Shashaani Partners with NC Agriculture

Dec 23, 2025

By Rob Lasson

Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Operations Research Sara Shashaani and Associate Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Extension Specialist Mahmoud Sharara have partnered with the Ag Analytics Platform for their project, “Uncertainty Quantification for Robust Irrigation and Lagoon Management in Farms.” The research is part of a larger externally funded project investigating better management practices for hog lagoons.

With 1,500 storage lagoons in eastern North Carolina, an area boasting the state’s highest pig production, this project is essential to supporting new solutions for a critical economic enterprise for the state.

Shashaani and Sharara want to create a model that can help predict the nitrogen concentration in the soil of storage lagoons, which can be impacted by weather and lagoon management and irrigation practices. According to Sharara, understanding the nitrogen concentration of the lagoons determines how much manure a farmer can apply and when to apply it.

“With the assistance of SAS Viya and Brad’s Ag Analytics Platform team, we are using data sets and machine learning tools to figure out how to simulate that concentration over time,” Sharara says.

Source : ncsu.edu

Video: Environmental Effects on Sow Fertility - Dr. Isabela Bez

In this special episode celebrating International Women's Day of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, we bring Dr. Isabela Bez, a veterinarian and PhD student in Brazil, who explains how temperature and light regimes influence sow reproductive performance. She discusses seasonal infertility, climate adaptation, and why environmental monitoring inside barns is critical for herd efficiency. The episode highlights practical management strategies to reduce reproductive losses and improve outcomes. Listen now on all major platforms. "Environmental factors are actually very important on sow reproduction, and sometimes these are the factors that producers tend to not pay attention." Meet the guest: Dr. Isabela Bez / isabela-cristina-cola%c3%a7o-bez-1753381b0 is a veterinarian and PhD student in Animal Science at Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Brazil. Her work focuses on swine reproduction, nutrition, and animal welfare, with strong expertise in environmental effects on sow performance. She collaborates with international farms and research groups to improve reproductive efficiency through applied science.