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1966–1975Scientific AgricultureIn the 1960s, Sterling C. Evans ’21, a Texas rancher and former Aggie, discovered thatto sell and ship his cattle to Japan they had to be certified free of disease by a full-servicediagnostic laboratory. The only one accessible was in Ames, Iowa.To address the problem, the Texas livestock industry, the Farm Bureau, Texas A&MUniversity, and others raised money to help fund a veterinary diagnostic laboratoryin Texas. In 1967, the state legislature approved an act creating the Texas VeterinaryMedical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) at Texas A&M. Its mission is to serve theanimal industries of the state and to provide disease surveillance information to theTexas Department of Public Health. TVMDL helps to ensure the safety of livestockand meat products and is at the interface between human and animal health throughthe prevention and control of zoonotic diseases (diseases that are communicable fromanimals to humans under natural conditions).In the post–miracle decade years, agriculture and the life sciences assumed new scientificdimensions and new responsibilities to better serve the changing character of Texas,American, and global society.A fundamental change in the American cotton industry occurred with the design andtesting of the cotton module builder by Professor Lambert H. Wilkes in the Departmentof Agricultural Engineering. The cotton module design dramatically improved theefficiency of the harvesting and ginning process, improved storage, and improved lintquality, with higher returns in the marketing of a crop. The new harvest technique wassoon adopted throughout the cotton-growing regions of the United States and in somenations abroad.Above: Sam Glass, DVM (right),examines a client’s chickens at theSouth Texas Poultry Research Stationin Gonzales, 1960s. Glass was directorof the Texas A&M Poultry DiseaseLaboratory until his retirement in 1997and served the state’s poultry industryfor more than three decades.Right: Dr. O. D. Butler (right), animalscience professor and department head,presents an award at the 1967 Saddleand Sirloin Club banquet.1966Far right: Texas A&M Universitycampus, 1960sThe Research and Extension Center atOverton opens, with generous donationsof land, cattle, and funding from theBruce McMillan, Jr., Foundation and theneighboring Montgomery family.June 1, 19671966The Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition isrenamed Biochemistry and Biophysics. The namechange reflects the migration of animal nutritionstudies to the Departments of Animal Science andPoultry Science as well as Texas A&M’s reach toward amore scientific stature.74

The regional research and extension centersstatewide are renamed “Texas A&M UniversityAgricultural Research and Extension Center(and Research Station) at” followed by thename of the nearest city.19671967The 60th Texas Legislature establishes the Texas VeterinaryMedical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) as a separatestate agency under the administration of The Texas A&MUniversity System. From 1967 to 1995, a rider was attachedto this legislation stating that TVMDL should give highestpriority to diagnostic work involvinglarge animals.1967The first varietal trials and breedingprograms for soybeans are started at theBeaumont and Lubbock Centers.75

Between 1966 and 1975 there were also changes in the structure of agriculturalstudies at Texas A&M. The university established the College of Education, and theDepartment of Agricultural Education began offering graduate studies in agriculturaleducation in association with the new college. The Department of AgriculturalEngineering began offering the undergraduate degree in Mechanized Agriculture andinstituted the Master of Agriculture degree. The Department of Forest Science wasorganized and began awarding undergraduate degrees, Master of Science degrees,and the Ph.D. in forestry. The Texas Forest Service began a successful urban forestryprogram. Increasing enrollments in agriculture resulted in the construction of theRobert Justus Kleberg, Jr., Animal and Food Sciences Center and the Heep Center forSoil and Crop Sciences and Entomology in 1975.Left: Cotton breeder Dr. Luther Bird studiescold tolerance in plants, 1967.Above: Architectural drawing of theKleberg Animal Science Building, 1966Luther Bird, cotton breeder with the Experiment Station, releases the first multi-adversity resistant (MAR) cottonvarieties, which carry genetic traits conferring resistance to major cotton diseases and other stresses. Eventually,the MAR program released 300 germplasm lines and 12 TAMCOT varieties and led to the development of 29commercial cotton varieties that had a long-term economic impact on cotton production and profitability in Texasand the southeastern U.S. Cotton Belt.19671967Harriott O. Kunkel, professor of animal science andbiochemistry, is named acting dean of agriculture and actingdirector of the Experiment Station. Kunkel’s research asa professor was focused on metabolic, biochemical, andphysiological aspects of ruminant growthrates and health.76

The Cotton Module Builder: Historic Landmark inAgricultural EngineeringA revolution in cotton harvesting and processing began with the 1971 design and constructionof an experimental cotton module builder by a team led by Texas A&M agricultural engineeringprofessor Lambert H. Wilkes, in collaboration with Cotton Incorporated. In 2002, the AmericanSociety of Agricultural and Biological Engineers named this invention a historical landmark ofagricultural engineering, one of the top three inventions in mechanized cotton production.Traditionally, cotton had been hand picked and then transported to gins in trailers. Theintroduction of mechanical pickers increased the need for rapid ginning. Maximum fiber quality(and market value) depended on the timely harvest and ginning of the cotton. Ginning andmarketing of cotton, in turn, depended on the availability of trailers or trucks to transport theraw cotton and on the capacity of the gin to produce cleaned cotton fiber. Cotton left in thefields awaiting harvest or transport or stored at the gin in open containers called “ricks” wassubject to weather damage.Texas Agricultural Experiment Station research showed that cotton at low moisture contentcould be compressed into higher densities than with the open trailer or ricking systems. Thecotton module builder made it possible to handle and store cotton long-term, resulting inenhanced market value and less expensive storage. Today, more than 90 percent of the cottonharvested is compacted with module builders. This invention has revolutionized the U.S.cotton industry, and the module has been introduced in other countries where cotton ismechanically harvested.Three top scholars from Michigan State University join thefaculty in the Department of Recreation and Parks: ClareGunn (below), Frank Suggitt, and Carlton van Doren. Gunnbecomes known as the Father of the Scientific Study ofTourism during his career at Texas A&M.19681968–69Semi-dwarf wheat is developed by Experiment Station and USDA Agricultural ResearchService agronomists I. M. Atkins, K. B. Porter, and O. G. Merkle. This genetic systembrings increased yields by making wheat less susceptible to weather damage andincreasing production per acre, allowing the world’s wheat growers to feed millionsmore people on the same land resources.77

The 18,000-square-foot Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory opens onthe Texas A&M University campus in College Station, with Texas A&M College ofVeterinary Medicine professor William Sippel as the first director. Over the next fourdecades, additions were made to accommodate expanded laboratories and moresophisticated equipment.The Texas Forest Service formalizes the Western Gulf Forest TreeImprovement Program to preserve and improve the populationsof five southern pine species and several hardwood species.Today, four state forestry agencies and eight nongovernmentalorganizations are members, and the cooperative plants anestimated 300 million tree seedlings each year.September 1, 196919691969Texas A&M University createsan undergraduate degreeprogram in forestry.78

The V. G. Young Institute of County Government is created by the Texas legislature, tobe administered by the Extension Service. The institute — named for Vernon G. Young,a longtime state agricultural agent and vice director of the Extension Service untilhis death in 1969 — offers educational programs, published reference materials, andcounsel to county officials, community organizations, and citizens across the state.19691969Professional graduate studies are authorizedfor the College of Agriculture. The Master ofAgriculture degree is approved in 1974, makingit the first professional graduate degree at aland-grant university.1969The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program,federally funded to provide nutritional educationto low-income families, is established under theExtension Service.79

The Master Clothing Volunteer programis established in Hidalgo County, leadingto similar Agricultural Extension volunteerprograms across Texas.The Master of Agricultureprogram is initiated in theDepartment of Range Science.197019701970The American Junior Quarter HorseAssociation is formed nationwide as a resultof Louisiana and Texas Extension specialistsworking with the Amarillo-based AmericanQuarter Horse Association.801970Cotton breeders in the Department of Soil and CropSciences provide the genetics research that increasescotton fiber strength by 25 percent and continues toimprove fiber quality over the coming decades. Today,Texas produces more than one-half of the nation’s cotton.

Breeding a Better PotatoThe Texas Potato Breeding and VarietyDevelopment Program began in the Departmentof Horticultural Sciences in 1973. Since the1980s, through research led by horticulture andgenetics professor J. Creighton Miller, Jr., theprogram has developed, co-developed, or released12 improved varieties. The Texas Russet Norkotahstrains are the most popular. By 2009, virtuallyall of the russet potatoes grown in Texas were ofthis variety. Since the inception of the program,the farm-gate value of the potato crop in Texashas grown from less than 20 million per year toapproximately 117 million.Left: Agronomy professor Dr. Kenneth Porterexamines hybrid wheat strains being tested atthe Bushland Station, 1967.Center: South Texas Poultry Research Station,Gonzales, 1960sAbove: Extension pecan improvementdemonstration, 1970sThe Texas Forest Service employs asilviculturist in Lubbock to help landownersestablish windbreaks to protect their land,animals, crops, and structures from wind andharsh temperatures. A nursery greenhouseis established in 1979 to grow 50,000 treeseedlings for the project.The Experiment Station’sPoultry Diagnostic Laboratoryat Gonzales is built to replacethe South Texas PoultryResearch Station, foundedin 1949.197119711971Patented under the trade name NZN by horticulture professorBenton Storey and Allied Chemical Company, a unique formulationof soluble zinc becomes one of the first plant nutrients to beapplied to tree leaves on a large scale to correct zinc-deficiencyin pecan orchards. Storey’s later research on fatty acids in pecangermplasm led to the development of varieties that can improvehuman health by lowering cholesterol levels.1971The Research and ExtensionCenter at Vernon opens, with theChillicothe Station as a substation.81