Science briefs

Robusta coffee beans make up a large portion of the global coffee market, yet they are relatively understudied. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Robusta coffee yields are limited by magnesium on smallholder farms in the Ecuadorian Amazon

September 22, 2025

Sebastián Bravo Peña, first author on the study and Ph.D. candidate in the Soil Physics and Land Management Group (SLM) at Wageningen University & Research, taking soil samples with Dr. Dorota Dec, collaborator on the project from the Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Soils (IIAS) at the Austral University of Chile. Image courtesy of Dr. José Dörner, IIAS.

Volcanic soil structure dynamics shape water retention variability

August 20, 2025

Transition from bedrock to topsoil on a farm in the United Kingdom. Photo courtesy of Daniel Evans.

Weathered bedrock holds overlooked carbon storage potential

August 20, 2025

Flower of a female cannabis plant. Photo courtesy of Justine Richard-Giroux.

The genetic script of cannabis chemistry

August 20, 2025

Tifton 85 and Alicia bermudagrass under evaluation in Tifton, GA. The bermudagrass stem maggot damage is visible by the bronzing or browning of the leaf tips. Photo courtesy of Lisa Baxter, University of Georgia.

Further refining needed for applying bermudagrass stem maggot insecticide

August 20, 2025

Winter wheat small-plot trial in eastern Nebraska (2020), used to evaluate remote-sensing-based nitrogen recommendation models for improved nitrogen management. Photo courtesy of Laila Puntel.

Smarter nitrogen decisions for winter wheat

August 20, 2025

Left: Mitchell Richardson setting up the automated GHG sampling system. A component of the sampling system is an SRI gas chromatograph for gas concentration measurements integrated with a Campbell Scientific Data Logger to control sampling equipment. Right: Here Richardson is shown maintaining GHG sampling equipment at the field sampling site. On his left is a LI-COR flux gas chamber with orange flags to mark the location of the soil gas samplers along with the trailer housing the GHG sampling system.

Novel field-sampling system used to monitor greenhouse gas cycling at a high time resolution

August 4, 2025

Photo by Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT (license CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

A simple and low-cost method for plant breeders to increase the rate of recombination of corn

August 4, 2025

Indicator of Reduction in Soils (IRIS) film immediately after retrieval following 60-minute deployment in a tidal marsh soil. On the green table is a portable document scanner for collecting the IRIS image. Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Wardrup, UMD ENST.

Rapid assessment of porewater sulfide using IRIS films

August 4, 2025

Computational design.

Designing agroecosystems with computers

August 4, 2025

Webinar: Developing Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork Settings

Webinar: Early Career Award Opportunities in Agronomy, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences

Call for Papers: Phenomics of Germplasm Collection

Call for Papers: Advances in Monitoring Soil Water Content

Call for Papers: Advancement of Fate and Transport of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Vadose Zone