The laurel wilt pathogen can severely damage Florida's avocado crop, which provides a $100 million-a-year economic impact on Florida. But the new camera images from UF/IFAS scientists can give growers a jump-start on the disease.
Johns Hopkins experts lead an international group that has issued an ambitious five-year agenda to tackle some of the most complex ethical issues involved in ensuring the global population has enough sustainably produced safe and nutritious food.
The same spring rains that lessen producers’ concerns about drought can also lead to soil erosion and nutrient runoff. Keeping soil and fertilizers where they belong—in the field—benefits producers and the environment, according to South Dakota State University plant scientist Sandeep Kumar. He and graduate student Sagar Gautam used computer modeling to determine which farm management methods will produce the best reduction in surface runoff.
The European Union is the world’s leading wheat producer, ahead of China, India and the USA, with 20% of the total world harvest (136 million tons in 2013) on 26 million ha cultivated.
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Researchers at Kansas State University have looked into how vegetables take up different soil contaminants. They also considered how different gardening practices could reduce this uptake. They found that, in the majority of examples, eating vegetables grown in the contaminated soils studied was safe.
What exactly are the differences between fish that is wild caught versus fish that is farm raised? A Q&A with Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) President Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, CFS sheds some light on this topic.
The Rugose spiraling whitefly leaves a sticky white mess on everything from cars to homes and golf courses and trees. But a wasp the size of a pin head can control it, say UF/IFAS scientists.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved Southern Gardens Citrus’ application for an Experimental Use Permit under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
Wheat is the most widely grown cereal crop in the world, with more than 715 millions tons produced on 220 million hectares. Each year, nearly US $50 billion-worth of wheat is traded globally. The world’s top producers are the European Union, followed by China, India and the USA. Wheat is currently the staple food for more than 35% of the global human population. With the world’s population estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, the World Bank has estimated that global wheat production would need to increase by 60 %.
Expansion of cattle pastures has led to the destruction of huge swaths of rain forest in Brazil, home to the world’s largest herd of commercial beef cattle. But a new study led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Holly Gibbs shows that market-driven “zero deforestation agreements” have dramatically influenced the behavior of ranchers and the slaughterhouses to which they sell.
A group of leading soil scientists points out the precarious state of the world’s soil resources and the possible ramifications for human security in a paper published Thursday, May 7, in the journal Science.
Silver nanoparticles produced with an extract of wormwood can stop several strains of the fungus phytophthora dead in its tracks.
Strength, stability, water drainage and other factors important.
A new study led by the University of Iowa shows swine farmers are six times more likely to be carriers of staph bacteria, including the MRSA strain, than others. Results appear online in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of Soils. Soil is critical for food production and climate regulation. It’s a complex underground ecosystem of organisms that process decaying debris to enrich the land as well as store and release carbon into the atmosphere. However, human activity and changing climate are impacting this environmental system. Scientists working at EMSL are trying to understand the complexities of soil to develop better sustainable land management to protect it.
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Gardeners know what not to do when pruning crape myrtles, but the frequent reminders against crape murder can leave some gardeners wondering if it's possible to prune these plants at all.
This story introduces a program that applies the tried-and-true Extension Service method of teaching and learning to forestry. The goal is to encourage landowners to invest in higher-quality seedlings when replanting.
Soil scientists have struggled with accurately measuring water flow through soil for years. Even the smallest soil details can sway water’s path from the straight, sequential line gravity alone might demand. These minute differences contribute to water’s “preferential flow.” For farmers’ crops dependent on moisture, or chemical spills needing containment, preferential flow can be a matter of life or death.
Agriculture can be both a victim and a cause of climate change, say global warming experts. But new sustainable strategies that can help farming adapt to hotter conditions may help reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint too.
Farmers markets are excellent sales outlets for growers who want a direct market to consumers who want locally grown produce.
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Farmers count on South Dakota State University plant breeders to develop new varieties that give crops greater yield potential and make them more resistant to diseases. The university fulfills its commitment to producers through a licensing agreement with the South Dakota Crop Improvement Association. As curator of new varieties of grain, SDCIA oversees the production of successive generations and thus greater quantities until it can be sold to farmers as certified seed.
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Managing nitrogen levels in soils has created debate over the decades. Recently, a group of scientists, industry representatives, farmers, and government and non-government organization members met to discuss managing nitrogen on farms with the goal of “Mo Fo Lo Po:” more food, low pollution.
Palm trees need special nutrients to remain healthy and viable. But those same nutrients can harm the soil and nearby water. A UF/IFAS scientist has come up with a special palm fertilizer that makes sure trees, soil and water are as healthy as possible.
Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers show in a study today (April 2, 2015) that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres of new land in the U.S. over a recent four-year period, replacing millions of acres of grasslands.
Even during a good year, soybean farmers nationwide are, in essence, taking a loss. That's because changes in weather patterns have been eating into their profits and taking quite a bite: $11 billion over the past 20 years, according to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison agronomists published last month in Nature Plants.
Researchers surveying for endangered primates in national parks and forest reserves of Ivory Coast found, to their surprise, that most of these protected areas had been turned into illegal cocoa farms, a new study reports.
Two of the most destructive termite species in the world are swarming together in South Florida. They might mate, forming a hybrid, and that worries the UF/IFAS scientists who found the superswarm.
Fulfilling a sow’s increased nutritional needs in the last trimester may lead to greater productivity for both the mother and her piglets, according to assistant professor Crystal Levesque of the South Dakota State University Department of Animal Science. Through a pilot study, she has found “fairly clear preliminary evidence that we’re impacting at least piglet survivability in the first week post-weaning.”
Researchers have produced the first haplotype map of wheat that provides detailed description of genetic differences in a worldwide sample of wheat lines. This is an important foundation for future improvements in wheat around the world.
Research at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus has shed light on the action of the serious agricultural pest, cereal cyst nematode, which will help progress improved resistant varieties.
Researchers have developed a nanotechnology platform that positively identifies mastitis in dairy cattle earlier and for less cost than current technologies on the market. Mastitis is the most common disease in U.S. dairy cattle and costs the U.S. dairy industry more than $2 billion annually in loses.
Trade and agricultural experts from Kansas State University say this "green beef" could open the door for trade agreements with other countries in the European Union.
A Kansas State University poultry specialist explains why humans don't need to worry about H5N2 avian influenza getting them sick or contaminating their food.
Research from Kansas State University found that when publicly traded food firms face a meat or poultry recall, five factors influence stock price reactions most: severity to human health, recall size, firm size, firm’s experience and media influence. These factors could financially affect publicly traded companies and their investors.
Proper storage can help reduce infestations of stored-food pests, which commonly occur in grain products such as flour and cereal.
Water-borne algal blooms from farm fertilizer runoff can destroy aquatic life and clog rivers and lakes, but scientists will report today that they are working on a way to clean up these environmental scourges and turn them into useful products. The algae could serve as a feedstock for biofuels, and the feedstock leftovers could be recycled back into farm soil nutrients.
The first comprehensive analysis of gut bacteria in queen bees has found the queen bee microbiome is starkly district from those of worker bees, suggesting the commercial practice of relocating queen bees from their home colony may not detrimentally affect the overall health of the hive.
Having fresh, local strawberries within reach across Texas is getting closer to reality, though growers and researchers alike say producing the popular fresh fruit is a new field altogether. “Our goal was to add 5 percent to the acreage and we’ve done that,” said Dr. Russ Wallace, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist in Lubbock. “There are a lot of interested people. We have revitalized the Texas strawberry industry and gotten people thinking."
With exploding consumer demand for Greek yogurt, production is up. That’s great for food companies’ bottom lines, but it also leaves them dealing with a lot more acid whey, a problematic byproduct of the Greek yogurt-making process. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are developing a way to transform this trash into treasure.
Using natural soil components to trap pollutants will allow producers to control soil contaminants and reuse draining water while protecting their agricultural crops, according to Mohamed Elsayed, a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar at South Dakota State University’s chemistry and biochemistry department. His research seeks to increase the ability of humic acid to adsorb, or trap pollutants, in combination with either of two clay minerals—kaolinite or montmorillonite.
Weekly summary of crop, livestock and weather conditions throughout Texas.
During long Midwest winters, deer can wreak havoc on hay and other stored livestock feed. However, planting fall cover crops, such as clover, turnips and peas, may help wildlife managers provide deer with a nutrient-rich alternative that can lure them away from livestock feed. Distinguished professor Jonathan Jenks of the South Dakota State University Natural Resource Management Department is conducting a controlled experiment to identify which cover crops deer prefer.
A recent study involving Kansas State University researchers finds that in the coming decades at least one-quarter of the world's wheat production will be lost to extreme weather from climate change if no adaptation measures are taken.
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