Science briefs

Infiltrometers deployed at an experimental site at Companhia das Lezírias, Portugal. Photo by Pedro Leite.

A cost-effective and adaptable instrument for soil infiltration measurements

February 25, 2025

Researchers used a simulation of a maize (pictured) breeding program to evaluate the efficacy of the new SimpleMating R package. Photo by Keith Weller/USDA.

A new R package for optimizing breeding crosses

February 25, 2025

Symptoms of iron deficiency chlorosis in soybean, a key stress that was identified as an area of need by the soybean research community. Photo by Mary Jane Espina, University of Minnesota.

Soybean researchers set priorities in five-year strategic plan

February 25, 2025

Comparison of chia genomes reveals a history of interspecies hybridizations. Image by Julia Brose.

Genomic insights into the diversity of the superfood Chia

February 25, 2025

Prevalence of (A) Gelisols, (B) Histels, (C) Orthels, and (D) Turbels across the state of Alaska in the Alaska State Soil Geographic Dataset. Gelisols are permafrost-affected soils. Image from Jelinski et al. (2024).

Climate change is reshaping Alaska’s soil map

February 25, 2025

Development of a multiparent advanced generation inter-cross population of peanut (PeanutMAGIC). Advancing an eight-way F1 hybrid to produce F2 seeds (A). The F1 seeds individually planted with an alternating border of Georgia-06G, a popular commercial variety (B).

New PeanutMAGIC population provides high diversity and increased recombination events

February 21, 2025

A cotton trial in Hale County, TX. Photo by Brooke Shumate.

Impact of September cold fronts on cotton fiber quality in Texas

February 21, 2025

Intermediate wheatgrass roots imaged with a minirhizotron (left) and traced with a machine-learning program (right) to study root structure. Image by Alexandra Griffin. Right panel: Graduate researcher Alexandra Griffin images intermediate wheatgrass roots using a minirhizotron on the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul, MN. Image by Emma Link.

Belowground Cameras and Machine-Learning Analysis for Root Phenotyping

February 16, 2025

Right: the gas-liquid-solid distribution in the soil microstructure obtained by pore-scale modeling (yellow: solid phase; blue: liquid phase). Left: comparison of the simulation results with and without water films. Image by Yuankai Yang, Forschungszentrum Juelich.

New pore-scale model for solute movement in unsaturated soils

January 1, 2025

Winter rye cover crop biomass production averaged across 10 years was lower in the rainfed system (left) than in the irrigated system (right). Cover crops were not irrigated in this study. Photo by H. Blanco.

Do cover crops accumulate carbon in the whole soil profile in the long term?

January 1, 2025

Notice: 2026 Annual Elections

Call for Papers: Phenomics of Germplasm Collection

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