Inside CAFNR
April 8, 2021
Nudging Landowners and Tenants Toward Environmental and Social Stewardship
Ray Massey, Extension professor, and Michelle Segovia, assistant professor, both faculty of agricultural and applied economics in the Division of Applied Social Sciences, recently received a grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The grant is for $498,833 and is titled, “Nudging Landowners and Tenants Toward Environmental and Social Stewardship.” The grant was part of a recent $11.5-million USDA research investment to help ensure America’s small and medium-sized farms become more profitable and improve the quality of life in American farm communities. “The ultimate goal of our project is to promote societal goals by fostering new leasing…
March 25, 2021
Collective Entrepreneurship Research and Education for Socially Disadvantaged Small- and Medium-Food System Enterprises
Randall Westgren, professor in the Division of Applied Social Sciences and McQuinn Chair of Entrepreneurial Leadership, recently received a grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The grant is for $499,975 and is titled “Collective Entrepreneurship Research and Education for Socially Disadvantaged Small- and Medium-Food System Enterprises.” The project builds the capacity of socially-disadvantaged food system entrepreneurs to utilize collective entrepreneurial strategies to found and scale-up small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in local and regional food systems. It is an integrated project of research and outreach activities with minority, marginalized and socially disadvantaged (MMSD) food system…
March 12, 2021
A Historic Dedication
On Feb. 24, the 151st anniversary of the founding of our college, CAFNR recognized Henry Kirklin, a celebrated Black farmer and educator who lived in and around Columbia from 1858 until his death in 1938, with the naming of the Henry Kirklin Plant Sciences Learning Laboratory, and the establishment of a scholarship for underrepresented minority students studying plant sciences, in his honor. Nearly a dozen of Kirklin’s descendants were in virtual attendance as leadership of MU and CAFNR, along with city leaders, dedicated the lab, which recognizes the man believed to have been the first Black teacher at the University…
Oct. 19, 2020
CAFNR Researchers Earn Grant Related to Organic Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently invested $23 million to help boost organic farming and ranching. NIFA awarded 12 Organic Transitions Program (ORG) grants totaling $5.6 million to support research, education and extension efforts to help existing and transitioning organic livestock and crop producers adopt organic practices and improve their market competitiveness. Mary Hendrickson, associate professor of rural sociology in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), and Kerry Clark, director of CAFNR International Programs and assistant research professor of rural sociology in CAFNR, were the…
Oct. 15, 2020
Pumpkins With a Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced individuals and groups to find creative solutions to canceled in-person events. For years, the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) has partnered with Alisha Moreland and her Alisha’s Pink Pumpkin Painting Party. Through those parties, Moreland raises funds and brings awareness to breast cancer. The funds go to the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center Mammography Fund. Moreland has scheduled parties at either the Bradford Research Center or the South Farm Research Center, both in Columbia, since 2014. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Moreland to cancel her in-person parties; however, working alongside…
Oct. 8, 2020
Division of Animal Sciences Receive 2020 Research Equipment Grant
A trio of researchers in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) Division of Animal Sciences recently received a 2020 Research Equipment Grant from C-Lock Inc. to purchase one GreenFeed Pasture System, which measures the amount of methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide gases released by cattle. Jared Decker, associate professor and state beef Extension specialist, Eric Bailey, assistant professor and state beef Extension specialist, and Derek Brake, assistant professor, are the trio leading the project for CAFNR. Their focus will be on using GreenFeed for the prediction of cow efficiency genetic…
Aug. 12, 2020
A New Path
A new road will soon be constructed through CAFNR’s South Farm Research Center, but disruption to operations will be minimal and visibility for the research center will be increased, according to Tim Reinbott, South Farm superintendent and assistant director of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. Discovery Parkway will soon extend from the Discovery Ridge exit off of Hwy 63 north to the intersection of Rolling Hills and New Haven roads, passing through South Farm from the south. The effect on the Research Center will include removing the portions of Sugar Grove Road that would intersect Discovery Parkway. Sugar Grove Road…
July 7, 2020
CAFNR Faculty Earn 2020 President’s Awards
Each year, the UM System President’s Awards are presented on behalf of President Mun Choi to faculty members across the four universities of the UM System. These highly competitive awards recognize faculty who have made exceptional contributions in advancing the mission of the University. President’s Award recipients will be recognized at a Board of Curators meeting on their university campus, as well as at a faculty awards event hosted at their home institution. This year, the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources had three faculty members earn President’s Awards: Thomas Spencer, Chung-Ho Lin and Randall Miles. Thomas Spencer…
June 22, 2020
An Outstanding Recognition
Each year, the Mizzou Alumni Association Student Board selects 39 outstanding seniors for its annual Mizzou ‘39 Award. Mizzou ‘39 recipients are chosen for their academic achievement, leadership and service to Mizzou and the community. In the spirit of service that was the cornerstone of the 1839 founding of the University of Missouri, the award is presented each spring. This year, the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources had four students receive the Mizzou ‘39 Award, two within the Department of Biochemistry – Devesh Kumar and Michaela Thomson. Devesh Kumar As a Columbia native, Kumar knew all that…
March 13, 2020
Let’s Get Social
Mizzou Tigers are everywhere – on campus, at community events and scattered across the country as proud alumni! Social presence in the Tiger community can be powerful when it comes to reporting emergencies, sharing sports highlights, unveiling research, as well as sharing the memorable faces and spaces that make us so proud to sing “Old Missouri, Fair Missouri!” While we want you to share your love for CAFNR and Mizzou, there are some new guidelines for personal social media usage as MU employees. Keep in mind these best practices as you engage your followers: “Even if you are personally engaging…