Planning

Artificial Intelligence and related digital technologies to support production, safety, and sustainability of irrigated perennial high-value crops.

The intelligent digital systems are already disrupting many industries, and evolving technologies are rapidly finding their way to agriculture, with examples starting to mount. WSU being leader in applied agricultural research needs to increase our program footprint in artificial intelligence driven digital technologies. In such an effort, our team is developing an application to the […]

Development of a USDA NIFA SCRI proposal to combat onion bacterial diseases across the US

This BIOAg grant was used to support a postdoctorate, Dr. Louisa Winkler, to assist Dr. Lindsey du Toit, WSU Professor of Plant Pathology, prepare a 12-state, 20-person collaborative, multi-disciplinary proposal on onion bacterial diseases to the USDA NIFA Specialty Crops Research Initiative in March 2018. The submitted proposal, which requested ~$3.5 million, ranked in the […]

Flexible Farming (FlexFarm) Production Systems: Integrating Crops and Livestock for Diverse, Resilient, and Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes

Our overall research goal is to contribute to global, national, and regional food security and the ecological and economic sustainability of the inland Pacific Northwest’s (iPNW) agricultural landscape. Specifically, the project aimed to study the potential of integrated crop-livestock (ICL) production systems as resilient and sustainable alternatives to the iPNW’s existing, rainfed agricultural landscape dominated […]

Bovine-avian interactions on dairies: improving cow welfare and farm economic stability by implementing effective and sustainable bird deterrence methods

Pest bird damage to vineyard, orchard, and berry acreage has been a focus of recent research; however, much less is known about how pest birds affect dairies. In other areas of the U.S., the impact of the non-native European starling on dairies has been linked to significant economic damages and disease transmission concerns. The pest […]

Birds and Biosecurity: contact rates and parasite exchange between livestock and songbirds

Livestock have access to the outdoor environment, which integrates farm animals with soil, vegetation and wildlife that are components of the farm ecosystem. For example, pasture provides cycling of renewable, organic food inputs for livestock and nutrients from manure. These ecosystem services are vital to sustainable organic animal production. However, livestock in the environment also […]

Planning for a Phase II SCRI grant proposal on ‘Utilization and Versatility of Biodegradable Agricultural Materials in Specialty Crop Production’

The Phase II SCRI project would address important questions raised by the first project, including: opportunities for new feedstocks and formulations for mulches; biodegradability of materials in soil and other environments; versatility for diverse uses in agriculture (annual/perennial crops, mulches, row covers, disease and pest mitigation); and enhanced disposal in soil, composting, and anaerobic digestion […]

Agroecology of Urban Food Farming: Engaging scientists, producers and educators in collaborative BIOAg research planning

This proposal outlines the planning phase for the Agroecology of Urban Food Farming(UFF) project (previously submitted) which will analyze the effectiveness of BIOAg practices on soil quality, food security, and socioeconomic resilience in Vancouver and Portland. This is consistent with WSU BIOAg program priorities of soil quality, food system resilience and sustainability in economically challenged […]

Use of oxidized bio-chars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and attenuate the transport of Escherichia coli in soils

This project addresses one Priority of the BioAg program: Integration of Livestock-Crop Integration and two topics covered by the Climate Friendly Farming program: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration, Anaerobic Digestion (Biogas) and Biochar (pyrolysis). This project will generate preliminary data on the effect oxidized bio-chars will have on greenhouse gases (GHG)s emissions specifically (CO2) […]

Developing Improved Management Practices to Overcome Soil Health Issues in Red Raspberries

This planning grant proposal will bring together researchers from three states (WA, OR, CA) and British Columbia that work in small fruit production (red raspberries focus) from a diverse set of disciplines (pest, nutrient and cultural management) to develop improved integrated practices for red raspberries. Our first actions are to bring together these collaborators to […]