TTU dean sees lots of economic opportunity in Hill Country’s wine industry
Texas Tech University’s Dean of Agriculture visited Fredericksburg in November as part of his listening tour to get a lay of the university’s landscape in the Texas Hill Country and said he saw nothing but opportunity.
Dr. Clint Krehbiel, who was named Dean of the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at TTU in January 2023, said Gillespie County fits into TTU’s Institute for One Health Innovation.
The One Health concept goal is to build bridges between physicians, veterinarians, environmental scientists, engineers, nutritionists and public health professionals to promote, improve and defend the health and well-being of all species.
“Tech is one of nine institutions that has a medical school, law school, department of engineering and college of ag and natural resources,” Krehbiel said. “We’re really well positioned to think about soil health, plant health, animal health to human health and how health is linked with agriculture through the interaction with the foods we eat. It goes beyond that, too. It’s wellness related, you know, enjoying a nice glass of wine.”
Krehbiel and Matt Williams, the assistant director of development for the College of Agriculture, visited several vineyards, wineries and restaurants during their Hill Country tour. They met with community and wine industry leaders and spoke with the FlavoryTX board. FlavoryTX is a non-profit entity working toward building an educational facility at the Hill Country University Center that focuses on Texas food and beverages.
Krehbiel’s listening tour got physical when he sampled food and beverages in Fredericksburg.
He grew up in a German community in central Kansas and said he enjoyed the authentic German sauerkraut and sourdough bread he ate at Otto’s German Bistro.
Texas Tech University officials visited Slate Theory Winery in November. From left are, Tyler Wolz, Slate Theory Winemaker and current TTU Winemaking Certificate student; Katy Jayne Seaton, owner Farmhouse Vineyards and FlavoryTX board member; Emily Jones, TTU Master’s of Science in Viticulture graduate; Kirk Williams, TTU Senior Lecturer of Viticulture; Dr. Clint Krehbiel, Dean of Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources at TTU; Matt Williams, Assistant Director of Development for TTU’s College of Agricultural Sciences; David Newitt, Slate Theory Winemaker and graduate of TTU Winemaking Certificate program; January Wiese, Executive Director of Texas Hill Country Wineries and FlavoryTX board member; Maureen Qualia, TTU Senior Lecturer of Enology; and Ernie Loeffler, Flavory TX Board Chair. – Photo courtesy of Katy Jayne Seaton
The TTU officials learned about the city’s emphasis on culinary arts at the high school level and came away with an understanding of the need for workforce development/training as well as hands-on experience for the population.
“Because students are so many generations removed from agriculture now, they really don’t understand what the opportunities are. We can help make those connections for them,” Krehbiel said. “I could see thinking outside the box here a little bit about what a relationship might look like for the school district in Fredericksburg, since relationships are already being built.”
He said he could envision a scenario where TTU gives students an understanding of the opportunities in agriculture, then creates career pathways for them to enter various fields.
“Maybe at the end of the high school, they need a certificate that would really give them some level of expertise that makes them marketable, and really serves their need and their interest from a career perspective. Maybe they want to come on for a bachelor’s program course, we can provide that opportunity or a master’s or Ph.D. — all the way through as far as they want to go.”
TTU already has a successful viticulture and enology certificate program based at the Hill Country University Center. Students from those programs can be found in every vineyard and winery throughout Gillespie County.
The dean and director encountered TTU certificate students at all the wineries and vineyards they visited.
“Everywhere we stopped, they always spoke very highly of what they learned in these programs and Maureen (Qualia, TTU instructor of enology) was at the top of that list,” Williams said. “It’s our turn to brand what’s happening here in Fredericksburg and the Hill Country itself. It needs to be here, then tied all the way back to Lubbock and all parts of the state.
“People need to know that they’re creating a pipeline of students that can go out into the industry and continue it in a positive way.”
Krehbiel said there’s real opportunity in the Davis College of Agriculture to use production facilities.
“We’re fortunate at Texas Tech to be able to do the complete supply chain from farm to table, and we’re carrying that all the way to the human health,” Krehbiel said. “We are really completing how what we do at the farm level impacts the human condition, be that rural communities, be that an industry like the wine industry and a growth, economic development for cities like Fredericksburg.”
He said TTU is growing its outreach and engagement.
“We’re not the land grant institution of the state, but we have a lot of those components, because we have a lot of stakeholders,” he said.
Even the Texas state legislature recognizes the value and opportunity for growth in the wine industry, he said.
“California has nothing on us,” he laughed. “The integration from soil health to actual grape production and where we’re at, where the majority of the grapes come from in the High Plains is great opportunity for us at Texas Tech, obviously.”
