Tag Archives: agricultural science

Keeping farmers in the field

Goetz-land-grant-programs-helped-keep-farmers-on-the-farm

The infographic above illustrates findings from a study by The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development at Penn State on the effects of public investment in Land Grant University programs. Agricultural economists Stephan Goetz and Meri Davlasheridze found that agricultural research and Cooperative Extension programs helped more than 137,000 farmers stay on the farm between 1984 and 2010.

Goetz is director of the Northeast Center, as well as professor of agricultural and regional economics. Davlasheridze is assistant professor of marine sciences at Texas A&M at Galveston.

This graphic originally appeared on the Center’s site.  You can view a larger version of it here.

Members of the news media interested in talking to Goetz should contact Kristen Devlin at krd111@psu.edu.

The research continues: Mushroom science

People walk by every day without giving a second glance to the blue and white historical markers posted at various locations around Penn State’s main campus. The markers give a nod to the University’s past, but some also offer a peek into the University’s future.

Near the west entrance to Buckhout Lab, University Park, is the Mushroom Science marker. In the 1920s Penn State began a comprehensive program in mushroom science. Researchers in this program improved compost and developed practices that were adopted by growers worldwide.

Leon Kneebone, emeritus professor of botany and plant pathology, created the Mushroom Industry Short Course in 1956. The Kneebone Mushroom Reference Collection, housed in the Life Sciences Library, is a working library for today’s researchers.  Continue reading The research continues: Mushroom science