Browse Grains Stories

It is said that if you find a job you love, you will never work a day in your life. For Alfredo Martinez-Espinoza, this has come true through his work as a plant pathologist with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. His passion and hard work have been recognized with the American Phytopathological Society’s (APS) 2021 Excellence in Extension award.

Katrien M. Devos, a professor of crop and soil sciences and plant biology at the University of Georgia, has been named a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA).

As farmers around the world battle extreme drought and other climate events, researchers turn to pearl millet to find ways to make other grains more resilient to climate change. A global team of 65 scientists, including nine from the University of Georgia, have decoded some of the secrets to the crop’s coping strategies.

Reagan Noland, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s newest agronomist, specializes in corn, soybean and small grains like wheat, oats, barley and rye. These commodities have a combined Georgia farm gate value of almost $450 million.

In 2017, Georgia row crop farmers will likely devote more acreage to the state’s tried-and-true commodities: cotton and peanuts. This and other agricultural projections for the year were the focus of the 10th annual Georgia Ag Forecast seminar series, held across the state Jan. 18-27.

Researchers at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences broke records in fiscal year 2016 with $69 million in external funding to fuel college projects.

Led by increases in forestry and livestock values, Georgia’s agricultural output increased by $484 million in 2014, making agriculture, once again, the largest industry in the state with a value of $14.1 billion. According to the most recent University of Georgia Farmgate Value Report, published earlier this month, the value of Georgia’s livestock and aquaculture industries increased by almost 36 percent from 2013.

In a time of public debate over the effectiveness and safety of genetically modified foods, it’s hard to picture the era before crop breeders developed grain varieties that could withstand drought and common diseases.

A small weevil that lives inside corn kernels is costing Georgia growers millions of dollars each year. A University of Georgia scientist has teamed up with farmers and county Extension agents to put a stop to the maize weevil, the No. 1 insect pest of stored corn.

In light of recent wet weather, nitrogen deficiency problems have shown up in some small grains and ryegrass fields.