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RETIRING AUBURN RESEARCHER IMPROVED ALABAMA CROP PRODUCTION
AUBURN, ALA.__--For farmers nitrogen fertilizer is usually one of their
most expensive production items, regardless of the crop. Auburn researcher
Art Hiltbold has spent much of his career finding more effective methods
of using nitrogen, and in doing so he has made a difference in Alabama
farm production, and thus a difference in Alabama's economy.
On June 28, Hiltbold retired from Auburn University, leaving behind
a legacy of research findings in the area of soil microbiology. Hiltbold
has conducted research in the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
since arriving on the Auburn campus as an Assistant Professor in 1955.
His early work at Auburn established that nitrogen in the soil is lost
in gaseous form by denitrofication when nitrates are formed.
When the book Silent Spring was published, there was a public
outcry worldwide against the use of pesticides. At least in part to
respond to these concerns, Hiltbold began a long term study to document
the movement of pesticides through the soil. His research team proved
that there was no significant accumulation over a period of years of
herbicides being used at that time (1970s). Atrazine and MSMA, an arsenic
containing compound, were two of the popular herbicides that Hiltbold
tested.
In more recent years, Hiltbold's research has returned to the problem
of nitrogen use. He sought to establish more efficient nitrogen-fixing
rhizobia in the soil, but found this difficult to do, because of competition
with naturally occurring rhizobia. In soybeans, for example, he established
that the first time the crop is grown, rhizobia populations aren't sufficient
for optimum nitrogen uptake by the plants. However, after soybeans are
grown once, there is ample rhizobia in the soil in subsequent years.
Hiltbold is currently completing work on the impact of soil acidity
on nitrogen-fixing ability of clover. He found that acidity kills clover
rhizobia and phosphate deficiency causes a lack of productivity of soil
rhizobia in clover.
The New York native earned his B.S. degree in agronomy from Cornell
University. He went to Michigan State to earn an M.S. in agronomy, and
returned to Cornell to earn the Ph.D. While studying for the Ph.D, Hiltbold
taught undergraduate classes at Cornell. Since coming to Auburn, he
has taught a graduate course in soil microbiology since 1958 and more
recently began teaching another graduate level course in experimental
methods. He has been major professor to 14 masters and Ph.D level students
and has served on graduate committees for students in forestry, botany
and microbiology, fisheries and agronomy and soils.
In his retirement, Hiltbold plans to increase his gardening hobby, especially
growing roses. "I don't plan to leave Auburn--I like it here. Both
the community and the university have been very good to me, and I hope
to get more involved in volunteer work and be of service to both in
my retirement," Hiltbold concluded.
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By:
Roy Roberson
July 12, 1991
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