b'COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE & LIFE SCIENCESCULTIVATING FUTURE FARMERS AND RANCHERSBY BAILEY PAYNE \'19tackle the next day. This hardscrab-ble routine heavily influenced his later work habits. At18,Jimmiestruckoutonhis F arming and ranching are bothown to grow cotton and grain inIN THEIR WORDSa struggle against and collabo- Donna. The first two years werent ration with natural forces beyondgood, he said. I didnt break even ones control. To walk this tightropefarming, so I rough-necked in oil"Its even harder today to work well enough to grow crops or raisefields at night to pay bills for three livestock for a living, one must relyyears. Determined to finish whaton a farm or a ranch without on knowledge not only from pre- hestarted,Jimmiesoughtadvicean education. We want to help decessors but also from those whoand eventually crossed paths with dare to innovate.Dr. Jose Amador, a Cuban immi- kids attend college and learn grant who became a plant patholo- because if we dont have food, Jimmie Steidinger knows this all toogist. At the time, Amador was the well. When he ventured out on hisTexas Agricultural Extension Ser- we dont have anything."own, Texas A&M AgriLife Exten- vice expert on the control of plant-Jimmie Steidingersion Service agents helped him anddiseases,workingoutoftheser-his crops yield their true potential.vices research center in Weslaco. Though neither he nor his wife, Bar- Amador helped diagnose and treat bara, attended Texas A&M Univer- diseases and other problems in Jim-sity, the couple is now developingmies crops, including field crops, the next generation of farmers andvegetablesandlater,citrus.This ranchers through scholarships formentorship relationship introduced Aggies in the College of Agriculturethe young farmer to Texas A&M.and Life Sciences. In the decades since, Jimmie found Raised on a dairy farm in Donna,great success growing citrus. Feel-Texas,aruralcommunityintheing indebted to those who invested Rio Grande Valley, Jimmie foundtheirtime,energyandfundsin thehardedgeoffarmlifeatanhim when he needed it most, Jim-early age. When he was 12 yearsmie and Barbara have contributed old, a bull killed his father, leav- more than $550,000 to scholarships ing Jimmie and his mother to fendforagriculturestudents,includ-for themselves. I worked full timeing multiple planned gifts through seven days a week until I was 18, hecharitable remainder unitrusts. Its recalled. Assuming his late fatherseven harder today to work on a farm responsibilities, Jimmie began workor a ranch without an education, he at 5:00 a.m., attended school untilsaid. We want to help kids attend the afternoon and worked deep intocollege and learn because if we dont the evening before he hit the hay tohave food, we dont have anything.6 | TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION|OFFICE OF GIFT PLANNING'