The Semi-arid Grassland Research Center was used in the International Drought Experiment as part of this research. Credit: CSU College of Natural Sciences

Prolonged drought causes unprecedented productivity loss: Study

Colorado State University — Extreme, prolonged drought conditions in grasslands and shrublands would greatly limit the long-term health of crucial ecosystems that cover nearly half the planet, says new research published in the journal Science. “Climate change is bringing more severe and longer-lasting droughts to many locations around the world. Some ecosystems have shown resilience […] Read more

Trying to keep up: Soil science seminars can feel like a firehose of information, but somewhere in the complexity, there’s a story waiting to be told. PHOTO: Don Norman

Decoding the science behind the story

Reporter’s Notebook: The more I do this, the more familiar the terms become

Some days my job becomes a bit like codebreaking: I have to take the specialist language of science and translate it into something useful, not just readable.


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Fraser: In ag marketing, emotions need to start trumping facts

Emotional transparency 'actually goes a long way'

Go to an agricultural event and someone will inevitably point out how bad farmers are at getting their message to consumers. As annoying as it is, those comments underscore an increasingly important theme in Canadian agriculture: communication. It used to be enough to grow and market your crops, but that has changed dramatically over the […] Read more

Cutaway of Plant and Roots in Dirt

Don’t trust your oats with any secrets

Hart Attacks: You don’t want to know what plants are saying about you behind your sprayer

Today’s take home message: watch what you say or do out in the buckwheat patch. Plants aren’t exactly seeing, but they could be listening and they are definitely communicating. That’s what Jack Schutlz, a biologist and zoologist at the University of Missouri, whose business card describes him as a chemical ecologist, tells me anyway. Schultz […] Read more


Wheat seedling in measuring cylinder, close-up

Science can be a dirty word

The public doesn’t understand science, and reporters often don’t do a great job covering it. Not that there are good excuses, but here’s how it can happen


Science is a dirty word these days. Or perhaps just a word that more and more people don’t understand. And you should be concerned because that lack of basic scientific knowledge is driving distrust of modern agriculture. “It’s a big, big issue,” Al Scholz told me. Al is the executive director and registrar of the […] Read more

field of sunflowers

Interesting times ahead for farmers

Farmers are on the environmental front line. If they can keep the public onside, they could turn a curse into an opportunity

The proverb “may you live in interesting times” is often attributed to a Chinese philosopher. The phrase is supposed to imply that it’s better to live a boring, tranquil life, than an interesting, but perhaps stressful, one. But sleuth around a little on the Internet and you’ll find the so-called Chinese curse isn’t Chinese at […] Read more