Page 3 - Impact Fall 2022

Each year, Give to the Max Day—a statewide day of giving—raises much-needed support for student scholarships, research, and academic programs
at CFANS and across the University of Minnesota. Mark your calendars for this year’s biggest day of giving: November 17, 2022.
As we look forward to Give to the Max Day, we also wanted to reflect on the amazing things alumni and friends have accomplished on this day in years past:
• Provided 74 CFANS graduate and undergraduate students with nearly $50,000 in emergency funding during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Helped provide 10,000 Bell Museum Science & Nature Activity Kits—engaging 20,000 kids!
• Eased the financial burden of summer fieldwork courses for 32 students.
• Helped the Bee Lab launch a robust new video program that provides online education for schools, beekeepers, and anyone interested in habitat and bee health.
• Allowed 14 students to get hands-on experience in their field through study abroad.
• Hired a student intern at the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) to develop educational materials that highlight the many renewable energy systems at the WCROC that impact agricultural production.
• Helped the soil judging team qualify for nationals—3 times!
Thank you for making this, and more, possible! We can’t wait to see what our CFANS community accomplishes this November.
Looking for a howling
good show?
Check out National Geographic’s “America the Beautiful,” streaming on Disney+. This breathtaking series features the irresistible pups of the U of M’s Voyageur’s Wolf Project. According to project leader Tom Gable, we often see wolves from Yellowstone or the arctic on nature documentaries but not Minnesota wolves, in part because it’s hard to observe them in our dense forests. “We’re beyond excited that the wolves of Voyageurs and the Northwoods of Minnesota are shared with the world in this series,” he said. Snuggle up in your “den” and tune in!
MEET OUR NEWEST WHEAT
This summer, the U of M released a new hard red spring wheat variety called ‘MN- Rothsay,’ featuring a good combination of yield, protein, and disease resistance, and exceptional straw strength.
“MN-Rothsay has straw strength comparable to the Linkert variety released in 2013, but has about 10 percent higher grain yield,” said Jim Anderson, wheat breeder in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. “The exceptional straw strength of Linkert was largely responsible for its five-year reign from 2016 to 2020 as the most popular variety in the state. We expect MN-Rothsay’s higher grain yields, which are comparable or higher than other popular varieties, and improved disease resistance compared to Linkert will be attractive to growers and increase wheat productivity.”