The article summarizes the development of a new white clover variety called Neches developed by Dr. Gerald Smith at Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Neches flowers and produces seed much earlier than other varieties, as early as June, allowing it to reseed itself before summer heat and drought kill the plants. It was developed over many years through careful crossings and selection of parent lines with traits like early flowering, large leaves, and high yield. Neches shows potential to be more productive and sustainable for East Texas agriculture compared to other varieties.

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Editor’s Note: This story is the
first in a four-part series exploring
the international education partner-
ships and research conducted through
SFA’s Arthur Temple College of
Forestry and Agriculture.
BY SARAH FULLER
Contributing writer
ccording to the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, the
U.S. produced a total of
$141.3 billion in agricultural
exports in 2012. That same
year, the country also imported
$102.9 billion worth of agricultural
goods. Globalization constructs a
world in which citizens not only
find economies intertwined, but
knowledge and environmental
challenges as well.
“When student perspectives
become international in scope, it
greatly increases their ability to deal
with local issues because they see
the framework for the issues,” said
Dr. Steve Bullard, dean of the Arthur
Temple College of Forestry and Agri-
culture.
The mission of the college is three-
fold: maintain excellence in teaching,
research and outreach; enhance the
health and vitality of the environ-
ment through sustainable manage-
ment, conservation, and protection
of forests and natural resources;
and enhance the production and
economic viability of agricultural
commodities.
To fulfill these missions and pro-
duce society-ready natural resource
professionals, the college developed
its own goals and actions within
the six major initiatives of SFA’s
strategic plan. Two of these actions
include collaboration with universi-
ties in other countries that result in
direct interaction between inter-
national and SFA students, and the
development and implementation of
study abroad courses and activities
for both undergraduate and gradu-
ate students.
Bullard said during the college’s
2013 curriculum revision, much
focus was placed on the findings
of the Southern Forest Futures
Project, a multi-year research project
conducted by the USDA to forecast
changes to Southern forests based
on identified concerns. While the
report explicitly focuses on Southern
forests, the issues are not exclusive
to the region. In fact, they reflect
the concerns addressed regularly
by global organizations such as the
World Health Organization and the
Food and Agricultural Organization
of the United Nations.
“It’s a different eco-physiology and
also a different cultural landscape,
but rising above that, the issues are
the same,” Bullard said.
Climate change, habitat fragmen-
tation, invasive species, and water
quality and availability are a few of
the concerns shared by the global
community. These can affect eco-
logical health and economic sustain-
ability. Economic prosperity and
ecological health are often seen as
diametrically opposed forces, requir-
ing the sacrifice of one for the benefit
of the other.
According to the results of a 2010
study, “The Economics of Ecosys-
tems and Biodiversity” conducted
by economist Pavan Sukhdev,
global forest ecosystem degradation
is estimated to cost the economy
between $2 trillion and $4.5 trillion
a year.
“The real problem is economy and
ecology, and putting them back to-
gether in a sustainable way,” Bullard
said. “Through our international
programs, that’s what we’re trying
to do.”
Through these partnerships, lo-
cal and international students are
addressing global issues such as
habitat fragmentation, loss of bio-
diversity, air and water quality, and
mitigating wildland fire damage.
“The real goal for me in engaging
students in international activities is
to see the transformational impact,”
Bullard said. “On the education side
and the research side, we’re focusing
on solutions for society.”
Sarah Fuller is the communica-
tions and publican relations coordi-
nator for the Arthur Temple Col-
lege of Forestry and Agriculture at
SFASU.
SFASU students Stephen
Goodfellow, left, and Zhengyi
Wang collect vegetative data
in the Netherlands to better
address the country’s growing
wildland fire issue.
Photo by Stephen Goodfellow
Contributed photo
Jason Grogan, research specialist in
SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and
Agriculture, explains East Texas forest management practices to exchange student
Per Anderson at the Älvdalen’s Educational Center, a forestry and hospitality post-
secondary technical college in Sweden.
AG ABROADSFA’s international collaborations prepare students for careers
A
Texas A&M AgriLife Research photo by Robert Burns
Neches is a new white clover variety developed by Dr.Gerald Smith,Texas
A&MAgriLife Research plant breeder,Overton.By June 4,this stand was
already producing 20 to 30 flowers per square foot,according to Smith.
BY ROBERT BURNS
AgriLife Extension Agent
TexasA&MAgriLifeRe-
searchhasreleasedanewwhite
clover,namedNechesafter
theTexasriver,thatpromises
higheryieldsandmuchearlier
floweringandseedproduction
thananyvarietyheretofore
adaptedtoEastTexasandthe
southeasternU.S.
The clover was developed
by Dr. Gerald Smith, AgriLife
Research plant breeder at the
Texas A&M AgriLife Re-
search and Extension Center,
Overton.
“We’re very excited about
this clover because it com-
bines a lot of traits that just
fit for our area,” Smith said.
Like other white clovers,
Neches does well on the wet,
loamy bottomland soils of
East Texas, he said. However,
other white clovers do not
flower profusely (and there-
fore do not produce much
seed) until at least early to
midsummer. In East Texas,
midsummers are usually hot
and dry, and white clover
stands are likely to die out
before they can produce seed.
This means white clovers in
bottomlands must be reseeded
every year to reestablish the
stand, which can be an expen-
sive proposition, Smith said.
With this limitation of ex-
isting white clovers in mind,
Smith’s goal was to develop
a variety at least as highly
productive and with as much
disease and pest resistance as
existing varieties, but one that
would flower and produce
seed before the stand was lost
in summer.
Early this June it was
obvious Neches fits the bill
perfectly, he said. In side-by-
side demonstration fields of
Neches and a Ladino white
clover, the difference in
flowering was obvious. While
Barblanca, the Ladino clover,
had one or two flowering seed
heads per square foot, Neches
had 20 to 30 seed heads per
square foot.
Smith also selected for
larger leaves, which means
high forage yields, another
obvious advantage he said.
Neches’ advantages didn’t
come easily, a fact Smith
tends to understate. They are
the result of years of meticu-
lous crossings and selection
of the right plant parent lines
that began in 2000.
“The parent lines of Neches
are highly diverse, including
plant introduction lines from
Uruguay and Israel, an East
Texas ecotype collection and
two pest-resistant lines from
USDA at Mississippi State
University,” Smith said.
During the years 2000
through 2004, Smith screened
each of these five breeding
populations at Overton for
early and profuse flowering,
large leaf size and high forage
production potential, he said.
Early high seed production
means a Neches white clover
stand has a good chance of re-
turning yearly, even if plants
are killed by summer heat
or drought, said Dr. Gerald
Smith, Texas A&M AgriL-
ife Research plant breeder,
Overton. A grazing/daily
gains study with these cattle
is currently being conducted
as a cooperative project with
Dr. Monte Rouquette, also at
the Overton center.
“Plants not selected were
removed from the field plant-
ing,” Smith said. “All field
nurseries were isolated from
other white clover plants and
natural bee pollination was
used for seed production.”
In 2005, Smith grew 200
plants from each of the five ad-
vanced populations in a com-
bined nursery and selected
once again for the same traits,
he said. Seed harvested from
these final selections was used
as breeder seed for Neches.
Barenbrug USA was
granted an exclusive license
to market Neches in 2011, and
has been increasing the seed
at sites in Oregon and Califor-
nia, Smith said.
According to its website,
Barenbrug is a “world leading
developer of proprietary turf
and forage grass varieties and
legume species. The company
has been in turfgrass plant
breeding, seed production
and marketing since 1904.”
“Neches should be available
this fall anywhere Barenbrug
seed is sold,” Smith said.
TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE