Agriculture

Wild pigs have been in the southern United States for hundreds of years.

Destructive 'Super Pigs' From Canada Threaten the Northern U.S.

The animals root through crops, prey on native species, cause soil erosion and carry pathogens that can spread to humans

McClintock used this Bausch & Lomb wide-field binocular microscope to examine morphological mutations in corn.

By Studying Corn, Barbara McClintock Unlocked the Secrets of Life

A look through a historic microscope helps explain what we all owe the Nobel Prize-winning scientist

The finely crafted, decorative ceramics

Archaeologists Unearth 3,000-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

The Bronze Age well was full of decorative ceramics, jewelry and other items likely used for ritual purposes

Boat docks sit on dry, cracked earth at the Great Salt Lake's Antelope Island Marina on August 1, 2021, near Syracuse, Utah.

Drying Great Salt Lake Could Expose Millions to Toxic Arsenic-Laced Dust

The largest saline lake in North America is on track to collapse within five years, a new report finds

Pollinators, including bees, face pressure from disease-causing organisms, habitat loss, climate change and other factors.

The World's First Vaccine for Honeybees Is Here

It could be a game-changer for beekeepers fighting American foulbrood, a disease that can wipe out entire colonies

Pollinators, including bees, are suffering because of human activities.

Shrinking Pollinator Populations Could Be Killing 427,000 People Per Year

New research explores the relationship between human health and crop loss due to pollination deficits around the world

A view of the Shanidar Cave in Iraq’s Zagros Mountains, where some of the charred plant remains were discovered

Neanderthals Cooked Surprisingly Complex Meals

Charred food remnants provide insight into 70,000-year-old dietary practices

Rice is a major staple crop around the world.

Perennial Rice Could Raise Yields and Cut Costs

These plants that grow back year after year show promise, but they are not a silver bullet

The 6,000-year-old watermelon seeds from Uan Muhuggiag (left) border a child eating a modern watermelon.

Why Prehistoric Herders Didn't Spit Out Their Watermelon Seeds

Thousands of years ago, Saharans ate the kernels before the fruit became sweet

Frozen chemicals across the country could thaw and make their way into groundwater and surface water during winters, research suggests.

Once-Frozen Chemicals Could Pollute Water as Winters Warm

Thawing agricultural nutrients threaten streams, lakes and rivers across the country, new research suggests

Ads like this one for Tesco turkey in London may no longer be allowed in the Dutch city of Haarlem starting in 2024.

A Dutch City Is Banning Some Meat Advertisements in Public Spaces

The climate change-motivated move is accompanied by bans on fossil fuel ads elsewhere in the Netherlands

Breadfruit grows on trees.

Is Breadfruit the Climate Change-Proof Food of the Future?

New research suggests it will fare better than our current staple crops under warming conditions

North Dakota’s sunflower superbloom is underway.

See the Incredible Sunflower Superbloom in North Dakota

Fields filled with the cheery yellow flowers reach peak bloom in late summer

Australia is home to roughly 200 million rabbits, which are not native to the country and damage crops and ecosystems. 

How Two Dozen Rabbits Started an Ecological Invasion in Australia

The country’s “most serious pests” can be traced to one shipment from England in 1859, study shows

Cotton fields

It's Time for the Fashion Industry to Launch a Farm-to-Closet Movement

For fiber and textile producers, the path to growing sustainable cotton, hemp and flax is complicated

An adult spotted lanternfly

People Are ‘Hunting’ Invasive Spotted Lanternflies—and You Should, Too

Officials urge the public to squish the bugs, which are damaging crops and trees in the eastern U.S.

A family-owned coffee farm in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, Hacienda Tres Ángeles teaches visitors about the coffee making process from “crop-to-cup.”

How Puerto Rico Became One of the Caribbean's Top Agritourism Destinations

Across the island, certified sites invite both travelers and local residents to experience farming practices and traditions firsthand

A new book, coedited by Smithsonian entomologist Ted Schultz, explores and the fascinating ways in which human and nonhuman farmers compare, and asks what we might learn from other agricultural species.

Could Ants, Termites and Fishes Make Humans Better Farmers?

Scientists are now revealing the agricultural expertise that other species have cultivated for tens of millions of years

An electrical works project led archaeologists to uncover this Aztec-era dwelling. 

Construction Workers Uncover Massive 800-Year-Old Aztec Dwelling in Mexico City

The accidental discovery has a long, layered history

New research shows that mass migration of ancient peoples from the south were essential to bringing maize cultivation to Maya communities in Central America. Scientists previously thought knowledge of farming techniques were shared by word of mouth between neighboring communities. 

New Study Finds Migrants Brought Maize to the Maya

DNA analysis of skeletal remains in Belize helps piece together how corn cultivation came to thrive in Central America

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