As owners humanize their pets and prove more willing to pay a premium for foods labeled to address pet health, a new study explores which pet health concerns bring the highest prices…
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Weed Science Society of America Honors Norsworthy for Herbicide Resistance Management
Herbicide-resistant weeds are among row-crop agriculture’s most problematic and expensive management issues. Distinguished Professor Jason Norsworthy knows this all too well, having dedicated his career to weed management for the past 30 years…
Research Agronomist Returns Home to Aid Rice and Row Crop Producers
Justin Chlapecka’s new role as assistant professor of agronomy comes with an office just about 35 miles from where he grew up — a return home he sees as an opportunity to give back to his community…
Research Team Homes In on Genetics Behind Blackberry Thorns
Researchers have discovered the genetic region responsible for blackberries’ deploying of a type of pointy self-protection: thorns. They can scratch pickers and damage fruit…
Maxwell Had Global Reputation for Research, Student Engagement
With a global reputation for his work in swine nutrition and management and his unparalleled ability to engage students, Charles Maxwell was a professor with a fan club. Maxwell, professor of animal science at the UADA and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville…
Publication Reveals Soil Lab Use, Fertility Findings for Blackberries, Row Crops, Forages
When you test more than 200,000 soil samples in a year, you not only learn something about how Arkansans grow crops, gardens and lawns, but also the value of recommendations that result from soil test results…
June 12 Farmers for Tomorrow Benefit to Provide ‘Seed Money’ for Local Small Farms
A June 12 fundraiser featuring food by Atlas restaurant chef and owner Elliot Hunt, beverages by Sommelier Aleks Berry, and live music by Buddy Shute & the Motivators, will provide seed money and other financial support for local small farms…
Optimizing Rice Mill Lab Analysis Can Improve Yield, Consumer Qualities
Before it gets to your table in a steaming dish, rice has to go through the mill. More specifically, the unprocessed rice kernels that are encased in an inedible hull must undergo milling to reveal the white rice grain…
Production Economist Aims to Boost Farm Efficiency Amid Evolving Technology, Weather Risks
Informing and incentivizing optimal farm management decisions fuel the research of production economist Kristiina Ala-Kokko — and she looks forward to zeroing in on the Arkansas rice industry come this fall.
April 2025 Arkansas Ag Research Report
A monthly round-up of top stories from the AAES. IN THIS ISSUE: The Center for Beverage Innovation dives deep into yeasts to make nonalcoholic beers. Agricultural economists examine consumer confusion from CBD oils….
Arkansas Clean Plant Center Leader Tzanetakis Honored as a Fellow of American Phytopathological Society
Ioannis Tzanetakis, professor of plant virology and director of the Arkansas Clean Plant Center, was recently named a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society. Tzanetakis has a dual appointment in the department of entomology and plant pathology…
WATCH: Aranyak Goswami – Putting Biological Data to Use | Behind the Discovery
Aranyak Goswami thinks computational biology has the potential to change the course of human civilization. As an assistant professor in the animal science department, he uses computational genomics and bioinformatics tools…
As a Competitive Grain for Malting, Rice May Open Door to Increase Domestic Demand
A new economics study shows the potential for an ancient process to develop new domestic demand for rice and offset declining exports. That process is malting, which has been around for millennia…
Trash Talk: As Plastic Use Soars, Researchers Examine Biodegradable Solutions
While biodegradable plastics currently account for a half percent of the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic produced annually, a growing demand for the alternative reflects consumer awareness and corporate response…
Microplastics: What’s Trapping the Emerging Threat in Our Streams?
Microplastics, tiny plastic particles found in everyday products from face wash to toothpaste, are an emerging threat to health and ecology, prompting a research team to identify what keeps them trapped in stream ecosystems…
Getting to the Root of Crop Health: Four Webinars Set To Inform Root Zone Management in Controlled-Environment Agriculture
The root zone — the area surrounding a plant’s roots — must provide the right balance of water, nutrients and oxygen for plants to thrive. An upcoming webinar series will provide controlled-environment agriculture growers…
Nonalcoholic Beer Yeasts Evaluated for Fermentation Activity, Flavor Profiles
Small organisms can have a big impact. That’s why researchers explored nearly a dozen nontraditional yeast strains to find out which ones could brew the best nonalcoholic beers for a rapidly growing market…
Pecan Scab Hours Website Lets Producers Know When It’s Time to Spray
Arkansas pecan growers have an easy-to-use online tool to help them determine when to spray a fungicide to ward off “pecan scab,” a fungal disease that degrades pecan quality. Jackie Lee, associate professor of horticulture…
Fluridone Widens Palmer Pigweed Control Options for Rice Growers, but Stick to the Label
A word of caution to rice growers: the herbicide fluridone has become a valuable tool in fighting Palmer pigweed, but it can cause injury to some rice cultivars, depending on when it is used. Registered under the trade name Brake by SePRO Corporation…
Arkansas Research Alliance Grants Support Agricultural Innovation
What if you could use a plentiful rice byproduct to make biodegradable packaging materials? Or use nanotechnology to improve a probiotic’s performance in animals? These and other cutting-edge agricultural-focused projects by faculty with the AAES.
What Foods and Drinks Are Consumed Less by Those on GLP-1 Weight-Loss Meds?
As a large proportion of people taking medications like Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss report consuming less processed foods and soda, researchers say food and beverage companies are adjusting strategies…
CBD Oils: Do You Know What’s Inside?
Since the 2018 Farm Bill effectively legalized hemp-derived cannabidiol — better known as CBD — there’s been an exponential growth in products hitting the market, but a newly published study suggests consumer understanding…
WATCH: Ashley Dowling – Tiny Creatures, Big Impact | Behind the Discovery
If Ashley Dowling hopes to accomplish one thing as an educator, it would be to rekindle the appreciation for insects your 3-year-old self once had. Ashley’s research focuses on the mite world, which includes ticks and chiggers among many others…
March 2025 Arkansas Ag Research Report
A monthly round-up of top stories from the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. IN THIS ISSUE: Find out who was honored as a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See how John Deere’s See & Spray™ worked in a three-year field trial….
Marty Matlock Earns Prestigious AAAS Fellowship
Marty Matlock, professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has been named a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS…