For researchers studying environmentally friendly farming practices, biochar is a game-changer.
Biochar, a charcoal-like substance created by heating plant waste, is a groundbreaking innovation in the field of sustainable farming. It is beneficial for improving soil quality, recycling organic plant material and capturing greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural industry.
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Auburn researchers to share in $22 million USDA-NIFA investment
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced an investment of nearly $22 million in agricultural economics research that includes agricultural markets, international trade, farm labor, consumer behavior and...
Potential seen for drone-spraying in agricultural fields
While drones were initially used in agriculture primarily for collecting crop and field-condition data, Auburn University researcher Steve Li is leading an effort to explore how the small, remotely piloted aircraft can be used to apply pesticides and other farm...
Alabama Extension to host regional precision agriculture workshops
By Katie Nichols As farmers prepare for the upcoming growing seasons, the dawning of a new year is a reminder of the new things to come. The Alabama Cooperative...
Researchers lead $2 million research project to produce hydrogen
Auburn University researchers are leading a $2 million Department of Energy grant that aims to produce hydrogen from blended feedstock such as legacy waste coal, forest...
Educational opportunities abound on rooftop garden
By Amy Weaver The garden on the rooftop of the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center does more than provide food and adornments for guests of its signature...
An empty spot
Keever reflects on role as Toomer’s oaks spokesman by JAMIE CREAMER The first full week of May brought a return to normalcy in Gary Keever’s life—only it didn’t feel normal. Not yet, anyway, because for the first time in almost two and a half years, the historic oaks...
Finding her calling
Years of floundering led grad student to fisheries by JAMIE CREAMER Some people are born knowing what they want to be when they grow up. Mollie Smith was not one of them. She had no clear vision of her future when she enrolled at Auburn University as a freshman in...
Williams appointed to Botts endowed professorship
by WENDY REED A gift of more than half a million dollars from the estate of an Auburn horticulture alumnus and his wife has fully funded an endowed professorship in the Department of Horticulture and strengthened a scholarship fund for Auburn horticulture students....
College of Ag faculty, students garner honors
AUBURN, Ala.— Five Auburn University College of Agriculture faculty have been appointed or reappointed to professorships, and several faculty and students in the college have earned high honors for their outstanding accomplishments during the 2012-13 academic year....
Study investigates chemical’s effects on mussel populations
by JAMIE CREAMER Alabama is home to the most diverse freshwater mussel population in all of North America, with 180 known species dwelling or having once dwelled in the state’s rivers and streams. But in recent decades, their numbers have plummeted as a result of...
Don't let them bite
Scientists investigating what makes bedbugs tick by JAMIE CREAMER The first thing that Zach DeVries does when he opens the door to a new hotel room is to put his luggage in the bathtub. “I’m not being paranoid,” DeVries says. “I’m being cautious.” It is a caution...
Auburn to host inaugural SEC Equestrian Championship March 29-30
AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn University will host the first-ever Southeastern Conference equestrian championship Friday and Saturday, March 29 and 30, at the Auburn University Horse Center on Wire Road. All four SEC equestrian programs—Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas...
Horticulture's Eakes wins national top educator honors
AUBURN, Ala.—Joseph Eakes, the Jimmy and Chris Pursell Professor of Horticulture, has been named the 2013 Professional Landcare Network, or PLANET, Academic Excellence Foundation Outstanding Educator of the Year. The award, which goes to a professor who dedicates his...
$4.8 million grant will enhance safety of local foods
AUBURN, Ala.—Animal sciences assistant professor Christy Bratcher and a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Auburn and Tuskegee universities have been awarded a five-year, $4.8 million grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to help ensure...
Licensing deal moves AU-patented kiwifruit into marketplace
AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn University–patented kiwifruit varieties are now on the market, offering home gardeners across central and south Alabama a new and refreshing fruit possibility and the region’s produce farmers a promising high-value specialty crop. Included among...
For the record
Twins part of college's largest graduating class by WENDY REED Even before the 123 College of Agriculture seniors set to graduate this coming May begin making their mark through work and careers, they will have made history as part of the college’s largest graduating...
Safe and secure
$4.8 million grant will enhance safety of local foods by JAMIE CREAMER Animal sciences assistant professor Christy Bratcher and a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Auburn and Tuskegee universities have been awarded a five-year, $4.8 million grant from USDA’s...
Taking the lead
Auburn ag alum wins farmers federation presidency by JAMIE CREAMER On Dec. 3, 2012, College of Agriculture alumnus and fifth-generation Chilton County farmer Jimmy Parnell eked out a victory to become president of the Alabama Farmers Federation and, subsequently,...
Ag, forestry dominate state's economy, study shows
AUBURN, Ala.—Agriculture, forestry and their related industries account for 41 percent of Alabama’s $174 billion economy and provide 22 percent of all jobs in the state, a new report from Auburn University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology...
Research reveals secret lives of mole crickets
AUBURN, Ala.—Research that Alabama Ag Experiment Station entomologist David Held is conducting in labs at Auburn is shedding new light on the secret lives of mole crickets, and his findings could eventually lead to improved strategies for controlling the costly pests....
Lord Kwakye Ameyaw
Lord Kwakye Ameyaw completed a Master of Science Degree in Rural Sociology from Auburn University in 2013. He recently completed a PhD in Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. Lord works as an Agroforester with the Nebraska...
College of Ag, AAES honor top faculty, staff
AUBURN, Ala.— Twenty College of Agriculture/Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station scientists who landed a combined $11.4 million-plus in grants and contracts over the course of a year were honored as 2012 Grantsmanship Award winners and 21 other faculty and staff...
Production under way at Auburn's new $7.1 million feed mill
AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn University’s new $7.1 million Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center, a state-of-the-art academic and research feed production facility located on a 50-acre site north of the main campus, officially opened Friday, Nov. 16, with a ribbon-cutting...
Auburn ag economist Bill Hardy granted emeritus status posthumously
AUBURN, Ala.—The late William E. “Bill” Hardy Jr., a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University for almost 39 years, has been posthumously awarded the status of professor emeritus. The College of Agriculture...
Sibley to take reins as Department of Horticulture head
AUBURN, Ala.—Jeff Sibley, an Auburn University alumnus and faculty member, has been named head of the Department of Horticulture at Auburn, effective Nov. 1. Sibley, who grew up in northwest Alabama’s Mount Hope community and was a part of a family nursery and turf...
AU technology could revolutionize rendering industry
AUBURN, Ala. — A patented Auburn University–developed process that cleanly converts inedible waste from the slaughter of animals into marketable products is making its commercial debut this summer with the opening of Alabama Protein Products LLC at Kyser Family Farms,...
An empty spot
Keever reflects on role as Toomer’s oaks spokesman by JAMIE CREAMER The first full week of May brought a return to normalcy in Gary Keever’s life—only it didn’t feel normal. Not yet, anyway, because for the first time in almost two and a half years, the historic oaks...
Finding her calling
Years of floundering led grad student to fisheries by JAMIE CREAMER Some people are born knowing what they want to be when they grow up. Mollie Smith was not one of them. She had no clear vision of her future when she enrolled at Auburn University as a freshman in...
Williams appointed to Botts endowed professorship
by WENDY REED A gift of more than half a million dollars from the estate of an Auburn horticulture alumnus and his wife has fully funded an endowed professorship in the Department of Horticulture and strengthened a scholarship fund for Auburn horticulture students....
College of Ag faculty, students garner honors
AUBURN, Ala.— Five Auburn University College of Agriculture faculty have been appointed or reappointed to professorships, and several faculty and students in the college have earned high honors for their outstanding accomplishments during the 2012-13 academic year....
Study investigates chemical’s effects on mussel populations
by JAMIE CREAMER Alabama is home to the most diverse freshwater mussel population in all of North America, with 180 known species dwelling or having once dwelled in the state’s rivers and streams. But in recent decades, their numbers have plummeted as a result of...
Don't let them bite
Scientists investigating what makes bedbugs tick by JAMIE CREAMER The first thing that Zach DeVries does when he opens the door to a new hotel room is to put his luggage in the bathtub. “I’m not being paranoid,” DeVries says. “I’m being cautious.” It is a caution...
Auburn to host inaugural SEC Equestrian Championship March 29-30
AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn University will host the first-ever Southeastern Conference equestrian championship Friday and Saturday, March 29 and 30, at the Auburn University Horse Center on Wire Road. All four SEC equestrian programs—Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas...
Horticulture's Eakes wins national top educator honors
AUBURN, Ala.—Joseph Eakes, the Jimmy and Chris Pursell Professor of Horticulture, has been named the 2013 Professional Landcare Network, or PLANET, Academic Excellence Foundation Outstanding Educator of the Year. The award, which goes to a professor who dedicates his...
$4.8 million grant will enhance safety of local foods
AUBURN, Ala.—Animal sciences assistant professor Christy Bratcher and a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Auburn and Tuskegee universities have been awarded a five-year, $4.8 million grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to help ensure...
Licensing deal moves AU-patented kiwifruit into marketplace
AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn University–patented kiwifruit varieties are now on the market, offering home gardeners across central and south Alabama a new and refreshing fruit possibility and the region’s produce farmers a promising high-value specialty crop. Included among...
For the record
Twins part of college's largest graduating class by WENDY REED Even before the 123 College of Agriculture seniors set to graduate this coming May begin making their mark through work and careers, they will have made history as part of the college’s largest graduating...
Safe and secure
$4.8 million grant will enhance safety of local foods by JAMIE CREAMER Animal sciences assistant professor Christy Bratcher and a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Auburn and Tuskegee universities have been awarded a five-year, $4.8 million grant from USDA’s...
Taking the lead
Auburn ag alum wins farmers federation presidency by JAMIE CREAMER On Dec. 3, 2012, College of Agriculture alumnus and fifth-generation Chilton County farmer Jimmy Parnell eked out a victory to become president of the Alabama Farmers Federation and, subsequently,...
Ag, forestry dominate state's economy, study shows
AUBURN, Ala.—Agriculture, forestry and their related industries account for 41 percent of Alabama’s $174 billion economy and provide 22 percent of all jobs in the state, a new report from Auburn University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology...
Research reveals secret lives of mole crickets
AUBURN, Ala.—Research that Alabama Ag Experiment Station entomologist David Held is conducting in labs at Auburn is shedding new light on the secret lives of mole crickets, and his findings could eventually lead to improved strategies for controlling the costly pests....
Lord Kwakye Ameyaw
Lord Kwakye Ameyaw completed a Master of Science Degree in Rural Sociology from Auburn University in 2013. He recently completed a PhD in Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. Lord works as an Agroforester with the Nebraska...
College of Ag, AAES honor top faculty, staff
AUBURN, Ala.— Twenty College of Agriculture/Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station scientists who landed a combined $11.4 million-plus in grants and contracts over the course of a year were honored as 2012 Grantsmanship Award winners and 21 other faculty and staff...
Production under way at Auburn's new $7.1 million feed mill
AUBURN, Ala.—Auburn University’s new $7.1 million Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center, a state-of-the-art academic and research feed production facility located on a 50-acre site north of the main campus, officially opened Friday, Nov. 16, with a ribbon-cutting...
Auburn ag economist Bill Hardy granted emeritus status posthumously
AUBURN, Ala.—The late William E. “Bill” Hardy Jr., a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University for almost 39 years, has been posthumously awarded the status of professor emeritus. The College of Agriculture...
Sibley to take reins as Department of Horticulture head
AUBURN, Ala.—Jeff Sibley, an Auburn University alumnus and faculty member, has been named head of the Department of Horticulture at Auburn, effective Nov. 1. Sibley, who grew up in northwest Alabama’s Mount Hope community and was a part of a family nursery and turf...
AU technology could revolutionize rendering industry
AUBURN, Ala. — A patented Auburn University–developed process that cleanly converts inedible waste from the slaughter of animals into marketable products is making its commercial debut this summer with the opening of Alabama Protein Products LLC at Kyser Family Farms,...