Arizona’s publicly owned rangelands cover more than 8 million acres, and the livestock division of agriculture, alone, boosted the state’s economy by more than $3 billion last year. (Photo courtesy of UA Cooperative Extension)

Agriculture in Arizona is a multi-billion dollar industry, enriching the state's economy and the welfare of many rural communities.

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The University of Arizona College of Science's popular spring 2012 lecture series is presenting six free talks on the effects of long life. The first lecture, featuring UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Shane Burgess, was held Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in Centennial Hall on the UA campus. For those who missed it, or would like to see it again, his talk, titled "Can We? And What if We Do?" is available in both video and iTunes formats.

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A pair of sweet potato whiteflies on a plant leaf. Whiteflies are a common crop pest in Arizona and elsewhere, and damage the state's cotton industry by weakening plants and fouling cotton gins. (Photo: Stephen Ausmus)

A team of entomologists led by University of Arizona Professor Yves Carrière has devised and implemented a new test to help farmers in their never-ending war against insect pests. Based on nearly a decade of dogged research, they've provided the first direct evidence confirming the effectiveness of the so-called refuge strategy for delaying pest resistance to insecticides.
 

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Steve Pierce, second from right, was a member of professor Marvin Selke's 1971 livestock judging team. Others include Selke, Howard Barnes, Steve Todd, Steve Brophy, Pierce and Mary Montgomery. (Photo courtesy UA animal sciences department.)

"Do you know why there is a rock wall around the UA?" asks Stephen Pierce. The question is directed to a stumped administrator on a recent visit by Pierce to the University of Arizona campus.

Pierce, who has just taken the reins as president of the Arizona Senate, already knows the answer. From 1968 to 1972, he was a student at the UA where he learned, among other things, about how the wall was built to keep range cattle off of the campus.

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