In an already stressful and trying growing season, researchers at...
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Articles
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Developing high-performing genetic lines and hybrids for the catfish industry
Better breeding ability would make catfish farming more efficient and profitable The $437 million U.S. catfish industry is in need of better genetic and breeding technologies to be competitive with foreign imports. Recently, Auburn scientists have made advances in...
Agricultural grants address problems on Alabama farms
Is growing a cover crop on Alabama farms a solution or a problem for growers in the state who are trying to prevent soil and water erosion losses? A grant funded through the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station research program for the current fiscal year will...
Water Resources Conference attracts record crowd, hosts student research awards
The Auburn University Water Resources Center welcomed a record 370 attendees to its annual Alabama Water Resources Conference in Orange Beach Sept. 4-6. The conference...
New short corn not ‘as high as an elephant’s eye’
The line from the classic musical “Oklahoma” that refers to corn being “as high as an elephant’s eye” would not apply to some of the new hybrids becoming available to...
Water Resources Center engages community in Moore’s Mill Creek Planning
As a project manager with Auburn’s Water Resource Center, Cooley manages watershed restoration projects and educates communities on how to care for rivers, streams and creeks.
Precision ag workshop set Jan. 28 in Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. —Auburn University College of Agriculture and Alabama Extension professionals will host a precision agriculture workshop in Auburn Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. Cutting-edge precision agriculture...
Fisheries Ph.D. student wins People's Choice in 3MT contest
Hisham Abdelrahman, a Ph.D. candidate under the direction of veteran School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences professor Claude Boyd, was the runner-up and also won the coveted People’s Choice Award during Auburn University’s Three-Minute Thesis, or 3MT,...
Process for approving genetically engineered animals flawed, says AU professor
Federal regulators have approved a fast-growing transgenic salmon as the first genetically engineered animal available for human consumption. And while some are hailing it as a historic breakthrough, others are questioning whether the current approval process for the technology is stringent enough to prevent risks to the environment. One of those doing the questioning is Auburn University’s Conner Bailey.
Corn and Wheat Short Course to be held in Auburn
AUBURN, Ala.—The 2015 Alabama Corn and Wheat Short Course will be held at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center Dec. 14-15.Presenters from the Auburn University College of Agriculture, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, other land grant...
Protecting our water supply
Helping farmers get “more crop per drop” is the overarching goal of an AAES study.
Protecting water quality
Protecting and maintaining our current water supply is a priority of scientists with the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, who were addressing the issue through research aimed at overall environmental quality and sustainability. David Blersch, an ecological...
Long-term field experiments offer new breakthroughs
Researchers from the College of Agriculture are using the oldest continuous cotton experiment in the world to find answers to some of the most vexing problems of modern-day agriculture. The “Old Rotation,” established in 1896, is the third oldest field crop experiment...
Looking for ways to perfect the peanut
Genetically improved peanut varieties promise more drought tolerance for farmers and improved food safety for consumers.
Auburn scientists developing food pathogen detection system
A simple, economical tool that could be used to detect and identify harmful bacteria on food products in minutes instead of days and could significantly reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. and beyond is in the works in biochemist Jacek Wower’s...
Auburn study zeroes in on salmonella in ground poultry
Auburn University graduate student Elle Chadwick, under the direction of Ken Macklin, is studying antibiotic-resistant salmonella serotypes that are known to cause foodborne infections in humans. If the two-year salmonella study launched by Auburn University poultry...
Auburn scientists find tar balls are better left alone
The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the waves of tar balls deposited on the beaches shortly thereafter prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to produce a tar ball fact sheet. Among the factoids was one stating...
Auburn scientists explore how bird flu virus enters poultry farms
Auburn University researchers are helping poultry producers combat a massive and costly outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Auburn University poultry scientists Joe Giambrone and Ken Macklin are using funding from the U.S. egg industry to investigate how...
Auburn scientists use laying hens to study fibroid tumors
An estimated 70 percent of women in the U.S. develop fibroid tumors in the uterus by age 50, and while the noncancerous tumors cause no symptoms for the majority of those women, they make life miserable for tens of thousands of others. Within his own family, Wallace...
Ensuring the safety of locally produced foods
Animal sciences assistant professor Christy Bratcher and a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Auburn and Tuskegee universities are working on a multi-year, $4.8 million grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to help ensure the safety of...
Specialty crops to boost rural economies
Developing new specialty crops like grapes is one way of growing and revitalizing rural areas of Alabama. Elina Coneva, an associate professor in Auburn University’s Department of Horticulture, dreams of making the grape a profitable specialty crop for Alabama...
Southeast Climate Extension project recognized for helping farmers
The Southeast Climate Extension project, a large-scale partnership of six universities across the Southeast, was recently awarded the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Partnership Award for Multistate Efforts. Brenda Ortiz, an associate professor in Auburn...
Climate impacts measured in production agriculture
Brenda Ortiz is researching the impact of weather and climate on agriculture, particularly grain crops like wheat and soybeans.
Scientists measure horticulture industry’s environmental footprint
Concerns over agriculture's impact on global environmental change have prompted extensive research aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration in row-crop, forest and livestock production systems, but a study underway at Auburn...
Helping farmers slow the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds
Discipline and a pro-active attitude are requirements if farmers hope to slow the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds on Alabama cropland. That’s the message being carried by Auburn’s team of researchers and Extension specialists who are traveling to communities...
Sustaining our natural environment
More than 30 unique AAES studies are addressing issues of environmental quality and sustainability.
Conservation management helps sustain natural resources
The relationship between environmental sustainability and Alabama’s production agriculture sector is the focus of work being led by College of Agriculture faculty member and AAES researcher Julie Howe. Along with team partners in Georgia and Florida, Howe is examining...
Precision ag workshop set Jan. 28 in Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. —Auburn University College of Agriculture and Alabama Extension professionals will host a precision agriculture workshop in Auburn Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. Cutting-edge precision agriculture...
Fisheries Ph.D. student wins People's Choice in 3MT contest
Hisham Abdelrahman, a Ph.D. candidate under the direction of veteran School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences professor Claude Boyd, was the runner-up and also won the coveted People’s Choice Award during Auburn University’s Three-Minute Thesis, or 3MT,...
Process for approving genetically engineered animals flawed, says AU professor
Federal regulators have approved a fast-growing transgenic salmon as the first genetically engineered animal available for human consumption. And while some are hailing it as a historic breakthrough, others are questioning whether the current approval process for the technology is stringent enough to prevent risks to the environment. One of those doing the questioning is Auburn University’s Conner Bailey.
Corn and Wheat Short Course to be held in Auburn
AUBURN, Ala.—The 2015 Alabama Corn and Wheat Short Course will be held at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center Dec. 14-15.Presenters from the Auburn University College of Agriculture, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, other land grant...
Protecting our water supply
Helping farmers get “more crop per drop” is the overarching goal of an AAES study.
Protecting water quality
Protecting and maintaining our current water supply is a priority of scientists with the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, who were addressing the issue through research aimed at overall environmental quality and sustainability. David Blersch, an ecological...
Long-term field experiments offer new breakthroughs
Researchers from the College of Agriculture are using the oldest continuous cotton experiment in the world to find answers to some of the most vexing problems of modern-day agriculture. The “Old Rotation,” established in 1896, is the third oldest field crop experiment...
Looking for ways to perfect the peanut
Genetically improved peanut varieties promise more drought tolerance for farmers and improved food safety for consumers.
Auburn scientists developing food pathogen detection system
A simple, economical tool that could be used to detect and identify harmful bacteria on food products in minutes instead of days and could significantly reduce the incidence of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. and beyond is in the works in biochemist Jacek Wower’s...
Auburn study zeroes in on salmonella in ground poultry
Auburn University graduate student Elle Chadwick, under the direction of Ken Macklin, is studying antibiotic-resistant salmonella serotypes that are known to cause foodborne infections in humans. If the two-year salmonella study launched by Auburn University poultry...
Auburn scientists find tar balls are better left alone
The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the waves of tar balls deposited on the beaches shortly thereafter prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to produce a tar ball fact sheet. Among the factoids was one stating...
Auburn scientists explore how bird flu virus enters poultry farms
Auburn University researchers are helping poultry producers combat a massive and costly outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Auburn University poultry scientists Joe Giambrone and Ken Macklin are using funding from the U.S. egg industry to investigate how...
Auburn scientists use laying hens to study fibroid tumors
An estimated 70 percent of women in the U.S. develop fibroid tumors in the uterus by age 50, and while the noncancerous tumors cause no symptoms for the majority of those women, they make life miserable for tens of thousands of others. Within his own family, Wallace...
Ensuring the safety of locally produced foods
Animal sciences assistant professor Christy Bratcher and a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Auburn and Tuskegee universities are working on a multi-year, $4.8 million grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to help ensure the safety of...
Specialty crops to boost rural economies
Developing new specialty crops like grapes is one way of growing and revitalizing rural areas of Alabama. Elina Coneva, an associate professor in Auburn University’s Department of Horticulture, dreams of making the grape a profitable specialty crop for Alabama...
Southeast Climate Extension project recognized for helping farmers
The Southeast Climate Extension project, a large-scale partnership of six universities across the Southeast, was recently awarded the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Partnership Award for Multistate Efforts. Brenda Ortiz, an associate professor in Auburn...
Climate impacts measured in production agriculture
Brenda Ortiz is researching the impact of weather and climate on agriculture, particularly grain crops like wheat and soybeans.
Scientists measure horticulture industry’s environmental footprint
Concerns over agriculture's impact on global environmental change have prompted extensive research aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration in row-crop, forest and livestock production systems, but a study underway at Auburn...
Helping farmers slow the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds
Discipline and a pro-active attitude are requirements if farmers hope to slow the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds on Alabama cropland. That’s the message being carried by Auburn’s team of researchers and Extension specialists who are traveling to communities...
Sustaining our natural environment
More than 30 unique AAES studies are addressing issues of environmental quality and sustainability.
Conservation management helps sustain natural resources
The relationship between environmental sustainability and Alabama’s production agriculture sector is the focus of work being led by College of Agriculture faculty member and AAES researcher Julie Howe. Along with team partners in Georgia and Florida, Howe is examining...