CSS News & Events
2008 Archive
Getting a Remote Idea on How Well Soil-Saving Technology Is Working
In the six counties of central and eastern Washington where wheat growers can count on only 8 to 12 inches of precipitation annually, they fallow fields for a year between crops to accumulate enough moisture to grow the next crop. There’s another thing growers are trying to save: their soil. (CAHNRS News Release, 7/1/08) Read more.
Washington Organic Acreage, Production See Significant Increases in 2007
Certified organic acreage farmed in Washington state continues to expand, increasing by an estimated 27 percent between 2006 and 2007. Since 2004 the amount of certified acreage being farmed in the state has increased by 86 percent. Those growth estimates are documented in the annual profile of the state's organic acreage and crops compiled by the Washington State University Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. (CAHNRS News Release, 6/30/08) Read more.
Related, read the article in the Seattle-PI (7/1/08).
Fore! WSU Turf Students Score in Scotland
Five WSU turfgrass management students traveled with their advisor, Bill Johnston, to the UK early this summer. Along with students and faculty from North Carolina State University, the students visited golf courses, cricket pitches, and football (or soccer) and rugby fields. (CAHNRS spotlight, 6/08) Read more.
WSU land/water conservation unit on USDA chopping block
Several units of the USDA Agriculture Research Service may be shut down as the agency tries to fit into a tightened budget for the entire agency. (Capital Press, 7/1/08) Read more.
Endowment to benefit wheat research
A contingent of more than 100 producers, industry leaders and guests honored Edward Heinemann at the 92nd Annual Lind Field Day on June 19 at the Washington State University Dryland Research Station outside of Lind. (Ritzville Journal, 6/26/08) Read more.
--Read the Washington State Magazine spotlight on Edward Heinemann.
Scientific American: Adoption of No-till Farming Practices
Regents Professor of soil science John Reganold and USDA-ARS soil scientist David Huggins have co-authored an article appearing in the June 2008 issue of Scientific American on the adoption of no-till farming practices. A preview is available. (CAHNRS News Release, 6/24/08) Read more.
Conservation Station Field Day, June 26
“Bioenergy Cropping Systems Research” will be the theme of the USDA-Agricultural Research Service Palouse Conservation Field Station field day set for Thursday, June 26 (CAHNRS News Release, 6/23/08). Read more.
Biotechnology: Food for thought
A career in biotechnology is exciting, but the subject can be controversial. In this New Scientist article, WSU crop biotechnologist Michael Neff believes communication is the key. (New Scientist, 6/14/08) Read more.
WSU Dryland Organic Cropping Systems Field Day, June 18
Organic crop management research on the Palouse will be featured at the Dryland Organic Cropping Systems Field Day from 8:30 a.m. to noon June 18 at the Boyd farm research site near Pullman. (CAHNRS News Release, 6/4/08) Read more.
Bioenergy Research to be Featured at WSU Small Grains Field Days
Bioenergy research and development will be featured this June at Washington State University’s three major small grains and cropping research field days. (CAHNRS News Release, 6/3/08) Read more.
Reducing fuel use: Grad demonstrates diversified farming
Eric Zakarison, a '81 agronomy graduate, has discovered the benefits of “solar tractors." The Zakarison Partnership, a participant in a recent series of educational farm walks, is a diversified crop and livestock farm situated on 600 acres north of Pullman. Wheat, barley, oats, hay, locker lambs and pastured poultry are produced on the family-run farm. Read more about the farm walk here (CAHNRS News Release, 5/1/9/08)), and a followup stories are posted here (CSANR, and here (WSU Today, 6/3/08).
Student awarded international peace scholarship
Glafera Janet Matanguihan, a Crop Science Ph.D. candidate from the Philippines, has been awarded an International Peace Scholarship for the 2008-09 academic year in the amount of $8,000 from the P.E.O. Sisterhood.
The P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund was established in 1949 to further the belief that education is fundamental to world peace and understanding and is designed to assist women from other countries in obtaining advanced degrees from universities in the United States and Canada. The P.E.O. Sisterhood is a philanthropic, educational organization where women celebrate the advancement of women, educate women, and motivate women to achieve their highest aspirations.
Matanguihan is studying the genetics of smut resistance in wheat in low-input systems under the direction of WSU wheat breeder Stephen Jones.
Ten years ago, Matanguihan earned her M.S. in Plant Pathology (’97) from WSU. She then taught for nine years at the College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Baños, before returning to WSU in 2007 to pursue her Ph.D. Following graduation, she plans to return to the Philippines and continue her teaching and research.
WSU to Host 78th State FFA Convention May 14-17
More than 2,500 FFA members, teachers and parents from around Washington State are expected to attend the 78th Washington State FFA Convention, Wednesday, May 14, through Saturday, May 17, 2008. (CAHNRS News Release, 5/13/08) Read more.
CAHNRS Employees Honored
A big “Congratulations!” to the employees who were honored at the 49th annual CAHNRS awards banquet, held Saturday, April 12th. Included were William Johnston, professor of crop science, recipient of the R.M. Wade Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning; and Meg Gollnick, research technician and program manager of the Winter Wheat Breeding, Cytology and Genetics Program, recipient of the Classified Technical Staff Excellence award. (CAHNRS News Release, 4/14/08 ) Read more.
Jones named 2008 Mentor of the Year
Winter wheat breeder and crop science professor Stephen Jones received the 2008 Mentor of the Year – Research Faculty Award, in conjunction with the 13th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference at Washington State University. (CSS Spotlight, 4/3/08) Read more.
Weed science students win awards
Congratulations to two weed science graduate students in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences who won awards for outstanding presentations at the Western Society of Weed Science’s annual meeting in March 2008 at Anaheim, Calif. Dilpreet Riar (Ph.D. candidate) won second place for his presentation "Absorption and Translocation of 2,4-D in Resistant Prickly Lettuce". Randy Stevens (M.S. candidate) won second place for his poster "Organic Transitions Cropping Systems for Weed Management in Eastern Washington.”
Pierce President-elect of American Society of Agronomy
Fran Pierce, director of Washington State University’s Center for Precision Agricultural Systems and a professor in the crop and soil sciences department, has been elected 2009 president-elect of the American Society of Agronomy. He will take office as association president in 2010. (CAHNRS News Release, 4/23/08) Read more.
Von Wettstein Receives NIH Award to Develop Wheat Free of Harmful Gluten Proteins
Washington State University researcher Diter von Wettstein has been awarded a four-year, $837,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to further his work on developing wheat varieties safe to eat for people who have Celiac disease. (CAHNRS News Release, 4/23/08) Read more.
Organic wave—Produce in demand, farm to triple size
Two decades ago, organic agriculture was a fringe movement. It was generally ignored by land-grant researchers when John Reganold began comparing the soil quality, food nutrition, flavor and environmental impacts of conventional and organic methods. (WSU Today, 3/18/08) Read more.
Washington State University Releases Four New Wheat Varieties
Washington State University has released four new wheat varieties for commercialization, including Xerpha, a soft-white common winter wheat, which is highly adapted to a broad range of production zones in Washington, Oregon, southern Idaho and northern California. (CAHNRS News Release, 2/29/08) Read more.
AgWeatherNet Hits the Palouse
The Washington State University AgWeatherNet team recently installed a weather station at WSU’s Spillman Agronomy Farm located two miles southeast of Pullman. (CAHNRS News Release, 1/29/08) Read more.
Separating Truth from Myth: Understanding Biotechnology
New class is designed to help students develop an understanding of biotechnology in the 21st century. (CSS Spotlight, 1/3/08) Read more.
Citings...
An Associated Press story reported on how a device for measuring moisture in soil developed in conjunction with a WSU soil science team in 1987 has been incorporated into the NASA Phoenix Mars lander mission. Several media published the story Wednesday, including USA Today. (6/18/08) Read more.
John Reganold is quoted in Natural News on the threats posed by the loss of topsoil. (6/17/08) Read more.
The IAREC’s Joan Davenport is quoted in a Tri-City Herald article about efforts to have the Snipes Mountain area, home of the historic Upland Vineyards of Outlook, declared an American Viticultural Area. (5/28/08)
Geneticist teaches farmers about wheat. When it comes to growing wheat, veteran plant geneticist Stephen Jones believes Mother Nature knows best. (Mail Tribune, 5/15/08) Read more.
A story in Nature on how climate change is affecting hops production includes comments from WSU Prosser’s Steve Kenny and cites research being done by WSU. (5/2/08) .Read more.
The Soil Science Society of America announces officers elected to scientific society boards includes the announcement of Fran Pierce being named president-elect of the American Society of Agronomy. (5/1/08) Read more.
John Reganold’s 2001 research with organic apples is cited in an opinion piece in support of organic agriculture in The Daily Greater Kashmir published in Srinagar, Kashmir. (4/14/08) Read more.
The publication Food Production Weekly reported on the findings in a paper by Byung-Kee Baik and Steven Ullrich on the challenge of meeting quality requirements in barley for food production. Their paper has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Cereal Science. (3/19/08) Read more.
Craig Cogger is quoted in an article on home composting in the latest edition of Organic Gardening Magazine. (March, 2008) Read more.
John Reganold is quoted in an article on the environmental web site Grist.org about the reduction in agricultural research funding in President Bush’s proposed federal budget and how such cuts would impact organic research. (2/19/08) Read more.
John Reganold is quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer front-page story on the loss of topsoil and the benefits of direct seeding in controlling erosion. (1/22/08) Read more.
IAREC agronomist Stephen Kenny is quoted in the Daily Tarheel, the newspaper of the University of North Carolina, in an article on how a worldwide hops shortage is driving up beer prices. (1/15/08) Read more.
Heading using the h3tag
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