Food & Agriculture

With a $450,000 New Innovator Award from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, WSU researcher Haly Neely will lead a team to study how soil compaction impacts crop productivity and yield as well as develop management practices to reduce the problem.

A distinctive, useful, and beautiful giant, the western redcedar is in decline. WSU scientists seek help from residents of the Pacific Northwest in tracing the worrying die‑off of the iconic forest tree.

While it’s hard to envision raging forest fires while the Cascade Mountains are covered in deep snow, this year’s wet, warm winter could contribute to yet another round of destructive wildfires.

More than a dozen local restaurants have participated in the program, with most of them donating additional meals beyond what the Community Action Center was purchasing.

Students, bees, wine, and multiple agricultural research and outreach programs will benefit from the donation.

As WSU’s new Endowed Chair for Tree Fruit Environmental Physiology and Management, physiologist Lee Kalcsits will work closely with growers to address significant challenges to fruit production.

The $1 million grant will help identify and improve varieties of the nutrition-packed crop that can be adopted by American farmers.

WSU scientists have figured out a way to treat raspberries before they’re frozen so that they maintain their structure when thawed.

Blauer, a new post-harvest potato physiologist at WSU, plans to partner with agronomy experts to ensure the potato industry’s environmental footprint is small while still producing a profitable and tasty product.

David Crowder has been named interim director of WSU’s Decision Aid System, an online service that helps fruit growers anticipate and manage pests, diseases, extreme weather, and other challenges.

The lavishly illustrated book by WSU horticulturalist Linda Chalker‑Scott recently won the 2020 Award of Excellence in Gardening and Gardens from the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.

WSU researchers are working to develop a nutrient formula for yeast that could make fermentation easier and more predictable for cider-makers.

A new agricultural innovation from WSU may solve an ancient predicament: how to protect crop plants from cold damage at bud break.

Participating scientists will develop prototypes including a robot for pruning and harvesting pears, a precision sprayer for fruit crops, and new sensors and algorithms to collect data on fruit crops.

A Washington State University researcher is part of a large team that announced the genome sequence for switchgrass, a major bioenergy crop.

Researchers at Washington State University’s School of Food Science are analyzing hundreds of non-Saccharomyces yeasts taken from vineyards all over Washington state, to determine what strains are most beneficial for fermentation.