Plant geneticist and breeder Russell Jessup has been named director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo. The appointment puts a leading hemp scientist at the head of a leading research organization in west central Texas, and three other state research facilities.
Jessup’s work includes building networks around drought-tolerant annuals like hemp, sorghum, millet and perennial pasture grasses. “These are all feedstocks with numerous value-added bioproduct possibilities,” he said.
Jessup’s appointment comes at a time when Texas A&M is pushing the boundaries of agricultural innovation and reflects the university’s continued focus on expanding the reach of the industrial hemp sector, addressing issues like drought tolerance and enhancing soil health, areas of vital concern in Texas farming.
Hot-weather hemp
His work in hemp genetics has been instrumental in developing hemp varieties suited for Texas’ growing conditions. Jessup’s most recent success has been in developing dual-purpose varieties for fiber and grain production that can grow in the state’s hot, humid, and often dry climate – conditions that have historically stymied hemp cultivation in the region. That research, part of a National Institute of Food and Agriculture-funded program, aims to fill a significant gap in southern hemp breeding programs.
Jessup’s research teams are also involved in exploring hemp’s medicinal potential, including its potential role in cancer treatments.
‘Global vision’
In his new role as director, Jessup is poised to guide the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in advancing these projects while broadening the scope of its research initiatives. As center director at San Angelo, he will supervise and coordinate all aspects of the center’s operations and those of its associated research station in Sonora, the Carl and Bina Sue Martin Research Ranch near Menard, and the Read Research Ranch in Ozona.
“I plan to extend an integrated, adaptive, and global vision of team-based research and extension as the center director at San Angelo,” said Jessup, whose research projects to date have received $8 million in funding.
Since 2023, Jessup has served as an AgriLife Research industrial hemp and perennial grass breeder and a professor in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. He previously served AgriLife Research and the department from 2009-2016 as an assistant professor and from 2016-2023 as an associate professor.