Alaniz receives Superior Service Award for Extension Program Support

BRYAN – Rudy Alaniz, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service farm demonstration assistant in Corpus Christi, has received a Superior Service Award in the Extension Program Support category.

Superior Service Awards recognize AgriLife Extension faculty and staff members who provide outstanding performance in Extension education or other outstanding service to the organization and to Texans. The award was presented Jan. 12 during the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Conference awards dinner at the Brazos Expo Center in Bryan.

Alaniz, who retired this year, was nominated for the award based on his contributions to agricultural demonstration and applied science research in South Texas.

During his 34-year AgriLife Extension career, Alaniz worked to support the educational efforts in the disciplines of agronomy, weed science, entomology, range and pasture, and livestock production.

In his nomination, Alaniz’s peers noted his work ethic “allowed project leaders to more than double their output of high-quality demonstrations and applied research projects, enabling them to better serve the needs of farmers in the region.”

Since the inception of AgriLife Extension’s Gulf Coast cotton improvement project in 1983, Alaniz played a major role in conducting field studies to improve the Coastal Bend cotton quality, which was said to be among the lowest throughout the U.S. cotton belt, according to the nomination. Alaniz’s role in numerous cotton disciplines being evaluated out in the field involved securing and maintaining a large array of farm equipment to be used in the project.

“Alaniz excelled in organization of all aspects dealing with harvest, sample processing, data recording and obtaining samples for quality assessment by the Textile Research Center in Lubbock,” the nomination states.

“His work contributed to improvement in cotton fiber quality to the point that the Corpus Christi Cotton Classing Office is now reporting some of the highest quality cotton grown anywhere in the U.S.,” it states.

Alaniz was also cited for his contributions throughout the years in various major projects including the variety/hybrid seed distribution program, crop testing, cotton insect management and weed control, as well as county programs and special projects.

In a letter of commendation, Darwin Anderson, Texas A&M AgriLife Research entomologist in Corpus Christi, said that Alaniz “has witnessed and implemented 34 years of technological advances in agricultural chemistries and genetics, changes in herbicides, insecticides, seed treatments, harvest aides, application techniques, new crops and plant genes, all of which he is capable and willing to apply at a moment’s notice.”

“Teamwork, efficiency, accuracy, care, concern, honesty and high morals are the DNA of his blood and soul,” Anderson wrote.

Jeff Stapper, a retired AgriLife Extension agent for Nueces County, said, “The willingness of Rudy to work with county agents to evaluate new technologies in the field greatly enhanced our educational programs, resulting in clients that looked to AgriLife Extension regarding adoption of new agricultural technologies.”