The Austin Chronic: Texas A&M's Hemp Breeding Program Adds Drought-Resilient Genetics to the National Collection: An Interview with Dr. Russell Jessup and Clayton Moore – Columns

Dr. Russell Jessup (right) receives a Research Faculty Award for Ph.D. Student Clayton Moore (left) nominated him for (Courtesy of Clayton Moore)

There's no such thing as a stupid question…at least that's what my supervisor told me back in the day during my first shift at the checkout line at Wal-Mart. As an interviewer, however, I sometimes put this adage to the test, like last week when I asked a doctor of plant science: How do you test the effects of drought on hemp plants?

Russell Jessup did his best to suppress his laughter. “Uh, it's really simple…”

Before he could say “DO NOT WATER,” I changed my question: I mean, what methods do you use to identify heat and drought tolerant hemp genetics and then highlight them?

“Plant breeders are good at growing plants, but I’m very good at torturing and killing plants,” explained Jessup, head of Texas A&M’s hemp breeding program. “I am a plant eugenicist by profession. I torture plants with strong light, high temperature and high salt content, I don't water them, I put them in bad soil. We torture them to the limit, then see which MMA plants they are, and those are the ones we choose.”

Clayton Moore, a Ph.D. student in A&M's Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, who leads the hemp conversion program, interjects to give me a much-needed introduction to plant biology: “Your phenotype is your genome plus your environment. So uses Dr. Jessup fully exploits the environmental factors that play a role in forming a phenotype for what we are trying to produce.”

Specifically, these researchers wanted to produce a large collection of hemp strains that can thrive in hot and humid climates so that farmers in Texas could grow the plant for grain and fiber purposes. After several years of research, the team is preparing to deliver its first set of germplasm to the United States Department of Agriculture, where the plant material (both pollen and seeds) will be stored in a repository from which any licensed breeder in America can sample.

That's unusual in an industry where breeders and private companies keep a tight grip on their genetics. In contrast, the hemp transition program is intended to be a public good. The program's additions could help solve two problems faced by farmers who want to grow hemp: the seeds are prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain. Moore says that of the approximately 100 varieties on the federally approved hemp genetics list, only about 10% are currently available for purchase.

“The USDA has approved these varieties, but that doesn’t mean they have them in their germplasm bank,” he points out. “No one knows where the genetics are found, except for a very small portion of this list. So what our hemp conversion program does is create a more diverse public germplasm of hemp strains [farmers] will be able to source from USDA.”

This illustrates the difference between academic research and the private sector.

“The things we do [farmers] “They don’t have time for this – they need to make money and do things quickly,” Jessup says. “We can take more time and look at things and develop populations to choose from and use.”

Since our vast state represents one of the most biodiverse regions in the United States, it is somewhat reductive to describe their quest as “developing hemp genetics that will grow well in Texas.” Moore and Jessup met five years ago when Moore, then a freshman, was interning with A&M's Agrilife Extension and growing a hemp plot in Corpus Christi under the professor's supervision. His team had a grant to grow 20 varieties in five locations from the Panhandle down to Weslaco.

“We found that Texas was a terrible place to grow these particular strains of hemp, with the exception of some parts of the coastal plain,” Moore recalls.

Jessup says his main focus was to fill an obvious regional gap.

“The material from Colorado, Oregon and Europe runs quite well in Amarillo and the Panhandle, and it can run quite well in Vernon, but when you get below Dallas and especially below Austin, it just goes to hell,” he explains. “If you draw the latitude map, we have focused on developing grape varieties that can withstand the heat and drought between 32 degrees north and 30 degrees south and bridge that gap. There isn't much in the USDA for these latitudes. So if you’re looking for something that can withstand the heat of the southern United States, it’s not in our collection.”

The team sources plant material with global origins. For example: a type of grain that comes from Japan but was developed in Switzerland, mixed with a type of fiber from China. They are also working to source grape varieties from southern India, which they say have similarities to some climates in Texas.

When asked who he hopes can benefit from the Hemp Conversion Program, Moore, a seventh-generation farmer, takes a far-sighted approach.

“Well, I want to help all of America because I’m pro-American, but I want the American farmers who grow hemp to be successful,” he says. “When hemp was legalized in 2018, many farmers lost money because they thought they were hoping for a cash crop, but there was a problem with where all the material was going. I want to produce new, diverse genetics that will give farmers ten times more biomass. And I want these farmers to have access to good varieties and not have to worry about expensive seeds.”

Revolutionizing the available genetics of industrial hemp is just part of the focus of the A&M hemp program. Students also conduct mutation work on “Type V” cannabis (which is free of cannabinoids), provide expertise on the process of patenting plant varieties, and attempt to develop cancer drugs related to tumor growth – another of Moore’s focuses. As a result, her work sparks interest beyond the cannabis world.

“They're looking for alternatives to the medications they're taking, they're curious about what grains can be fed to cattle for better fatty acids, they're trying to figure out if they can grow a crop and make more money per acre than cotton. “Which is really difficult these days, or we're looking for something that's more sustainable for the earth,” Jessup offers. “So to me, people are excited because they’re looking for opportunities or alternatives that don’t exist right now.”