of the system today. In 2007, Elsa Murano, who was overseeing Texas A&M Agriculture as a whole, hired a consulting firm to evaluate the name of Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, as well as other Texas A&M Agriculture organizations. On January 1, 2008, the Experiment Stations' name was changed to Texas AgriLife Research. Murano felt that "AgriLife" better reflected the agency's foundational message that "agriculture is life", while Research better reflected what the organization did. The A&M was formally added to the agency's name on September 1, 2012, as part of a branding effort by the Texas A&M University System to strengthen the association between the agencies and Texas A&M University. Research highlights Through its research, the organization helped eradicate Texas fever, a bovine disease spread by ticks that threatened the state's cattle industry. In the 1920s, it conducted the first known studies on the crossbreeding of cattle, which went on to become a national practice still in use by the cattle industry. In 1931, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station developed the first mechanical cotton stripper, a machine that would become widely adopted by cotton farmers within a decade. The organization is a world leader in sorghum research, having begun with its developing the first known sorghum hybrid in 1955. In the 1950s, it also again came to the aid of the cattle industry by developing techniques for destroying screwworms which were plaguing cattle in Texas and Central America. It also developed the '1015Y' onion, opening the way for Texas to become the leading producer of fresh market onions in America. It helped produce a mild jalapeño pepper ('TAM'), increasing the sales of salsa, and 'BetaSweet' carrots which have higher levels of beta carotene. Its animal researchers helped produce gene mapping resources for cattle, and lead to the cloning of the first calf. Center locations Amarillo Beaumont Corpus Christi Dallas El Paso Fort Stockton Lubbock Overton Pecos San Angelo Stephenville Temple Uvalde Vernon Weslaco References External links Texas A&M University System Organizations established in 1887 AgriLife Research, Texas AandM