Food & Agriculture

A team of WSU scientists are taking on a destructive complex of diseases affecting valuable potato crops, thanks to support from the National Science Foundation and USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Last year, the program produced more than 65,000 pounds of fresh food for food banks thanks to the work of nearly 5,000 volunteers.

More than two inches long, the world’s largest hornet carries a painful, sometimes lethal sting and an appetite for honey bees. It is also the newest insect invader of Washington state.

The technology, developed by Biological Systems Engineering Professor Juming Tang, could help eliminate persistent safety recalls of frozen and chilled foods that happen globally every year.

Researchers from WSU Extension’s Community and Economic Development Unit established the Regional Small Farms Program to help small farm owners in the tri-county area come up with personalized solutions to tough questions.

The nearly 50‑acre property, which WSU bought this winter, will house most of the Department of Entomology’s Honey Bee and Pollinator program.

A new processing technology out of WSU called microwave assisted thermal sterilization could make it possible to reduce sodium while maintaining safety and tastiness.

WSU will celebrate the grand opening of its new Honey Bee & Pollinator Research, Extension, and Education Facility on March 6 with a ribbon cutting and tours of the facility.

The goal of the $12.8 million project is to reveal genes and valuable traits of the popular fruits that could help growers develop new and tastier varieties.

Despite the perception that wild birds in farm fields can cause food-borne illness, a WSU study has found little evidence linking birds to E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter outbreaks.

Tiny, symbiotic fungi play an outsized role in helping plants survive stresses like drought and extreme temperatures, which could help feed a planet experiencing climate change, report WSU scientists.

A large-scale analysis led by a WSU graduate student journal club found that overall organic agriculture sites had 34% more biodiversity and 50% more profits than conventional sites, but these advantages changed depending on where the farms were located.

In a scientific first, WSU researchers delivered a one-two punch to knock out viruses that affect many food, feed, and fiber crops, using precise, targeted editing of viral genes.

WSU scientists have transferred a collection of genes into plant-colonizing bacteria that let them draw nitrogen from the air and turn it into ammonia, a natural fertilizer.

Women across the Northwest can learn how to run resilient farms and businesses while enhancing their own health at the 2020 Women in Agriculture Conference, organized by WSU Extension, on Saturday, Jan. 25.

Salvage logging and re-seeding a forest after a wildfire helps reduce flooding and returns water levels to normal faster, according to a new WSU research.