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Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

Two children building a stick structure in the woods

Sep 4, 2020

Outdoor Play: At Your Doorstep

The answers to some of the most vexing social, educational and health challenges that today’s children face lie right at our doorsteps. That’s the message NC State University extension specialists share… 

Cotton field with the sun shining

Jun 24, 2020

Decision Tools Bolster Cotton Picks

Not all farms grow food. Cotton is NC’s second-largest cash crop with over a half-million acres grown each year. NC State Crop and Soil Sciences Extension offers agronomic decision tools to help growers navigate their way to success. 

A group of students in a corn field as the sun sets. (From Summer 2019)

Jun 22, 2020

CALS Researchers Return to the Bench and Field

As NC State ramps up the Research Restart process, here’s how three researchers from across the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are returning to the lab bench and test field after time away due to COVID-19. 

A small white box on PVC pipe poles over plots of soybeans in sandy soil.

Jun 9, 2020

Low-Cost Cameras Could Be Sensors to Remotely Monitor Crop Stress

Researchers from CALS and COE, led by postdoctoral research scholar Paula Ramos-Giraldo, have worked together to construct a low-cost camera system to monitor crop stress remotely. Their StressCam will aid researchers, plant breeders and ultimately farmers. 

A young woman in a strawberry field with a bucket of strawberries

May 20, 2020

A Change of Pace

Michelle Pace Davis is a sixth generation Johnston County farmer who has learned the importance of farm adaptability, agricultural education and customer connections. Part of her farm’s mission is to invite and educate - including students from her alma mater 

Many reaches toward plants being grown under LED lights in an indoor farm.

May 7, 2020

Growing Upward

On his path toward a career in international development, Mark Watson has built an expansive portfolio. He's earned three majors, two minors and two concentrations; gained research experience in Lima, Peru, and at NC State; and developed and led a student club on the cutting-edge practice of vertical farming. 

A corn field in North Carolina

May 7, 2020

Faculty Focus: Holland Wins International Maize Genetics Award

Jim Holland, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service plant breeder and geneticist based in NC State’s Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, received an international maize genetics award for his decades of research on corn diversity and breeding in disease resistance. 

A woman on a large blue tractor.

Apr 30, 2020

Mary Grace Phillips: COVID-19 Frontline Worker and Full-Time Student

Crop and Soil Sciences undergraduate student Mary Grace Phillips is experiencing the COVID-19 fight first-hand. A junior majoring in agroecology and community food systems, Phillips is also working full time in the healthcare field. 

Two people work on turfgrass

Apr 28, 2020

University Scientists Grow Water Savings with Drought-Tolerant Turfgrass

A network of turfgrass researchers from six major universities, led by NC State, is reducing our lawn's irrigation needs with drought-tolerant turfgrasses that are attractive and healthy with minimal water. 

A videographer records a scientist discussing agricultural research at a field plot.

Apr 9, 2020

Small Grains Field Day Goes Virtual

The Small Grains Field Day was supposed to happen on Wednesday, March 18, at the Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury. Everything that would have been presented in-person was instead recorded and published in videos – creating the Small Grains Virtual Field Day.