People Behind Our Research: Carl Bradley helps farmers fight costly crop diseases

Video produced by Ben Corwin and Erin Wickey, UK Research Communications. To view captions for this video, push play and click on the CC icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. If using a mobile device, click on the “thought bubble” in the same area.
 

When Carl Bradley was growing up on a soybean farm in southeastern Illinois, he may not have known that he would someday become a plant pathologist. He did know, even as a child, when something was wrong on their farm.  

“I first got interested in plant pathology when I was fairly young,” said Bradley, Ph.D., UK Cooperative Extension Service professor in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky. “I didn't even know that discipline existed until we had a disease of soybeans show up on our farm where I grew up.” 

The disease, soybean sudden death syndrome, was new to the area at the time, baffling farmers and researchers alike. 

“You would have a nice-looking field of soybeans and all of a sudden later in the season, they would just start dying,” Bradley said. “I was probably 12 years old and that just really bothered me. You could have a field of soybeans and suddenly you didn’t have anything left, and nobody knew what was causing that at the time.” 

Today, Bradley is a professor and UK Extension plant pathologist, where his work focuses on understanding plant diseases and helping farmers manage them before they become devastating. 

Bradley’s path into applied research was shaped by his upbringing. He knew early on that he wanted his work to have practical value for the people who make their living from the land. 

“I first got into more of the applied research because coming from a farm background, I really wanted to do research that directly impacted the farmers.”  

At UK, Bradley studies disease management across a range of crops critical to the state’s agricultural economy.  

“Here in Kentucky, I work on disease management of different crops,” Bradley said. “Small grains, which would include wheat, barley and rye, are particularly important to the state. We’re starting to see some winter canola come in and it’s going to have its own set of disease problems.” 

Soybeans remain the focus of Bradley’s career and the stakes are high. Plant diseases take a measurable toll on Kentucky farmers every year. 

“Every year in Kentucky, farmers lose about 8 million bushels of soybean due to diseases, and that’s equal to about $84 million dollars,” Bradley said. 

A major part of Bradley’s role is getting timely, practical information into the hands of farmers, especially when new diseases or management challenges emerge. 

“It’s important to try to get that information out to the farmers on what they can do, especially if we have something new show up,” Bradley said. “We do our best to try to go for that low hanging fruit first and look at the potential management options. Meanwhile, I work with my colleagues on the biology of the pathogen, trying to understand the epidemiology.” 

Technology is changing how that work is done, both in research and on the farm. Advances are helping scientists learn more about plant diseases enabling farmers to respond faster. New tools like drones apply fungicides and allow farmers to spot diseases earlier by capturing detailed images from above a field, sometimes using specialized cameras that reveal stress invisible to the naked eye. 

One of the key reasons Bradley’s research can impact farmers statewide is UK’s Cooperative Extension Service, which provides a direct link between university research and on-farm decision-making. 

“We have at least one county (Extension) agent in every county of the state,” Bradley said. “That is people on the ground that I can work with.” 

Bradley collaborates closely with those agents to deliver programs and training to farmers, crop consultants and others in the agricultural industry. 

“So having that as part of the system, has made it a lot easier and we have a lot of really good agents in every county,” he said. “It’s a wonderful system that we have and it’s unlike a lot of other states.” 

For Bradley, the variety of his work is part of what makes the job rewarding. 

“I get to do a lot of different things. I get to talk to farmers, I get to teach, I get to do research out in the field.” 

For someone who, at 12 years old, once watched a healthy soybean field fail without explanation, the work has come full circle. 

“This has really been the perfect position for me to do that work and develop solutions that will impact farmers, help them produce crops more efficiently and manage diseases.”