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Hague named new head of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences Department
An internationally recognized cotton breeder has been selected as...
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The Market at Ag Heritage Park returns May 25
The Market at Ag Heritage Park, operated by the College of...

Native Habitat cofounder visiting April 13
The College of Agriculture will host well-known forester Kyle...

Researcher part of worldwide effort to combat tree disease
De La Fuente first Auburn researcher to receive EU-funded award An Auburn University researcher and professor is part of an international team of scientists who are playing a pivotal role in combating a disease that is threatening major tree crops around the world....

Agricultural funding received for research grants, new equipment
This past year, Auburn University’s College of Agriculture announced the availability of state-funded research and equipment purchase capital for fiscal year 2023. These competitively awarded grants were offered through the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station...

Hardbound book details history of Auburn fisheries program
By Brian Wesley and Kristen Bowman Gregory N. Whitis, Auburn alumnus and retired fisheries extension specialist, has printed the second and final edition of the late E.W. Shell’s “The Evolution of the Auburn University Fisheries Program.” The 800-page book includes...

Women in Agriculture luncheon to feature distinguished alumna Abra Lee
The 2023 Women in Agriculture Luncheon, hosted by the College of Agriculture at Auburn University, will feature distinguished alumna, writer and horticulturalist Abra Lee. The luncheon will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Auburn Hotel and Conference...

Former Dean Richard Guthrie passes away
Richard Guthrie, former dean of the Auburn University College of Agriculture and director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, passed away Jan. 23. “Dr. Guthrie was a dear friend and mentor to many of us and was a highly respected leader for our college,...

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 Extension System is planning two precision agriculture workshops in February. These workshops are designed...

Auburn shares $28 million grant to meet rural challenges
Auburn University is one of three universities sharing a $28 million grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), to establish an Institute for Rural Partnership to research the causes and conditions of...

Faculty team places first in USDA challenge
A team of Auburn University faculty members from the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, and Sciences and Mathematics placed first in the national Coleridge Initiative Food for Thought Data Challenge, in association with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The team...

Auburn ag students hosted Texas A&M peers
By Taylor Edwards Friday Nov. 11, before the Auburn vs. Texas A&M football game, Ag Council and Ag Peer Mentors hosted a tailgate for members of Texas A&M’s COALS council and College of Agriculture students. The COALS council made the trip to Auburn to engage...

Walley elected vice president of national student organization
While in Baltimore attending the annual meeting of Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Science (SASES), Jack Walley, a junior in environmental science at Auburn University, was elected to serve as the vice president of SASES for the 2023 year. SASES is a...

Starkey, Wilson recognized with Auburn Faculty Awards
Faculty members Jessica Starkey and Alan Wilson of the Auburn University College of Agriculture were recognized with Auburn Faculty Awards at a banquet Nov. 17. Starkey, associate professor of poultry science, was one of three faculty members receiving an Alumni...

Soil Judging Team wins Southeastern Region Contest
The Auburn University Soil Judging Team recently took home a big win. Oct.17-20, the team traveled to Clemson, South Carolina, to compete in the annual Southeastern Region Collegiate Soil Judging Contest, hosted by Clemson University. Joey Shaw, former professor in...

AAES launches new weather exchange
Even with the latest technology, predicting the weather can still be a guessing game at best. But with a new system recently launched by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) at Auburn University, stakeholders can at least know the history of weather in...

Animal sciences department hosts foreign embassies for study tour
The Auburn University Department of Animal Sciences hosted 12 foreign embassies for a study tour of beef cattle production systems in the Southeastern U.S. October 19-21. The delegation included representatives from Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Latvia, the...

Wilson receives Auburn’s highest faculty honor
Alan Wilson, a professor in the Auburn University School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, has been awarded the university’s Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2022. The Leischuck Award is the highest...

Lecturer series bringing reproductive health researcher
By Vanna Dupree The E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer Series in the Auburn University College of Agriculture will host Thomas Spencer, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri, November 10 at 4 p.m. at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon...
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The Season News & Research

Research examines effects of food proximity on waste
There’s lot of waste in this land of plenty, with an estimated 30% of the edible food produced annually in the U.S. being wasted. This amounts to more than 133 billion pounds and $160 billion worth of food, with a significant portion wasted at the consumer level. This...

Microbiome exploration represents a new frontier of research
With scientific research and discovery occurring at a dizzying rate, it’s difficult to imagine there are frontiers yet to be fully explored, but the microbiome is one. While microbiomes have always existed, little is known about their function in plants and animals....

Student-led study automates redox tracking with rhizosphere camera
What happens in a wetland? It’s a simple question with a not-so-simple answer that Auburn University graduate student Olivia LeFevre started studying as an undergraduate under the direction of Associate Professor Thorsten Knappenberger. “I came to Dr. Knappenberger...

Researcher seeks to understand how cover cropping prevents weather-related planting loss
The agriculture industry in the United States is one of the most vulnerable to climate change because of its reliance on favorable weather. Because of this, an Auburn University researcher is seeking to fill a need for rigorous, quantitative evidence of how cover...

Research shows effects of stricter work requirements for SNAP
As Congress begins debating a new Farm Bill — including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — an Auburn University research project reveals one of the effects of stricter work requirements for participating in SNAP. SNAP provides nutrition benefits to...

Auburn shares in nearly $2.8 million agricultural production systems grant
Auburn University is one of four U.S. universities to share in a nearly $2.8 million grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The award is part of the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative-Foundational Knowledge of Agricultural...

Researchers reimagine controlled environment agriculture
While controlled environment agriculture or CEA has the potential to improve access to local, nutritious fruits and vegetables on a year-round basis, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with greenhouse production is five times higher than field-grown produce. For...

Phosphorus shortage could affect worldwide crop yields
While phosphorus is an essential element for plant metabolism and growth, its future supply under elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is uncertain. A shortage of this important nutrient could lead to lower crop yields, especially in poorer countries. “Our...

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 residues and municipal solid waste. “The benefits of converting waste coal, biomass and food waste...

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 restaurant, 1856 – Culinary Residence, The Laurel Hotel & Spa and Ariccia Cucina Italiana. In fact,...

Proposal among 2023 JGI Community Science Program awardees
A proposal from Auburn University is one of 19 selected for the 2023 Community Science Program call of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley...

Auburn-developed robotics promising for U.S. forest tree industry
Like many U.S. industries, forest seedling nursery production is dependent on seasonal manual labor, a situation that is becoming untenable due to an acute shortage of workers. However, researchers at Auburn University are working on a robotic system that could...

Graduate Research Poster Showcase to be held Oct. 20
Nearly 80 graduate students in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University will have the opportunity to showcase their research with industry professionals, faculty, staff and their peers at the fifth annual Graduate Research Poster Showcase from 1-5 p.m....

Lecturer asks: What has ag research done for you?
What has agricultural research done for you? It’s a fair enough question, and one that many of us might have a problem answering. But the answers are numerous enough to fill a book or two, which is exactly what Gale Buchanan has done. Buchanan, who spent the first 21...

Study explores plant-based meat alternatives buying habits
A recent study led by Auburn University agricultural economists suggests that plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA) might be seen by consumers as a niche product rather than as an actual substitute for meat. “We realized there is very little information about how...

Overcoming barriers to aquaponics in food deserts
It looks like a natural fit: a sustainable system that produces fresh vegetables and fish located in food deserts with marginalized populations. And, while there has been an explosion in the interest surrounding such an arrangement, there are significant technological...

Wenying Li presented prestigious article award
Wenying Li, an assistant professor in the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology, has received the 2021 American Journal of Agricultural Economics (AJAE) Outstanding Article Award for his work,...

Nanomaterials could make pesticide use more efficient and sustainable
While nearly 4 million tons of conventional pesticides are used annually, only a small amount — 1% to 25% — reach the target organisms, leaving a large proportion released into the environment as a potential hazard. This is due to many factors such as spray drift,...

Research looks at nutrient loss in soybeans
By Jacqueline Kochak Stroll through the humid main corridor at Auburn University’s Plant Science Research Center and you’ll notice potted trees bearing clusters of green bananas and small shrubs with pineapples nestled in the center. Those are for the school children...

Auburn, HudsonAlpha look to the past to develop better crops
In 2020, Auburn’s College of Agriculture hired a historian and storyteller, although his resumé says he’s a geneticist. He was hired to help partner Auburn’s strength in plant breeding with the genome-sequencing renown of Huntsville’s HudsonAlpha Institute for...

Parasite examined for its link to poor diet, obesity
With the obesity rate sitting at 36 percent and climbing, researchers are investigating factors contributing to the notoriously poor diet quality in the United States. One possibility might be a common parasite that causes impulsive decisions and changes risk...
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