Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color,

religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University System, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E I X

OFFICE OF CAMERON

COUNTY EXTENSION

1390 W. Expressway 83

San Benito, TX 78586

956-361-8236 Phone

956-361-8289 Fax

http://cameron.agrilife.org

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

4-H & Youth

Development

2

Urban Horticulture 3

Coastal & Marine

Resources

4

Agricultural &

Natural Resources

5

Family & Consumer

Sciences

6

Expanded Food &

Nutrition Program

7

Upcoming

Programs

8

J U L Y 2 0 1 5 — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Cameron County

Extension Programs

Improving Lives.

Improving Texas.

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race,

color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M University

System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating

P A G E 4

4-H & Youth Development Written by: Agents Marco Ponce & Guadalupe Castro

As our 4H family continues to grow I would like to introduce our new 4H club in Brownsville,

Brownsville Border Youth 4H. They have been charted and have begun to register over 5 adult

volunteers and plan to register 15 students. They kicked off their new 4H adventure by partici-

pating in the 4H National Youth Science Day on October 10, 2015. Through the lesson Motion

Commotion they learned about the physics of motion and how it affects them in their daily

lives. With the experiments kits, provided by Prairie View A&M Cooperative Extension, they

were able to see the laws of physics in action. They also were able to see what happens to the

human reactions time when they became distracted, which was a great example of what could

happens when they text and drive.

Another development that has been in the works and will begin this December is the 4H Hero’s

4 Health Healthy Ambassador program. We have been recruiting fellow 4H youth as well as

youth from the community to participate in the Healthy Ambassador program which will help

teach youth in the community how to live a healthy lifestyle. Our Ambassadors will train on

December 5, 2015 on the Choosing Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness curriculum as well as learn

skills on public speaking and how to market their program to the youth audience. They will then reach out to the community and conduct healthy lifestyle lessons to youth. This program

runs from September 1, 2015 through August 1, 2016 and is being funded through a grant pro-

vided by National 4-H Council and sponsored by Wal-Mart.

Cameron County 4-H members have been extremely active in a wide array of contests, educa-

tional activities, and community service projects.

We have been growing everday by creating 4-H clubs and enrolling more 4-Hers these past few

months. We recently met with two new prospective club managers in the hopes of forming two

new 4-H community clubs in the county. One new club has already formed and is currently en-

rolling new members.

Over 100 Cameron County 4-H members and leaders attended our annual 4-H Awards banquet

that was held at the San Benito Community Center. 4-H members were recognized for their

outstanding achievement with their projects, leadership activities, and community service. 4-H

Club Managers and Volunteer Leaders were also recognized for their outsanding service to 4-H

youth both in their respective clubs and in the overall county 4-H program. The night culminat-

ed with a dinner and dance in celebration of all the award recipients from the previous year.

Cameron County 4-H Members participated in our annual Thanksgiving Holiday Help commu-

nity service project. Cameron County 4-H Members donated non-perishable canned food items

for 10 families in need who are part of the Harlingen I.S.D. Parental Involvement Center, and to

5 families in need who are part of the Rio Hondo I.S.D. Parental Involvement Center. Cameron

County Farm Bureau also collaborated on this service project by donating 15 turkeys also to be given to the families in need. 4-H members collected the food items and turkeys personally de-

livered the items to the parental involvement centers in Harlingen and Rio Hondo. Parental In-

volvement staff members assisted in this service project by identifying the families in need that

were the recipients of our donated items.

Cameron County 4-H Members participated in our annual 4-H One Day community service

project. This year 4-H members collaborated with the Texas Forest Service who were celebrat-

ing their 100th anniversary in Texas. The Texas Forest Service donated one Bur Oak tree to

every County Extension Office in the state as part of their celebration. Cameron County 4-H

members with the assistance of the Cameron County Master Gardeners, then planted the tree in

the Master Gardeners Arboretum. After the tree planting, a dedication ceremony was conducted

in which we discussed the importance of this event. We also discussed proper tree planting tech-

niques and how to properly maintain a healthy tree.

P A G E 5

Written by Agent Jennifer Herrera

Urban Horticulture

Webpage: http://txmg.org/cameron or

Facebook : Cameron County Master Gardeners

This year 9 Cameron County Master Gardener interns completed the Texas Master Garden-

er Training program. The Master Gardener Interns completed 70 hours horticulture educa-

tional training and averaged 65 hours of volunteer service.

The Cameron County Master Gardeners hosted their Annual Plant Sale Home Gardening

Extravaganza on October 10th. Over 300 Cameron County residents attended the event. The

Master Gardener’s had informational booth on rainwater harvesting, vegetable gardening,

composting, soil testing, herbs, native plants, community gardening, bee keeping, and chil-

dren’s activities. A popular table was our plant clinic. Homeowners were encouraged to

bring in diseased plant material or problematic insects to be identified and diagnosed by

AgriLife Extension Specialists.

Texas A&M Agrilife and the Cameron County Master Gardener hosted two Citrus Green-

ing Educational programs, a Fall Vegetable Gardening class, and an Earth-Kind Landscape

and Water Conservation program for homeowners. The Master Gardener’s volunteered at

Berta Cabaza Middle School to help with the Junior Master Gardener Program.

We have now completed the second year of the Growing and Nourishing Healthy Commu-

nities Grant program. Four new community gardens have been established in Cameron

County. The gardens are located at Combes Community Center, Bob Clark Social Service

Center, San Benito Heavin Trail, and Church of Christ Food Pantry in Harlingen. Garden-

ing classes are being offered to limited resource audiences throughout Cameron County.

P A G E 6

Written by Agent Tony Reisinger

Coastal & Marine Resources 2015 Texas Red Tide Cell

Cameron County Emergency Man-

ager Nate Flores Examines red tide

fish kill

Drone Training for County Agents

Red Tide Drone Study

Red tide was our predominant issue in marine extension this quarter. The red menace moved onto the

Texas coast from offshore at Corpus Christi in mid-September. It had originated in the Bay of Campeche.

The bloom quickly spread along the coast to South Padre Island and Boca Chica, reaching south to Tampi-

co. This harmful algal bloom (HAB) spread respiratory irritation to residents along the coast via a toxic

aerosol released from cells breaking in the waves and blown onshore by the wind. Significant fish kills

were caused by the toxin along Gulf beaches, and into the Laguna Madre, wreaking havoc with the recrea-

tional and shellfish fisheries.

Our Red Tide Rangers were mobilized and trained at the UTRGV Coastal Studies Lab. Rangers moni-

tored the bloom from beginning to the end in November, dedicating 282 hours of volunteer time to sam-

pling, counting cells, and determining aerosol impacts. The Cameron County Emergency Management

team was familiarized with identification, sampling and aerosol assessment. We worked closely with the

Texas Parks & Wildlife HAB Workgroup and they published our information on their red tide web page.

Our info was used for ground truth to track the bloom by satellite with the National Oceanic and Atmos-

pheric Administration HAB group. We kept the public informed on the status of red tide on two Facebook

pages, “Red Tide Rangers” and “Texas Coastal Naturalist”. A post on wearing a dust mask to reduce

aerosol irritation had 6,500 hits! AgriLife Communications published an info piece picked up by major

Valley newspapers.

Red tide afforded us the opportunity to demonstrate the deployment of a new high tech tool, unmanned

aerial vehicles (drones or UAVs) to monitor bloom location and concentration. We invited UTRGV and

Texas A&M Corpus Christi researchers who conducted cooperative demonstrations studying the feasibil-

ity of detecting and tracking red tide. These demonstrations were spin-off from a county agent training I

organized for south region agents on the capability of monitoring agricultural fields and ranches via

UAVs. UAVs may be the future for HAB monitoring, enabling more cost efficient fish kill assessment

and bloom tracking.

The shrimp season was productive this quarter. Low prices caused concern. Our industry is competing

with subsidized farm raised imports. Their survival is dependent on low fuel costs. To keep them sustain-

able, we boarded 16 shrimp vessels, training 33 crewmembers in TED and BRD compliance. The Kemp’s

ridley sea turtle population has declined since 2010 after a significant recovery in the Gulf. Crews are

educated on correct TED angles and net flap cuts to allow sea turtles to be released should they encounter

a shrimp trawl. BRD compliance is demonstrated to teach crews proper location of the devices in their

nets. Red snapper is again the offshore fish species of concern in the Gulf and fisheye BRDs release at

least 30% of fish encountered by trawls, helping conserve these fish. Trainings were conducted aboard

commercial shrimp vessels in Cameron County ports. Our efforts help captains and crews understand

TED and BRD construction and installation, contributing to the sustainability of the fishery.

The Rio Grande Valley Chapter Texas Master Naturalist program now has 177 members. We have a new

naturalist chapter, the South Texas Border Chapter with 70 members headquartered in McAllen. It shares

Cameron County for volunteer projects. The Cameron County Native Plant Center under construction

with Ocean Trust on South Padre Island is a favorite volunteer site. We graduated 55 new naturalists this

year and are hoping for more next year with two chapters.

Our Texas Coastal Naturalist program is our most popular volunteer program. Trainings are held in con-

junction with the UTRGV Coastal Studies Lab. We offer classes for first response in harmful algal

blooms i.e. red tide, marine mammal stranding response, cold stun sea turtle rescue efforts, oil spill re-

sponse and other marine related classes. Fish printing has become our most requested class and class sur-

veys indicate they want more of these, which we are planning for next year.

P A G E 7

Agriculture Written by Agent Dr. Enrique Perez

Cameron County Extension Advisory Board

The Cameron County Extension Leadership Advisory Board met on Tuesday, September 23, 2015. This is

their second to the last meeting before the their last end of their year Annual Meeting to he be held on De-

cember 10, 2015 Dr. Jose Luis Cavazos Chairperson presided over the meeting. The purpose for the

meeting was to outline each program area plans and report on programming efforts as directed by each pro-

gram area committee (Agriculture, Family Consumer Science, 4-H & Youth Development , Horticulture

and Coastal Marine). Each LAB member present had the opportunity to hear reports from each committee

member and discussed outcomes on programs. The LAB members scheduled the Annual Extension Recog-

nition of Volunteers for Thursday, December 3, 2015 at the Extension Meeting Room , San Benito Annex.

This event is a very special event in which volunteers are recognized for their ongoing volunteer service in

communities across Cameron County. As in previous years County Extension programs success is due to

volunteerism. Volunteerism is the backbone for Extension programming. Cameron County Extension Lead-

ership Advisory Board members are; Dr. Jose Luis Cavazos, Cristobal Perez, Alicia Cavazos, Norma

Cavazos, Lori Murray, Cesar Pacheco, Richard Plata, Colleen Catlett, Gary Smith, Ivette Torres, Israel Sala-

zar, Joe Vega, Linda Butcher, Anita Westervelt, Chuck Malloy, Norma Louise, Monica Salinas-Advisor.

Eighty-two Cameron County Community Leaders/Stakeholders identified the top critical issues/

needs in Cameron County are; Environmental Stewardship, Water Quality and Conservation, Child-

hood and Adult Obesity Education, Parenting Skills Education, Children’s Health, Youth at Risk,

Drug Awareness, Teen Pregnancy and Eco-Tourism.

2015 Bull and Heifer Development Program

The Rio Grande Valley Beef Improvement Development Association initiated the Annual Bull and Heifer

Development program November 1st of this year. Beef producers can improve their herd or the herds of

their customers through more rigid sire selection. The program gives the beef producers the opportunity to

increase the value of bulls and heifers by collecting feedlot performance data and carcass characteristics

for sound performance in a breeding program. A total of 1170 bulls, 974 heifers and 142 steers have been

entered in the 17 years the program has been conducted. Currently, 37 bulls and 10 heifers are entered in

the program by cattlemen participating from throughout the Rio Grande Valley, south and central Texas.

Future Plans: In cooperation with the Rio Grande Valley Beef Improvement Association, plans are to

continue the program and perhaps consider marketing alternatives for participants. Another future possibil-

ity will be to offer an artificial insemination program for heifers.

Soil Campaign for Agriculture Producers

The Cameron County Extension Agriculture program kicked off the Soil Nutrient Management Campaign-

Soil Testing Program October 1st to assist agriculture producers obtain free soil analysis to their produc-

tion fields. More then 20,000 acres of agricultural fields have participated in this program. The purpose of

the Soil Campaign is to assist agriculture producers reduce their input of nutrients (fertilizer) in their agri-

culture fields. Soil analysis promotes nutrient management which reduces the flow of nutrients into water

tributaries such as the Arroyo Colorado and Rio Grande River. It also provides agriculture producers in-

troduce best management practices to promote environmental stewardship and reduce their input in pro-

duction costs for increase profitability. A total of 10 group methods resulted in 2080 contact hours of

education. Agriculture Producers can obtain free soil testing from the Texas A&M Soil and Water Test-

ing Lab in College Station.

2015 Private Applicator License Training for Agriculture Producers

Agriculture producers participated continue to participated in securing a State Pesticide Restricted License

for use and purchase of State Restricted Pesticides for agriculture production. Agriculture producers par-

ticipated in a 6 hour training on Pesticide Safety and are qualified to take a test under the Texas Depart-

ment of Agriculture to secure a State Restricted Pesticide License in Texas for agriculture use only. This

year (2015) more then 80 agriculture producers have participated in the training. A total of 20 group

methods resulted in a total of 1278 contact hours of education. As of today four Pesticide Safety Trainings

where conducted in 2015. For continuing education, 39 events were held, attended by 832 people who

earned 1768 CEU’s. The economic value of the CEU’s earned was $44,200

Extension Leadership Advisory

Board

Fall and Spring Bull and

Heifer Development Program

Soil Campaign Program

Private Applicator License

Training Series for

Agriculture Producers

P A G E 8

“To catch the reader's attention, place an

interesting sentence or quote from the story

here.”

Caption describing

picture or graphic.

Caption

describing

picture or

graphic.

Family & Consumer Sciences Written by Agent Lilian Mezquida

In October 2015, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in conjunction with San

Benito CISD, Harlingen CISD and San Benito Police Department conducted the

WATCH UR BACK Drug and Alcohol Awareness Program. The event began with a

presentation about the dangers of underage drinking presented by Texas A&M

AgriLife and dangers of using drugs by Detectives Carlos Romero and Joe Sanchez of

the San Benito Police Department. The students wore the special goggles to simulate

different levels of intoxication from a 0.12 blood alcohol level to 2.5. They also tried

riding the long pedal cars, walking a straight line and driving a simulator. The event

was held in 5 different schools. San Benito High School 300 students, Veterans Me-

morial 875 students, Miller Jordan 820 students, Riverside 664 students and Dr. Abra-

ham P. Cano Freshman Academy 600 students.

The Better Living for Texans Assistants conducted multiple nutritional programs from

September to November 2015. So far 150 adults completed the program; participants

were evaluated after completing the program. Other events where Better Living for

Texans Assistants participated were the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School

District’s Parents’ Day Fair 500 people, Catch the Healthy Vibe at the Ocelot Catch

Fest 500 people and the Brownsville CISD Parent’s Day Fair 5000 people. In these

Events people got information about nutrition, healthy recipes and Nutrition Classes.

Expanded Food & Nutrition

P A G E 9

Three Nutrition Education Assistants instruct Adult classes and two Nutrition Edu-

cation Associates instruct Youth classes throughout Cameron and Willacy County.

During the months of June thru November, the EFNEP Adult program conducted

classes throughout the weeks with a total of 1,500 total enrollments in Cameron

County and 70 total enrollments for Willacy County throughout the fiscal year

2015. In addition, the Youth classes (given in mostly Cameron County) accounted

4,971 enrollments and 512 enrollments in Willacy County.

Volunteers contribute to the EFNEP program with in-kind donations (hours, food

donations, class usage, and photo copies). Partial volunteer contributions during

this time during this time, volunteers donated their time, efforts, and food donations

to equal that of this time last year.

Parents taking the EFNEP Adult program receive many incentive items such as

booklets, measuring cups, re-usable grocery lists, food thermometers, calendars, and

certificates. This ensures that they are able to keep good references at home that

they use later. Below is a validation of the success of the outcome of the EFNEP

Program:

“I was moved to tell you about Laura H. Dorado, nutrition education assistant. I

am an M.D. with a long standing interest in nutrition in particular as it applies to

medical practice. I have a rather large background in studying nutrition from attend-

ing over 350 hours of seminars in Austin as well as extensive reading. In spite of

this I found the information provided at the AgriLife meetings useful as well as

very nicely presented by Mrs. Dorado. I wish you to accept my compliments in

providing so effective a teacher. She has frequent references from her experiences

in teaching along with personal and family life. The class, though small, is very

attentive and shares my feelings by also signing my letter. We all say thank you to

her and to you for making this available.” -All Saints Episcopal Church, San Beni-

to, Dr. Robert Summerville.

“My name is Norma Jimenez-Cerda and I am the Academic Counselor at IDEA

College Prep Brownsville. I would like to thank you for allowing Mrs. Cecy Bau-

tista to give the parent nutrition classes to our parents. Mrs. Bautista has been com-

ing to our campus for the past 3-4 years and she has been amazing with our parents.

Mrs. Bautista is able to connect with our parents and give meaningful classes to

them whether they are in English or in Spanish. Once again, thank you for the great

program you are running! We are looking forward to another successful year.”-

Written by Agent Oscar Zamora

P A G E 1 0

Soil Campaign Kickoff for AG Producers October 29, 2015

Parenting Classes November, 16, 24, 2015

Volunteer Recognition December 3, 2015

Commissioners Interpretation December 3, 2015

Tip of Texas Meeting December 7, 2015

Master Naturalist General Meeting December 8, 2015

4-H Christmas Holiday Help December 9,2015

Master Gardener Association Meeting December 10, 2015

Small Acreage Horticulture Webinar December 15, 2015

4-H Council & Managers Meeting December 21, 2015

Vet Science Lesson December 21, 2015

Tip of Texas Meeting January 4, 2016

Master Naturalist Board Meeting January 5, 2016

Master Gardener Board Meeting January 7, 2016

Pre Plant Cotton & Grain Program January 12, 2016

Master Naturalist General Meeting January 12, 2016

Master Gardener Association Meeting January 14, 2016

CEU Workshop—Ag License Holders January 21, 2016

Turf Landscape Workshop January 25, 2016

4-H Council & Managers Meeting January 26, 2016

Vet Science Lesson January 26, 2016

Tip of Texas February 1, 2016

Parenting Connections February 1, 8, 22, 2016

Pesticide Safety Training February 3, 2016

Master Gardener Board Meeting February 4, 2016

Master Gardener Association Meeting February 11, 2016

Leadership Advisory Board Meeting February 18, 2016

CEU Conference February 18, 2016

4-H Council & Managers Meeting February 22, 2016

Vet Science Lesson February 22, 2016

FCS/BLT Committee Meeting February 26, 2016

Master Gardener Board Meeting March 4, 2016

Tip of Texas Meeting March 7, 2016

Master Gardner Association Meeting March 10, 2016

4-H Council & Managers Meeting March 28, 2016

Vet Science Lesson March 28, 2016

Parenting Connections April 4, 11, 18, 2016

Visit our Webpage at http://cameron.agrilife.org or

Facebook : TX A&M Agrilife in Cameron County for upcoming programs and activities.

Upcoming Activities 2015

Extension Educational Programs

Tip of Texas Meeting April 4, 2016

Master Gardener Board Meeting April 7, 2016

Master Gardener Association Meeting April 14, 2016

4-H Council & Managers Meeting April 18, 2016

Vet Science Lesson April 18, 2016

Tip of Texas Meeting May 2, 2016

Parenting Connections May 2, 9,16, 2016

Pesticide Safety Training May 4, 2016

Master Gardeners Board Meeting May 5, 2016

Master Gardeners Association Meeting May 12, 2016

FCS/BLT Committee Meeting May 20, 2016

4-H Club & Managers Meeting May 23, 2016

Vet Science Lesson May 23,2016

Parenting Connections June 13, 20, 27 2016