How can the loss of species and habitats in agricultural landscapes be stopped? Up to now, measures have mostly been implemented by individual farms. In contrast, agri-environmental measures that are planned across farms at landscape level offer greater potential for creating suitable habitats for different species as a mosaic in the landscape. However, successful landscape level approaches also require cooperation between farms and other stakeholders from local governments, politics and nature conservation. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have therefore identified essential key factors that facilitate successful agricultural-environmental collaboration at landscape level. The results of the study were published in People and Nature.

Weeds like Palmer amaranth make farming harder and less profitable, and available herbicides are becoming less effective. For scientists to find solutions, they first need to know their enemy. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborating institutions reveals complete chromosome-level genomes for Palmer and two other Amaranthus species, smooth and redroot pigweed. The advancement represents a major leap in scientists’ understanding of the weeds’ biology, including their ability to detoxify common herbicides.

This study reviews the use of extrusion in processing wheat-based products. It highlights that extrusion parameters—such as temperature, pressure, die size, and shear rate—significantly influence the microstructure and nutritional properties, including starch gelatinization and protein denaturation. These findings suggest that extrusion can enhance nutrient retention and drive product innovation, addressing challenges in traditional wheat processing.

Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world’s population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an environmental threat, contaminating waterways and generating greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Agricultural Science & Technology have addressed those challenges with glass fertilizer beads. The beads control nutrient release, and the researchers say they’re environmentally compatible.

Highly valued economically, ecologically and culturally, the white oak (Quercus alba) is a keystone forest species and is one of the most abundant trees across much of eastern North America. It also faces declining seedling recruitment in many parts of its range.

In a paper published in New Phytologist, researchers representing the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Indiana University, the University of Kentucky, the U.S. Forest Service and several more institutions describe for the first time the species’ complex genome, providing insights into fundamental questions about plant evolution, tree breeding and genetic improvement efforts that could help forest managers plan for and address future forest resources.