April 18, 2022
A unique confluence of archeology, molecular genetics and serendipity guided a collaboration of Mexican and Penn State researchers to a deeper understanding of how modern corn was domesticated from teosinte, a perennial grass native to Mexico and Central America, more than 5,000 years ago.
April 14, 2022
A Penn State plant scientist has received a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lead a team studying how changes in temperature associated with climate change affect the establishment, persistence and performance of perennial forage crops and their associated weedy plant communities in the U.S. Northeast.
April 5, 2022
The Penn State chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, the agricultural honor society, recognized Penn State faculty and students during its annual meeting, which was held March 31.
April 1, 2022
For almost 40 years, Rob Crassweller, professor of horticulture and extension tree-fruit specialist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has made impactful contributions. He is passing the mantle to a new generation of scientists and extension educators as he embarks on the next chapter of his life — retirement.
March 28, 2022
More than a half-century of research on the use of treated wastewater for irrigation and groundwater recharge will be the focus of a three-day conference hosted by Penn State April 5-7 at the Wyndham Garden hotel in Boalsburg. The conference will highlight Penn State's "Living Filter," a year-round spray irrigation system that recycles the University's treated effluent.
March 25, 2022
Penn State Global has announced the 2021-22 recipients of its annual awards that recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals and academic programs at Penn State who have helped to advance the University’s global engagement goals.
March 16, 2022
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has recognized five faculty members for outstanding teaching in 2021.
March 14, 2022
The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation has selected two recipients of its 2022 Musser Award of Excellence. Devon Carroll, a graduate of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, and Travis Russell, a doctoral candidate in the college, are co-honorees.
February 4, 2022
The U.S. Golf Association recently bestowed its Green Section Award on Penn State alumnus David Franklin “Frank” Dobie, who graduated from the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Golf Course Turfgrass Management Certificate Program in 1960.
January 5, 2022
Dairy farmers in the Northeast — facing a warming climate that exacerbates nutrient pollution but lengthens the growing season — can reduce the environmental impact of their operations and maximize revenues by double cropping and injecting manure into the soil, rather than broadcasting it.
December 14, 2021
A new meta-analysis, led by researchers at Penn State, examines the ability of cannabis plants to absorb heavy metals and discusses the resulting health impacts on consumers.
December 2, 2021
Growing cover crops under grapevines in vineyards can reduce erosion, enhance soil health, reduce herbicide use and improve water quality, according to a team of Penn State researchers, who suggest that growers can promote improved sustainability in production as part of a marketing strategy that may result in consumers being willing to pay more for wine.
November 16, 2021
Dan Stearns, J. Franklin Styer Professor Emeritus, who served as the inaugural professor and program coordinator of the landscape contracting program in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, is being remembered as an extraordinary educator and mentor whose care for and commitment to students — and the landscape contracting industry — was unparalleled.
October 19, 2021
In an effort to boost the profitability and sustainability of organic specialty crop production systems, a team of scientists is improving and optimizing anaerobic soil disinfestation as a management approach to control soilborne pests and pathogens and promote soil health.
October 11, 2021
The Penn State Horticulture Show, a must-do fall activity for many families, will take place from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 23 and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at Penn State’s University Park campus.
September 28, 2021
Starting decades ago as fashionable, high-value gourmet greens, today microgreens have gained popularity among consumers for their nutritional profile and high content of antioxidant compounds. Now, a new study suggests that the tiny plants have the potential to help provide global nutrition security.
September 13, 2021
The Penn State Eberly College of Science has chosen faculty members Joyce Jose and Sally Mackenzie to receive its 2022 Lab Bench to Commercialization grants. This competitive program provides funding for researchers in the college, enabling them to enhance the commercial potential of ongoing Penn State research and prepare them to translate their Penn State-owned intellectual property to the marketplace.
September 2, 2021
Kathleen Brown, professor of plant stress biology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, recently retired after a 41-year career during which she helped break new ground in root biology, had a profound effect on many students and played an important role in the Department of Plant Science.
August 23, 2021
Farmers using no-till production — in which soil never or rarely is plowed or disturbed — can reduce herbicide use and still maintain crop yields by implementing integrated weed-management methods, according to a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.
August 16, 2021
An exhaustive and painstaking comparison of the genomes of multiple strains of the cacao tree by a team of researchers has provided insights into the role genomic structural variants play in the regulation of gene expression and chromosome evolution, giving rise to the differences within populations of the plant.
August 2, 2021
The application of manure after the growth and demise of legume cover crops in rotations is a recipe to increase nitrous oxide releases during ensuing corn growth, according to a team of Penn State researchers who conducted a new study. They suggest that innovative management strategies are needed to reduce these emissions.
July 28, 2021
The discovery of a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn is a new tool to enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen, according to an international team of researchers, led by Penn State.
July 15, 2021
Three research projects that are demonstrating commercial promise — and have potential to improve lives — have received grants through a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences program designed to spur innovation.
June 17, 2021
With sorghum poised to become an important crop grown by Pennsylvania farmers, Penn State researchers, in a new study, tested more than 150 germplasm lines of the plant for resistance to a fungus likely to hamper its production.
May 17, 2021
For the first time, a gene that controls flowering in cacao has been identified, a discovery that may help accelerate breeding efforts aimed at improving the disease-ridden plant, Penn State researchers suggested in a new study.
May 13, 2021
Kyle Hartmann, a plant sciences major in the College of Agricultural Sciences, found new opportunities at Penn State which started after he joined the Accomplish Program. The peer mentor program helps students moving from other campuses or universities to find resources to successfully acclimate to University Park, the college and the community.
May 11, 2021
When Andrew McNitt and colleagues were conducting a study of the survivability of bacteria that cause staph infections on synthetic and natural turf football fields in 2008-09, no one had heard of COVID-19, of course. So, the question of whether the novel coronavirus that triggered the global pandemic could persist on playing surfaces and infect players was unimaginable.
May 3, 2021
An abnormal build up of carbohydrates — sugars and starches — in the kernels and leaves of a mutant line of corn can be traced to one misregulated gene, and that discovery offers clues about how the plant deals with stress.
April 21, 2021
Using dairy manure and legume cover crops in crop rotations can reduce the need for inputs of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer for corn, thereby protecting water quality, but these practices also can contribute to emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. That’s the conclusion of Penn State researchers, who measured nitrous oxide emissions from the corn phases of two crop rotations.
April 19, 2021
Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, a turfgrass species commonly found on golf course putting greens around the world, possesses transgenerational memory, “remembering” whether its parent was mowed or not mowed, according to a new study by Penn State researchers.
