College of Agricultural Sciences

The College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State University, the first in the U.S. to offer baccalaureate degrees in agriculture, offers 19 undergraduate degrees, 16 graduate programs, 24 minors as well as 2-year and certificate programs.

College News and Information

Spotted salamanders are an amphibian whose population, while not endangered in Pennsylvania, is in decline. Researchers aren't sure why amphibian numbers are falling across the country, but they suspect it is due to a number of reasons, such as diseases, contaminants, drought and invasive species.

Study confirms U.S. amphibian populations declining at rapid rate

May 22, 2013

The first-ever estimate of how fast frogs, toads and salamanders in the United States are disappearing from their habitats reveals they are vanishing at an alarming and rapid rate. The landmark study indicates that the amphibian declines first recognized in the 1990s are ongoing, noted David Miller, assistant professor of wildlife population ecology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, who contributed to the research.

Dairy farms rely on good quality water to ensure maximum milk production and herd health. A study by Penn State Extension showed that cows on farms with better quality water supplies, on average, produced more milk.

Study suggests dairy herd water quality linked to milk production

May 22, 2013

A recently completed study of water supplies on Pennsylvania dairy farms found that about a quarter of those tested had at least one water-quality issue. And average milk production for these farms was about 10 percent lower than farms with good water quality.

Mooofins just out of the oven -- they could win first place in a national new food product-development competition.

'Mooofins' carry food product-development team into national finals

May 17, 2013

The Penn State Product Development team, a group of students in the food science department, recently was named one of three finalists in the Dairy Research Institute New Product Competition.

Periodical cicadas, sometimes mistakenly called 17-year locusts, are native to North America and exist nowhere else in the world.

Mysterious insect to emerge in parts of Pennsylvania

May 8, 2013

One of the world's most mysterious insects is about to invade the skies over wooded areas in eastern Pennsylvania and other states, but an expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences says it's not a cause for alarm. Residents of 17 Pennsylvania counties soon will see an emergence of periodical cicadas, commonly but mistakenly called 17-year locusts.

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