News Stories - Page 3

If you’re a horse person, you get it. Just watching, touching — heck, even smelling — horses is a feeling like no other. Little wonder the students in the equine science program at the University of Georgia rank the hands-on experience as one of the biggest draws. “I’m fascinated with horses,” said junior Kayla Costin. “My favorite part of the program has been working with them and observing and learning more about them.”

Poultry may perch atop the agricultural food chain in Georgia, but beef production brought $658.6 million to the state’s economy in 2021. The impact of the beef industry took the No. 5 spot in the top 10 Georgia commodities, according to the 2021 Georgia Farm Gate Value Report published by the University of Georgia Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development.

The University of Georgia has introduced a Ph.D. program in regenerative bioscience, to be administered jointly by the Regenerative Bioscience Center and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This pioneering effort sets UGA apart as the first institution in the state to provide a formalized doctoral program aimed at nurturing interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurial skills within this growing field.

Each year, hundreds of international researchers — from master’s degree students to academic faculty — apply to come to the University of Georgia to work in a wide range of academic fields. In the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, dozens of international research scholars work with faculty on important research that furthers the CAES mission while benefiting visiting scholars.

From the time that our ancestors began cultivating food in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago, agriculture has been a life-sustaining practice that has enabled early civilizations to evolve into modern societies. Today, the science behind agriculture and the decisions farmers and leaders make in production and policy affects every aspect of our lives.

Will Harris still works the same land in Bluffton, Georgia, that his great-grandfather first tended in 1866, but he will leave a very different operation to his children and grandchildren than the one he began working on as a child. A nationally recognized figure in the regenerative farming movement, Harris has transformed his family’s holdings from a traditional farming and cattle operation into a model for regenerative practices.