From the Center Director
Harvest season is here, and it has been a good one so far with the weather cooperating fully for timely picking of corn and peanuts and cutting soybeans. On a per acre basis, we made 200+ bushels of corn, 70+ bushels of soybeans, and 2+ tons of peanuts. We’ll begin picking cotton within days and a high yield is expected as the plants are loaded. This will be the first time in my 10+ tenure as WFREC Director that we will finish harvesting our major crops before or near the end of October, which is great. In some years past with wet fall seasons we didn’t finish picking cotton until after Christmas. This has been the best growing season at the Jay Research Facility that I can remember owing to timely rains, good harvest conditions, and great management by our farm crew.
Our faculty have been busy with field work, and other aspects of academia such as publishing refereed journal articles, garnering grant funds, and winning awards as shown in sections below. Our undergraduate numbers have increased to pre-pandemic levels. A new weed scientist, Dr. Ednaldo Borgato, will join us in November and we anticipate him developing great research and extension programs in the coming years. We are searching for a Senior Lecturer to teach undergraduate classes, but the focus of that position will be to coordinate our undergraduate teaching program which is not a trivial task as Dr. Miller would tell you. We hope to have a person in that position in spring of 2025.
Our summer events that highlighted WFREC turf, cropping systems, and entomology programs were a great success this year with a high level of attendance by stakeholders. We look forward to our next major event, Farm to City, where we get to harvest and distribute food to those that need it in Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties during Thanksgiving week. This event not only allows us to serve the community, but it also raises awareness of the importance of agriculture in our society. Robin Vickers has grown the size of the Farm to City event over the years, which has brought a lot of positive attention to our Center. We continue to look forward with excitement to the completion of the graduate student dormitories at the Jay Research Facility in 2025. I’m hopeful that dormitory construction will begin soon.
I’m proud of the accomplishments of our productive faculty, staff, and students, and continue to believe the WFREC’s future is bright. I thank you for taking the time to read about our accomplishments, and I invite you to attend and participate in any of our upcoming events that are mentioned later in this newsletter. Until then, GO GATORS!
News and Events
Farm to City Thanksgiving Food Distribution on Nov. 26
Extension Farm Field Day
We continue to grow events here at the WFREC. Our biggest crowd to date, we had 172 attendees at yesterdays Extension Farm Field Day. Thank you to all the attendees, speakers and sponsors for your continued support of the WFREC and extension programs!
Gulf Coast Turfgrass Field Day & Expo
The WFREC was happy to have Dr. Frank Gilliam, UWF' s Soils class visit us here at the research facility. Dr. Wes Wood, WFREC Center Director and Soil Scientist had the opportunity to teach the class about the soil types we have at the WFREC!
What a great day packing boxes for our upcoming Farm to City food distribution at Feeding the Gulf Coast!I want to thank the Navy Federal Credit Union employees and the Santa Rosa County Department of Corrections for volunteering to help fill the boxes with canned goods, gravy, potatoes, and other items to help make a Thanksgiving meal.
Honors and Awards
Congratulations to Dr. Wes Wood on exceeding 10,000 career citations in your Google Scholar profile. This reflects a substantial and impactful body of work.
Exceeding this 10,000 citation threshold also puts him in a special category on the faculty “heatmap” that is updated and shared each year with our National Academies members and our elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The Dean for Research office will pay his annual AAAS membership dues in recognition of his excellence in research. Way to go Dr. Wood!!
Mr. Love Kumar, was selected for a Doris and Earl Lowe and Verna Lowe Scholarship. The scholarship is in the amount of $2000.
Julia Campos successfully defended her dissertation on June 13th and completed her Ph.D. requirements this summer. She will graduate with a Ph.D. from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in the Entomology Department.
During her doctorate program, Julia developed research on pest management in turfgrass systems under the supervision of Dr. Silvana Paula-Moraes and Dr. Bryan Unruh. Congratulations Julia!!
Congratulations Dr. Hardeep Singh for winning the Art Hornsby Faculty Fellowship. He will recieve a one-time $2,500 (after taxes) salary supplement, $1,000 for extension program support, and a commemorative certificate.
Extension Awards were announced on August 29th, during the Dean’s Administrative Program at the 2024 Extension Professional Associations of Florida (EPAF) conference in Daytona Beach, Florida.
2024 Refereed Publications
Singh H., Mulvaney, M. J., Bashyal M., Singh K. Prohexadionecalcium applications increase peanut peg strength. Agronomy Journal, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.216822.
Daramola, O.S., MacDonald, G.E., Kanissery, R.G., Tillman, B.L., Singh, H. and Devkota, P. Effect of planting pattern and herbicide programs on sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia L.) control in peanut. Weed Technology http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/wet.2024.64
Singh S., Singh R., Singh K., Katoch K., Zaeen A.A., Birhan D.A., Singh A., Sandhu H.S., Singh H., Sharma, L. Smart Fertilizer technologies: An environmental impact assessment for sustainable agriculture Smart Agricultural Technology, 100504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2024.100504
Brym Z., Sharma L., Singh H., Obreza T., Mylavarapu R. “UF/IFAS Nutrient Management Recommendation Series: Hemp"
Singh, S., Thoms, M., Singh H., Tillman B., Matcham, E., Carter, E. “Calcium Fertilization in Peanuts: Importance, Sources and Considerations"
Brown, M.E., D.L. Miller, A.N. Smith, B.M. Cory. (2024) Direct and Indirect Effects of an Invasive Ecosystem Engineer on a Rare Herbaceous Wetland. Biological Invasions 26:3657-3675
Dr. Paula-Moraes “Continental-scale migration patterns and origin of Helicoverpa zea based on biogeochemical marker”, indicates the significance of the southeastern United States as a source region for H. zea migration and underscores the importance of understanding migratory patterns for improving Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Insect Resistance Management (IRM) strategies.
Lamichhane, B., Dunn, B. L., Singh, H., Kumar, A., & Norwood, B. (2024). Determining Eastern Red Cedar Biochar Soilless Media Supplementation Rates for Potted Ornamental Kale and Chrysanthemum Production. HortScience, 59(6), 777-786. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI17704-24
Lamichhane, B., Dunn, B. L., Singh, H., Kumar, A., & Norwood, F. B. (2024). Determining Eastern Red Cedar Biochar Soilless-Media Supplementation Rates for Potted Geranium and Petunia Production. Horticulturae, 10(5), 467. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10050467
Singh, H., Northup, B. K., Gowda, P. H., Omara, P., Baath, G. S., & Prasad, P. V. (2024). Moth bean and tepary bean as green nitrogen sources in intensive winter wheat cropping systems. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 15, 100938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100938
Daramola, O. S., MacDonald, G. E., Kanissery, R. G., Tillman, B. L., Singh, H., & Devkota, P. (2024). Influence of carrier water pH and hardness on imazapic efficacy for sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia L.) control in peanut. Weed Technology, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1017/wet.2023.96
Singh, R., Kaur, S., Bhullar, S. S., Singh, H., & Sharma, L. K. (2024). Bacterial biostimulants for climate smart agriculture practices: Mode of action, effect on plant growth and roadmap for commercial products. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 3(1), e12085. https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.12085
Daramola, O. S., Iboyi, J. E., MacDonald, G. E., Kanissery, R. G., Tillman, B. L., Singh, H., & Devkota, P. (2023). A systematic review of chemical weed management in peanut (Arachis hypogea) in the United States: challenges and opportunities. Weed Science, 1-74. https://doi.org/10.1017/wsc.2023.71
Singh, K., Singh, H., Omara, P., Nwosu, N. J., Bearden, J., Singh, R., & Sharma, L. K. (2024). Potassium Deficiency in Cotton: Causes, Symptoms, and Considerations: SS-AGR-479/AG475, 1/2024. EDIS, 2024(1).
Sharma, L., Khanna, R., & Singh, H. (2024). Developing a Web-based Agro-Application: SL513/SS726, 4/2024. EDIS, 2024(2).
Nwosu, N., Singh H., Brym Z., Sharma L., Carter E., Revynthi A., Osborne L. (2024) Fire Ants Management in Industrial Hemp (In Press)
Amanambu, A. C., Mossa, J., Chen, Y. H., Deitch, M., & Alruzuq, A. (2024). Damming consequences: Quantifying the effects on channel geometry and floodplain inundation. Catena, 235, 107634. DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2023.107634
Bridgemohan, R., Deitch, M.J., Harmon, E., Whiles, M.R., Wilson, P.C., Bean, E., Bridgemohan, P., Bisesi, J.H., Nicholas, J., Redhead, A., & Bachoon, D.S. (2024). Spatiotemporal assessment of pathogenic Leptospira in subtropical coastal watersheds. J Water Health, jwh2024038. DOI: 10.2166/wh.2024.038
Fang, S., Deitch, M. J., Gebremicael, T. G., Angelini, C., & Ortals, C. J. (2024). Identifying Critical Source Areas of Non-point Source Pollution to Enhance Water Quality: Integrated SWAT Modeling and Multi-variable Statistical Analysis to Reveal Key Variables and Thresholds. Water Research, 253(1), 121286. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121286
Tracy, J. E., Sharma, A., Deitch, M., Colee, J., Thetford, M., & Johnson, D. (2024). Flood dynamics and tree resilience: First-year seedlings of five floodplain forest species responding to diverse inundation scenarios. Forest Ecology and Management, 556, 121724. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121724
2024 Grant Funding
Dr. Hardeep Singh: $20,000.00 National Peanut Board Calcium fertilization for Florida Peanut Production * $300,000.00 USDA-NIFA Evaluating Potential of Living Mulch within Corn Production Systems of Southern United States * $27,500.00 UF- IFAS Research Deans Office
Multispectral Drone Technology * $49,593.00 UF- IFAS Research Deans Office
Transforming Agricultural Carbon Management through Waste-Derived Biochar * $571,423.00 FDACS
Development of Florida agricultural stakeholder engagement program (step) in cotton production system to enhance best management practices.