Miguel Castillo
Associate Professor
Grassland Production & Management
Faculty
Williams Hall 3401
Dr. Castillo leads the Forage & Grassland Program and serves as Grassland Science Specialist at North Carolina State University. Synergistics activities include serving as Technical Editor for Crop Sci. J. Dr. Castillo maintains an active international program with activities in several countries in tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate environments. He is fluent in Spanish and English, and intermediate language level in Portuguese.
The goal of Dr. Castillo’s program is to improve ecosystem services from agricultural and pasture-based livestock systems, including agroforestry and silvopastures, through development of knowledge and technologies that encourage efficient management of resources and resiliency.
Dr. Castillo grew up in Loja, Ecuador, South America. He earned a B.S. in Plant and Animal Sciences from Zamorano University, Honduras, Central America. He earned both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agronomy from the University of Florida, and an MBA from North Carolina State University. His undergraduate thesis focused on agronomic evaluation of Brachiaria cultivars for pasture-based livestock systems. As part of his undergraduate program, Dr. Castillo was a research scholar at the Everglades Research and Education Center, University of Florida, where he worked on soil management effects and phosphorus availability for sugarcane. His graduate work focused on utilization of biosolids – an organic nutrient source – for fertilization of forages as bioenergy crops and development of strip-planting to introduce rhizoma peanut into perennial pastures. Current efforts are focused on field application of near infrared spectroscopy as a support tool to inform management decisions in agricultural and pasture-based livestock systems. Dr. Castillo joined the Crop and Soil Sciences Department in August 2013.
Education:
M.B.A., North Carolina State University (2017)
Ph.D., Agronomy, University of Florida (2013)
M.S., Agronomy, University of Florida (2009)
B.S., Plant and Animal Sciences, Zamorano University (2006)
Publications
- Risk of weed seed and seedling emergence from poultry litter, AGROSYSTEMS GEOSCIENCES & ENVIRONMENT (2024)
- 'Newell' bermudagrass: A public release from the USDA Cynodon collection, JOURNAL OF PLANT REGISTRATIONS (2023)
- Analysis of alkaloids and reducing sugars in processed and unprocessed tobacco leaves using a handheld near infrared spectrometer, JOURNAL OF NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (2023)
- Evaluation of Assertions from Educational, Outreach and Engagement Programs in Pasture-Based Livestock Systems, JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE (2023)
- A review of silvopastoral systems in the Peruvian Amazon region, TROPICAL GRASSLANDS-FORRAJES TROPICALES (2022)
- Clover frost-seeding rate effects on productivity and nutritive value of tall fescue pastures during the year of establishment, CROP SCIENCE (2022)
- Harvest frequency and harvest timing following a freeze event effects on yield and composition of switchgrass, AGRONOMY JOURNAL (2022)
- Poultry litter and nitrogen fertilizer effects on productivity and nutritive value of crabgrass, CROP SCIENCE (2022)
- Stocking method and terminology in grazing management: Evaluation of assertions from educational, outreach, and engagement programs, CROP SCIENCE (2022)
- A combination of Lactobacillus buchneri and Pediococcus pentosaceus extended the aerobic stability of conventional and brown midrib mutants-corn hybrids ensiled at low dry matter concentrations by causing a major shift in their bacterial and fungal community, JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE (2021)