Feature Channels: Agriculture

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13-Dec-2012 10:00 AM EST
Environmental Threat Map Highlights Great Lakes Restoration Challenges
University of Michigan

A comprehensive map three years in the making is telling the story of humans’ impact on the Great Lakes, identifying how “environmental stressors” stretching from Minnesota to Ontario are shaping the future of an ecosystem that contains 20 percent of the world’s fresh water.

Released: 7-Dec-2012 9:45 AM EST
ASA, CSSA and SSSA Applaud PCAST for Agricultural Research Enterprise Report
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America commend PCAST on a report that identifies threats to America’s agricultural preparedness and proposes recommendations for strengthening it.

Released: 5-Dec-2012 9:50 AM EST
Field Tests Seek New Control Methods for Resistant Ragweed in Cotton Crops
Allen Press Publishing

Giant ragweed lives up to its name, towering over crops and choking out surrounding plant species. Just one ragweed plant per square meter has been shown to reduce crop yields 45 to 77 percent. Now giant ragweed has evolved resistance to the herbicide glyphosate, which had been effective at controlling the weed.

Released: 23-Nov-2012 9:00 AM EST
Growing a Longer-Lasting Christmas Tree
Dalhousie University

Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture scientist, Dr. Raj Lada, driven by a commitment to rural sustainability, is providing support and research to innovate the Christmas tree industry in Eastern Canada. Lada has established the first, national (international) Christmas tree Research Centre (CRC) in Truro/Bible Hill.

Released: 20-Nov-2012 11:00 AM EST
After Icy Start, 2012 Was a Good Year for Colorful Cranberries
Cornell University

Justine Vanden Heuvel is a an assistant professor in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University and a former cranberry specialist at the UMass Cranberry Station in East Wareham, Mass. She comments on the challenges and triumphs of the 2012 cranberry season.

Released: 19-Nov-2012 4:35 PM EST
Today’s Domestic Turkeys Are Genetically Distinct from Wild Ancestors
Smithsonian Institution

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a succulent roasted turkey. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that consumers cook and eat more than 45 million turkeys every Thanksgiving. Very few Americans, however, know much about the difference between their gravy-smothered poultry and the poultry that earlier generations of Americans ate to celebrate the holiday. “Ancient turkeys weren’t your Butterball,” said Rob Fleischer, head of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics. “We set out to compare the genetic diversity of the domestic turkeys we eat today with that of the ancestral wild turkey from South Mexico. Some of what we found surprised us.”

Released: 15-Nov-2012 2:15 PM EST
Researchers Sequence Swine Genome, Discover Associations That May Advance Animal and Human Health
Kansas State University

An international scientific collaboration that includes two Kansas State University researchers is bringing home the bacon when it comes to potential animal and human health advancements, thanks to successfully mapping the genome of the domestic pig.

Released: 15-Nov-2012 11:50 AM EST
Plants’ Exposure to Light Influences Organic Weed Control Methods
Allen Press Publishing

The popularity of organic foods and products continues to climb, creating greater demand for organic agriculture. Effective natural alternatives to synthetic chemical weed and pest management are needed to meet organic standards. Essential oils, such as clove oil, offer an avenue to explore.

Released: 12-Nov-2012 10:00 AM EST
Researchers Unlock Ancient Maya Secrets with Modern Soil Science
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Soil scientists and archeologists have uncovered evidence that the Maya grew corn sustainably in the lowlands of Tikal, Guatemala, but that they may also have farmed erosion-prone slopes over time.

Released: 8-Nov-2012 10:00 AM EST
Experts on Drought and Dust
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

The 1930s Dust Bowl was a singular event in U.S. history, but Dust Bowl-like droughts and conditions do still occur. Experts are available to discuss what events like the 2012 U.S. drought mean for us now and how we can prepare for similar events in the future.

Released: 6-Nov-2012 9:00 AM EST
The Phosphorus Index: Changes Afoot
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Twenty years after its inception, the continued need for water quality improvement has led to a call for further advancement of the Phosphorus Index.

Released: 1-Nov-2012 11:05 AM EDT
Invading Weeds Are Met by an Offense of Plant-Eating Insects
Allen Press Publishing

What is the best course of action when an invading noxious weed threatens to attack crop yields and assault grazing land? Invite a friend to dinner. In this case, the friend is a plant-eating insect—the stem-mining weevil.

Released: 30-Oct-2012 2:55 PM EDT
Feedlot Prospects Worrisome for U.S. Cattle Industry
Oklahoma State University, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Not only are feedlots paying record prices for feed and essentially record prices for feeder cattle, it has been recognized for quite a while now that the supply of feeder cattle will be increasingly inadequate to maintain feedlot inventories at any price.

Released: 30-Oct-2012 12:45 PM EDT
New England Poultry Producers May See Effects From Sandy
Mississippi State University

Instead of an early snowfall this time of year, farmers along the eastern seaboard are dealing with flood waters and wind damage from Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to affect everything from poultry production to grocery prices.

Released: 23-Oct-2012 10:15 AM EDT
Improving Lipid Analysis: With New Mass Spectrometer, Researchers Can Grow Knowledge of Plants and Environmental Stress
Kansas State University

A Kansas State University professor's research analyzing lipids is helping scientists around the world understand plant responses and develop better crops that can withstand environmental stress.

Released: 16-Oct-2012 1:00 PM EDT
Ag Solutions for Climate-Nitrogen Management in a Hot, Unpredictable World
Woodwell Climate Research Center

On October 23 at 1pm, top USDA and academic researchers will address agriculture and climate in a special session of the Soil Science Society of America’s annual meeting. And they’ll take on a third, largely new aspect of climate change and agriculture: how nitrogen pollution compounds climate change, and vice versa. The work draws from a new special report to the United States’ National Climate Assessment published in the journal Biogeochemistry.

8-Oct-2012 3:40 PM EDT
Unusual Genetic Structure Confers Major Disease Resistance Trait in Soybean
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Scientists have identified three neighboring genes that make soybeans resistant to the most damaging disease of soybean. The genes exist side-by-side on a stretch of chromosome, but only give resistance when that stretch is duplicated several times in the plant.

Released: 4-Oct-2012 2:30 PM EDT
How to Restore Native Grasslands in the Interior Pacific Northwest
Allen Press Publishing

Weed scientists in Oregon have found that the timing of herbicide application along with reseeding of native grasses offers the best recipe for restoring native grasslands while controlling invasive weeds. Grasslands are a valuable resource for ecosystems, providing soil conservation, food and fiber production, and wildlife habitat. When threatened by invading exotic species, the quality and quantity of forage for wildlife can be reduced, fire frequencies can be altered, soil moisture and nutrients can be depleted, and the costs of land management can increase.

Released: 2-Oct-2012 2:25 PM EDT
It Had Its Challenges, but 2012 Was a Very Good Year for NY Wines
Cornell University

Cornell University, New York’s Land Grant university, has several teams of researchers and extension specialists working to support the state’s growing wine industry. These experts say it was a challenging year for the region’s vineyards and bottlers, but that 2012 should prove to be a very good year.

Released: 26-Sep-2012 4:00 PM EDT
Fewer Calves, Fewer Imports Means Tighter Feeder Cattle Supplies
Oklahoma State University, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Drought conditions have had a significant effect on feeder cattle supplies, with feedlots expected to feel a noticeable pinch in the months ahead as they will be unable to maintain current inventories.

Released: 25-Sep-2012 6:00 PM EDT
Gut Reaction: Morality in Food Choice
Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Researchers at Arizona State University are examining the ethical aspects of food production and consumption. They are helping consumers navigate the maze of moral choices involved in filling their plates and bellies. And they are finding that being morally mindful can lead to better nutrition, as well.

Released: 21-Sep-2012 9:50 AM EDT
Horticultural Hijacking: The Dark Side of Beneficial Soil Bacteria
University of Delaware

It’s a battleground down there — in the soil where plants and bacteria dwell. Even though beneficial root bacteria come to the rescue when a plant is being attacked by pathogens, there’s a "dark side" to the relationship between the plant and its white knight, according to University of Delaware research reported in Plant Physiology.

Released: 13-Sep-2012 5:35 PM EDT
Negative Cross-Resistance Helps Scientists Outmaneuver Herbicide-Resistant Weeds
Allen Press Publishing

Kochia, a weed that is rapidly becoming more abundant across southern Canadian prairies and the Great Plains of the United States, can reduce crop yields by up to 60 percent. Fighting this weed has become difficult because more than 90 percent of kochia populations are now resistant to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides. The phenomenon of negative cross-resistance, however, may offer another path to defeating the spread of this weed.

Released: 13-Sep-2012 11:00 AM EDT
“Siloed” Agencies Hindered in Efforts to Fight Animal-to-Human Diseases
New York University

The “siloed” structure of U.S. health agencies is hindering efforts to spot and combat animal-to-human afflictions, such as West Nile Virus, New York University sociologist Colin Jerolmack has concluded after conducting an organizational analysis of their operations.

Released: 11-Sep-2012 11:15 AM EDT
Ecological Collaborations Bring Out the Best in Land Use and Stakeholders
Allen Press Publishing

Conservationists, government agencies, and landowners often have different ideas about the best uses for land and natural resources. When these stakeholders build partnerships that achieve common goals and meet their individual needs, it is something to celebrate. To increase awareness of successful partnerships in land management and to encourage future collaborations, the Bureau of Land Management, USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the Society for Rangeland Management organized a special conference session and journal.

Released: 6-Sep-2012 8:00 AM EDT
'Rust-Tracker' to Monitor Deadly Wind-Borne Wheat Fungus
Cornell University

Top wheat experts are reporting a breakthrough in their ability to track strains of a deadly, rapidly mutating wheat pathogen called stem rust that threatens wheat fields from East Africa to South Asia.

Released: 30-Aug-2012 4:40 PM EDT
Discovery May Help Protect Crops From Stressors
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Salk findings of a key genetic mechanism in plant hormone signaling may help save crops from stress and help address human hunger.

Released: 30-Aug-2012 3:30 PM EDT
Georgia Tech Professional Education Provides Important Safety and Hazard Information for Agribusiness at OSHA Grain Handling Course in Savannah
Georgia Tech Professional Education

Georgia Tech Professional Education will be conducting a course at Georgia Tech-Savannah on September 20, 2012 that will provide the tools to prevent violations, and create a safer facility for any employee or employer that receives, handles, stores, processes, or ships bulk raw agricultural commodities.

13-Aug-2012 1:00 PM EDT
Electrifying Success in Raising Antioxidant Levels in Sweet Potatoes
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Already ranked by some as number one in nutrition among vegetables, the traditional sweet potato can be nutritionally supercharged with a simple, inexpensive electric current treatment that increases its content of healthful polyphenols or antioxidants by 60 percent, scientists said here today. Their report on the first electrical enhancement of sweet potatoes, a dietary staple since prehistoric times, was part of the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Released: 17-Aug-2012 3:45 PM EDT
Cattle Producers Should Watch for Premature Calf Births
Oklahoma State University, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Oklahoma State University research indicates that excessively hot summertime temperatures can shorten the gestation length of beef cows, altering animal management requirements.

Released: 16-Aug-2012 2:15 PM EDT
2,4-D Resistance Found in Weeds Could Limit the Herbicide’s Future Usefulness
Allen Press Publishing

Even as crops resistant to 2,4-D herbicide are being developed, populations of weeds are also developing a resistance. A 2,4-D–resistant variety of the waterhemp weed has been found, and its spread could lessen the impact of an herbicide widely used in grassland and crop production. Despite worldwide use of 2,4-D since the 1940s, only 17 weeds were previously known to be resistant to it.

Released: 7-Aug-2012 4:45 PM EDT
Planting the Seeds of Defense
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Salk study finds stress triggers widespread epigenetic changes that aid in disease resistance.

Released: 2-Aug-2012 4:30 PM EDT
Expert on Food Prepared to Talk About Freshman and the Dining Hall
Colgate University

Chris Henke specializes in courses on science and technology, work, the environment, and research methods. In addition to my work in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, he is also a member of Colgate's Environmental Studies Program.

Released: 31-Jul-2012 5:00 PM EDT
Alliance to Feed the Future Provides Lessons on ‘Farm to Fork’ in New Educational Curricula for Elementary and Middle School Students
International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation

The Alliance to Feed the Future today announced the availability of new, free curricula to help students in grades K-8 learn about modern food and agricultural production and how American farmers and producers provide safe, nutritious and abundant food choices every day.

27-Jul-2012 11:00 AM EDT
Chronic 2000-04 Drought, Worst in 800 Years, May Be the “New Normal”
Oregon State University

The chronic drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 left dying forests and depleted river basins in its wake and was the strongest in 800 years, but those conditions will become the “new normal” for most of the coming century. Such climatic extremes have increased as a result of global warming.

Released: 20-Jul-2012 9:00 AM EDT
Eradicating Weed Species in New Zealand Poses a Larger Challenge Than Expected
Allen Press Publishing

New Zealand is a very weedy country. Indigenous plant species are matched in number by naturalized, exotic species, and about 20 new invaders are discovered each year. Thus, a weed eradication program has been under way for the past 10 years, but completely eradicating an unwanted plant species is much more difficult than it might seem.

Released: 17-Jul-2012 5:05 PM EDT
Farmers Face the Downsides – and Upsides – of the Drought of 2012
Cornell University

Data released this week paints a grim picture for farmers throughout the United States. Almost everywhere, fruit, crop, livestock and dairy farmers are being choked by the driest growing season since 1956. Researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University are available to talk with the media about the impacts of the Drought of 2012.

Released: 17-Jul-2012 1:40 PM EDT
Glyphosate-Resistant 'Superweeds' May Be Less Susceptible to Diseases
Purdue University

Scientists searching for clues to understand how superweeds obtain resistance to the popular herbicide glyphosate may have been missing a critical piece of information, a Purdue University study shows.

Released: 16-Jul-2012 4:50 PM EDT
Agronomy, Crop, and Soil Science Societies Urge Congress to Avoid Devastating Budget Cuts
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Food, agriculture, and environmental research part of sequestration spending slash planned as part of an upcoming vote on the defense appropriations bill.

   
Released: 11-Jul-2012 11:55 AM EDT
Got Milk? Climate Change Means Stressed Cows in Southern U.S. May Have Less
University of Washington

University of Washington researchers found that the decline in milk production due to climate change will vary across the U.S., since there are significant differences in humidity and how much the temperature swings between night and day across the country.

Released: 11-Jul-2012 10:55 AM EDT
Down on the Cacao Farm: Sloths Thrive at Chocolate's Source
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Like many Neotropical fauna, sloths are running out of room to maneuver. As forests in South and Central America are cleared for agriculture and other human uses, populations of these arboreal leaf eaters, which depend on large trees for both food and refuge, can become isolated and at risk. But one type of sustainable agriculture, shade grown cacao plantations, a source of chocolate, could become critical refuges and bridges between intact forests for the iconic animals.

Released: 3-Jul-2012 1:45 PM EDT
A World Free of One of the Most Virulent Animal Diseases?
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

The Departments of Homeland Security and Agriculture have developed a novel vaccine for one of the seven strains of the dreaded Foot-and-Mouth Disease, paving the way for the development of the others.

Released: 3-Jul-2012 10:00 AM EDT
Cultivate Early to Improve Weed Control in Organic Peanut Crops
Allen Press Publishing

For more than a decade, consumer demand for organic products in the United States has seen double-digit growth. Organic foods now comprise more than 3 percent of U.S. food sales, and the amount of certified organic farmland is increasing as well. Yet demand still supports importation of organic products. A major limitation affecting domestic organic crop production is effective weed control.

Released: 28-Jun-2012 4:20 PM EDT
The New Frontier in Food Science: Replicating the Nutrition, Texture and Taste of Meat and Eggs
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

Food scientists are working to replicate the nutrition, as well as the texture, taste and functionalities of meat and eggs, by utilizing plant-based products and in-vitro technologies, according to a presentation at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) 2012 Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Las Vegas.

27-Jun-2012 4:35 PM EDT
How Sweet It Is: Tomato Researchers Discover Link Between Ripening, Color and Taste
Cornell University

For many grocery shoppers, those perfect, red tomatoes from the store just can’t match the flavor from the home garden. Now, researchers at Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University, USDA and the University of California at Davis have decoded a gene that contributes to the level of sugar, carbohydrates and carotenoids in tomatoes.

Released: 26-Jun-2012 5:15 PM EDT
New Research Finds Unique Crop Diversity, Struggle to Save It
Crop Science Society of America (CSSA)

It's considered an important crop for those living in a small village, nestled within the Sierra Juarez Mountains. And farming is the primary occupation for 600 residents of Santa Maria Jaltianguis in Oaxaca, Mexico. Most depend on the high-protein Phaseolus bean to feed their family. Just one in five sell it to a local market. Now a California researcher and Crops Science Society of America member is revealing some surprising preservation practices found, while studying these natives at work. Their techniques are considered key to conserving bean diversity unique to the region.

Released: 25-Jun-2012 10:45 AM EDT
Research with Gluten Alternatives Shows Promise for Kansas Sorghum Farmers and Consumers
Kansas State University

Research at Kansas State University could give consumers with celiac disease more food product choices and expand the sorghum market for Kansas farmers.

Released: 21-Jun-2012 2:50 PM EDT
U-M Forecasters Predict Second-Smallest Gulf of Mexico 'Dead Zone'
University of Michigan

A dry spring in portions of the Midwest is expected to result in the second-smallest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" on record in 2012, according to a University of Michigan forecast released today.



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