STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State University has been awarded $100,000 to develop a podcast highlighting specialty crops in the state of Texas. The podcast will bring to life the uniqueness, history, regionality, communities, and events that celebrate Texas specialty crops.
Titled Uniquely Texas, the podcast will recognize the wide variety of specialty crops grown in the Lone Star State, as well as the distinct places where they are grown. Defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture,” Texas is third in the nation for the number of farms growing specialty crops, making this sector a vital part of the state’s agricultural industry.
“Creating the Uniquely Texas podcast is another way that we can support the Texas agriculture industry,” noted College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Barry Lambert. “And, even more excitingly, through the process of creating, distributing, and promoting the podcast we have an outstanding experiential learning opportunity for our students.”
Uniquely Texas is funded through a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant award by the Texas Department of Agriculture. The podcast will begin in spring of 2024 and feature audio podcasts, video episodes to watch, and additional resources like recipes, festivals, and related information about the crops featured.
“Our goal is to capture the authentic voices, images, and experiences of specialty crop growers and the communities they are a part of,” shared Dr. Jean Lonie Dudley, assistant professor of agricultural industries, who will lead the grant project. “We want to challenge our students to find ways to become storytellers and champions of our agriculture industry, highlighting the unique characteristics, history, culture, and benefit of specialty crops in Texas.”
The podcast has plans to feature grapes, olives, blueberries, red grapefruit, oranges, peaches, pecans, strawberries, mushrooms, spinach, cabbage, carrots, onions, peppers, pumpkins, watermelon, lavender, turfgrass, tea, honey, roses, Christmas trees, crape myrtle, and azaleas in upcoming episodes.
While the Uniquely Texas podcast is funded for two years through the Specialty Crop Block Grant, the Tarleton State University Agricultural Communications program will use its podcasting course to keep the program going in the future. “Connecting this grant to one of our courses is a twofold win,” Lambert stated. “Having our Agricultural Communications students work on this grant allows us to ensure the project is sustainable into the future and creates a new platform for students to use as they develop the skills and abilities needed to effectively promote and communicate about Texas agriculture.”
The podcast team is currently setting up its schedule and preparing to visit communities and producers across Texas. Episodes should begin dropping in June, 2024 on www.uniquely-texas.com and its Uniquely-Texas channel on YouTube. There will also be Facebook (facebook.com/uniquelytexas) and Instagram (uniquelytexaspodcast) accounts to provide some behind-the-scenes looks at Texas specialty crops and the people/places that they are connected to.