The research and education in agricultural communications training (react) will increase the number of students actively involved in agriculture, increase workplace competency, and will assist in…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Texas A & M University Kingsville $558,000 on September 1, 2026, under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to deliver the Research and Education in Agricultural Communications Training (REACT), a four-year project completing August 31, 2030.

REACT recruits undergraduate agriculture majors for training focused on agricultural communications—the discipline of conveying scientific information through written, verbal, and visual messages. Year one emphasizes curriculum refinement in partnership with industry representatives. Years two through four engage student cohorts recruited each fall in an online curriculum delivered spring semester, followed by a five-week on-campus capstone experience and industry-led tours and workshops each summer. The program targets workplace competency and career readiness skill development to strengthen the quality of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (FANH) majors in higher education.

Performance occurs at Texas A & M University Kingsville's campus in Kingsville, Texas.

The research and education in agricultural communications training (react) will increase the number of students actively involved in agriculture, increase workplace competency, and will assist in skill development of quality fanh majors in higher education. This will be accomplished through selection of undergraduate agriculture majors to participate in an agricultural communications focused training. Agricultural communications is a discipline focused on conveying scientific information to audiences through written, verbal, and visual messages. Agricultural communications undergraduate programs have been cited as meeting industry needs for general communication, computer knowledge, writing, and public relations. The first year of this project will be the refinement of the training in partnership with industry representatives. Years 2-4 will include student participation in both an online curriculum, completion of a 5-week on campus experience and collaboration in industry led tours & workshops. The focus will be training in agricultural communications and career readiness skills. Each year's cohort will be recruited in the fall, involved in online work within the spring and capstone with a five-week on-campus training each summer of the four-year project.