| Title |
Excerpt |
Author |
Date |
| Look Out Illinois! |
Tornado Alley will probably see slightly fewer tornadoes this storm season, while areas to its east will see a more than average, says a climate expert at the University of Missouri. Tony Lupo, professor and chair of atmospheric science at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, said that… |
Randy Mertens |
04/11/13 |
| A Blooming Recognition |
David Mendoza-Cozatl, assistant professor of plant sciences at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, has received a five-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program to continue his research into the molecular transport of heavy metals in plants.… |
Randy Mertens |
03/28/13 |
| Another Dry Summer? |
The culprit for the dry weather that has parched much of the Midwest may be fading, a University of Missouri atmospheric scientist said. But don’t expect much relief, yet. The dry soil will have an impact on this summer’s temperatures. Tony Lupo, department chair of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences… |
Randy Mertens |
02/15/13 |
| Parched Deep |
Even if the Midwest gets normal rain and snow, it will take almost two years for soil moisture deep in the earth to recharge and sustain normal crop growth, a soil scientist said. Randall Miles, associate professor of soil science at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University… |
Randy Mertens |
01/24/13 |
| Population Shifts |
Missouri’s northern rural counties continue to lose population while cities and a few small towns are steadily growing, research by a sociologist at the University of Missouri shows. Rex Campbell, professor emeritus of rural sociology at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, since 1960 has been using census… |
Randy Mertens |
12/19/12 |
| More Sinkings |
Registration has opened for an April cardboard boat race that will help feed hungry people. The second annual Float Your Boat for the Food Bank will occur April 20 at Bass Pro Shops lake in Columbia. The fundraiser is sponsored by the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR)… |
Randy Mertens |
12/19/12 |
| This Bug’s for Mizzou |
The University of Missouri has Jesse Hall and Truman the Tiger. It now has its own insect. Aphis mizzou, a member of the aphid family, has been officially described in October in Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that describes newly identified organisms. Aphis mizzou has been found so far only… |
Randy Mertens |
11/29/12 |
| Bad Summer, Mild Winter |
After this summer’s record drought, will there be a brutal winter in the Midwest? A climatologist with the University of Missouri is predicting a slightly warmer than normal winter and a little below average precipitation. “This is consistent with a weak El Niño pattern in the central Pacific,” said Tony… |
Randy Mertens |
10/18/12 |
| Chasing the Rain |
An interdisciplinary team of University of Missouri students is using one of the most advanced mobile radars to better learn how rainfall impacts an ecologically fragile area in middle Missouri. Students majoring in atmospheric science, geography, biological engineering and forestry are using data from a Doppler on Wheels (DOW), one… |
Randy Mertens |
10/03/12 |
| Beware: Fire Ants |
Cattle producers who buy hay from some parts of the southern U.S. might get stung — not just once but many times — by red imported fire ants. An Ozark County farmer recently learned that lesson the hard way while unloading hay he’d bought from a farmer in Florida. Unlike… |
Randy Mertens |
09/05/12 |
| From Field to Fuel |
Like all babies, they’re cute and full of promise. But these young shoots are in for some rough tests. They’ve already been planted in marginal soil and will be routinely flooded and stressed. In the end, they’ll be ground up and converted into pellets and then into liquid fuel. Several… |
Randy Mertens |
08/15/12 |
| Meat Inflation |
The livestock industry is taking a direct hit by this summer’s drought, and that will impact consumers’ wallets next year, states a University of Missouri agricultural economist. “I expect to see food inflation, but it will take time,” said Scott Brown, research assistant professor in the College of Agriculture, Food… |
Randy Mertens |
08/10/12 |
| Why the Scorcher? |
Recent weeks of scorching summer heat have triggered endless talk about how hot it is. But what’s causing the 100 degree-plus temperatures and why are they lasting so long? It’s a massive heat dome that has grown over the central third of the nation, said Tony Lupo, chair of the… |
Randy Mertens |
07/12/12 |
| Months of Extremes |
Two months in Midwest history – March 2012 and December 1889 – stand out as the warmest winter months in more than a century of weather records. A team of University of Missouri scientists investigated why these months, separated by 123 years, were so exceptional. March 2012 was the second… |
Randy Mertens |
06/14/12 |
| A Burning Question |
To burn, or not to burn? That’s a question natural resource managers have asked themselves for years—often coming up with conflicting answers. Joe Marschall, research specialist at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in CAFNR’s Forestry Department, seeks to bring science to that debate. Marschall, who also coordinates the Oak Woodlands… |
Randy Mertens |
05/31/12 |
| Land Boom? |
Farmland prices appear to be entering an economic bubble that could end in a rapid price decline as happened in the 1980s. A dozen agricultural economic experts discussed the possibility at the 2012 Breimyer Seminar sponsored by the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) and University Extension at… |
Randy Mertens |
05/18/12 |
| Pining for Economic Opportunity |
On a sunny, spring morning, Ray Glendening and his crew at CAFNR’s Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center (HARC) harvested a little-known crop in Missouri—pine straw. The harvest is the result of successful research breeding pitch pines, which have cold tolerance, with loblolly pines, which have long needles necessary for good… |
Randy Mertens |
04/19/12 |
| Calming the Storm (Water) |
Using 777 willow trees, a University of Missouri research team is beginning a two-year study to determine best methods to reclaim flood plain land damaged by development, keep waterways free of potential pollutants, and develop a cash crop for farmers. The research looks to mitigate the impact of storm water… |
Randy Mertens |
04/10/12 |
| No April Cold Snap Repeat |
The Central Plains may be spared a repeat of the historic April 4-10, 2007 cold wave that disrupted agricultural production, says a University of Missouri climate researcher. Millions of dollars in crop loss hit orchards, hay fields and newly sprouted corn. Tony Lupo, chair of soil, environmental and atmospheric sciences… |
Randy Mertens |
03/21/12 |
| Little Bug, Big Stink |
A new stinkier stinkbug may hitchhike into Missouri this year to destroy crops and upset homeowners, says a University of Missouri entomologist. The brown marmorated stink bug, a pest found in 33 states mostly to the east and south, will likely be found for the first time this year in… |
Randy Mertens |
01/04/12 |
| A Drought Five Feet Under |
Missouri has not escaped the historic drought that devastated Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona. A critically-timed two month dry spell has left much of the state’s soil bone dry down to nearly six feet. Unless there is long and heavy rain and snowfall this winter, Missouri’s most important crops will suffer.… |
Randy Mertens |
12/08/11 |
| Another Bad Winter |
If you lived in the Midwest and remember last year’s long and difficult winter, get ready for a repeat performance, says a University of Missouri atmospheric science researcher. Tony Lupo, department chair and professor of atmospheric science in the School of Natural Resources, said the same La Niña, jet stream… |
Randy Mertens |
11/10/11 |
| No Gobbling the Profit |
There’s nothing a turkey would rather do than gobble its feed. That’s a big deal to producers as food represents the majority of the cost of raising a bird. Recent feed cost hikes have threatened producers’ slender bottom lines. Jeff Firman, a professor of poultry production and nutrition at the… |
Randy Mertens |
11/08/11 |
| Midwest’s Perfect Storm |
Saturday, Nov. 11, 1911 saw what was probably the most sudden and dangerous cold blast in American history. People who enjoyed a summer like morning froze to death in heavy snowfall that evening. Blue skies changed to low clouds, driving rain, sleet, hail, thunderstorms, tornadoes and blizzards in half a… |
Randy Mertens |
11/01/11 |
| Missouri Journalists Chronicle the Storm |
The storm hit Kansas City about noon. Readers of the splashy Kansas City Journal were told that the temperature there fell 50 degrees in one hour and there was a blinding electrical storm during the blizzard. The staid Kansas City Times reported that a rural farm buggy had been blown… |
Randy Mertens |
11/01/11 |
| Drought Simulators Study Effects of Reduced Water on Crops |
Two drought simulators designed to test the effects of water deficiency on crops are now operational at the University of Missouri’s Bradford Research and Extension Center east of Columbia. The simulators are part of a $1,558,125 Missouri Life Sciences Research Board grant to study how reduced water availability affects plants… |
Randy Mertens |
08/23/11 |
| More Breakfast, Less Overeating |
Mom always told you to eat a good breakfast. Now there’s research proof from the University of Missouri that that teens who eat a healthy breakfast, particularly one rich in protein, can curb their appetite and prevent overeating later in the day. This could make breakfast a successful dietary strategy… |
Randy Mertens |
05/19/11 |
| Bringing a Bird Back From the Brink |
The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a Pacific island bird with a cream-colored head, blue and green feathers, and a white underbelly. It sings with its mate. Males, during courtship, bring lizards to their girlfriends, banging the reptiles against trees in shows of affection. This kingfisher is one of the world’s most… |
Randy Mertens |
04/01/11 |
| A Calmer Tornado Alley |
Tornado Alley, the swath of prairie from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri famous for twisters, may see a largely calm tornado season this year. The same dominant atmospheric phenomenon that spawned winter blizzards through much of the country generally shifts spring and summer thunderstorm activity northward, says Tony Lupo,… |
Randy Mertens |
03/11/11 |
| Healthier Snacks Through Improved Soybeans |
To cardiologists, there is no safe amount of trans-fat that a person can eat. The more trans-fat consumed, the greater the production of the bad cholesterol that damages the heart. Trans-fat is created when liquid plant oils are engineered to a stable, non-perishable state through a process known as hydrogenation.… |
Randy Mertens |
09/14/10 |
| 2010 Missouri Hunger Atlas Shows Food Insecurity Has Worsened |
One in four Missouri families with children worries about putting enough food on the table, according to the 2010 Missouri Hunger Atlas recently released by a team of University of Missouri researchers. The atlas, a county level report of food insecurity in the state, found that more than 900,000 Missourians… |
Randy Mertens |
08/19/10 |
| Civil War Weather Detectives |
Historians and military analysts have pored over the Wilson’s Creek battle that occurred during the first months of the Civil War for clues about an event where Missouri was almost lost to the Union. While artifacts and written records detail the composition and movement of troops and armaments in good… |
Randy Mertens |
08/10/10 |
| A Bird’s Eye View |
One would think that Missouri’s birds fly wherever they want. Research is showing that resident jays, woodpeckers and cardinals are not so free, however. They stick close to a home forest and avoid flying over large areas of clear space. When the landscape is changed when trees are cut down… |
Randy Mertens |
07/27/10 |