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Plant Breeding & Genetics News

CALS News, Spotlights, Field Notes and FutureCasts of interest to the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section community in the School of Integrative Plant Science.

The latest news ...

Laurie VanNostrand (right), Cornell Cooperative Extension master gardener coordinator in Wayne County and statewide coordinator for the Vegetable Variety Trial Garden project, chats with a master gardener volunteer at a plant pick-up day on campus on May 12.

News

Master gardeners test for best NYS vegetable varieties

Across 37 counties, Cornell Cooperative Extension master gardeners are growing and evaluating select vegetables to find what grows best in New York state.

  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
Mark Sorrells in front of small grains field

Spotlight

Cornell small grains breeding strengthens local and global food systems
For 12,000 years, wheat has been the bread of life; its discovery sparked the beginnings of agriculture, which enabled human flourishing across the globe. For farmers in New York’s humid climate, growing small grains like wheat, oats, barley and...
  • Campus Area Farms
  • Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
Grower Humberto Hernandez evaluating a seed production field of Ursa Alta for Condor Seed on his farm in Yuma, Arizona.

News

New low-THC hemp fiber cultivar flourishes in NYS climate

Ursa Alta will supply material for multiple product streams, including textiles such as denim, animal bedding and wall insulation.

  • Cornell AgriTech
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
Margaret Smith in corn field

News

Margaret Smith, “embodiment of the land grant mission,” elected emerita
After almost 50 years at Cornell – from an undergraduate student to a widely respected steward of Cornell’s land grant mission – Margaret Smith has been elected professor emerita. Smith came to Cornell in 1974 and earned her bachelor’s (’78) and...
  • Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
Builder Jeff Gagnon uses the Ereasy spray system

News

‘Hemp house’ project kicks off new support for NYS hemp

With a $5 million investment from New York state, Cornell is building a processing hub and “service center,” where businesses can research, develop and prototype new hemp-based materials.

  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section

Land Acknowledgment

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ leadership. Learn more from the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program website.