A year in review: 2017 Hopkins County Water Conservation and Preservation By Mario Villarino
A year in review: 2017 Hopkins County Water Conservation and Preservation Developed by Dr. Mario A. Villarino, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources Hopkins County, Texas Relevance: Water conservation is a critically important issue for residents throughout the state of Texas. Proper use of fertilizers and gardening chemicals is important to the long term health and safety of residents in the county. Programs...
Crape Myrtle Bark Scale By Mario Villarino
This week, several reports of crape myrtle bark scale has been reported by concerned citizens of our county. According to Dr. Mike Merchant, Crape myrtle bark scale is a a relatively new insect pest is troubling crape myrtle in north Texas cities and backyards. Although an official name has yet to be given, this insect is thought to be an exotic pest that has somehow found its way to north Texas. In the genus Eriococcus, the scale...
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Recognizing Good Bugs vs Bad Bugs in the Garden By Mario Villarino
The good, the bad and the ugly: recognizing good bugs vs bad bugs in the garden. Insects in the garden can be a potential challenge for the gardener. In one hand, too many bad bugs can create serious problems to the plants and in the other hand, some bugs are beneficial because they feed out of other insects, helping controlling their numbers. Some good bugs are however, quite ugly and scary. The “assassin bugs” are an example of...
Armyworms By Mario Villarino
According to producers in east Hopkins County and Rains County, armyworms have been seen recently affecting crops in those regions of Northeast Texas. According to Dr. Knutson, agricultural entomologist with Texas A&M Agrilife extension, two species of armyworms attack forage and field crops in north Texas. The fall armyworm is most abundant during August through early November in north Texas and feeds primarily on bermudagrass,...
Beetles By Mario Villarino
Beetles are a huge family of true insects that live in close contact with plants. The majority of the beetles are decomposers, and a high population of beetles in a tree is a sign of tree health decaying. Many beetle larvae also penetrate tree tissue causing real damage (as borers do).With temperatures increasing, insect population tend to follow trend and you will see more and more active insects and beetles coming back from...
Recommended Activities for the Garden by Mario Villarino
This week and coming week are full of livestock activities as we get ready for our Northeast Texas Livestock Show starting Feb 23, 2017. More than sixty 4-H members will be showing their livestock projects during the event. We are looking forward for some friendly competition and a good display of husbandry and showmanship of livestock projects. For those not very familiar with raising show projects, the intensity of care and money...
2016 Hopkins County Water and Energy Conservation By Mario Villarino
2016 Hopkins County Water and Energy Conservation Developed by Dr. Mario A. Villarino, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources Hopkins County, Texas Relevance: Water quality and water quantity has emerged as the predominant issue across the state as indicated through local input, legislative efforts, and numerous other indicators. Agriculture is the largest water user in the state and agriculture is under...
The Importance of Maintaining Agricultural Markets By Mario Villarino
The importance of maintaining agricultural markets During my years in agriculture (basically all my life) I have seen agricultural related industries adapting to market changes. During my years in Veterinary School, I held an externship chair in a well-known pharmaceutical medical company with headquarters in Germany. It was a great opportunity and I enjoyed the multi-cultural atmosphere maintained by the company and the team work...
Forces of Nature by Mario Villarino
As I was writing this piece I could not help to think about the tremendous forces of nature and how little we can do sometimes to curve its course. After many years of drought we are now living the effect of severe rain in land and plants. Those post oak trees that survived the drought but still got affected, now are suffering and getting uprooted from the severe wash off of by the storms. As I was watching thru the windows the...
Vegetable gardening: The mighty tomato by Dr. Mario Villarino
County Extension Agent for Ag and Natural Resources- Hopkins. Tomato is considering by many, the ultimate crop for the home garden. Personally, tomato are a fundamental part of our family diet. Having both French, Italian and Mexican influences growing up, I vividly remember my mother preparing a roma tomato with salt as a mid-day snack. Joe Masabni, Texas AgriLife Extension horticulturist indicated that tomatoes are the most popular...
