From its roots in China to commercial fame in New Zealand, kiwifruit...
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Double Up Food Bucks Alabama: Making healthy eating a SNAP
Double Up Food Bucks Alabama is enhancing communities by making fresh local produce more affordable and accessible at select grocery stores and farmers markets. The program is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with matching funds from state...
U.S. Beekeeping Survey reveals highest honey bee colony losses during 2024-2025
The annual U.S. Beekeeping Survey results are in for the 2024-2025 calendar year. In collaboration with Auburn University, the Apiary Inspectors of America, Oregon State University and others, the national survey estimated that 55.6% of managed honey bee colonies were...
Batchelor named Water Resources Center Director
William Batchelor has been tapped as the new director of the Auburn University Water Resources Center, effective immediately. As director, he will lead a team of...
Kumar awarded LEAP Summer Momentum Fellowship
Sudhanshu Kumar, a Ph.D. student in the Hydroclimate Research Group within the Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences, has been selected for the 2025...
Predicting investment returns for crop irrigation
New model to help farmers make better investment decisions By Danielle Lunny Alabama farmers considering investing in irrigation equipment will soon have a free,...
Online programs in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences continue to be a “Best Buy” among science-based programs for out of state students.
By Adam McGhee, Online programs in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences continue to be a “Best Buy” (aub.ie/qum4ec) among science-based programs for out of state students. Low, flat-rate tuition paired with quality instruction, diverse faculty...
Beekeepers continue to report high colony loss rates, no clear improvement
From University of Maryland Beekeepers across the United States lost 45.5% of their managed honey bee colonies from April 2020 to April 2021, according to preliminary results of the 15th annual nationwide survey conducted by the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership...
Auburn entomologist seeks alternatives for urban pesticide use
By Jacqueline Kochak More than 80 percent of Americans live in expanding urban areas, and suburbanites are still craving greenspace as farmland gives way to housing developments and big-box stores. The problem is that proud homeowners use significantly more...
Market at Ag Heritage Park open for the summer
The Farmer’s Market at Ag Heritage Park at Auburn University is open for the summer through Aug. 12. The market, open each Thursday from 3-6 p.m., is an open-air, growers-only farmers market hosted by the College of...
College of Agriculture using high-tech shipping containers to grow produce for Campus Dining
Unique ‘vertical’ farms part of planned 16-acre Transformation Garden on campus Recycled shipping containers have gained popularity in recent years, being converted into everything from houses to small stores—but the Auburn University College of Agriculture, in...
Agriculture faculty, students earn spring awards
Students and faculty in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University raked in several awards for their hard work and studies this spring. Amit Morey earns Spirit of Sustainability Award Assistant Professor Amit Morey received the Spirit of Sustainability...
Bill Taylor, Helen Ulrich to receive $10,000 toward postgraduate studies
Two Auburn University students with connections to the College of Agriculture have been named NCAA Jim McKay Scholarship recipients. Auburn’s Bill Taylor and Helen Ulrich will each receive a $10,000 Jim McKay Scholarship, awarded by the NCAA to college athletes who...
Appel named interim associate dean for research, associate director for AAES
Arthur Appel, Faculty Endowed Professor of entomology, has been named the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s interim associate dean for research and interim associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, effective June 1. In his interim...
The Rotation – Department of Crop, Soil, & Environmental Sciences Newsletter
Department Head’s Reportby John P. Beasley, Jr., Ph.D.(B.S., Agronomy & Soils, 1979) Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Rotation, the newsletter of the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences at Auburn University! It is my honor and privilege to...
Barlow named interim associate dean for extension
Becky Barlow, extension specialist and professor of forestry and wildlife sciences, has been named the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s interim associate dean for extension and interim assistant director for agriculture, forestry and natural resource...
Researcher part of international weed genomics effort
An Auburn University professor and researcher is one of the founding members of an international group of scientists and industry professionals that has launched an ambitious new project aimed at improved understanding of the most intractable species of weeds in the...
Study looking at feasibility of more beef processing plants in Alabama
One of the many consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been limited supplies and higher prices of U.S. beef products. It’s an outcome that could have been predicted, especially considering supply-chain issues impacting the beef industry. Beef production in the U.S....
E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer Series to feature Ambassador Kip Tom
The Auburn University College of Agriculture’s E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer Series will present U.S. Ambassador Kip Tom as the Spring 2021 York Lecturer Tuesday, April 27, in Auburn. The lecture, set for 12 p.m. in the Auburn University Hotel...
College of Agriculture students win big in specialty competitions
Students in three College of Agriculture departments performed well in regional, national and international competitions this spring. A team from the Department of Horticulture placed first in its size group (10-24 students) in the 45th National Collegiate Landscape...
Ryan Thomson receives Rural Sociological Society Early Career Award
Ryan Thomson, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology, received The Rural Sociological Society Early Career Award for 2021. Proposals for the award involve small-scale projects that will enhance...
Agricultural economics researchers seek to aid new farmers in changing business climate
The challenges facing today’s small- and medium-sized farm operators are numerous, but perhaps the most daunting challenges are those faced by beginning farmers in a business climate that is currently in the midst of a generational turnover. A three-year study by...
Professor looks at cheaper, more efficient solution to COVID-19
While the rapid development and distribution of vaccines for preventing COVID-19 is a phenomenal advancement in the continuing battle against the virus, there are drawbacks, says an Auburn University professor. “Vaccine production is costly and time-consuming,” said...
Alumni chart new course for mushroom cultivation in the South
If you’ve eaten a gourmet mushroom in Alabama, there’s a good chance it was cultivated at Fungi Farm in Dadeville. Founded by Allen Carroll, who studied agronomy in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University, Fungi Farm in Dadeville has quickly become a pioneer...
Alabama Cooperative Extension System announces new director
Mike Phillips has been named director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the primary outreach organization for Alabama A&M and Auburn universities, both of which are land-grant institutions with the mission of providing real-life solutions and helping...
Kylie Weis: genetically engineering the future
By Bethanie Hartzog Kylie Weis has no doubt in her mind about why she chose applied biotechnology as her major at Auburn University. She believes other students should take the time to look at the major as well. "Applied biotechnology is using the tools of nature to...
Popular professional development seminar gets makeover for pandemic
On a warm morning, despite COVID-19 limitations, horticulturalist Abra Lee prepared to greet the College of Agriculture’s Student Services team at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. As the featured speaker for the college’s professional development seminar series Our...
Meet Stefanie Christensen Francisco
Stefanie Christensen Francisco is the communications director for Conservation Alabama, a non-profit organization that lobbies the state legislature on behalf of our state’s natural resources. Previously, she worked in national news production at CNN, Politico, and...
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...
Riva Denny
Riva completed her MS in rural sociology at Auburn in 2012 where she wrote her master’s thesis on the differences between red meat inspection regulations at the state and federal levels and the implications that these differences have for small slaughterhouses and the...
MICHELE VITALE
Michele completed his MS in Rural Sociology at Auburn in 2007; his thesis analyzed the socio-economic, cultural and geographic barriers that Hispanic residents face to access primary care services in rural Georgia. He completed his PhD in Geography at Wilfrid Laurier...
Who is Emily Blejwas
Emily Blejwas directs the Gulf States Health Policy Center in Bayou La Batre, AL. She previously worked in research and community development for the Community Foundation of South Alabama and the Economic & Community Development Institute at Auburn University. She...
JANICE FREW DYER
Janice Frew Dyer completed her MS in Rural Sociology in 2007 and her PhD in Forestry in 2012, both at Auburn University. Janice spent several years teaching Sociology at Calhoun Community College in North Alabama, and Sustainable Food Systems at Lipscomb University in...
VANESSA CASANOVA
Dr. Casanova earned a BA in International Studies from the University of Alabama, MS in Rural Sociology and PhD in Forestry from Auburn University with postgraduate training in the fields of labor studies and public health. She joined the faculty of the University of...
James Hutchins
James Hutchins is a 1997 graduate of the Master of Science program in Rural Sociology. He focused on integrated conservation and development and he researched the establishment of a community forest concession in the Maya Biosphere Reserve for his thesis. He has...