News

On-farm research helps scientists and producers gain new knowledge that improves and advances agriculture. These valuable relationships between Kentucky farmers and UK researchers work toward the goal of more efficient and profitable Kentucky farms.

Flowering plants use a unique method called double fertilization in which two male nuclei and two female nuclei containing the plant’s genetic material must meet to produce a seed. This study sheds new light on how the connection between nuclei occurs.

“Plant pathologists and forensic scientists use a lot of the same technologies to find solutions to problems. When I got into the extension side of agriculture at UK and started doing a lot of hands-on, applied research, I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

Artemisia annua or "Sweet Annie" has been used as a medicinal herb for centuries. With potential to treat a variety of cancers & even COVID-19, this plant is more relevant than ever & UK is showing how we can take it from Kentucky fields to the lab to our patients.

The study seeks to answer how sectors of local and regional food systems are responding to COVID-19, what successful adaptations have been implemented, what obstacles the various arms of local food systems have encountered and the economic and value-chain impacts.

“Parental memories of environmental stresses such as drought and extreme temperatures can influence the growth and yield of its offspring. We can now start understanding how plants control such epigenetic memory reprogramming."

UK and ArtemiLife Inc. will collaborate on a clinical study using the extract of a medicinal plant grown in Kentucky to test for anti-cancer activity of Artemisia annua and to determine the recommended dose of Artemisia annua for future clinical trials.

As much uncertainty continues to swirl around the hemp industry, UK agricultural economists remind producers to consider their personal risk tolerance, business contracts and all possible production scenarios before committing to grow hemp.

UK's Ole Wendroth recently became president of the Soil Science Society of America. The society is an international scientific organization with more than 6,000 members and 1,000 certified professionals focused on advancing soil science.