Photo and video credit: Alex Cox Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 On Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 we received an incredible new piece of technology that, coupled with our GPS Greenstar enabled tractor (John Deere 6110 M), will help us plant any seed with higher precision, accuracy, and efficiency! This tech is called the Almaco 360 SeedPro 4-row Precision Planter, and we can't wait to start using it. This spring, we plan to use it as we plant sorghum, maize, and hemp. Start the vid

Learning from Lindsay... Background Root exudate is believed to be a significant player in below-ground system dynamics as it is comprised of thousands of chemical signals that attract beneficial microorganisms, fights off pests and pathogens, acts as a antimicrobial, and disperses allelopathic chemicals. These chemical signals are thus creating a dynamic community of microorganisms that enrich the soil with bioavailable nutrients and help cycle key elements from the soil to

Where in the world do we go (and grow)? Clemson, South Carolina Laboratory and Greenhouse Research: Crops we grow: Pendelton, South Carolina Simpson Research Farm is comprised of approximately 2,300 acres located in Pendleton, SC and provides land resources, equipment and livestock for cattle, sheep and agronomic activities. The agronomic programs are driven by research funding and involve biomass, sorghum, soybean, corn and small grain production. Multiple facilities are pre

What is Andrew Disharoon up to these days? What are you studying? My current research involves approximately ~1400 cereal grain samples of Sorghum bicolor and Zea mays, derived from two genetic mapping populations of cumulatively ~700 genotypes. These will be metabolically phenotyped using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy to evaluate compounds underlying flavor. Currently these genotypes are planned to be grown in Pee Dee REC, Florence, SC this summer. Furthermore, as

Kathleen gives us the inside scoop What? Thanks to support from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture's Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship (ACRE), we're studying the antimicrobial activity of grain extracts from diverse sorghum lines. Who? PI: Richard Boyles, Clemson University Collaborators: Xiuping Jiang and Stephen Kresovich, Clemson University Lab personnel: Kathleen Jordan and Barbara Blackmon, Kresovich lab, Clemson University Why? We want to