Feature Channels: Agriculture

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Plant breeders look to genetic markers to protect their research investments and unique plant varieties.

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Scientists use a new version of the Root Zone Water Quality Model to estimate unsaturated zone nitrogen mass balances at four agricultural fields. The new version of the model can make predictions down to 30 meters, enabling estimation of water quality effects well beyond the root zone.

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Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are taking a careful look at how grazing cattle affect sage-grouse habitat on high desert rangelands.

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Losses of managed honey bee colonies nationwide totaled 33.8 percent from all causes from October 2009 to April 2010, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

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A weed calculator developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist tells ranchers the number of additional cows they could raise if they eliminated one or two widespread exotic invasive weeds.

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A team of scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Florida’s Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) have turned an ornamental plant into a tool for combating a bacterial disease that threatens the world’s citrus crop.

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Researchers studied the impact of grass and grass/tree buffer strips on three herbicides commonly used in agriculture. The scientists studied the transport of the herbicides in both surface runoff and subsurface infiltration during two growing seasons.

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Higher demand for organically grown foods has farmers seeking new methods to increase crop yields and reduce weeds without the use of chemicals. One very practical solution uses a readily available resource and requires no additional costs or time-consuming weeding and cultivating. It is, simply, maximizing the light of the sun.

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An Agricultural Research Service (ARS ) scientist may have found a way to cut the amount of ammonia produced by cattle, using a key ingredient of the brewer’s art: hops.

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NU announced a $50 million founding gift commitment from the Robert B. Daugherty Charitable Foundation for a global Water for Food Institute. The gift, one of the largest in NU’s history, will create a center for research, education and policy analysis on the use of water for agriculture.

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Incoming raw poultry is the primary source of Listeria monocytogenes contamination in commercial chicken cooking plants, according to a 21-month study conducted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their collaborators at the University of Georgia.

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Small but mighty, a beneficial microbe called Muscodor albus may help protect fresh grapes from troublesome gray mold. Experiments conducted over the past several years by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist Joseph L. Smilanick and his ARS and industry colleagues have shown that M. albus can combat Botrytis cinerea, the organism that causes gray mold.

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Commercial growers and home gardeners nowadays have many great strawberry varieties to choose from, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

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Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have long-term studies under way to examine growing camelina as a bioenergy crop for producing jet fuel for the military and the aviation industry.

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Instructors at Colorado State University implement case studies into a course on World Agriculture Issues. The results demonstrate the benefits of case studios in improving higher order learning and motivating students.

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Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are figuring out how to turn wheat straw into ethanol “gold,” and learning more about the bacteria that can “infect” ethanol plants and interfere with fuel production.

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Rangelands—Exotic plant species are invading the world’s rangelands at an unprecedented rate, imposing both ecological and economic costs. Identifying the causes of invasive plant expansion can contribute to the planning and execution of successful management techniques. Collaboration between resource managers and research scientists is needed to offer future generations more effective strategies to prevent and control invasive plant species.

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Self-pollinating almond trees that can produce a bountiful harvest without insect pollination are being developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

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A new review of scientific literature finds that removal of crop residue for biofuels can adversely impact soil and environmental quality. Conversely, dedicated energy crops can increase soil organic carbon concentration while providing biofuel feedstock.

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Scientists investigate kernel development in a large-seeded sorghum line and its hybrid in comparison with normal-seeded lines and hybrids. They examine pre-fertilization floret and ovary development and analyzed post-fertilization kernel-filling characteristics. The goal is to determine what factors influence the development of large seeded sorghum, in order to develop higher grain-yielding varieties.

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Tomorrow's fragrant bouquets and colorful potted plants might last longer, thanks to ARS floriculture research.

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An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant molecular biologist says Asian wheat may offer novel genes for shoring up the defenses of U.S. varieties against Fusarium graminearum fungi that cause Fusarium head blight disease.

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A unique collection of St. John’s wort (Hypericum) curated by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Ames, Iowa, is providing university collaborators with genetically diverse, well-documented sources of this herb to use in studies examining its medicinal potential.

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Two new articles in the March/April 2010 issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal look back on the challenges, impact, and lessons the Soil Science Society of America learned from bringing an often misunderstood and underrepresented science to a museum that sees over six million visitors a year. “Dig it!” encourages non-traditional soil education techniques, increased public outreach, and new partnerships.

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Scientists present a new methodology that offers a reliable measurement of the biodegradable organic matter content in organic solid materials, useful for researchers and industrial operators.

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Can native or introduced grasses offer sustainable harvest for biofuels?

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Forget top-to-bottom only. New Cornell University evolutionary biology research shows how plants at the bottom of the food chain have evolved mechanisms that influence ecosystem dynamics as well.

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Scientists may have made a discovery that could lead to higher corn yields in the United States. In research published in the March 2010 issue of the journal GENETICS, scientists used tropical maize from Mexico and Thailand to discover chromosome regions responsible for detecting seasonal changes in flowering time. This discovery may lead to higher crop yields, improved disease resistance, and heartier plants able to withstand severe weather.

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Weeds often thrive in noncrop areas such as levees, roadsides, and field borders, but they can be suppressed by planting native grasses and treating the area with herbicides, according to an article in the January–March 2010 issue of Invasive Plant Science and Management.

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Plant study in Nature shows value of using genome-wide method to locate genes behind physical traits. Authors see applications for agriculture and biofuels.

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A new book takes a region by region look across the United States at the challenges remaining in soil and water conservation, and what we've learned over the past century.

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A team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers has found a way to speed up grape breeding by developing a way to identify genetic markers in the grapevine’s genome that can be linked with specific traits, such as fruit quality, environmental adaptation, and disease and pest resistance.

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Reducing the cost of keeping broiler chickens warm could result from research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and university cooperators.

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South Dakota State University research is exploring a native perennial called cup plant as a potential new biomass crop that could also store carbon in its extensive root system and add biodiversity to biomass plantings.

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The scramble to find sufficient land for biofuel production has experts eyeing marginal croplands that have been placed in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Now a study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists indicates that plant species diversity and composition are key factors in potential energy yield per acre from biomass harvested from CRP land.

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‘Metabolic taxation’ accounts for part of difference between fast and slow growth of animals, according to a new theory. USC marine biologists say that a study of oyster genes associated with growth suggests that fast-growing animals have better tuned ribosomal factories for making proteins.

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Cattle producers preparing to work spring-born calves should be taking steps now to protect their animals from the respiratory diseases, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and bovine viral diarrhea virus.

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A long-term study on the effect of sewage sludge on tropical soil.

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Scientists in Africa are working to develop maize hybrids that keep their genetic diversity and resistance to parasitic weeds.

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A shipment of seed sent by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) earlier this month to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway included a wild Russian strawberry that an expeditionary team braved bears and volcanoes to collect.

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Award recognizes his support of agriculture and conservation.

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The award recognizes her support of agriculture and science.

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Stormwater runoff is the main source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants to the NY/NJ Harbor.

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Award recognizes his support of agriculture, conservation.

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Geraniums may hold the key to controlling the devastating Japanese beetle, which feeds on nearly 300 plant species and costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million in damage each year, according to scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

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Technology discovery, development and adoption play a huge role in how we're going to feed the world's growing population, according to a Kansas State University agricultural economist. Equally vital is funding to support research on food production technology.

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An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist is helping to sort through the jumbled genetics of Echinacea, the coneflower known for its blossoms--and its potential for treating infections, inflammation, and other human ailments.

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Bovine Respiratory Disease causes between $800 million to $900 million annually in economic losses from animal death, reduced feed efficiency and antimicrobial treatment costs. Oklahoma State University scientists are showing real dollar benefits of BRD health management practices on cattle operations.

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After four years of decline, cotton production will rebound.

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Lots of leaves growing in easy reach of a cow's tongue means less time and less land needed to raise beef cattle.