The Web team was busy during October, beginning with migrating websites for plantpathology.tamu.edu , Communities.tamu.edu , Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and the Lubbock Center. Other sites ready for pre-launch are plantdiseasehandbook.tamu.edu and
communnities.tamu.edu . Other sites in the migrating process include coastalbend.tamu.edu

New theme features under development are:

• New revised navigation, based on user feedback
• New three column layout work

Some sites — such as Aggie Clover, http://agrilife.org/coadc and http://agrilife.org/agrilifecenter  – have moved in to new theme

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During October the educational media team has worked on these publications:

•   Economics of Irrigation Systems

•   Junior Master Gardener Health and Nutrition from the Garden

•   Emerging Markets for U.S. Agriculture: Focus on Cuba (E-312)

•   Seasonality and Its Effects on Crop Markets (E-313)

•   How to Construct a Seasonal Index (E-314)

•   Technical Analysis of Commodity Markets: Emphasis on Bar Charts (E-316)

•   Eastern Texas Forage Calendar

•   Spiders, Wood Boring Beetles

•   Junior Master Gardener Health and Nutrition from the Garden, Vegetative Filter Strips,

•   Grassed Waterways, Excluding Hogs

•   Cedar Creek Watershed Management

•   Eagle Mountain Watershed Management

•   Winning Nutrition: A 4-H Sports Nutrition Curriculum

•   Drivers of Rangeland Vegetation Change

Team members also:

•   Worked on the possibilities of making publications available on e-readers

•   Checked and tweaked online form for educational media planning system

•   Continued compiling reports on old and out-of-stock publications for program leaders

•   Gathered data on downloads and orders for 239 publications from reduced inventories

•   Sent a notice to all county agents about a new curriculum for veterinary assistant training

•   Began rechecking, updating, and fixing information on the Bookstore administration site

•   Advised specialist on law requiring competitive bids for printing

•   Advised client on possible Spanish translation of Rainwater Harvesting Manual

•   Retested and tweaked planning system; discussed with specialists, program leaders

•   Researched educational materials reprint/reuse issues; created form for publication requests; replied to e-learning publisher

•   Scanned and destroyed paper records in anticipation of the move

•   Requested and got illustration and permission

•   Granted permission to agent/Extension coordinator from Georgia to use Spanish-language 4-H materials from Extensión en Español.

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The news team has been busy all month too, writing these news releases:

• New floral design director to address Ellison floriculture fall lecture
• New shrimp technologies revealed at field day
• Hunter appreciation events held in parts of Texas is big business to host counties
• Restoring wetlands theme of Sheldon Lake State Park field day Oct. 27
• Reminder about the different ways people in South Central Texas can obtain info about gardening and hort topics
• Curriculum on being a vet tech now available on bookstore
• Dr. Tryon Wickersham, Texas AgriLife Research animal nutritionist, reveals new outcomes on bermudagrass hay study when feeding supplements
• Growing plants on roofs for energy savings; horticulture researcher teams with Extension specialist and a Houston builder to show how it works
• Grain-sampling program administered by the Office of the State Chemist will bring consistency to the marketplace in light of aflatoxin issues over the past few years
• Mark Kelly named new Extension cotton agronomist at Lubbock
• Farmers, ranchers and timber operators who produce agricultural and timber products for sale will need a special registration number to claim sales tax exemption beginning Jan. 1
• Ed Smith got a professional award, top in nation for Extension; gave the Ruby Lecture
• Multi-agency effort to control Asian citrus psyllid in residential areas to begin soon
• New bio building
• Impact of horse ownership and its contributions to the state economy
• Beeville center agronomist testing forage crops to reduce erosion while producing hay
• Tick science
• Coastal Bend crop risk management workshop Oct. 25
• How homeowners and sports field maintainers can use water more efficiently
• Agronomy club wins the president’s trophy for best Ag Club at national meeting
• Technology aimed at new, natural drugs to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• Texas crop, weather
• Roundup of Ag Forum presentations and discussions on the 2012 Farm Bill
• Dr. Whisenant elected chair of national organization
• Benz school of floral design director talks about floral arrangements and technology
• Turfgrass breeding trials at the new field in College Station

Team members also: had lunch Thursday with Marci Caltabiano, editor of both the Brownsville Herald and the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, and the Hidalgo County horticulture agent; worked on Epsilon Sigma Phi award nominations; worked on “Extension Matters in Bexar County” quarterly newsletter; answered media calls for experts to discuss the continuing drought; assisted with the a Farm Foundation Renewable Energy Webinar in Amarillo; prepared “CORD cards” for researchers to hand out at meetings; collaborated with North American Ag Journalists on spring meeting and their website; and covered the Ag Forum in Austin