Stories - Page 17, Page 17

Nicole Terherst Amezcua was recently honored as one of three students named George Washington Carver Graduate Fellows, an award that seeks to attract and support under-represented scholars into MS and PhD degree programs in CAFNR. Photo courtesy of Nicole Terherst Amezcua.

Aug. 14, 2020

A Sense of Belonging
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently announced an investment of $6.2 million in animal reproduction research. Nearly $1.5 million of that investment is coming to the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ (CAFNR) Division of Animal Sciences. A total of 14 awards were handed out to 11 institutions, with CAFNR earning three of the awards.

July 27, 2020

An Investment in Animal Reproduction Research
A working group made up of researchers and scientists from the United States and Canada recently created an online database of academic papers related to the effects of climate change on inland fish. The Fish and Climate Change Database (FiCli) is a comprehensive and searchable database of peer-reviewed literature on how climate change has impacted and will continue to impact inland fish worldwide. The database includes numerous species, as well as geographical locations and habitats, among many other variables.

July 9, 2020

The Importance of Inland Fish
Researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Georgia recently published a paper related to an underutilized source of resistance in the soybean genotype Peking. That source is linked to two polymorphisms in serine hydroxyl-methyltransferase 8 (SHMT8). SHMT is an enzyme important for folate-mediated 1-carbon metabolism, a universal metabolic process. David Korasick, a postdoctoral fellow who was part of the John Tanner lab and mentored by Tanner, Lesa Beamer and Melissa Mitchum, produced five crystal structures of different states of the SHMT8 tetramers from the SCN-susceptible and SCN-resistant cultivar. He combined protein biochemistry, protein biophysics and X-ray crystallography approaches to tackle the problem.

June 3, 2020

Fighting a Financially Taxing Pathogen
The Center for Agroforestry’s Chung-Ho Lin, an associate research professor, and his lab are currently looking at how to redirect its analytical capacity (reverse-transcription and real-time qPCR) for the detection and quantification of COVID-19 in food, water and air – and develop mitigation techniques to reduce community exposure to COVID-19.

May 4, 2020

Contributing to Research
FAPRI released its most recent U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook in March – and has already released an additional report, which presents a preliminary analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural markets in the U.S.

May 4, 2020

Gathering Preliminary Data
The Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) at the University of Missouri operates a system of Agricultural Research Centers across the state in an effort to meet the regional needs of agricultural producers and natural resource managers. The various facilities play a vital role in the agricultural food chain in numerous ways, including seed variety trials, plant and animal breeding studies, and providing agronomic information. As research ramps down at MU due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Research Centers are working to help move the agricultural food chain along.

April 9, 2020

Moving the Agricultural Food Chain Forward
Seven University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ Agricultural Research Centers planted a total of seven acres of hemp throughout the state. Those plantings happened from the end of June to early July. All were between half an acre and three acres.

April 9, 2020

A Unique Opportunity
To uncover what’s going on with cover crops, University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) researchers Zhen Cai and Ranjith Udawatta did such a study of the economic effects of cover crops on cash crop production. The four-year study took place at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Health Farm in Chariton County, Missouri, in a 26.3-hectare (64.9-acre) area, which was divided into six fields and planted with soybeans, corn and wheat. Photo courtesy of Ranjith Udawatta.

Oct. 11, 2019

Uncovering the Economic Sense of Planting Cover Crops
Working toward earning his Precision Agriculture Technology Certificate from the University of Missouri, Bo Young understands the importance of implementing precision practices on the farm. Young, who is also a climate activation specialist with The Climate Corporation, works with farmers and producers, helping them incorporate Climate FieldView technology in their operation. Young and The Climate Corporation are now partnering with MU Extension and the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) to bring important technology and datasets to the CAFNR Agricultural Research Centers. He has shared the message at several Research Center Field Days.

Sept. 9, 2019

Turning Data into Insights