Texas Small Grains Team

AgriLife Extension

Jourdan Bell– Associate Professor & Extension Agronomist

Phone: 806-677-5600

Email: jourdan.bell@ag.tamu.edu

Location: Amarillo, TX

Region: Northern High Plains

Brandon Gerrish– Assistant Professor & Small Grains Extension Specialist

Phone: 207-432-1481

Email: brandon.gerrish@ag.tamu.edu

Location: College Station, TX

Region: Statewide

Brandon’s program is responsible for coordinating statewide small grains variety testing. This includes working closely with all the other members of the small grains team, county extension agents, and producers from the Upper Gulf Coast to the Northern Panhandle. Variety trials include wheat and oat grain trials, dual-purpose wheat trials, and multi-species forage trials. Through screening varieties for many biotic and abiotic stresses and testing for yield, the most suitable varieties are determined for each growing region across the state.

Thomas Isakeit– Professor & Extension Specialist

Phone: 979-862-1340

Email: thomas.isakeit@ag.tamu.edu

Location: College Station, TX

Region: Statewide- Primarily South Texas & Blackland Regions

While Tom’s program works statewide on a number of crops and diseases, his small grains work is primarily focused in the Blacklands and South Texas Regions. In these regions, he serves as an additional resource available to specialists, IPM agents, and county extension agents for diagnosis and management of bacterial and fungal diseases. He also coordinates with other plant pathologists such as Ken Obasa for diagnosing virus diseases.

Emi Kimura– Associate Professor & Extension Agronomist

Phone: 940-647-3910

Email: emi.kimura@ag.tamu.edu

Location: Vernon, TX

Region: Northern Rolling Plains

Joshua McGinty– Associate Professor & Extension Agronomist

Phone: 361-265-9203

Email: joshua.mcginty@ag.tamu.edu

Location: Corpus Christi

Region: South Texas

Reagan Noland– Assistant Professor & Extension Agronomist

Phone: 325-657-7330

Email: reagan.noland@tamu.edu

Location: San Angelo, TX

Region: Southern Rolling Plains

Ken Obasa– Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist

Phone: 806-677-5600

Email: ken.obasa@ag.tamu.edu

Location: Amarillo, TX

Head of the High Plains Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab

Calvin Trostle– Professor & Extension Agronomist

Phone: 806-746-6101

Email: ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu

Location: Lubbock, TX

Region: Southern High Plains

Calvin’s program contributes at least two irrigated and two dryland wheat variety trials each year to the High Plains variety testing program. The results contribute to the annual wheat grain variety “Picks” for the Texas High Plains. In addition, Trostle’s primary Extension education focus with wheat farmers is teaching and explaining the amount and especially timing of late-winter topdress nitrogen. This is tied closely to the switch where the growing point down in the stem transitions from producing another leaf to determining the potential size of the head.

Mark Welch– Professor & Extension Agronomist for Grain Marketing

Phone: 979-845-8011

Email: mark.welch@ag.tamu.edu

Location: College Station, TX

Mark is an economist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University specializing in grain marketing. His research interests and program focus encompass all stakeholders in the grain industry- small grains, feed grain, rice, oilseeds- in the areas of risk management and market analysis.


AgriLife Research

Joseph Awika– Professor & Department Head of Food Science

Phone: 979-321-5386

Email: joseph.awika@ag.tamu.edu

Location: College Station, TX

Head of the Cereal Quality Lab

Shuyu Liu– Professor & Small Grains Breeder

Phone: 806-677-5600

Email: shuyu.liu@ag.tamu.edu

Location: College Station, TX

Region: Statewide- Primarily South Texas & Blacklands

Jackie Rudd– Professor & Wheat Breeder

Phone: 806-677-5600

Email: jackie.rudd@ag.tamu.edu

Location: Amarillo, TX

Region: Statewide- Primarily High Plains & Rolling Plains