Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute

USDA-NRCS E. "Kika" de la Garza Plant Materials Center

The PMC provides an excellent location in the Gulf Prairies and Marshes for evaluation of plant material.  The PMC is located in Kleberg County near Kingsville, Texas, and  has representative clay and sandy loam soil types for evaluation of plant material.  PMC staff provides much needed assistance and cooperative evaluation of plant material.   The PMC also provides seed cleaning equipment, storage facilities, and a variety of specialized equipment to the project.  Personnel that we work closely with include John Lloyd-Reilley (manager), Shelly Maher (Soil conservationist), Albert Quiroga (Research Technician), and George Farek (Research associate).

Rio Farms, Inc.

Rio Farms Inc. is located in Hidalgo County, near Monte Alto, Texas.  They provide an evaluation location representative of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  Our main evaluation location has a Wilacy fine sandy loam soil type.  Plants collected from the sand sheet of south Texas, as well as those found on sandy soil types are evaluated here. This site is representative of common sandy loam soil types throughout south Texas.  Many other plant species typically found in the northern portion of the region are also planted here to determine the southern extent of adaptability.  The subtropical climate and long growing season make Rio Farms an excellent evaluation location.  This location has the highest mean annual precipitation of our evaluation sites.  Rio Farms is also the location of many of STN's seed increase fields, with more than 15 acres currently devoted to Foundation and Breeder Seed production.  Cooperators we work closely with are Juan Garza-farm manager, Andy Scott-director of research, and Dale Murden-CEO.  Rio Farms personnel bring years of crop development and management experience to the project, as well as provide much needed equipment for our research there.

Bladerunner Farms

Bladerunner Farms is located in Atascosa County, Texas near Poteet, Texas.  This evaluation location provides a site in the north central portion of South Texas.  Our evaluation site there has a Miguel fine sandy loam soil type.  This location provides an additional sandy soil to evaluate collections.  Bladerunner Farms is a leading turfgrass producer and has developed several turf varieties used extensively in the commercial turf industry.  Personnel from Bladerunner Farms bring a wealth of knowledge in variety development, selection and turf production to the project.  Several native species are being evaluated there for use in the turf industry, and for sod, residential, and ornamental use.  Bladerunner Farms has been instrumental in selection of species for TxDOT rights-of-way use.  Recently, Bladerunner Farms has begun commercial production of STN releases La Salle Germplasm Arizona cottontop and Dilley Germplasm slender grama.  David Douget-president & CEO works closely with STN projects at Bladerunner Farms, and serves on the STN Technical Committee.

Texas AgriLife Research Station

Texas AgriLife Research Station - Uvalde
TARS-Uvalde is located in Uvalde, County, near Uvalde, Texas.  This location provides a representative evaluation site of the extreme northern portions of the project area. Our evaluation location has an Uvalde silt loam soil type.  This soil type is a moderately permeable, tight soil similar to soils found in the northern portions of south Texas.  This evaluation location has the shortest growing season, and typically exhibits a cooler climate, and shortest growing season of our evaluation locations.  Cold tolerance of collections from the southern portion of the region can be assessed here.  TAR-S Uvalde also helps to determine the northern extent of adaptability of south Texas collections in our initial evaluations.  Seed fill is typically highest at Uvalde in comparison to other locations, due in part to the cooler night-time temperatures that occur there.  Ray King-farm manager and Dr. Bill Holloway-resident director of research provide insight and technical assistance to our work at Uvalde.

Texas AgriLife Research Station-Beeville
TARS-Beeville is located in Bee County, Texas, near Beeville, Texas.  This location provides an evaluation site located in the east central portion of south Texas.  TARS-Beeville provides a variety of clay, loam, and clay loam soil types in which to evaluate collections.  This location has the second highest mean annual precipitation of our evaluation locations, and colder climate than other evaluation locations on similar soil types.  TARS-Beeville also provides a location for evaluation by other cooperators with expertise in forage production, and agronomy research settings.  Dr. Bill Ocumpaugh -Regents professor (retired) is a major cooperator and scientific advisor to STN, and was formerly stationed at Beeville.  Jeff Rahmes-research associate, and Domingo Martinez-research technician provide technical assistance to many projects ongoing projects.  TARS-Beeville also houses specialized seed cleaning and processing equipment including a gravity table and seed coater.  STN also works closely with James Grichar-Senior Research Scientist to test various herbicides for native plant use.

Rancho Blanco

Rancho Blanco is located in Webb County, near El Cenizo, Texas.  This location provides a representative location for the relatively dry climate found in western south Texas.  Our evaluation location here has a La Gloria silt loam soil type.  This well drained, moderately permeable soil type is similar to those found across large portions of south Texas.  Rancho Blanco represents the driest evaluation location, as it has the lowest mean annual precipitation, and higher mean temperature than any other location.  Rancho Blanco also provides acreage for a variety of experimental plantings, seeding trials, and competitive trials with several non-native grass species.  The Rancho Blanco site provides an excellent laboratory for evaluation of plant survival in severe drought conditions, which are common to the region.  Rancho Blanco Ranch Manager Jim Mutz, who serves on the STN technical committee and the Zachary Family work closely with evaluations here, and fund several collaborative projects with STN.   These cooperators provide unique wildlife management and ranching insights to the evaluation process.