The mystery major
By GRETCHEN RATLIFF
FFA convention -
hrn while learning
By KITTY FRALEY
ranging from the guitar to the accor-
It has been a tradition for 55 years,
and though the faces and names change,
the ideas, goals and responsibilities re
main the same. High schoolers from ev
ery state in the nation were represented
at the National Future Farmers of Amer
ica Convention held in Kansas City, MO
the second week of November.
Each year Kansas City is beseiged by
FFA members for a week, and the city
loves it. There are approximately 25,000
visitors associated in some way with the
convention, and hotels are booked solid
within a 60 mile radius of the city months
in advance.
Big-name agricultural leaders were
present at this year’s show, with United
States Secretary of Agriculture John
Block giving a key-note address. Dale
Evans Rogers, Jesse Helms (senator
from North Carolina) and Secretary of
Education Terrel Bell also gave addres
ses to the FFAers.
Throughout the week selected talent
winners from across the nation enter
tained the FFAers. Most of the entertain
ment was singing, with accompaniment
In a recent study, Texas A&M Uni
versity and USD A researchers deter
mined that vacuum packaging is the best
way to ship fresh variety meats such as
liver, tongues, kidneys and hearts and
make a profit.
The study, funded by the USDA, is a
continuation of three years of research
by the University, said Davey Griffin, a
research associate for animal science.
“Texas A&M was awarded the grant
because of their reputation and the pre
vious work done on this study,” said Dr.
Dennis Stiffler, extension meat specialist
with the Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation de
termined that 30 percent of U.S. variety
meats was shipped to Europe, Griffin
said. All variety meats are shipped to
dion.
A record 37 FFA members ran for
national officer, and a first in the history
of FFA was recorded: a woman was
elected national president. Nineteen-
year-old janice Eberly is from Fallbrook,
CA, and will lead the 486,000 member
organization for the next year.
Besides a national president, four
vice-presidents and a secretary were
chosen. The four vice-presidents repre
sent the west, east, south and central re
gions.
Besides pre-convention activities,
seven sessions and special entertainment
sessions, these things were also part of
the convention: educational tours, the
American Royal Rodeo, national leader
ship workshops, the national agricultu
ral career show, organizational exhibits,
and the hall of states.
The FFA was founded in Kansas City
on Nov. 20, 1928 at the Old Hotel Balti
more. The location is now the site of the
new City Center Square Office Complex
and has a large bronze commemorative
marker designating it as the site of the
founding of FFA.
Europe in frozen containers.
“Since larger slaughter plants work
off low margins, a profit could be made
off variety meats if the shipping proce
dures were improved,” he said.
“If variety meats could be shipped
fresh,” Griffin said, “a premium price
could be paid for them.”
To test the condition of variety meats
in different shipping procedures, the
meat was frozen or vacuum packed with
five or six different chilling treatments
and sent to Antwerp, Belgium, Griffin
said.
“When the product arrived in
Europe, it was 12 to 14 days old,” he said.
“The frozen meat was spoiled, but the
vacuum' packed product was in good
shape and saleable.”
Samples of the vacuum packed pro
duct were brought to Texas A&M for lab
tests, but the data has not been analyzed.
Agricultural journalism is one part of
the world of agriculture in which the
door of a traditionally male oriented
field is opening ever wider for women.
Texas A&M University is one of three
colleges in the nation that has an accre
dited agricultural journalism program.
The program combines study in many
aspects of agriculture and journalism
and prepares students for numerous
agricultural communications careers in
agribusiness, associations, government
agencies and other communications
media.
Doyle Gougler,-assistant professor of
journalism' and agricultural journalism
student advisor, said there is no problem
placing graduates if they perform well
while here.
Enrollment in agricultural journalism
has been steadily declining since 1978.
Of the 32 students enrolled in the major
at the start of the 1982 fall semester, 29
were women.
Dr. Edward Smith, associate profes
sor and head of the department of com
munications, is worried that the decline
in numbers will pose a-threat to the
program.
He said a perceived problem concern
ing the major exists because students
have notions of being caught between
the college of liberal arts and the college
of agriculture, of which the agricultural
journalism program is a part.
Becky Dobson, editor of the Indepen
dent Cattlemen, said agricultural jour
nalism is becoming more of a woman’s
field.
“While they can be very kind, some
times the don’t seem to be as sure of a
woman as they would be a man,” she
said.
However, she feels that they tend to
open up more with their feelings when
talking to a female agricultural journalist
about sensitive issues.
Joy Weingimer, advertising director
of the Brangus Journal, says a woman
can handle her job better than a man.
Advertising customers are less inhi
bited about expressing their preferences
than they would be if she were a man
because they don’t feel a need to put up a
front with her, she explained.
“Sometimes those crusty old farmers
and ranchers aren t as crusty towards a
woman as they would be to another
man,” he said.
Dobson says a broad knowledge of
agriculture can overcome problems a
woman might encounter in relating to
ranchers and farmers.
The biggest problem that Barbie
Woelfel, assistant editor of the Charolais
Journal has is that men have a hard time
accepting a woman knowing anything
about agriculture.
Susan McGuire, editor of the Amer
ican Red Angus, said her only drawback
was learning more about being a farmer
or rancher. Her training was not agricul
tural and she calls herself a true city girl.
However, any questions she might ask a
breeder are readily answered.
“From the perspective of a city girl,
these farmers and ranchers treat women
better than city men do because often
their wives and daughters are working
right along side them,” she pointed out.
She believes they recognize women as
assets in the-agricultural world.
. : ‘ --- -AAAA-A’GV
TAMU RANGE
SCIENCE CLUB
Meeting 2nd Tuesday of each Month
7 p.m. Rm. 112 O&M Bldg.
CALL: Range Science Dept 845-7331
for information
* * * i * i * 'T ‘. •, ,' / * ‘ p V f' f ■*■ *’ * *’ H * * * » * • 4 * '• * * * * * * * * * * * •* * * * *
Vacuum packing variety
meats can be profitable
By LIZ La VALLE
“7 j / ^-7 =7— 2
3
Hydroponics: soil
of the future?
By SUSAN FLORENCE
Increasing demand for chemical-free
vegetable production, has led resear
chers to develop a way to provide heal
thy, clean lettuce in large quantities.
The Texas A&M University Horticul
ture Club is producing winter lettuce
through greenhouse hydroponic sys
tems, said Gary Schmidtke, Texas A&M
Horticulture Club president and green
house manager.
Hydroponics means growing pro
duce in a water and nutrient solution
without using soil. The greenhouse sys
tem allows temperature control so crops
can be produced during the off-season,
he said.
Produce can be
grown in water
The system — the nutrient flow tech
nique (NFT) — was used by the Horticul
ture Club from September 1981 to
March 1982 to produce lettuce as a club
project, Schmidtke said. The club got off
to a late start this year, but is expecting to
get going within the month.
NFT involves circulating a nutrient
solution through pipes holding lettuce
transplants. The pipes are mobile and
allow more plants to be grown by keep
ing young plants close together and spac
ing them as they grow, Schmidtke said.
The fiberglass pipes used by the club
have 2-inch diameter holes where the
plants sit and are sloped so the nutrient
solution moves with gravity.
“Using the NFT mobile system can
increase plant population by 50 percent;
therefore, the economic advantages are
endless,” Schmidtke said.
The system provides a continuous
weekly harvest of lettuce and weekly
transplanting of seedlings.
Seedlings are grown in flats for three
weeks, then moved to the NFT system
for six weeks until harvesting.
“It only takes nine weeks to develop a
marketable head of lettuce,” he said.
Hydroponically grown lettuce needs
the 16 essential elements that field crops
require, so the club uses a hydroponic
fertilizer that provides the needed nut
rients, he said.
Although diseases and insects were
not a problem in the 1981-82 crop, in
sects and diseases that are found in fields
are possible in greenhouses, said John
Larsen, Extension horticulturalist for
the Texas A&M University System.
In fact, Larsen said, insect problems
can be twice as bad in a greenhouse be
cause there are no predators to control
the insects.
Because of marketing regulations on
size, color and tipburn, Schmidtke said, a
25 percent cull rate is average.
The 1981-82 crop cost about 13 cents
a head to produce, but sold for about 40
cents a head.
Schmidtke said the club hopes to make
enough money to build a greenhouse
with the money earned from the crop
planted this month.
Money from the 1981-82 crop was
used to start a scholarship program that
helps pay the greenhouse manager’s
wages. The rest of the money earned was
used for club field trips and special
events.
NFT circulates nutrient solu
tion through the pipes and
allows the plant to use it
Schmidtke received the 1982 scholar
ship, and as greenhouse manager, is in
charge of rotating crops and taking care
of the greenhouses.
“The best thing about this project is
that it’s operated totally by club volun
teers, so it’s exellent hands-on experi
ence,” he said.
The club is operating one greenhouse
and is hydroponically growing lettuce,
tomatoes and a few cuccumbers,
Schmidtke said.
“The market is good for greenhouse
vegetables because they are clean, weath
er-proof and chemical-free, which is a
great marketing advantage,” he said.
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