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Howdy,
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research family continues to make a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of all people in Texas, as well as across the country and the globe. In my travels to visit our stakeholders, I see and hear about your impacts to our food and fiber systems and natural resources. Thank you for all that you do.
Successes over the fiscal year
Our impacts drove increases in new grants and contracts throughout fiscal year 2025, having exceeded $173 million — the second largest total in AgriLife Research history. We achieved these levels despite federal funding disruptions, demonstrating the resiliency of our faculty and staff. In addition, research expenditures for the fiscal year exceeded $344 million, our highest level to date. This is a 53% increase in expenditures since we released our strategic plan in 2022. Our growth is a primary indication of the exceptional people who operate on the leading edge at AgriLife Research. Your efforts continue to support lives and livelihoods through abundant, affordable, and high-quality food and agricultural products in Texas and around the world.
Rising to meet challenges
Our exceptional year of new awards and increased expenditures represents a corresponding effort to address the unprecedented environmental and economic challenges facing our agricultural industries.
AgriLife Research faculty and staff are aggressively seeking solutions to rice delphacid, a planthopper that is devastating our rice producers in southeast Texas. At the same time, a recent invasion of the cotton jassid — a two-spot cotton leafhopper — in our nursery industry will threaten cotton if no solutions emerge for eradication. Meanwhile, the New World screwworm threatens more than $10 billion in losses to Texas livestock and wildlife, and the pest has consumed significant time and effort among our administrators, faculty and staff. Our responses to these and other challenges are well coordinated and have demonstrated to me the world-class expertise that we bring to bear against real world problems.
New research faculty touring Texas
2025 was an opportunity for AgriLife Research to launch a new faculty support program called the ‘Research Tour of Texas.’ It provides new faculty members who receive support from AgriLife Research with a chance to explore our vast research portfolio at locations across the state. It empowers incoming experts to forge collaborations with their new peers. Our first tour occurred in May, and our second tour took place in October, where new faculty visited the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension centers at Vernon, Lubbock and Amarillo. They also toured research stations in Chillicothe, Halfway, and Bushland. The stops included a hard hat tour of our soon-to-open High Plains Research and Extension Center in Canyon; the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in Canyon; and the Veterinary Education, Research and Outreach complex, VERO, in Canyon. We look forward to welcoming new faculty to join our 2026 tour series.
The future and a chance to connect
As we approach the end of 2025 and look to opportunities in 2026, I am confident that our resilience and innovative spirit will continue to drive AgriLife Research as the premier entity that positively impacts agriculture, natural resources, and the life sciences.
Please consider attending AgriLife Connect on Wednesday, January 7. This event allows our entire agency to come together and forge new relationships and opportunities.
I am inspired by the commitment that each of you brings to our research mission and the difference we make in the world.
Gig 'em!
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