Tag: soil

Cold-hardy avocados aimed at transforming Florida’s future fruit industry

by Lourdes Mederos
March 12, 2026

Highlights: University of Florida scientists proved their cold‑hardy avocado lines can survive the January 2026 freeze, enduring temperatures as low as 17 degrees, which is far colder than commercial varieties like Hass can tolerate. ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, , Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agriculture, Anthracnose, Avocado, California, Central Florida, Cold Resistance, Cold-hardy, Cultivar, Disease Resistance, Florida, Florida Agriculture, Florida Avocado, Florida-grown Avocado, Food Is Medicine, Freeze Resistant, Hass, Horticultural Sciences, Horticulture, IFAS, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Jose Chaparro, Laboratory, Laurel Wilt, News, North Florida, Soil, South Florida, UF-IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, University Of Florida, Water

Featured New Faculty: Paul White

by Mike Loizzo
February 10, 2026

Paul M. White is one of the newest members of the UF/IFAS Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences (SWES). He is an associate professor of soil science and coordinator of the UF/IFAS Agricultural Nutrient Management Program. Based in ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Best Management Practices, Farming, Fertilizer, Nutrient Management, Nutrient Management Program, Paul M White, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Sustainable Agriculture, Water

What Winter Crops Can – and Can’t – Deliver for Corn on Sandy Soils

by Mike Loizzo
January 21, 2026

Winter crops are often talked about as a win–win for agriculture. In general, they protect the soil by replacing bare winter fallow. By recycling nutrients, they set the stage for better yields in the next crop. Overall, winter crops should ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, UF/IFAS Research, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Chris H Wilson, Fertilizer, Gabriel Maltais-Landry, Julia Barra Netto-Ferreira, Nitrogen, Nutrient Management, Soil, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Southern SARE

The soil analyses as your bloodwork! Both requires preliminary knowledge and considerations

by Edwin A. Gutierrez-Rodriguez
November 24, 2025

Understanding the Basics Just as bloodwork requires fasting or the avoidance of certain medications to yield accurate results, soil analysis necessitates careful preparation to reflect true field conditions. Preliminary knowledge includes understanding ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Horticulture, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Nutrients, Smart Farming, Soil, Soil Sampling

As days grow shorter, your landscape naturally needs less water

by Brad Buck
November 17, 2025

Even though daily deluges of Florida’s summer rains are in the rearview mirror, your lawn still can look lush, even with less water. Irrigation accounts for more than half the average U.S. water bill, but you can preserve this precious ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: 'Skip A Week', Archive, Calibration, Deep Roots, Don Rainey, Drainage, Drought, Fall, Irrigation, Jackie Lebouitz, Julie McConnell, Laura Vásquez, Lawns, Residential, Saving, Soil, Southwest Florida Water Management Districtement District, Turfgrass, UF/IFAS Extension Miami-Dade County, UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County, Water Restrictions, Winter

Water, Beyond the Irrigation Purpose

by Edwin A. Gutierrez-Rodriguez
October 29, 2025

Keeping water in check on a farm doesn’t have to involve fancy gadgets or a maze of plans. It’s all about a few steady ideas that anyone can follow. First, picture where every drop comes from rain, a well, or a pond and how it moves through ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension, Water
Tags: Irrigation, Smart Farming, Soil, Water

With startup, researchers plan to help growers feed more people, preserve environment

by Brad Buck
October 21, 2025

By commercializing their research, two University of Florida scientists are trying to get practical artificial intelligence (AI) tools into the hands of our state’s farmers. The goal is to build their business by increasing farm profitability, ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Farm Management
Tags: #aiatuf, Archive, Arnold Schumann, Artificial Intelligence, Business, Citrus Research And Education Center, Commercialization, Environment, EZ Ag Innovations, Food, Gulf Coast Research And Education Center, Inputs, Labor, Nathan Boyd, Pesticides, Prec-ag, Precision Weed-spraying, Soil, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Startup, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Water

From citrus to bamboo? Some growers might move to this crop with a multibillion-dollar worldwide market

by Brad Buck
September 2, 2025

With a global market valued at nearly $67 billion, bamboo may offer an alternative crop for some Florida growers reeling from a devastated citrus crop, says a University of Florida expert. “Bamboo is a good alternative crop to diversify ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture
Tags: Alternative Crops, Archive, Bamboo, Citrus, Citrus Research And Education Center, Clumbing Bamboo, Construction, Davie Kadyampakeni, Food, Furniture, Low Invasion, Michael Rogers, Pests, Soil, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Water

Researchers create first high-resolution map of soil properties across the globe

by Megan Winslow
August 6, 2025

To better understand the planet’s topsoil, an international team of scientists, including University of Florida researchers, created the first high-resolution global maps of key soil properties. (more…) READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agricultural Management, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Carbon Sequestration, Data Science, Department Of Soil, Digital Soil Mapping, GeoAI, Global Food Systems, Global Soil Properties, IFAS, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Landscape Analysis, Machine Learning, Map, Megan Winslow, Mike Loizzo, Modeling, Nikolaos Tziolas, Pedometrics, Remote Sensing, Sabine Grunwald, Socioeconomics, Soil, Soil Health, Soil Science, Soil Security, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Sustainability, SWES, The Innovation, UF, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, Water

Thanks to NASA, farmers may ask, ‘Hey Alexa, what’s the best way to keep my soil healthy?’

by Brad Buck
July 29, 2025

Someday soon, farmers might use technology equivalent to Siri or Alexa to check the status of their soil’s quality. Anastasia Kritharoula, a doctoral student in the Soil Science Artificial Intelligence lab of the University of Florida, ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Anastasia Kritharoula, Archive, Artificial Intelligence, Farmers, Generative AI, Grant, NASA, Nikolaos Tziolas, Non-expert Users, Prec-ag, Soil, Soil Health, Soil Science Artificial Intelligence Lab, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Southwest Florida Research And Education Center, Water

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