Stories

Jefferson Farm and Garden will host an evening of scientific discussion centered on weather and climate in late July. The event will run from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, July 29, at Jefferson Farm and Garden, in Columbia.

Sep. 7, 2021

Cover Cropping and Crop Rotation Strategies to Build Soil Health and Improve Yield and Profitability of Organic Vegetable Production Systems

Tim Reinbott, director of field operations for the Agricultural Experiment Stations, recently received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for the project titled Cover Cropping and Crop Rotation Strategies to Build Soil Health and Improve Yield and Probability of Organic Vegetable Production Systems. As part of the award, Jefferson Farm and Garden, one of University of Missouri’s Agricultural Experiment Stations, received approximately $57,000 to conduct research and outreach at the Center. The grant in total was for $496,815. This research and outreach project is in collaboration with a team…

Sep. 7, 2021

Caleb Grohmann Selected for the Future Leaders for Food and Agriculture (FFAR) Fellowship

Caleb Grohmann, a PhD student in informatics and data science, was selected as a Future Leaders for Food and Agriculture (FFAR) Fellow. Each year the FFAR Fellowship selects PhD students from universities around the country. Grohmann was selected for the 2021-24 cohort. “The FFAR Fellowship is a great opportunity to network with other PhD students from different universities,” said Grohmann. “Everyone has such diverse backgrounds and it’s been interesting to learn about everyone’s research.” Grohmann, who is originally from Red Bud, Illinois, grew up on a commercial hog operation, Cedar Ridge Farms. His family produces commercial breeding stock that…

Sep. 3, 2021

Q&A with Jason Morris

What do you do in your current role with the University of Missouri?    I currently serve in a dual role with the University of Missouri Extension’s Agriculture and Environment program. I am an agricultural business specialist and a county engagement specialist. Often, these two roles intersect with each other allowing me to engage with community members, landowners, farmers, producers, government officials and other stakeholders.   Additionally, I conduct research related to agriculture business, work with regional and state specialists to host programs and disseminate educational content to Missourians in the following counties: Linn, Macon and Randolph.   How long have you worked…
Shawn Poore

Sep. 1, 2021

Making a Difference

Shawn Poore wants to make a difference in the lives of others. And in his new role as the Executive Director of Advancement at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at Mizzou, he says he is getting that chance to affect the lives of both alumni and students. Shawn joins CAFNR Sept. 1. “I like to work where I can see the biggest difference in the lives of other people,” he says. “A lot of careers let you do that, but for a people person like I am, a fundraising position lets me use my ability to use…
An Asian man with short, dark hair and glasses wears a grey sweater with 3/4 button closures inside of a building wiht large windows and a staircase behind him. He stands with his hands clasped in front of him.

Aug. 31, 2021

Solving Problems Through Research

As an alum of the University of Missouri (MU), Chung-Ho Lin has worked for his alma mater his entire career in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) in the School of Natural Resources. In that time, he’s become known as a problem solver of sorts, when it comes to a wide variety of research questions. Lin, who is a research associate professor in forestry, is also the lead scientist in charge of bioremediation and natural products research programs at the Center for Agroforestry. Bioremediation is a process used to treat contaminated media like water, soil and…
The University of Missouri is one of eight institutions collaborating within the new AI institute.

Aug. 30, 2021

MU Plays Crucial Role in New NSF Artificial Intelligence Institute

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the establishment of the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA), one of 11 new NSF National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes that will work to advance AI technologies and their associated benefits to society. The AIIRA will be led by Iowa State University (ISU) and feature collaboration across eight institutions, including the University of Missouri. While the 11 AI Institutes will cover a wide range of AI technology and applications, the AIIRA will focus on a simulation technology that can create “digital twins” of real-world crops and farms, an approach that would provide…
In a new study published in PLOS Genetics, Decker and his team have uncovered evidence showing that cattle are losing important environmental adaptations, losses the researchers attribute to a lack of genetic information available to farmers.

Aug. 30, 2021

Cattle Losing Adaptations to Environmental Stressors, MU Researchers Find

As a fourth-generation cattle farmer, Jared Decker knows that cattle suffer from health and productivity issues when they are taken from one environment–which the herd has spent generations adapting to–to a place with a different climate, a different elevation or even different grass. But as a researcher at the University of Missouri, Decker also sees an opportunity to use science to solve this problem, both to improve the welfare of cattle and to plug a leak in a nearly $50 billion industry in the U.S. “When I joined MU in 2013, I moved cattle from a family farm in New…

Aug. 30, 2021

Unconscious Biases can Drive Foodborne Illness Outbreaks, MU Researchers Find

In the midst of a pandemic that has claimed more than 2 million lives worldwide and disrupted nearly every facet of society since it appeared more than a year ago, understanding the factors that create and facilitate disease outbreaks is more important than ever. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have determined that cognitive biases — patterns of errors in thinking that affect judgments and behaviors, often unconsciously — can help create and worsen foodborne disease outbreaks. Harvey James believes studying unconscious biases can help researchers learn how outbreaks are born. “Unethical behavior isn’t always…

Aug. 30, 2021

Breakthrough Could Lead to Early Detection of Pregnancy Complications

Constantine Simintiras and his colleagues in Thomas Spencer’s lab have found a non-invasive way to study fluid produced in the uterus during pregnancy. The quest to create safer, more successful pregnancies is one of the top goals of modern science. While pregnancy is better understood today than ever before, with improvements in technology helping to lower the risk of negative outcomes, there is much researchers still don’t know about a vital part of the pregnancy process: uterine fluid. Secreted by glands in the uterus during pregnancy, uterine fluid is believed to play an important role in…
The zebra finch is capable of vocal learning, a rare talent in the animal kingdom and the foundation of human speech.

Aug. 30, 2021

Piecing Together the Puzzles of Bird Genomes

In 2003, scientists finished sequencing the entire human genome, paving the way for new discoveries about genetic disorders and the numerous ways that genes influence behavior, health and other traits. But the importance of a complete genome for scientific reference is not limited to humans — researchers are now engaged in an all-out push to assemble the genomes of vertebrates across the animal kingdom, racing to unlock the secrets behind the genetic origins of unusual behaviors and the evolution of devastating diseases. In a flagship paper recently featured on the cover of Nature, more than 100 researchers worldwide contributed groundbreaking research to…