Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
(Formerly Agronomy)

100 years of service to Pennsylvania and beyond

We had an exciting year with special activities to commemorate our centennial year.

Ag Progress Days Showcase — August 14–16, 2007

The Department was featured in the College Exhibits Building. Special displays highlighted:

• Soils: nutrient management and remediation of acid mine drainage
• Crops: abundant food and feed, cleaner environment, and biofuels
• Turfgrass: sports turf and teaching program
• Geospatial Technology: SoilMap, AgMag, and other applications
• Timeline: three dimensional timeline of the departmental achievements
• Theatre presentations: soil wall, P index, sports injury and agronomy jeopardy

For additional information about APD, please see http://apd.cas.psu.edu/

Centennial Celebration Event — September 22, 2007

Invigorating morning activities included a tour of Ag Hill and the Valentine Turfgrass Research Center, hiking on Mid State Trail and a fly fishing outing. Afternoon activities included farm tours, hayrides, browsing the Pasto Agricultural Museum, finding your way through a corn maze, planned activities for children, and the viewing of departmental displays. A celebration dinner was held in the evening at the Special Events Building at the Ag Progress Days’ site and a program and country social (square dancing and music) concluded the evening.

Department History and Achievements

We produced two publications to commemorate our centennial. Please contact Belinda Ilgen to receive a copy.

• Agronomy at Penn State: The History and Selected Achievements of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. Edited by Marvin Risius, James Starling and David Sylvia. Learn many interesting facts about the department.
• A Century of Solutions, From the Ground Up: Selected Achievements of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. This booklet provides an easy-to-read overview of departmental achievements.
• View an image gallery of our department heads over the last century.