Ever pulled a carrot from the ground only to find it split down the middle like a tiny orange lightning bolt? Or harvested a beet that looked perfect on the surface but betrayed you with jagged cracks ...

You think all corn roots are the same? Then you’ve likely never paid close attention to roots on corn exhibited at county fairs. This summer, check out a county fair with 4-H crops on display, ...

You can’t construct a strong building on a weak foundation, and you can’t grow a great corn crop on a weak root system. From freezing temperatures to voracious underground pests and other threats, ...

Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure ...

When the cold winds start howling and your backyard garden turns into a frozen wasteland, most people assume the fresh harvest season is over. But here’s the secret your great-grandparents knew by ...

Modern agriculture highly depends on the achievements of crop domestication and improvement. While these activities increase yields, they also reduce the genetic diversity of crops. At the same time, ...

A new technique may make it easier to selectively breed crop plants for better, deeper roots. The non-destructive process involves quickly checking a plant's leaves to see how far down its roots go ...

Macauley Kincaid reconnects a hood to part of his mill Aug. 7 at his family farm in Jasper, Mo. Kincaid is the second generation in his family to farm crops for seed production. He still uses the same ...