NMSU chile expert receives lifetime achievement award at International Pepper Conference

DATE: 01/14/2019
WRITER: Melissa R. Rutter, 575-646-4211, mrrutter@nmsu.edu
CONTACT: Paul Bosland, 575-646-5171, pbosland@nmsu.edu
CONTACT: Stephanie Walker, 575-646-4398, swalker@ad.nmsu.edu
New Mexico State University Regents Professor of Horticulture, Distinguished Achievement Professor and Chile Pepper Institute Director Paul W. Bosland has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement award from the International Pepper Conference.

For more than 30 years, the International Pepper Conference has attracted prominent scientists in the industry and has become the premier venue for the dissemination and exchange of information on chile peppers.

Bosland was awarded the lifetime achievement award during the November conference held in Fort Myers, Florida.

“Of course, I joked, am I really old enough to get a lifetime achievement award?” Bosland said. “The International Pepper Conference presents the award out to individuals who have made significant worldwide impacts in chile pepper breeding and research of peppers and I was fortunate enough to be nominated by my peers and received it this time around.”

While Bosland is very honored to have received the award, he said he shares it with everyone who has been involved in his chile pepper program. This includes more than 30 graduate students who have studied under Bosland from across the world.

“Coming to NMSU is where I began my chile pepper career. To receive an award like this includes sharing it with many people in the program and with NMSU,” Bosland said. “You don’t really do something like this by yourself. You do it with a lot of people so I’m very fortunate to have had excellent students from all over the world in the past who have helped me to expand the chile pepper research agenda making something like this possible.”

One of the people involved in the program is NMSU Extension vegetable specialist Stephanie Walker. Bosland was a major adviser for Walker while she was studying for her graduate degrees.

“I was hooked on chile research when I attended the International Pepper Conference Paul hosted in 1994. I went on to get my master’s degree with him and then he accepted me into his program again when I decided to pursue my Ph.D,” Walker said. “I wouldn’t be here without Paul’s support of my research. He provided guidance in what I needed to do as an Extension vegetable specialist here at NMSU.”

Bosland was first hired by NMSU as a vegetable breeder, but he later decided to spend his whole career on chile peppers. During this time, Bosland has achieved many things and really made a name for himself and NMSU’s chile pepper program.

“We got an Ig Nobel from Harvard (in 1999) for producing a no-heat jalapeno where there was a real need from the food industry,” Bosland said. “Our annual Chile Pepper Institute Teaching Garden is a big success. We plant more than 150 different types of chile peppers every year and we have thousands of students and visitors coming by every year. Then we have our New Mexico Chile Conference, which we’ve been holding for 37 years and it’s still the biggest conference for chiles in the world, even bigger than the international conference.”

Other achievements include a partnership with CaJohns Fiery Foods, a company from Ohio that helped develop NMSU’s Holy Jolokia line of products. Bosland said collaborating with people from all over the world, such as China, Korea, Thailand, Europe and all the Americas, has resulted in many discoveries about chile peppers.

Walker recalls many times when Bosland would provide hands-on teaching in the field and greenhouse to show her and other students what they needed to know.

“He would point out disease or virus symptoms so that we could quickly recognize them in the future,” Walker said. “In the greenhouse, he would show us best management practices and provide guidance in keeping it free of pests and diseases. Being around him and interacting with him provided a constant learning experience. He knows so much, and, if you’re receptive to his feedback, you can get a great education in chiles and horticulture in general.”

Walker said Bosland is well respected by chile researchers around the world.

“Some of his graduate students have been amazing and because of his high profile he has attracted the best and brightest from all around the world. He has greatly contributed to the chile community,” Walker said. “Paul is internationally recognized for his work. This lifetime achievement award was highly deserved.”

RAYLESS GOLDEN ROD POISONING

Ray less GOLDEN ROD POISONING

This is the first year I have not had reports of horses and cattle getting the trembles.  This is a sign in goldenrod poisoning.  So far in Eddy County I have not had any calls on sick animals. This is great and is the only year I can remember not getting any.  But I thought I would review the information anyway just in case.    Eddy County usually has problems when it snows and rayless goldenrod is what is stick up out of the snow.  Here is some information you need to know. 

Rayless goldenrod (Haplopappus heterophyllus), rosea, or goldenrod  or jimmy weed, is an erect, bushy, unbranched perennial shrub, growing from 3 to 4 feet tall. The leaves are alternate, linear, and sticky, and the flowers are yellow. It is toxic to horses, cattle, sheep, and goats. The reported toxic substance, trematone, is the same toxin found in white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum), a common poisonous plant in the Ohio river valley and eastern United States. Trematone is excreted in the milk of lactating animals so that the young may become poisoned by the consumption of contaminated milk (milk sickness).

President Lincoln mother was poisoned by consuming milk from a cow that had eaten White Snakeroot plant.  The toxin is present in both green and dry plant material. 

This shrub grows on the dry rangelands from southern Colorado into Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. It grows especially well in river valleys and along drainage areas.  In Eddy county I find it up on the range lands on sandy and loam soils.  Rayless Goldenrod often invades disturbed soil like road sides, oil pad, or around water tanks. Poisoning is most common in late fall and winter, particularly after snowfall that covers other forage or other forages are unavailable.  It is often planted as an ornamental along highways in Northern New Mexico.

 Livestock are affected when daily consumption of 1 to 1.5 percent of an animal's weight of the green plant for 1 to 3 weeks will produce signs of poisoning in horses, cattle, and sheep.  I have seen it in goats, but I could not find a reference in publications on that.  Death will result if the affected animals are not removed from access to the plant early. The condition it produces in all livestock is known as trembles. As the toxin is secreted in milk, nursing young may become poisoned by consuming milk.  The dam may not show any signs of poisoning when grazing goldenrod.  The animal may not show signs of poisoning until they are moved or exercised.

Signs and Lesions of Poisoning

  Lassitude and depression

  Stands in a humped-up position; stiff gait when walking

  Trembling of muscles of nose and legs, especially after exercise; as the condition
   worsens, the whole body may shake

  Weakness

  Constipation and dribbling of urine

  Recumbency

  Acetone or alcohol  odor on the breath

  Coma

  Terminal respiration consists of prolonged inspiration, a short pause, and forced
   expiration

  Death

  Myocardial necrosis and fibrosis of cardiac and skeletal muscles

  Degenerative changes of the liver

If you have an animal that show symptoms, try not to move or excite the animal and feed good quality hay for up to 10 weeks.  Treat with mineral oil and activated charcoal if possible to move the toxic weed out of the digestive system as soon as possible.  Consult with your Veterinarian immediately after seeing symptoms.  Poisoning of livestock by rayless goldenrod can best be prevented by preventing livestock from grazing on ranges infested with this plant for extended periods when other forage is short or snowfall prevents feeding.   Rayless goldenrod can be controlled by picloram or dicamba in late summer following adequate rainfall.  Follow precautions for handling herbicides.  For more information contact your local county agent.  There is a Trich meeting with the State Veterinarian Sunday January 20^th CVE in Artessia 3:00 pm.    Subscribe to Eddy County Ag news at: http://nmsueddyag.blogspot.com/  Eddy County Extension Service, New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator.  All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin.  New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating.

GMO crops create “halo effect” that benefits organic farmers, says new research

GMO crops create “halo effect” that benefits organic farmers, says new research

Cornell Alliance for Science
By Mark Lynas

Growing genetically modified insect-resistant corn in the United States has dramatically reduced insecticide use and created a “halo effect” that also benefits farmers raising non-GM and organic crops, new research shows.  This finding, published by University of Maryland researchers in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, effectively shreds the conventional anti-GMO narrative that GM crops result in more pesticide use and present a threat to organic growers.