Three students from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources spent a portion of their summer expanding their knowledge of forestry in Costa Rica. The three students were chosen through a selection process involving an essay comparing temperate forest resources in Missouri with tropical resources in Costa Rica. The trip was paid for the students by a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a division of the USDA.
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Trans-Atlantic Honor
Plant Science researcher is honored in Nottingham
J. Perry Gustafson, adjunct professor in the Division of Plant Sciences, will be honored by the University of Nottingham, UK, with a glasshouse complex named in his honor.
Breaking Bread
Summit partners researchers with those dealing with food insecurity
Sandy Rikoon is conducting an experiment with his food insecurity symposium Oct. 17-19. Rather than hold sessions where academics present their research conclusions into the causes and consequences of insufficient food distribution in America, the director of MU’s Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security is creating a forum where the people on the front lines of the problem will tell the researchers how they use current data and what new information are needed.
Superior Sires
DNA sequence data on Angus bulls could improve future accuracy in genomic-enhanced EPDs.
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.
Breeding Efficiency
NIFA grant could boost reproductive rates for cattle ranchers
CAFNR professors will look for for mutations in the genetic code that lead to early embryonic loss in cattle. Scientists also could use this basic sequence information to address feed efficiency, disease resistance and growth.
Returning to the Farm
Class helps young farmers step into the profession
Kevin Moore, CAFNR associate professor of agricultural economics in the Division of Applied Social Sciences, teaches Returning to the Farm, a class that prepares young people to overcome the family and financial hurdles of getting into farming.
Battling a Soy Pest
Researchers receive grant to continue fight against cyst nematodes
University of Missouri plant pathologist Melissa Mitchum and colleagues at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University recently received a $466,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue their research on protecting soybeans from nematode parasites, which cause $1.3 billion annually in soybean crop losses in the U.S.
Rumbling in the Soil
From kernels of inspiration to quarterly reports, empowering farmers and ranchers for success
The average age of an American farmer is 57, and has risen for the past several years. An innovative program led by Professor Randy Westgren and Peter Hofherr, assistant director of the McQuinn Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, works to change that trend by leading new farmers and ranchers to entrepreneurial success.
Frequent Flyer
CAFNR alum travels the world for work and play
CAFNR alum Andrea Woolverton has travelled the globe pursuing both her profession and her passion.
Internet Access Gap Could Hurt Missouri Agriculture
60 percent of state's agribusinesses dissatisfied with connection speed
Missouri’s digital divide is growing, a trend that threatens to leave farmers and agribusiness ventures at a disadvantage unless federal policymakers make concerted efforts to improve technology infrastructure in rural communities and small towns, according to a new study by the Community Policy Analysis Center (CPAC), located in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. The…