Production Agriculture Research

Investigate how phthalates present in the drinking water of dairy farms negatively impact fertility of dairy cows through epigenetic mechanisms.

The investigative team will use a remote sensing approach to study two precision irrigation practices for growing sorghum in Nevada: pivot and drip.

This research will accelerate agronomic improvement of tef, a crop with great potential as a climate-resilient, alternative forage grass and value-added grain crop for drier regions of the western U.S. Development of lodging-resistant, high yielding tef varieties will improve ease of harvest and increase seed yields.

The malting and brewing quality of both sorghum and barley will be investigated when the plants are grown across a range of elevations to help identify areas where it will be most profitable to grow them.

The long-term goal of this project is to evaluate the field performance of prickly pear cactus and two related species as potential for forage, food, and biomass crops for southern Nevada and semi-arid regions of the desert southwest.

Determine novel traits in tomatoes that can improve whole plant response and growth under high salinity and boron toxicity that ultimately benefit growers through better genotypes and higher yields.

Investigation into the genetics underlying the production of specific, beneficial antimicrobial compounds thought to have antifungal properties against plant pathogens.

Improving the health and growth performance of calves during warm dry summers in northern Nevada.

The goal is to evaluate the interaction of microRNAs with the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by humans.

Developing sorghum varieties with better stress tolerance for Nevada growers.

Physiological measurements (e.g. photosynthesis, transpiration, water uptake capacity in the roots) will be conducted to better understand how these species confer drought tolerance to the scion.