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Category: Agriculture

fertilizer

Enhanced efficiency fertilizers: Boosting crop production, mitigating environmental impact

by Megan Winslow
May 29, 2025

Applying fertilizer requires a careful balancing act between using too little -- which can be insufficient to support plant growth -- and applying too much, which wastes money and can hurt the environment. (more…) READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Acidification, Agricultural, Agriculture, Controlled Release Fertilizer, Conventional Fertilizer, CRF, Crop Yields, Cropping Systems, Crops, Data, EEF, Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers, Environment, Environmental, Environmental Impact, Environmental Risk, Fertilization, Fertilizer, Grower, Guide, Hardeep Singh, IFAS, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Journal Of Plant Nutrition And Soil Science, Labor Costs, Megan Winslow, Nitrous Oxide, NMP, Nutrient Efficiency, Nutrient Leaching, Nutrient Management Program, Nutrient-use Efficiency, Nutrients, Plant, Rate, Research, Researchers, Review, Slow-release Fertilizer, Soil, SRF, Tool, UF, UF/IFAS, University Of Florida, Yield
A tractor spreads liquid manure biosolids over a pasture field.

Tracing the Long-Term Impacts of Biosolids on Florida’s Sandy Soils

by Mike Loizzo
May 8, 2025

What happens to nutrients and metals in soil long after biosolids—a byproduct from sewage treatment—have been applied to the land? That’s the question JoAnn Donald, a graduate student in the UF/IFAS Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agriculture, Biosolids, Calcium, Environment, Eutrophication, JoAnn Donald, Phosphorus, Seminole County, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Yang Lin
A view looking down two rows of mature sorghum growing in a field in Hastings, FL.

Investigating and improving soil microbes to help sorghum adapt to climate change

by Mike Loizzo
April 2, 2025

Changing climate conditions that challenge global food production have researchers studying microbiomes and genetic engineering to improve crop resilience. A project getting underway is focused on beneficial bacteria in sorghum’s root mucilage ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Climate Change, EMBRAPA, Mucilage, Nitrogen Fixation, Soil Microbial Ecology, Soil Nutrient Management, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Sorghum, Sunny Liao
A black and white image generated by artificial intelligence showing a close up of several nanofertilizer particles.

Exploring Nanofertilizers: A New Chapter in Sustainable Agriculture

by Mike Loizzo
March 14, 2025

A newly published book chapter co-authored by Dr. Jonas Pereira de Souza Jr., and Dr. Davie Kadyampakeni explores the potential of nanofertilizers in modern agriculture. The chapter appears in Nanofertilizers in Agriculture, a book from the ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Citrus Research And Education Center, Davie Kadyampakeni, Fertilizer, Jonas Pereira De Souza Jr., Nanofertilizer, Nutrient Management, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences
Rows of peanut plants at the North Florida Research and Education Center - Suwannee Valley

New research results on managing potassium fertilization of peanut in northern Florida

by Mike Loizzo
March 4, 2025

Over the past 50 years, improvements in peanut varieties have more than doubled yields, with an average increase of 46 lb/ac per year (Holbrook, 2019). However, the greater nutrient demands of these high-yielding varieties raise concerns that ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agriculture, Fertilizer, George Hochmuth, Peanut, Potassium, Precision Agriculture, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences
An image of an orange grove with a tree branch full of ripe oranges in the foreground and rows of trees in the background.

Tiny Indicators of Soil Health in Florida’s Citrus Groves

by Mike Loizzo
February 12, 2025

In the citrus groves of southwest Florida, a team of researchers is investigating the hidden power of soil nematodes. These tiny organisms with enormous ecological impact offer key insights into soil health. This study investigates how cover ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Allan Bacon, Citrus, Cover Crops, Gabriel Maltais-Landry, Nematodes, Sarah Strauss, Soil Health, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Yaslin Gonzalez, Zane Grabau
A corn field, fallow field, and a field with tall grass or sugarcane in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

Making soil health more sustainable with Basaltic Rock Dust

by Mike Loizzo
January 13, 2025

Imagine using ordinary volcanic rock to solve some of agriculture’s biggest challenges. That is the goal of a team of researchers at the University of Florida. Dr. Jehangir “Jango” Bhadha, associate professor in the UF/IFAS department ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Basaltic Rock Dust, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Everglades Research And Education Center, Greenhouse Gas, Jango Bhadha, Jehangir Bhadha, Maria Silveira, Range Cattle Research And Education Center, Soil Health, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, USDA-NIFA
Corn and cotton

UF/IFAS researchers deploy drones to perfect nutrient rates

by Megan Winslow
January 13, 2025

The ability to detect crop nutrient deficiencies and promptly modify fertilizer application to address them is invaluable to agricultural producers — especially growers operating under slim profit margins. Identifying how much of a particular ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, UF/IFAS
Tags: Algorithm, Ayush Sharma, Best Management Practices Lab, BMP, Citra, Corn, Cotton, Crop, Drone, Environmental, Extension, Fertilizer, Grower, Hastings, Hastings Agricultural Extension Center, IFAS, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Lakesh Sharma, Megan Winslow, NDVI, Nitrogen, NMP, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, North Florida Research And Education Unit, Nutrient, Nutrient Management Program, Plant Health, Plant Science Research And Education Unit, Producer, Recommendation, Research, Soil Fertility, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Sustainable, Suwannee Valley, UF, UF/IFAS
A wide shot of a poultry barn with young chicken eating.

Poultry Litter Biochar: sustainably boosting crop yields and soil health

by Mike Loizzo
January 12, 2025

What if agricultural waste could be transformed into a resource that boosts crop yields and improves soil health? A team of UF/IFAS researchers believes poultry litter biochar (PLB) has the potential to do just that. Dr. Andressa Freitas and ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Andressa Freitas, Biochar, Fertilizer, Phosphorus, Poultry Litter, Soil Health, Soil Nutrient Management, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Vimala Nair
Five people on a soils judging team stand in a soil pit, analyzing the soil horizons.

UF Soils Judging Team returns to competition after two decades, competes in Southeast Regional Contest

by Mike Loizzo
December 18, 2024

After a nearly 20-year hiatus, the University of Florida Soils Judging Team made a successful return to the field. The four-member squad competed in the 2024 Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Judging Contest hosted by the University of Kentucky ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Clubs & Volunteers, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Agronomy-Soils Club, College Of Agriculture And Life Sciences, Heather Enloe, Soil Water And Ecosystem Sciences, Soils Judging, VP Promise

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