07/12/1991

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