Latest News

December 8, 2025

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) — a type of pneumonia — is the leading cause of death for dairy calves after they become accustomed to food other than their mothers’ milk, resulting in economic losses at over $1 billion annually for the U.S. cattle industry. To detect BRD in dairy calves before they show obvious symptoms and reduce those costly losses, a team of researchers, funded by a new three-year, $1 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, intend to create a system that uses modern sensing technologies and advanced artificial intelligence.

December 4, 2025

To help apple growers achieve such precise management, researchers at Penn State are developing an automated, robotic weed-management system.

November 21, 2025

At a time when millions of Americans have turkey on their minds, a team led by an animal scientist at Penn State has successfully tested a new way for poultry producers to keep their turkeys in sight.

November 20, 2025

In this video, join President Neeli Bendapudi as she visits the College of Agricultural Sciences to learn about an experiential learning experience made possible through the power of partnership that is connecting ag students with a hands-on opportunity in sustainable farming. Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at this unique student opportunity.

November 18, 2025

Students from across Penn State had the opportunity to engage directly with engineers, alumni and recruiters from CNH, an equipment and services company focused on agriculture and construction, during CNH Engineering Day, held Oct. 7 at Penn State University Park. The event highlighted real-world applications of engineering, hands-on problem-solving and pathways to careers in sustainable technology and equipment design.

November 3, 2025

A novel technique developed by researchers at Penn State has revealed that activity matters more than abundancy for which soil microbes can help plants with nutrient uptake and disease resistance.

October 20, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered precision agriculture tools can help growers better manage their orchards by reducing waste, increasing resilience and helping guide decisions about water use, fertilizer application and pest control, according to researchers at Penn State. However, the team said, not enough agricultural scientists are trained to develop and use these tools in real-world farming situations. An project underway in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences aims to ease that shortage by training three doctoral degree students.

September 23, 2025

In a development that could help protect one of the world's most beloved agricultural commodities, a research team at Penn State has successfully created disease-resistant cacao plants using gene-editing technology. According to the researchers, the innovation promises to help resolve a significant problem for the global chocolate industry, worth over $135 billion annually, which faces threat from the phytophthora species, a fungal-like pathogen that gives rise to the destructive black pod disease that can cause yield losses of up to 30% worldwide.

September 19, 2025

Cruciferous vegetables like radish, broccoli and kale offer significant health benefits, especially when they are consumed as microgreens, or as young seedlings harvested early. But microgreens are highly perishable and lose nutritional value quickly. In an effort to boost the impact and accessibility of microgreens, a team of researchers at Penn State found that hot air drying — a cheap and relatively easy preservation technique — largely allows the plants to retain key nutrients and compounds that benefit health.

August 26, 2025

Microgreens, which are young, edible plants that only take one to three weeks to harvest, are more than garnish at trendy restaurants — they could be the answer to global hunger, according to plant scientists at Penn State. Two new studies have revealed that microgreens, already densely packed with nutrients, can be made even more nutritious with a couple of minor growing adjustments.

August 22, 2025

Birds of a feather flock together, often traveling over enormous distances that can cross international borders. This can make managing and conserving critical populations of migratory birds extremely difficult, according to scientists at Penn State leading a team working to improve the understanding of migration movement at regional, continental and global scales. The team recently received a $848,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to support their work, which focuses on integrating two tracking methods into one powerful tool called an Integrated Movement Model.

August 14, 2025

A new way to treat poultry for fowl mites was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July, thanks in part to a team of researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

July 30, 2025

A new initiative aimed at developing emerging and advanced technologies to enhance food production, agricultural ecosystems and natural resources will be one of the focal points of the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building at Penn State’s 2025 Ag Progress Days, Aug. 12-14.

July 21, 2025

A team led by researchers at Penn State have modeled precisely how various nuclear winter scenarios could impact global production of corn — the most widely planted grain crop in the world. They also recommended preparing “agricultural resilience kits” with seeds for faster-growing varieties better adapted to colder temperatures that could potentially help offset the impact of nuclear winter, as well as natural disasters like volcanic eruptions.

June 18, 2025

Businesses that take a strategic approach to design are up to eight times more likely to develop innovative products than those that don't, according to a study by scientists from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

June 6, 2025

Milk protein and cellulose derived from plants may be the next big thing in sustainability, thanks to a first-of-its-kind advancement made by researchers at Penn State. Using a manufacturing technique called electrospinning, the team created nanofibers 1,000 times thinner than a human hair and then manipulated those fibers into mats that hold promise for a variety of products, like biodegradable — and even edible — food packaging.

June 3, 2025

The key to trees' ability to adapt to varied growing conditions and, ultimately, their survival, may reside in the complex genetic makeup of replacement trees, according to forest geneticists tasked with reintroducing tree species. A study of one of the rarest pine trees in the world, Torrey pine, conducted by a team including Penn State scientists, has yielded what the researchers called valuable insight into the value of genetic diversity and the importance of ensuring locally adapted diversity is maintained for restoration.

May 30, 2025

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences was represented on the global stage as faculty and students participated in the United Nations’ 10th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, held at U.N. headquarters in New York City earlier this month.

May 23, 2025

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences will convene leaders from academia, industry, government and stakeholder networks for a symposium focused on accelerating agricultural innovation through cross-sector collaboration. The event will take place June 12-13 at Penn State University Park.

April 25, 2025

A team of researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is addressing the growing interest among tree fruit growers in Pennsylvania and the Northeast in adopting drone-based spraying systems for high-density apple and peach orchards. The Northeast Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently awarded the team two grants to support the work.

April 22, 2025

The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology selected six projects to receive funding from the college’s seed grant program, which provides funding to support research activities and generate preliminary results that will eventually lead to bigger projects involving external funding.

April 22, 2025

Twelve educators from across the country had the opportunity to explore one technology — artificial intelligence — during a recent immersive workshop at Penn State University Park.

April 2, 2025

At the intersection of technology and agriculture, Penn State’s Agribot Club in the College of Agricultural Sciences aims to shape the future of farming through robotics.

April 1, 2025

On the latest episode of “Growing Impact,” a team of Penn State researchers discusses how their seed grant project aims to address nitrous oxide emissions from the agricultural sector.

March 13, 2025

Brook trout may have a genetic trick up their scales when it comes to adapting, with limitations, to heatwaves that threaten their existence. A novel study led by researchers at Penn State suggests that brook trout — an iconic coldwater fish species native to streams and lakes in the eastern United States and Canada — are capable of mounting a protective genetic response to thermal stress that can be passed on from one generation to the next.

March 10, 2025

A new method of examining gene expression patterns called landscape transcriptomics may help pinpoint what causes bumble bees stress and could eventually give insight into why bee populations are declining overall, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.

February 27, 2025

Soilless growing systems inside greenhouses, known as controlled environment agriculture, promise to advance the year-round production of high-quality specialty crops, according to an interdisciplinary research team at Penn State. But to be competitive and sustainable, this advanced farming method will require the development and implementation of precision agriculture techniques. To meet that demand, the team developed an automated crop-monitoring system capable of providing continuous and frequent data about plant growth and needs, allowing for informed crop management.

January 24, 2025

Microorganisms collected from the material in which button mushrooms are grown may benefit the development of future fungi crops, according to a study led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

January 22, 2025

Several hundred bees in rural Pennsylvania and rural New York are sporting tiny QR codes on their backs to track when they go in and out of their hives. The work, a collaboration among entomologists and electrical engineers at Penn State, is the first step in solving a long-standing mystery of how far bees travel from their hives to collect pollen and nectar.

December 18, 2024

A concentrated sugar solution could be just as effective as antibiotics at treating a common infection in dairy cows, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.