Science briefs

Tile drainage sump pit for monitoring water flow and collecting samples for nitrate analysis. Photo courtesy of Sabrina Ruis, USDA-ARS (Boone County, IA).

Diversified organic farming reduces nitrogen leaching losses

January 20, 2026

Sarah Peery, coauthor on a new study published in the journal Crop Science, collects wheat for late-maturity alpha amylase testing at the soft dough stage of grain development. Photo courtesy of Camille M. Steber, USDA-ARS.

Genetic connections between wheat preharvest sprouting and late maturity alpha-amylase

January 20, 2026

Dryland wheat near Walla Walla, WA, located in the heart of the inland Pacific Northwest. The Blue Mountains are visible in the background. Photo courtesy of Curtis Adams, USDA-ARS.

High-level yield traits of wheat cultivars across a hydrologically diverse agricultural landscape

January 20, 2026

Hybrid oilseed sunflower in bloom. Photo courtesy of Chase Mason, University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Explainable AI helps describe how weather conditions impact sunflower yield

December 30, 2025

One field location of the Big BIT experiment. Pictured is each tester set in addition to the reference set. Approximately 2,500 maize lines were crossed with one of each tester set (an inbred line that matures relatively early, mid, or late) to assess more than 7,600 hybrid combinations for different agronomic and harvest traits. Photo courtesy of Corteva Agriscience.

The Big BIT maize experiment: One of the largest predictive breeding validation studies

December 26, 2025

The overall methodology for developing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) using a deep neural network (DNN) with various optimization methods for estimating the soil water retention curve (SWRC). Image courtesy of Yong He, Zhejiang University.

Finding the right fit: A better way to model crucial soil water data

December 15, 2025

Development of galls in soybean roots caused by southern root-knot nematode. Photo courtesy of Caio Canella Vieira, University of Arkansas.

Major QTL in soybean suppresses southern root-knot nematode populations under field conditions

December 10, 2025

Tar spot lesions on a corn leaf. As the disease progresses, the black lesions will increase in size and coalesce. Photo taken on Aug. 31, 2021, at a field trial in Coldwater, MI. Photo courtesy of Harkirat Kaur.

Tar spot’s hidden cost to silage corn yield and nutritive value

November 21, 2025

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Complementary phenotyping approaches for studying genetic basis of maize root system architecture

November 17, 2025

Clockwise from top: Aerial image of the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Aspirational Cropping System Experiment (photo courtesy of Ruben Ulbrich, KBS LTAR); Red clover cover crops in maturing wheat (photo courtesy of G. Philip Robertson, KBS LTAR); and canola being harvested from a five-crop regenerative cropping system experiment (photo courtesy of Gavin Hutchings, KBS LTAR).

Regenerative transition costs are tractable

November 17, 2025

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