MU’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute celebrates a milestone anniversary in 2024.

In the early 1980s, a small group of mathematicians and agricultural economists saw a need that few others acknowledged — objective analysis of agricultural markets and policies. With perseverance to find funding and an academic home — both of which were challenging — that small group of people brought the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri to life in 1984.

Today, FAPRI is a valuable resource for a diverse range of stakeholders including the U.S. Congress, USDA, commodity groups and international governments. Its purpose is to provide decision makers with information about how changes in policies or market conditions affect the agricultural sector using economic models of key commodity markets to estimate how different policy options affect prices and quantities, producers, consumers, and government costs.

“It’s wonderful to see what has come of this,” said Abner Womack, professor emeritus of agricultural economics and co-founder of FAPRI during the 10^th Annual Abner Womack Missouri Agriculture Outlook Conference, which also celebrated FAPRI’s 40^th anniversary. “I need more of that.”

Researchers at the University of Missouri’s Center for Agroforestry are working to harness a rich legacy of chestnut growers while providing standardization and reliability.

The symposium will be held on campus May 21-24.

Noel Aloysius recently welcomed two visiting scholars to his hydrology lab. Pictured above is Aloysius’s hydrology lab working group. From left to right are Ph.D. student Moussa Yatta, post-doctoral fellow Christopher Steward, visiting scholar and Ph.D. student Meeta Gupta, Ph.D. student Umanda Abeysinghe Mudiyanselage and visiting scholar and Ph.D. student Gokul Prasad.

Gupta and Prasad are both doctoral students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Gupta joined Aloysius’s hydrology lab in February and seamlessly integrated her expertise in India’s water quality issues with her current research on the impact of industrial pollution on water quality in the Ohio River basin. Prasad investigated agricultural source pollution in the Arkansas watershed during his time here.

Ahmed Balboula receives Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award

Ahmed Balboula, assistant professor, Division of Animal Sciences, received the Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award. Research conducted in the Balboula laboratory employs cutting-edge imaging technologies, transgenic mouse models and genetic approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating mammalian oocyte meiosis and early embryonic development.

Corinne Valdivia awarded C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship

Corinne Valdivia, professor, Division of Applied Social Sciences, and D. Howard Doane Professor, has been awarded the C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship as part of the 2024 Faculty Excellence Week.

The C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship Award recognizes a University of Missouri System faculty member who demonstrates commitment, dedication and effectiveness in advancing the land-grant mission through extension, international education, and agricultural economics programs.

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

Jacob Westhoff, Development of a flexible mid-sized river mussel sampling protocol and investigation of statewide multi-scale mussel habitat relationships, Missouri Department of Conservation, 7/1/23-6/30/24, $40,601

Jacob Westhoff, Bluestripe Darter Information for Species Status Assessment, Missouri Department of Conservation, 3/1/24-6/30/24, $118,881

Felix Fritschi, Soil Carbon dynamics preliminary trials, Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., 2/1/24-3/14/25, $21,367

Eric Kurzejeski, Support for the Johnny Morris Institute of Fisheries, Wetland, and Aquatic Systems, Missouri Department of Conservation, 5/1/24-6/30/24, $223,904

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