Wheat breeders spend years meticulously crossing varieties to coax the best traits out of each species, carefully propagating plant varieties that are healthier, heartier and better suited for the environments where they are grown. Brewmasters are equally painstaking when choosing the components that will give their beers a specific flavor profile. These two exacting professions came together this spring when Athens-based Creature Comforts Brewing Co. reached out to the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to find a sustainable wheat variety they could use to make a good beer for a great cause.

University of Georgia plant genomics expert Robin Buell is part of an international team seeking to mine an untapped genetic resource for wheat improvement by sequencing the genomes of ancient varieties representing the worldwide diversity of bread wheat. The two-year project— called the Wheat Diversity Project — is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and will bring Buell together with researchers from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) and collaborators in France to sequence 12 landrace genomes.

Bochra Bahri has joined the University of Georgia as an assistant professor of plant pathology. Based on the UGA Griffin campus, Bahri will conduct research on turfgrass and forage diseases that affect growers in Georgia, the nation and around the world.

Katrien M. Devos, a professor of crop and soil sciences and plant biology at the University of Georgia, has been named a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA).

Wheat prices are down, and wheat acreage in Georgia is dropping. To boost the state’s wheat industry and help producers get more out of their crop, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension small-grains specialist Reagan Noland is researching a dual-use system that would enable growers to use their wheat crop for grain and forage production.

Beginning March 1, Robert N. Stougaard will be the assistant dean of research for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He will be responsible for the overall supervision of the college’s seven research centers and farms and three major agricultural experiment stations located across the state.

A $198,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-sponsored Conservation Innovation Grant will support ongoing University of Georgia research on cover crops and the effects of those crops on water quality and availability for row crop production.

In 2017, Georgia row crop farmers will likely devote more acreage to the state’s tried-and-true commodities: cotton and peanuts. This and other agricultural projections for the year were the focus of the 10th annual Georgia Ag Forecast seminar series, held across the state Jan. 18-27.

Georgia’s economy will be on the rise in 2016, fueled by population growth, resurgence of the housing market and major projects across the state, including two new professional sports stadiums planned for metro Atlanta. Georgians can also expect to continue to pay less for a gallon of milk, and for meat producers, exports look encouraging for beef and pork.