The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association newsletter reports that interstate shipment of state-inspected meat is receiving strong support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman said the New Markets for State Inspected Meat Act introduced Nov. 19 would open new markets for small meat and poultry businesses and provide consumers with a greater variety of products. Under current law, only federally inspected meat may be shipped between states.

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The Texas Animal Health Commission reports that 433,648 cattle entered Texas from other states while 107,734 were exported. Also, 7888 sheep entered Texas while 5100 were shipped out of state.

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Plant identification for the southern Oklahoma and northern Texas region has been made a lot easier with the presence of a new plant identification gallery currently featuring about 2400 photos of approximately 600 area trees, grasses and forbs.

The gallery was compiled by two specialists with the Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The gallery can be accessed through the Noble Foundation's website at www.noble.org.

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Forty-five plus years of effort by visionaries concerned about the future of agriculture on the Great Plains culminated Dec. 6 with the announcement of a three-way agricultural research partnership and the official dedication of a state-of-the-art plant stress and water conservation laboratory here.

The 64,000 square-foot laboratory will house research scientist partners from USDA's Agricultural Research Service, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University. Scientists will conduct fundamental and applied research on plant stress and molecular biology to improve crop yields and the quality of commodity end-products.

The facility includes offices, labs and greenhouses and will house 20 researchers, technical support staff and administrative and maintenance personnel when it is fully staffed. The new facility replaces the USDA-ARS Plant Stress and Water Conservation Laboratory built north of Lubbock in the 1970s. The older facility will continue to house the Cotton Production and Processing Research Laboratory. The new building is one of 19 ARS research facilities on the southern Great Plains and will house the Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit and the Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Unit.

Researchers in those units are currently studying remote sensing to detect irrigation and crop nutrient deficiencies; how the behavior of confined livestock affects animal health and air quality; and ways to move stress-preventing genes into plant germplasm. Part of their cotton research focuses on cleaner harvest methods to improve the fiber quality of stripper cottons, and developing precision yield monitors for cotton harvest equipment.

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Alan Hess, Alma, was elected president of the Kansas Livestock Association during the group's recent annual meeting. Dighton cattleman Don Hineman is serving as president-elect.