good coverage allows producers to be more proactive against herbicide-resistant and hard-to-control weeds.”

The entire list of products tested, control levels and rotational intervals can be found at https://tinyurl.com/cornherbicides.

Corn Whiskey Research in Aggieland

12Jul

Story and Photos by Beth Ann Luedeker

Dr. Seth Murray, Texas A&M Soil and Crop Sciences Associate Professor and Butler Chair, primarily focuses his research on improving the

Dr. Seth Murray putting corn tassles into collection bag

Dr. Seth Murray collects pollen from the tassles of a corn plant in his research field west of College Station, TX.

productivity, sustainability and quality of agriculture production through scientific research; most of his work is in corn (maize).

He has recently branched out, slightly, to help his graduate student, Rob Arnold, search for the ideal Texas-grown corn for the production of whiskey.

Arnold, who is working on his doctoral degree in Plant Breeding under Murray, is also the head distiller for Firestone & Robertson Distilling Company, of Fort Worth. Through controlled plant breeding, he and Murray are trying to develop Texas-grown corn varieties with distinctive and identifiable flavors to use in the production of whiskey.

Research is being conducted on non-GMO varieties of corn at the Texas A&M Farm outside College Station. Seed from selected varieties of corn are planted and hand-pollinated to control the genetics of each ear.

The first shoots are covered as soon as they emerge, kept covered until pollination, and then re-covered.

Reuters recently wrote and article and created a video about these men, the distillery and Texas whiskey. It can be found at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-whiskey/fields-of-dreams-texas-researchers-seek-to-redefine-u-s-whiskey-idUSKBN1JD09C

Corn silks are uncovered, pollinated by hand and immediately re-covered to prevent additional pollen from contacting the plant.

“Despite being less than 1% of my research program, the amount of press interest this generated blew me away, from KBTX to the Eagle to NPR and the New York Times,” Murray said. “I found that colleagues at other institutions had similar experiences with their beer and wine related breeding and genetics.”

“I also learned there are opportunities to change the conversation if you are prepared,” he said. “I have interjected the importance of science, of public sector research, and the great things Texas A&M is doing every chance I got!”

Regan Lindsey, senior Plant and Environmental Soil Science major, assisted Dr. Murray and his graduate students with the pollinating process.

AgriLife experts discuss fumonisin contamination, possible avoidance practices

18Oct

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Tom Isakeit, 979-862-1340, t-isakeit@tamu.edu
Dr. Wenwei Xu, 806-746-6101, wxu@ag.tamu.edu

AMARILLO – Texas A&M AgriLife officials are offering some best management practices for producers to keep in mind as harvest continues and for next year after fumonisin contamination has been found in truckloads of corn across the Texas High Plains.

Dr. Tom Isakeit, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist in College Station, spent several days collecting samples in the High Plains for fumonisin contamination testing. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Jourdan Bell)

Dr. Tom Isakeit, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist in College Station, said this year nothing can be done to minimize fumonisin already present in the standing crop; however, producers can make a few changes during harvest to possibly reduce the amount of contaminated grain collected.

“You can adjust the combine settings to kick out the smaller grain kernels that tend to have much higher levels of contamination of fumonisin,” Isakeit said.

Fumonisin toxin is produced when certain Fusarium fungi are present on the corn, although not all Fusarium-infected kernels will have fumonisin, he said. The only way to know if the toxin is present is to have a chemical test run.

But there are visible symptoms of the fungal infection, including a white discoloration of the kernels, and when they dry down they will be smaller or lighter than the healthy kernels, Isakeit said.

The severity can be lessened by cleaning the seed or separating the damaged kernels out, he said. Sometimes just a few kernels can cause the higher concentrations. And though it is not done much in Texas, artificially drying the corn from a high moisture of 24 percent to 15 percent in a 24-hour period can also minimize contamination. Optimum levels of fumonisin production occur between 18-20 percent moisture.

Also, producers should segregate portions of the field if there was moisture stress, keeping corn from the drought-stressed areas of the field separate from the rest of the field, Isakeit said.

“The worst damage generally occurs around the edges of the field,” he said. “What you find on the outside for fumonisin contamination might not be what you find in the middle of the field.”

Isakeit also warned that putting corn into storage won’t get rid of the fumonisin contamination, but high levels of moisture or some leakage after placement in bins can add to the problem.

“For storage, you want to have your corn dry and keep it dry,” he said. “Make sure the bins are operated properly and are well ventilated.”

Beyond this year, Isakeit and Dr. Wenwei Xu, Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder in Lubbock, offered some management practices that could help possibly control the problem in the future.

Dr. Wenwei Xu, Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder in Lubbock, examines a field of corn in the southern High Plains of Texas for Fusarium fungus disease. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Jourdan Bell)

Both said there is no product available that can be applied to prevent fumonisin, so minimizing the contamination in the future will require a combination of hybrid selection and cultural practices.

Isakeit said producers should pay close attention to any hybrid differences out in fields this year, adding “that might be the very least we can do now.”

Xu said there is a clear difference in terms of Fusarium fungus infection among hybrids, and there is a clear difference in terms of susceptibility to common smut.

Resistance to Fusarium fungus disease, common smut and earworm damage are all factors that should play into hybrid selection, he said.

“If a hybrid is susceptible to these, it doesn’t mean every field will be severe, but it can be elevated in bad years and the kernel damage under different environmental conditions can lead to more contamination,” Xu said.

“Based on my observations and conversations with farmers, you can find the problem in both dryland and irrigated corn and short-season to full-season corn,” he said. “It varies from field to field, and the hybrid, growth management, hot temperatures and drought stress will determine the severity.

Corn hybrids with ears that remain standing instead of falling at maturity like these can retain moisture and prevent the ear from drying down. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Jourdan Bell)

“Farmers need to be paying attention to the factors that contributed to high fumonisin contamination this year when selecting their hybrid next year,” Xu said.

Hybrids less prone to loss of kernel integrity should be planted, Isakeit said.

In 2008, there was an outbreak of fumonisin in this the High Plains and loss of kernel integrity was associated with hybrids that had problems with contamination, according to Dr. Gary Odvody, AgriLife Research plant pathologist, Corpus Christi. This loss of kernel integrity was seen in hybrids with high yield potential when they were subjected to late-season stress.

Insect resistance, including that in transgenic hybrids, can help reduce contamination by reducing wounds in the kernels that allow entry of the fungus.

Also, he said other factors in fumonisin contamination are the common smut disease, which can act as a sponge and retains moisture in the ear, allowing the Fusarium fungus to grow and produce toxin; and hybrids with ears that remain standing instead of falling at maturity, which retains moisture and prevents the ear from drying down.

Some other crop management strategies he outlined are:

– Control weeds to reduce moisture stress.

– Optimize irrigation to avoid stress between flowering and grain fill.

– Maintain optimal nitrogen fertility, especially with high plant populations.

For more information, go to http://aflatoxin.tamu.edu/ or http://www.cornmycotoxins.com.

AgriLife Research receives USDA-NIFA grant for phenotyping tool development

5Jun

Analytical tool research will aid screening of potential corn lines

Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu

Contact: Dr. Seth Murray, 979-845-3041, sethmurray@tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M AgriLife Research will receive $490,000 over a three-year period as part of an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, project grant to develop analytical tools and determine if these can help select superior corn varieties.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded the grant funds, which will build upon data collected over the past two years using both fixed-wing and copter UAV and ground vehicle data.

Dalton Askew, a student worker in Dr. Seth Murray’s research program, drives the Texas A&M AgriLife ground sensing vehicle in the 2017 Genomes to Fields experiment to measure height, normalized difference vegetation index and other phenotypes of corn. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Colby Ratcliff).

“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this grant, and it will build upon an already well-established UAV program with activities ongoing throughout Texas,” said Dr. Craig Nessler, AgriLife Research director in College Station.

The goal of the project is to develop analytical tools plant breeders and researchers can use for phenotyping, or measuring physical characteristics of plants. This will be tested in hybrid corn varieties to better predict height, yield and different varieties susceptibility to drought and other plant stresses during the growing season, according to researchers.

The hybrids will be from the Genomes to Fields project, a nationwide research effort led and supported by corn producer boards, including the Texas Corn Producers Board, to support translation of maize genomic information for the benefit of growers, consumers and society.

“These grant funds will allow us to develop analytical tools needed by field breeding and genetics programs to screen and select superior genetics in breeding hybrid lines that ultimately will increase yields for farmers nationwide,” said Dr. Seth Murray, AgriLife Research corn breeder in College Station.

Murray is joined by fellow Texas A&M researchers Dr. Dale Cope, who specializes in research and development of UAVs in the College of Engineering, and Dr. Sorin Popescu and postdoc Dr. Lonesome Malambo, both with AgriLife Research, who specialize in remote sensing applications in the department of ecosystem science and management. All are based in College Station.

According to past research in Texas, strong positive correlations between terminal plant height and yield, previously identified in commercial and breeding hybrids in Texas, are likely due to vigor and stress tolerance, not maturity and shading. High throughput field phenotyping will assist in measuring plant growth over time which will help to identify different types of stress tolerance across genotypes for development of more stress tolerant corn.

“The proposal addresses germplasm enhancement and breeding selection theory priority areas,” Murray said.

For more information about the Texas A&M research program, visithttp://uasag.tamu.edu/.

Nathália Cruzato, a doctoral student in Dr. Seth Murray’s research program, breaks from manual height measurement in the 2017 Genomes to Fields experiment to observe the quad copter collecting images for phenotypic measurement. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Colby Ratcliff).

Dr. Lonesome Malambo, a doctoral student in Dr. Sorin Popesu’s research program, flies a quad copter over the 2017 Genomes to Fields experiment to collect images for phenotypic measurement. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Colby Ratcliff).

Dr. Dale Cope, pilots a quad copter UAV for an aerial survey of the maize Genomes to Fields project, the imagery will be used to phenotype plant height and other characteristics. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

The 2nd Annual Agronomy Society Corn Maze is Opening October 22 to November 5

27Oct

More than 1,220 people attended the 2nd Annual Agronomy Society Corn Maze during the opening weekend October 22 and 23, significantly more than were seen last year.

“We had as many people opening weekend as we did in three days last year,” stated Matt Wilhelm, the financial officer for the Agronomy Society.

According to organizers, attendance was not the only thing better than last year. The event doubled in size and includes not only the five-acre corn maze, but also a pumpkin patch where visitors may pick their own pumpkin off the vine, a cotton field, farm equipment displays, and many game booths.

They hope the weather will be better too. Many of the weekends rained out last year, and the maze was unable to open.

As long as Mother Nature cooperates, the maze will be open for three more weekends, and Halloween night. The hours for home football weekends are Friday 5p.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. When the Ags are away, (the weekend of November 4), the maze hours are Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

October 31st the maze will be open from 5 to 9 with a special haunted Halloween Maze. It may be scary for small children, so parents are urged to use their own judgement.

“We are not sure how scary it will be,” stated Payne Whatley, Agronomy Society Reporter.

Organizers stated that all ages are welcome, but recommend parents bring children ages 10 and younger before 7:00 p.m. The frights will be more suited to older children from 7 to 9 p.m.

There will be lights illuminating parts of the maze, and visitors are welcome to bring flashlights.

Check on their Facebook page.