Winter 2022
Just a small thing making a big difference
From a simple plant comes big science » More ...
Agriculture
Winter 2022
A boatload of ideas for fungi
Fungi and mycelium provide a flexible, earth-friendly material for all kinds of products.
Washington State University student Katy Ayers built a world record-setting canoe out of mycelium, her MyConoe. That’s just the beginning of her ideas about materials made from fungus. Larry Clark, editor of Washington State Magazine, talked with Ayers about products made from fungi and mycelium, along with potential fungi items such as fishing bobbers and hunting blinds.
Listen to the podcast:
Find more podcast episodes, and ways to subscribe and listen.
Read more in “It’s fungi to the rescue” (Winter 2022)
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Winter 2022
Oh, Christmas trees!
There might not be a perfect holiday tree but Dr. Christmas Tree has improved the options. » More ...
Winter 2022
Three cheers for fair food
Of course, the best place to get fair food is the fair itself.
But you can also make your own at home, putting your deep-frying, powdered sugar-dusting skills to the test with recipes for everything from corn dogs to funnel cakes.
Here’s a round-up of recipes to try if you can’t wait for next year’s fair fare.
Make your own fair food at home
The Spokesman-Review recipe-tested a couple of recipes for corn dogs Recommended: the Iowa State Corn Dogs recipe).
Make your own ketchup, mustard, and mayo to go with your corn dogs (Spokesman-Review)
Winter 2022
Talkin’ around the Christmas tree
The Pacific Northwest—particularly western Washington and Oregon—has historically been a major Christmas tree production region. Today, it produces about a third of the Christmas trees sold each year in America.
In general, there are two types of growers: large-scale farms producing trees for the wholesale market and smaller, often family-run operations for the choose-and-cut market.
Christmas trees around the United States:
The top Christmas tree-producing states are: Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.
The average growing time is seven years, but it can take as few as four and as many as 15 to reach the typical height of 6 … » More …
Winter 2022
Fair man: Meet Greg Stewart
A friend sent him the quote “probably five years ago,” and it really resonated.
It summed up his feelings for agricultural fairs, declaring they “bring us together, and thereby make us better acquainted, and better friends than we otherwise would be. … the chief use of agricultural fairs is to aid in improving the great calling of agriculture … to make mutual exchange of agricultural discovery, information and knowledge; so that, at the end, all may know everything which may have been known to but one…”
It’s an excerpt from a longer text, and if you talk with Greg Stewart (‘71 Ag.) long enough—and he … » More …
Fall 2022
Smarter orchards
The promise and progress of intelligent automation at Washington State University » More ...
Fall 2022
Videos: Robots in orchards
The robots are coming…to an orchard or field near you.
Robots, drones, and automation are part of the smart agriculture movement with the aim of creating the farms of the future.
Watch some of the robots in action…
Robotic apple harvester making headway (Good Fruit Grower, January 14, 2022)
Automatic fruit picker demonstration by FF Robotics (Good Fruit Grower, 2017)
Mechanical pollination trials on a commercial cherry crop (Good Fruit Grower, 2016)
Featuring WSU horticulturist Matthew Whiting at the Prosser-based WSU research orchard
LaserWeeder implement (Carbon Robotics, … » More …
Fall 2022
Smart sensing at Cook Farm
Coming soon
The Cook Agronomy Farm at Washington State University uses smart sensors to prepare for climate change effects on crops, help farmers be more precise and efficient, and study soil on agricultural lands.
Read more about automation and precision agriculture in “Smarter orchards.”
Fall 2022
BEE happy (and more)
Just a few ways to make WSU Cougs’ palates happy » More ...