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Released: 31-Jan-2014 12:00 PM EST
Research Team Discovers Single Gene in Bees Separating Queens From Workers
Wayne State University Division of Research

A research team led by Wayne State University, in collaboration with Michigan State University, has identified a single gene in honeybees that separates the queens from the workers. The scientists unraveled the gene’s inner workings and published the results in the current issue of Biology Letters. The gene, which is responsible for leg and wing development, plays a crucial role in the evolution of bees’ ability to carry pollen.

Released: 30-Jan-2014 5:00 PM EST
Collaborative Effort Aims to Safeguard Honey Bees in Mississippi
Mississippi State University, Office of Agricultural Communications

Honeybee health continues to be a serious concern for beekeepers, fruit and vegetable growers, almond producers, and researchers. As the debate about pesticide use continues, Mississippi farmers and beekeepers, along with other stakeholders, have developed a voluntary program of cooperative standards called the Mississippi Honey Bee Stewardship Program.

Released: 30-Jan-2014 2:00 PM EST
What You Need to Know About GMOs, GM Crops, and the Techniques of Modern Biotechnology
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

Genetically modified (GM) crops and foods and ingredients made available with the techniques of modern biotechnology have recently been dominating food and agriculture news coverage in the United States. Food Technology magazine contributing editors Bruce Chassy, PhD, University of Illinois and Wayne Parrott, PhD, University of Georgia, and John Ruff, CFS, past IFT president dispel myths and clarify common consumer questions when it comes to GMOs.

Released: 30-Jan-2014 11:00 AM EST
Climate Study Projects Major Changes in Vegetation Distribution by 2100
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

An international research team has determined the distribution of species of vegetation over nearly half the world’s land area could be affected by predicted global warming.

Released: 29-Jan-2014 8:00 AM EST
UF/IFAS Researcher to Growers: Peaches Can Be Profitable in Three Years
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

As citrus growers search for alternative crops, they may find economic potential in peaches.

Released: 27-Jan-2014 12:00 PM EST
Study Helps Researchers Better Estimate Citrus Crop Yields
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

An algorithm could help scientists assist citrus growers predict when to plant and harvest their crop further in advance.

23-Jan-2014 10:00 AM EST
Moms Favor Daughters in Dairy Study
Kansas State University Research and Extension

Sorry, boys. In the end, mothers favor daughters – at least when it comes to Holstein dairy cows and how much milk they produce for their offspring, according to a new study by Kansas State University and Harvard University researchers. The research may have implications for humans.

22-Jan-2014 11:00 AM EST
U-Michigan Ecologists: No Magic Bullet for Coffee Rust Eradication
University of Michigan

Spraying fungicide to kill coffee rust disease, which has ravaged Latin American plantations since late 2012, is an approach that is "doomed to failure," according to University of Michigan ecologists.

Released: 21-Jan-2014 12:00 PM EST
Virginia Tech-Led Pest-Control Measure Saves Up to $309 Million for Indian Farmers, Consumers
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech researchers who first discovered a devastating pest in India and devised a natural way to combat it have now put an economic value on their counterattack: up to $309 million the first year and more than $1 billion over five years.

   
Released: 16-Jan-2014 12:30 PM EST
Texas A&M Biologist, Former Student Develop A Longer, Stronger Cotton Fiber
Texas A&M University

An international collaboration with strong Aggie ties has figured out how to make a longer cotton fiber — information that a Texas A&M University biologist believes could potentially have a multi-billion-dollar impact on the global cotton industry and help cotton farmers fend off increasing competition from synthetic fibers.

Released: 14-Jan-2014 12:00 PM EST
Part 2: Beta-Agonists, the Environment and Cattle Feed Intake
Kansas State University Research and Extension

FDA-approved beta-agonists in cattle feed are widely used to help feedlot cattle efficiently produce more lean muscle, but one beta-agonist, Zilmax, was voluntarily suspended by its manufacturer due to animal welfare concerns. K-State researchers are looking into how heat stress and other environmental factors might play a role in this issue and affect cattle mobility and feed intake.

Released: 14-Jan-2014 11:00 AM EST
Boise State Researchers Examine Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Streams and Rivers
Boise State University

The scientists are trying to understand how populations of microorganisms regulate emissions of nitrous oxide from streams and rivers.

Released: 14-Jan-2014 11:00 AM EST
Part 1: Beta-Agonists, the Environment and Cattle Fatigue
Kansas State University Research and Extension

FDA-approved beta-agonists in cattle feed are widely used to help feedlot cattle efficiently produce more lean muscle, but one beta-agonist, Zilmax, was voluntarily suspended by its manufacturer due to animal welfare concerns. K-State researchers are looking into how heat stress and other environmental factors might play a role in this issue and affect cattle mobility and feed intake.

Released: 6-Jan-2014 9:00 AM EST
Researchers Map Out World's Winegrape Varieties
University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide researchers have compiled statistics from 44 countries to develop the first database of the world's winegrape varieties and regions.

   
20-Dec-2013 3:00 PM EST
Some Plants May Not Adapt Quickly to Future Climate Change
University of Florida

Using the largest dated evolutionary tree of flowering plants ever assembled, a new study suggests how plants developed traits to withstand low temperatures, with implications that human-induced climate change may pose a bigger threat than initially thought to plants and global agriculture.

Released: 20-Dec-2013 12:00 PM EST
Research Raises Concerns About Future Global Crop Yields
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Yields of rice, wheat and corn appear to have maxed out on 30 percent of the world's agricultural croplands, according to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln study published in Nature Communications.

13-Dec-2013 10:00 AM EST
Lost Freshwater May Double Climate Change Effects on Agriculture
Globus

A new analysis combining climate, agricultural, and hydrological models finds that shortages of freshwater used for irrigation could double the detrimental effects of climate change on agriculture.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
UF/IFAS Scientist’s Work with Brazilian Citrus Greening Genome Could Aid Florida Industry
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

UF Professor Dean Gabriel and colleagues have mapped a new strain of the citrus greening genome in Brazil.

6-Dec-2013 1:00 PM EST
Where Water Is Limited, Researchers Determine How Much Water Is Enough
Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE)

Today, December 12, JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, has published an environmental research technique that could turn the age-old task of watering crops into an exact science.

Released: 9-Dec-2013 11:40 AM EST
UF/IFAS: ‘Perfect Storm’ Needed for Salmonella to Spread in Post-Harvest Tomatoes
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

UF researchers say salmonella is more likely to spread on tomatoes only with certain tomato types and drier weather, and that's a key to curbing produce-associated outbreaks.

Released: 6-Dec-2013 11:00 AM EST
UF/IFAS Researcher to Use $500,000 Grant to Try to Make Peanuts More Drought-Resistant
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Grant will help professor research how to grow more peanut varieties that are drougt-tolerant.

Released: 4-Dec-2013 1:00 PM EST
Sea-Level Rise to Drive Coastal Flooding, Regardless of Changes in Cyclone Activity
Virginia Tech

A review of scientific studies show that sea-level rise and shoreline retreat will drive an increase in future flood risk from hurricanes.

22-Nov-2013 2:00 PM EST
Genetic Mutation Increases Risk of Parkinson’s Disease From Pesticides
Sanford Burnham Prebys

Study uses patient-derived stem cells to show that a mutation in the α-synuclein gene causes increased vulnerability to pesticides, leading to Parkinson’s disease.

Released: 8-Nov-2013 5:25 PM EST
Poultry Scientists Solve Bruised Breast Puzzle
Auburn University

Green muscle disease is a degenerative condition of broiler chickens’ minor pectoral muscles, or tenders, that causes the muscle tissue to bruise. The discolored tissue is not discovered until processing and deboning, and then it must be trimmed and discarded, costing the U.S. poultry industry an estimated $50 million a year in losses. After more than a decade of research a team of poultry scientists at Auburn University has identified a blood enzyme that could give breeders a noninvasive tool to screen birds for susceptibility to the disease.

5-Nov-2013 9:15 AM EST
Defending Food Crops: Whitefly Experimentation to Prevent Contamination of Agriculture
Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE)

On November 8th, JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, will introduce a new technique to aid in the development of defenses against diseases threatening food crops worldwide.

Released: 31-Oct-2013 4:15 PM EDT
In Battle Against Flies, Don’t Toss Old Bulbs
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

University of Florida researchers find old bulbs work almost as well as newer ones in helping zap bugs. This saves millions of dollars and more mercury from entering waste stream.

Released: 31-Oct-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Plant Production Could Decline as Climate Change Affects Soil Nutrients
Northern Arizona University

As drylands of the world become even drier, water will not be the only resource in short supply. Levels of nutrients in the soil will likely be affected, and their imbalance could affect the lives of one-fifth of the world’s population.

Released: 22-Oct-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Veterinary Scientists Track the Origin of a Deadly Emerging Pig Virus in the United States
Virginia Tech

An emerging swine virus, deadly to piglets, was first recognized in the United States in May. Researchers at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine have determined the evolution of the virus, which has already spread to at least 17 states.

17-Oct-2013 4:30 PM EDT
Coffman Receives Inaugural World Agriculture Prize
Cornell University

Throughout his 43-year career, Cornell University plant breeder Ronnie Coffman has sown seeds of scientific and social change across continents and generations. Now his efforts are being recognized with the inaugural World Agriculture Prize, awarded by the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA), an organization that represents more than 600 universities worldwide.

Released: 15-Oct-2013 9:50 AM EDT
New Micro Water Sensor Can Aid Growers
Cornell University

Cornell University researchers have developed a microfluidic water sensor within a fingertip-sized silicon chip that is a hundred times more sensitive than current devices. The researchers are now completing soil tests and will soon test their design in plants, embedding their “lab on a chip” in the stems of grape vines, for example. They hope to mass produce the sensors for as little as $5 each. The new sensor will benefit crop growers, wine grape and other fruit growers, food processors and even concrete makers.

Released: 10-Oct-2013 9:15 AM EDT
Wetland Restoration in the Northern Everglades: Watershed Potential and Nutrient Legacies
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

To most people, restoration of Florida’s Everglades means recovering and protecting the wetlands of south Florida. What many don’t realize is how intimately the fortunes of the southern Everglades are tied to central Florida’s Lake Okeechobee and lands even further north. Restoration of this northern Everglades ecosystem will be discussed at the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meetings on Nov. 3-6 in Tampa, FL.

8-Oct-2013 10:50 AM EDT
Discovery Should Save Wheat Farmers Millions of Dollars
McGill University

The global wheat industry sometimes loses as much as $1 billion a year because prolonged rainfall and high humidity contribute to grains germinating before they are fully mature. This phenomenon, known as pre-harvest sprouting or PHS, has such important economic repercussions for farmers around the world that scientists have been working on finding a solution to the problem for at least a couple of decades. Findings by a McGill team now suggest that the solution may lie not with genetics alone, but rather with a combination of genetic and epigenetic factors.

Released: 8-Oct-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Scientists Battle Herbicide Resistance
Mississippi State University, Office of Agricultural Communications

Mississippi has the dubious honor of having more documented glyphosate-resistant weed species than any other state. Mississippi State University scientists are leading the charge in the fight against glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass with a research-based plan of attack.

Released: 7-Oct-2013 3:00 PM EDT
Irrigation, Water Conservation Issues Are High MSU Priorities
Mississippi State University, Office of Agricultural Communications

Mississippi State University researchers and Extension Service professionals are addressing the complex challenges of preserving the state’s water supply through several studies and outreach initiatives.

Released: 3-Oct-2013 10:00 AM EDT
Improving Water Security with Blue, Green, and Gray Water
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

With limited water and an increasing number of people depending on it, water security is tenuous. But integrated water management plans using “blue,” “green,” and “gray” water can increase water security. At the annual meetings of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America on Nov. 3-6, 2013, speakers will address what those colors mean and why those waters are vital.

Released: 1-Oct-2013 4:15 PM EDT
Protecting the Weedy and Wild Kin of Globally Important Crops
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

As more and more people recognize the importance of the wild relatives of crop plants to agriculture and food security, interest in cataloging and conserving these plants is building around the world. At the annual meetings of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America on Nov. 3-6, 2013, two speakers will describe the latest efforts to identify and protect the wild relatives of domesticated crop plants both in the United States and abroad.



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