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Eagle Lake AgriLife Research Station to
recognize benefactors on Sept. 26
By Dave Mayes
AgriLife Research
Eagle Lake, Texas (September 22, 2008) –
Directors of the foundation that provided 113 acres of prime rice
farming land for the David R. Wintermann AgriLife Research Station will be
honored at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Eagle Lake facility on Sept. 26.
"Their generosity will enable our scientists to continue
conducting significant research in support of rice producers in the western
half of the state’s rice belt, where growing conditions are most favorable,"
said Dr. Ted Wilson, director of the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension
Center in Beaumont. The Eagle Lake station is a satellite of the Beaumont
center.
Ceremonies honoring the directors of the David R. and
Eula Wintermann Foundation will begin at 10 a.m. at the station, located at
2963 Farm-to-Market Road 102 in Eagle Lake. Recognized with commemorative
gifts will be Jack M. Johnson, chair of the foundation, his wife Judi
Johnson and directors Donald N. Bendy and Steve Balas.
Judi Johnson is the niece of the Wintermanns, who played
a vital role in supporting the Eagle Lake research station since its
establishment in 1972.
David Wintermann and other area rice growers
successfully petitioned the state legislature to authorize the Eagle Lake
station in 1970, Wilson said, and then donated the water and services
necessary to develop the site on leased land.
The Eagle Lake American Rice Growers Association
initiated a voluntary check-off fund to support operations at the station.
Until his death in 1997, Wintermann was a cornerstone of
the Texas rice industry and a strong supporter of wetland and environmental
conservation, Wilson said.
During their lifetimes, the Wintermanns generously
contributed to the Eagle Lake community, donating land and money to help
establish the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, the
Wintermann Library, the Prairie Edge Museum and the Eagle Lake Community
Center.
More recently, the Wintermann Foundation, in two
separate gifts, provided for the permanent acquisition of the 113 acres of
farmland for the station.
"This will help our research efforts tremendously,"
Wilson explained, because the rice grown in the lighter soils west of
Houston offers great potential for producers. The growing season is earlier
and drier, the disease pressure is less, and the yields tend to be higher.
"This land will help our scientists speed the
development of improved rice varieties and improved management and
production practices," he said.
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