Farm & Ranch
[AgriLife Today] Four viticulturists hired to help Texas wine industry flourish
Writer: Kathleen Phillips, 979-845-2872, [email protected]
Contact: Dr. Justin Scheiner, 979-845-1870, [email protected]
COLLEGE STATION — The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has hired four viticulture program specialists to assist grape growers with challenges and educational information, officials said.
The positions, strategically located across the state, were funded by the Texas Legislature in acknowledging that Texas is the fifth leading wine producing state in the nation with more than 350 licensed wineries, and vineyard acreage has more than doubled over the past decade, according to Dr. Justin Scheiner, AgriLife Extension state viticulturist in College Station.
The new viticulturists and their locations are: Piere Helwi, High Plains and West Texas regions; Andrew Labay, Texas Hill Country; Fran Pontasch, Gulf Coast region; and, Michael Cook, North Texas region.
“The Texas wine industry has great potential,” said Dr. Dan Lineberger, head of the horticultural sciences department at Texas A&M University where the four will be academically connected. “We’re anxious to get this team in place, and we’re excited about the opportunities to work closer with new growers, current growers and members of the Texas wine industry.”
Lineberger said AgriLife Extension has had “an excellent relationship with the grape growing and wine industry since its inception,” and these specialists will help the industry continue to grow toward the future.
Pontasch, who is based in College Station, previously served as a viticulture advisor with AgriLife Extension in the North Texas region. She has worked as a vineyard manager and vineyard consultant. Pontasch earned a bachelor’s in horticulture at Texas A&M and a master’s in biology from Sul Ross University where she studied Pierce’s Disease in grapes in the Davis Mountains.
Cook, who is based in Denton, has a bachelor’s in horticulture from Texas A&M and a master’s in viticulture from Fresno State University in California where he studied the effects of fruit zone light management and applied water on grapevine productivity and phenolic composition.
Helwi comes from Bordeaux, France where he recently completed a doctoral degree in enology from the University of Bordeaux. His dissertation research focused on the effects of nitrogen nutrition on aroma compounds in grapes and wine. He will assume his duties based in Lubbock on Feb. 15.
Labay has been working as an AgriLife Extension associate since 2010 in the viticulture program at the Fredericksburg Viticulture and Fruit Lab. He holds a master’s in functional plant biology from the University of Montpellier II in France and is pursuing a doctoral degree in horticulture at Texas A&M. He will be based in Fredericksburg beginning in June.
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By Heather Welper
Husband and wife duo, Heather and Calvin Welper, are the Co-Owners and Operators or Two C Livestock, located in Valley View, Texas.
The pair’s operation has a show cattle focus where they raise and sell purebred heifers of all breeds and club calf Hereford steers.
When it comes to show cattle, the Welpers know a thing or two including how to prepare for the cold winter months and the Texas major show season run.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Hannah Claxton, Editor
As the sun rises each day, so do the dozens of mouths that Meghan McGovern is responsible for getting fed. Rather than the sounds of a rooster crowing, McGovern hears the bellows and bleats of a variety of exotic deer, the chortle of kangaroos, the grunts of water buffaloes, and the chirps of a lemur.
Nestled against the banks of the Red River, the Double M Ranch and Rescue, with its high game fences and deer sprinkling the landscape,s its in stark contrast to the surrounding ranches.
“Having deer is kind of like eating potato chips- you can never actually have just one,” said McGovern with a laugh.
McGovern has several herds to take care of- fallow deer, axis deer, water buffalo, goats, and bison. In smaller numbers, there’s also a few kangaroos, a lemur, a potbelly pig, a pair of zebras, a watusi, and a few horses.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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