CAFNR

Sep. 25, 2012

Superior Sires

The Angus Foundation Board of Directors is funding a research project at the University of Missouri for the genomic sequencing of Angus bulls. This sequencing is meant to enhance the understanding and genetic prediction of Angus cattle performance.

Sep. 24, 2012

MU’s 1946 Housing Crisis

In October 1946,10,585 students poured onto the MU campus – a jump from just 2,800 enrolled students in September 1945. To meet this influx of students, Mizzou got anything that could immediately serve as a dormitory or classroom – surplus barracks, pre-fab houses, Quonset huts and government-owned trailers.

Sep. 19, 2012

Sticking To It

Dangerous wartime chemicals pollute the soil and groundwater around thousands of armaments plants around the U.S. Cleaning up these inactive sites is difficult and expensive. A joint research project by the Center for Agroforestry and Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at the University of Missouri has finished preliminary testing on a novel and cheap method to apply pollution-eating enzymes to these contaminants.

Aug. 13, 2012

CAFNR’s Mack Truck

Mike Vangel, father of Tracie Vangel, administrative assistant in CAFNR’s Division of Applied Social Sciences, found this old photo of a truck once owned by the Missouri College of Agriculture and promoting something called the Clover and Prosperity project.

Aug. 13, 2012

Cows on the Lawn

Eckles Hall represented a huge investment by the Missouri Legislature to boost Missouri’s agricultural economy through dairy teaching and research. Where students now walk, some of the most productive cows in the world once grazed.

July 16, 2012

River Fuel

Are the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and their floodplains the key to America replacing a portion of imported oil with domestic biofuel by 2022?  A consortium of more than 40 academic institutions and agricultural and energy companies says yes. Shibu Jose, director of the Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri – the lead institution in the Mississippi/Missouri River Advanced Biomass/Biofuel Consortium (MRABC) – says recently completed preliminary research shows that America’s two great rivers can support an effort to economically take biofuels from plants harvested in waste ground to finished biofuel pumped…

June 14, 2012

Counting Calories

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically throughout the past 40 years and has been tied to many health problems. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that children’s weight is associated with their math performance.

May 21, 2012

Better Bull

Research from a CAFNR reproductive scientist identifies faulty sperm and takes them out of the equation for artificial insemination (AI) of cattle.

April 9, 2012

Calming the Storm (Water)

Using 777 willow trees, a University of Missouri research team is beginning a two-year study to determine best methods to reclaim flood plain land damaged by development, keep waterways free of potential pollutants, and develop a cash crop for farmers.

March 9, 2012

Deep Roots

Wine is back in Missouri.  Vineyards plowed under during Prohibition are blooming again.  The state’s wineries are winning international competitions.  Viticulture, enology and winemaking are popular courses at the Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. It’s all but forgotten that grape growing and wine making were pivotal parts of MU’s early history.  Vineyard donations helped found the College of Agriculture, and students learned the winemaking craft in the basement of the famous, but ill-fated, Academic Hall.  Some of the University’s most…