The project aims to restore an ancient crop and is supported by a $649,006 USDA NIFA AFRI grant.

In the early 20^th century, Missouri was a leader in hemp production, ranking second in the nation. Still, after more than a century of the crop being categorized as a controlled substance, the rich knowledge Missouri farmers had of the crop was lost. Researchers at the University of Missouri are now working to learn how to recapture the value that growing industrial hemp could provide for the state’s farmers.

“We are looking at this like a new crop, and, like any new crop, there are ups and downs,” said Gurpreet Kaur, assistant research professor at MU’s School of Natural Resources. “I think, at this point, even if someone tried, they don’t know how to do it. They don’t know how to grow it. There is limited agronomic and soil management information available for Industrial Hemp.”

Kaur is leading a research team backed by a $649,006 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as part of the agency’s $12 million effort to invest in small and medium-sized farms.

Gary Weisman, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of biochemistry, has spent his career harnessing the power of ATP in its role in immune responses.

A groundbreaking ceremony will take place April 5.

Show Me Research Week will feature one of the world’s leading forest ecologists, Suzanne Simard, who will discuss her New York Times bestseller, “Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.” Based on her years of research, Simard posits that trees are not simply the source of timber, but are a complex, interdependent circle of life. Trees are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks.

Simard will give the William A. Albrecht Lecture at 6 p.m., April 9, at the Monsanto Auditorium in Bond Life Sciences Center. The event is sponsored by the School of Natural Resources.

Immediately following this Show Me Research discussion, Simard will sign copies of her book outside Monsanto Auditorium. Yellow Dog Bookshop also will be on hand for book purchases.

Simard is a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia and has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles. Her current research investigates how these complex relationships of trees contribute to forest resiliency, adaptability and recovery and has far-reaching implications for how to manage and heal forests from human impacts, including climate change.

Register to attend

Plant Science and Technology professor named to Soil Health Institute board of directors

Rob Myers, extension professor in the Division of Plant Science and Technology, was announced as a new member of the Soil Health Institute board of directors.

The Soil Health Institute is a global non-profit with a mission of safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soils through scientific research and advancement.

Myers appointment was effective April 1.

CAFNR faculty members have received the following recent grants (listed by Principal Investigator):

Barry Edwards, Intraoperative dual-labeled molecular tracer to improve surgery on neuroblastoma, University of Pittsburgh (NIH), 7/1/23-6/30/24, $138,400

Ben Knapp, Managing mature and old growth forests (MOG) in the Eastern United States, U.S. Forest Service, 3/25/24-7/31/26, $127,399

Ben Knapp, Characterizing the structure, composition, and demographics of old-growth pine-oak forests in Missouri and Arkansas, U.S. Forest Service, 3/25/24-7/31/27, $56,999.80

Reid Smeda, Drift response of turnip and tomatoes to herbicides, Stone Environmental, 4/1/24-12/31/24, $13,524

Amy Petry, Comprehensive Carbohydrate Profiling of Soybean Meal and Soy Hulls, United Soybean Board, 4/1/24-9/30/24, $112,928

Andrew Scaboo, IIE Rescue Scholar Fund Afghanistan, Institute for International Education, 3/28/24-3/27/25, $25,000

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