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.
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