News Stories - Page 7

IMG 0655.remini enhanced CAES News
Farm Boot Camp trains military veterans to start farms
An outreach program offered by the University of Georgia has received federal funding to train military veterans to start their own farms. Farm Boot Camp, a specialized training program for military veterans and their spouses, offers free monthly trainings and specialized workshops to provide essential skills and knowledge needed to start or return to farming operations.
Southern Belle Farm owner Jake Carter (BBA ’03) transformed the fifth-generation family dairy and cattle farm into a tourist destination CAES News
UGA alumni transform fifth-generation farm into tourist destination
You don’t expect it to be here. Not after passing subdivision after subdivision with names culled from the merging of random adjectives and natural objects: Longleaf, Brightwood, Hickory Hills. But travel far enough down Turner Church Road — a smidge north of the burgeoning Georgia town of McDonough — and the tree-lined spiderweb roads of housing developments open to vast farmland adorned with berry crops and little, red-roofed structures.
A team of researchers at CFS, led by director Francisco Diez, studied the potential uses of antimicrobial blue light to eliminate pathogens in manufacturing facilities. CAES News
CAES researchers ensure a safer global food supply
In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly established June 7 as World Food Safety Day to bring awareness of foodborne risks and “to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food.” With 25 faculty members involved in food safety microbiology, the University of Georgia has one of the largest teams of food safety researchers of any university. Their research and collaboration efforts contribute to a growing body of knowledge that ensures producers and consumers have the latest information about food safety.
A new grant program focusing on preventing and reducing food loss and waste is designed to help reduce food waste in the U.S. by 50% over the next five years. CAES News
Southern SARE grant program seeks best practices on preventing food loss and waste
A new national grant program administered by the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program will pump more than $10.2 million into research to address food loss and waste in the region. Supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the SARE Community Foods Project Food Loss and Waste Training and Technical Assistance Grants Program is seeking grant proposals from applicants working in the public sector on food loss and waste prevention.
Launched in 2021 by Camden County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent Jessica Warren and Martin Wunderly, area water agent for UGA Extension’s Northeast District, the program provides fact-based information to help property owners implement sustainable practices in their landscapes. CAES News
Georgia Green Landscape Stewards promote sustainable landscape practices at home
Three years after its debut, the Georgia Green Landscape Stewards program is expanding throughout the state with the assistance of University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers. Using a points-based system, the program has certified more than 200 private properties, public spaces and pollinator gardens in 47 counties as Georgia Green Landscapes, with new applications coming in every month.
John Ruter in the UGA Trial Gardens CAES News
Research and beauty collide at the Trial Gardens
Visual beauty meets functional research at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens. Located on South Campus, the gardens are home to seeds and plants from nearly every plant breeding company worldwide, grown to service UGA research, teaching and new crop introduction. “The Trial Gardens are the premier campus test site in the southeast for the evaluation of commercial bedding plants and perennials,” said John Ruter, the Trial Gardens director and Allan M. Armitage Professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Brian Schwartz at UGA-Tifton CAES News
New ‘Tif3D’ turfgrass promises superior putting-green performance
After nearly a decade of research trials, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences turfgrass breeder Brian Schwartz and a dedicated team of colleagues and industry partners released a cutting-edge bermudagrass variety called ‘Tif3D’ earlier this year. ‘Tif3D’ is a specialty grass developed specifically for putting greens and boasts the unparalleled performance and playability putting greens require, said Schwartz, a professor in the CAES Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.
irrigated peanut field south georgia CAES News
UGA food scientists are securing the future of food 
With a climbing global population that continues to grow since surpassing 8 billion in 2022, steadily rising food prices, changing consumer preferences and growing interest in more sustainable production methods, the challenges to the world’s food systems continue to intensify. World-renowned food processing and engineering faculty in the University of Georgia Department of Food Science and Technology are training and inspiring the next generation of food scientists to blaze trails in their research and answer the questions the future of food will bring. 
Demonstration gardens provide examples of things people can create in their own gardens. CAES News
Master Gardener Open Garden Days offer practical inspiration for the home gardener
Looking for great garden inspiration that you can implement at home? Consider visiting a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener demonstration garden during Open Garden Days throughout the month of June. The Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer program has created a comprehensive garden guide, including a 2024 garden passport, to help visitors plan garden stops around the state.