Stories

Brett Begemann, chief operating officer for the Crop Sciences division of Bayer, addresses CAFNR students during his visit to campus as the Robert O. Reich Professor-for-a-Day.

May 2, 2019

From Farm Kid to Executive

It was 1979 when Missouri farm kid Brett Begemann anxiously started his freshman year at Mizzou. Growing up on his family’s farm near Mayview, Missouri, Begemann came to MU with the intention of returning to the farm. He described himself as “just a farm kid back then” and remembers thinking how big the city of Columbia was, which led him to wonder how he would ever make it in such a big city. Little did he know that he would see much bigger cities in his future. Due to a drought, Begemann didn’t return the family farm after graduating from…
Blake Hurst, right, with CAFNR Dean Christopher Daubert, left, during Blake's visit to campus as the Executive-in-Residence.

April 16, 2019

Continuing to Learn

Spread throughout Blake Hurst’s home near Tarkio, Missouri, are newspapers, magazines and books. To read, and read, and then read some more was part of the advice Hurst gave students while on campus from April 3-4 as CAFNR’s Robert O. Reich Executive-in-Residence. The program brings industry leaders to the college to share knowledge and experience with students, faculty and staff. During his visit, Blake, the president of Missouri Farm Bureau, spoke to students in CAFNR, providing insight gained throughout his career. “It’s such a cliché, but it’s true, all you can do here [at MU] is to hopefully get kind…
Sunlit crops in summer.

April 3, 2019

CAFNR Programs of Distinction

The University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) has numerous existing research, teaching and extension programs that are nationally and internationally recognized. To highlight the recognized strength of existing and future programs, CAFNR has established criteria for Programs of Distinction, a select collection of programs that exemplify CAFNR’s drive to distinction. CAFNR’s Programs of Distinction, together with our academic programs, define our current impact on Missouri’s agriculture and natural resource economies, providing understanding for how CAFNR is addressing challenges facing Missouri agriculture and natural resources. In line with CAFNR’s new strategic plan, the College has…
CAFNR alum and CropLife America chief of staff, Kellie Bray, returns to campus as Executive-In-Residence.

March 8, 2019

Coming Home

Four values – respect, responsibility, discovery and excellence – can often be read hanging from banners attached to the iconic Mizzou columns. For Mizzou students, alumni, faculty and staff, the four words can evoke a certain pride. For College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources alumnus Kellie Bray, the values remind her of her time on MU’s campus. Bray served as a member of the committee that helped create Mizzou’s value statement as a student in the late 1990s. “Now to see those flags between the columns, I feel a lot of pride when I see them,” Kellie said. “I think…
Mary Hendrickson has a teaching and research focus at MU. She teaches undergraduate sustainable agriculture and food system courses, as well as a graduate course in food systems. She has served as a guest lecturer in numerous classrooms as well, from animal science to nutrition to peace studies. She was recently awarded with a 2019-20 Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant, where she will be teaching sustainable agriculture in Iceland.

March 8, 2019

An Icelandic Adventure

Mary Hendrickson and her husband had been itching to do some traveling. Hendrickson had kicked around the idea of applying to become a Fulbright Scholar, or find something in the same vein. An opportunity of that nature would give her the chance to not only travel, but to teach and do research on another continent. Carol Lorenzen, a professor in the Division of Animal Sciences, found just the opportunity. Lorenzen alerted Hendrickson about a Fulbright opening in Iceland. It was a perfect fit. “This is all really Carol’s fault. She saw the posting and sent it right to me,” said…
A new study found significant potential for transforming Missouri agriculture commodities, in state, into value-added products. This study was the first step in the Show-Me-State Food, Beverage and Forest Products Manufacturing Initiative, a project of the Missouri Agricultural Foundation.

March 5, 2019

Study Finds Vast Opportunities for Food, Beverage & Forest Product Manufacturing in Missouri

Food, beverage and forest product manufacturing in the state of Missouri could soon be a more than $70 billion industry. A new study found significant potential for transforming Missouri agriculture commodities, in state, into value-added products. This study was the first step in the Show-Me-State Food, Beverage and Forest Products Manufacturing Initiative, a project of the Missouri Agricultural Foundation. TEConomy Partners, a firm specializing in research, analysis and strategy for innovation-based economic development, conducted the study. TEConomy Partners, a firm specializing in research, analysis and strategy for innovation-based economic development, conducted the study. TEConomy proposed three initiatives to grow Missouri…
Kiruba Krishnaswamy, a recent addition to the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the College of Engineering, focuses on preventing food loss and extracting useful resources from food waste (food security) and food fortification with micronutrients to prevent “hidden hunger” (nutrition security) using food process engineering and employing new tools like green nanotechnology.

Feb. 8, 2019

Feasting on Famine: Fighting ‘Hidden Hunger’ and Food Waste

Like many people, Kiruba Krishnaswamy loves to eat. She even calls herself a foodie, and she loves to explore the cuisines of different cultures. Despite her lifelong love of food, Krishnaswamy, an assistant professor of biological engineering, had never heard of food engineering before she went to college, but she was intrigued by it. Krishnaswamy intends to spend the next five to 10 years at MU building out a zero hunger inter-disciplinary research team to grapple with global challenges. Thus, her research group, named FEAST (Food Engineering and Sustainable Technologies), will consist of both food scientists and engineers from CAFNR…

Nov. 7, 2018

Pat Westhoff Named to Howard Cowden Professorship

Pat Westhoff has been named as the newest holder of the Howard Cowden Professorship. Dr. Westhoff is a professor of agricultural and applied economics, and the director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at MU. His contribution to agricultural policy is critical to agricultural cooperatives and their member-owners in Missouri and across the nation. Dr. Westhoff and his FAPRI colleagues also work regularly with congressional staffers and USDA leaders to evaluate proposed agricultural legislation intended to provide farmers with a solid economic footing. The professorship is named for Howard Cowden, a southwest Missouri native who started his cooperative career with…
When completed, the new $28.2 million East Campus Plant Growth Facility, on East Campus Drive across from the Trowbridge Livestock Center, will contain nearly 23,000 square feet of greenhouse space in three ranges, along with more than 9,300 square feet for controlled environment plant growth chambers. Photo courtesy Bill Lamberson/Robert Sharp.

Sep. 25, 2018

A Culture of Collaboration

For nearly 150 years, scientists from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri have contributed to advancements around the globe. Many have heard the story of Charles Valentine Riley, an MU professor and Missouri’s first state entomologist, who saved the French wine industry from decimation by an insect, the grape phylloxera. The aphid had destroyed nearly one-third of French wine grapes in 25 years and threatened to annihilate the entire industry within another decade. Riley’s rescue involved grafting French vines onto resistant American rootstock. Others know that Aureomycin, one of the world’s first antibiotics…

July 12, 2018

Jon Simonsen Earns Golden Apple Award

Students selected to be a part of the Litton Leadership Scholars cohort engage in a yearlong seminar course centered on leadership and impactful change. The students have the opportunity learn from Jon Simonsen, a stellar leader. “Simo,” as Simonsen’s students affectionately refer to him, was surprised with a Golden Apple Award from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources during a trip to Chillicothe, Missouri, on April 26, where members of the cohort meet with the Jerry Litton Family Memorial Foundation. Simonsen’s wife Michelle, along with colleague John Tummons and former professor from The Ohio State University, Robert Birkenholz, were there to watch a surprised Simonsen receive the award. Simonsen is an associate professor, chair and leads the graduate studies program for agricultural leadership, communication and education. He also serves as…