Developing Leaders.
Improving Lives.
Shaping the Future.
Core Priority: Land Grant
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is the flagship for a land-grant mission that has been a vital and distinguishing cornerstone of Cornell University since 1865.
CALS’ faculty, staff, and students are essential players in the land-grant mission, whether designing cellulosic processes for alternative energy, helping set public policies for sustainable land use, understanding and adapting to climate change, developing early warning systems for West Nile Virus, ensuring food safety, or embarking on reforestation initiatives in Afghanistan.
CALS’ research, teaching, and extension programs build community capacity, improve lives, protect the environment, and enhance the economic well-being of people and communities. CALS’ outreach activities influence the decision-making processes of families, businesses, and governments in local, national, and international venues.
CALS’ land-grant mission intersects and overlaps all our core academic priorities, from the applied social sciences, to the environmental sciences, to the new life sciences.
As science develops and society’s needs evolve, CALS remains committed to research and education that is focused on serving the public good and making a positive impact on the world. This public purpose, grounded in a desire to address society’s problems with cutting-edge science, is CALS’ enduring legacy.
 An Apple a Day...Good Business for Growers and Consumers ▼
Apples are a juicy business and a healthy food. In New York, nearly 700 growers produce upwards of 25 million bushels a year, the second largest apple crop in the nation.
Much of that success stems from 125 years of plant breeding and horticultural research at Cornell. Five of the 63 varieties of apples named by Cornell apple breeders—Cortland, Empire, Jonagold, Jonamac, and Macoun—account for almost 20 percent of the state’s total production, and are widely exported.
More than 3,300 apple varieties or genetically unique lines are grown in collaboration with the USDA-ARS Plant Genetics Resources Unit in Geneva. This collection—the largest in the world—provides and preserves germplasm for future research.
With access to this rich library of natural genetic variation, scientists at CALS continue to develop and improve apple varieties that are bred to thrive in New York’s soils and climates, and satisfy consumers around the world.
Susan K. Brown, the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticultural Sciences, directs Cornell’s apple breeding program. Her team selects for characteristics that include improved insect and disease resistance, fruit flavor, size, texture, firmness, storage and shelf life, tree productivity, cold tolerance, and tree structure. CALS’ horticultural scientists also work on postharvest handling and new storage technologies.
To make further good on CALS’ land-grant mission, food scientists focus on the healthful benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. By identifying apple varieties with high nutrient content and beneficial antioxidants, they are discovering new ways for consumers to “keep the doctor away” and adding value for apple growers and consumers.
 Managing Invasive Species ▼
A tiny, voracious fly called the swede midge wreaked havoc across Eastern Canada's cabbage and broccoli fields, and has now made its way to New York State. Although nearly undetectable to the naked eye, the swede midge poses a major threat to producers and consumers who benefit from the Empire State’s cabbage crops, valued at $87 million annually, and the state’s $6 million annual crop of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, and related crops. Agricultural scientists and extension educators at Cornell are working to keep the swede midge under control by scouting for the insect, educating farmers, publishing an identification guide, sending fact sheets to all crucifer growers in New York, and developing integrated pest management strategies to manage the invasive pest.
 Enology and Viticulture Program Trains Future Leaders ▼
Steve Fulkerson was a plant science major, concentrating his courses in the college's undergraduate enology and viticulture program. He met people who will be future colleagues and resources in the wine and grape industry.
“It’s good to have friends who can help you out when you’re working on a new business strategy or horticultural practice,” says Fulkerson, who intends to become the seventh generation in his family to farm a lush 90 acres of grapes on the western slope of Seneca Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region. His parents opened the Fulkerson Winery in 1989.
He studied with faculty members who have world-renowned enology (winemaking) and viticulture (grape-growing) research programs that focus on the climates, soils, grape varieties, and pests common to the Finger Lakes region. Learning the botany behind the grape-growing complements Fulkerson’s love of plants. He has a private collection of his favorite tropical fruit trees and more than 15 varieties of cactus. But grapes are the plants he most enjoys working with.
Along with a concentration in viticulture, he majored in food science, and focused on making fine wines. He also took marketing and farm business management courses to prepare for an expanding business (the family’s winery recently tripled the size of its tasting room).
Fulkerson was actively involved in the Hortus Forum, the undergraduate horticulture club, of which he was president.
“Coming to Cornell was one of the most influential choices of my life. It was tough, yet the connections I made and the life lessons I learned will not likely be matched by any experience from here on out!” he says.
CALS developed the new enology and viticulture program to train young professionals like Fulkerson for the state’s growing wine and grape industry. Few land-grant universities—and no others east of the Rockies—have the base in grape breeding, vineyard management, and enology on which to build such a world-class program.
 Food Venture Center Gives Head Start to Small Businesses ▼
What do tart cherry juice, specialty vinegars, sizzling sauces, turkey ham, fish-salami, low-fat dairy shakes, and newfangled ciders all have in common? They all got a head start at the college’s Food Venture Center. Located at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, the center provides comprehensive assistance to beginning and established food entrepreneurs, and thereby promotes sustainable economic development of rural communities. One of their most recent success stories, an all-natural tart cherry juice called CherryPharm, retains what are believed to be the painpreventive and muscle-damage recovery powers of sour cherries, and is being used by athletes like the New York Rangers.
“Small businesses represent the largest growth area in today’s economy, and food processing companies and specialty food companies, in particular, represent one of the largest segments of growth,” says Olga I. Padilla-Zakour, director of the center and associate professor of food processing.
The center’s clientele ranges from small kitchen entrepreneurs to industry heavyweights striving to fill consumer demand for value-added, locally produced food.
The Food Venture Center offers guidance on such concerns as food safety, federal and state regulations, sensory evaluation, product development, and resource networking. Begun in 1988 as an extension program of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Geneva, the Venture Center has fielded more than 2,000 requests for assistance and helped to establish 450 new food manufacturing businesses.
 Kathryn Boor Studies Food Pathogens at the Cellular Level ▼
Professor of Food Science Kathryn Boor spends her days using molecular biology and classical microbiology to look at the world from a single cell’s point of view. The tiny organisms that interest her can be pretty nasty. Take the notorious E. coli 0157:H7, which can be transmitted through, say, spinach or in hamburger—and sicken people from coast to coast.
“The astonishing thing is that within minutes, a cell can completely change its armor,” says Boor of the ability of bacteria such as E. coli to survive—even thrive—as they move through starkly different environments: the cool darkness of a refrigerator shelf, a sunny, warm counter top, and an airless human intestine. “If we understand how that happens, we can do a much better job of protecting our food from contamination and our bodies from disease,” she says.
Two other food pathogens that Boor studies, Pseudomonas and Bacillus, are prime suspects in spoiling more than 17.4 billion pounds of fluid milk each year. Boor works closely with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Division of Milk Control to correct this problem.
Boor’s Dairy Foods Extension Team trains personnel in every dairy processing plant in the state. They also share the latest in scientific findings, best practices, and regulatory updates with industry, regulatory agencies, and academic institutions at annual workshops, conferences, and short courses. And Boor adds to the ranks of experts by preparing food science students for careers in public health and the front lines of the food industry.
 Educating Dairy Farmers Present and Future ▼
Dairy scientists at CALS address a variety of challenges that impact the state’s 7,000 dairy farms and more than 116 dairy processing plants in New York’s $3.5 billion dairy industry. Three dairy education programs at CALS seek to enhance the leadership potential in both students and producers.
The Cornell Dairy Fellows program provides 140 students a year with courses that cover all subjects needed to operate a dairy farm. Seventy percent of the graduates enter production-oriented careers; 20 percent enter the finance and nutrition fields; and 7 percent enter graduate and professional schools.
Similarly, the Cornell Dairy Executive Program (CDEP) offers current dairy producers an enhanced management educational opportunity. One hundred percent of the graduates of the first three classes of the CDEP indicated they changed some aspect of their business, while 85 percent felt there was an improvement in their business.
PRO-DAIRY, a NYS dairy industry educational program, facilitates economic development by enabling farm families and other agriculturalists to achieve professional and personal goals.
 Land Grant to the World ▼
The global reach of Cornell’s land-grant mission is nowhere better exemplified than by the activities of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development (CIIFAD). In Africa alone, CIIFAD is working on water projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, and Mali; the Food Security and Natural Resource Management Project in Kenya; efforts to integrate species conservation with agricultural development in Zambia; and initiatives to strengthen universities in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya.
Other projects include watershed management in the Philippines, rickets prevention in Bangladesh, soil health initiatives in Honduras, studies of fragile tropical agroecosystems, and a developing presence in Afghanistan, where CIIFAD is embarking on a reforestation initiative and participating in a consortium working to improve Afghan universities. Exciting initiatives are now being planned there and in Africa and Latin America linking projects in nutrition and health with agriculture, reflecting a “grow what you need” approach to alleviating malnutrition.
“CIIFAD really works on social capital,” says Alice Pell, vice provost for international relations and professor of animal science. “Cornell has an amazing group of faculty who love working in developing countries and who have research and outreach expertise that’s highly relevant to our projects.” Graduate and undergraduate students participate in the research and outreach projects, along with stakeholders in the countries.
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