Expertise:
Trostle came to Lubbock and the Texas South Plains in January
1999, from the Texas Ag. Experiment Station in Beaumont. There
he worked as a post-doc then assistant research scientist working
primarily with nitrogen soil chemistry and fertility in rice.
His prior experience also includes growing up and working on
a diversified crop-and-livestock family farm in Eastern Kansas
(sorghum, wheat, soybeans, corn). Trostle's responsibilities
as a Lubbock region district (D-2) extension agronomist include
extension education programming for all crops but cotton, applied
research, and precision agriculture applications. This programming
complements Dr. Randy Boman's extension responsibilities for
cotton. Currently, his crop demonstration and applied research
projects include work with peanuts, sorghum, corn, wheat, sunflower,
soybeans, guar, black-eyed peas, and summer sorghum-based forages
(photoperiod sensitive and brown mid-rib). Emphasis within these
crops include fertility and crop rotation with cotton. Trostle
also serves as a regional co-coordinator of the South Plains
component of the statewide Sorghum PROFIT program investigating
means to stabilize crop production systems by using sorghum
in rotation with other crops. He actively participates in several
projects with faculty from Texas Tech University where I He
is an adjunct professor in the Plant and Soil Sciences department.
His particular interest in precision agriculture is helping
producers determine what level of or what components of precision
agriculture may be appropriate for their operation. Precision
agriculture efforts currently focus on peanuts and corn. In
peanuts, he cooperates with the Lubbock peanut precision agriculture
group (Schubert, Bronson, Wheeler, D. Porter, Keeling, Dotray)
studying soil chemical properties in relation to yield, grade,
plant tissue nutrient content, and Rhizobium nodulation. Aerial
flyover and ground-level spectroscopic techniques are also used
to assess crop status. In corn, he cooperates with Dr. Brent
Bean of TAMU-Amarillo in coordinating two on-farm precision
agriculture sites in Castro and Moore Counties, a project funded
by the Texas Corn Producers Board. Grid soil sampling was conducted
to determine nutrient needs and select nutrients for variable
rate application vs. blanket rate. In field assessment included
plant population, ear-leaf tissue concentration, and ground-level
spectroscopic measures in conjunction with aerial IR flyovers.
Fields were yield mapped. Trostle serves as a member of the
web communications committee for the High Plains precision agriculture
project.
Professional
and Academic Training:
1993, Ph.D., Univ. of Minnesota, 1997 M.S., Soil Science, Texas
A&M Univ.
1984, B.S., Agronomy, Kansas State Univ.